Benji smiled and pulled Reign in for a quick hug. “I like the way you think, even if I do wish you’d let me find a way to help.”
“I appreciate it, but I’ll be okay. I’ll figure something out. I promise.”
And for once, it was an easy promise to make. This time, he had to figure something out.
There was no other alternative.
21
Benji
Benji was awake earlier than normal—especially since he and Reign didn’t go to bed until almost three in the morning. But it was just past six, and he was sitting up on the couch where he’d insisted on sleeping, watching the sun rise out the large living room window.
It had been difficult—nearly impossible, really—to refuse Reign’s very sweet and completely practical offer to share his bed. And Benji remembered how soft and plush it had felt when he’d sat on it earlier in the evening while he was getting dressed.
But he had reasons—good reasons—for staying on the couch, even though saying no to Reign was one of the most difficult things he’d ever had to do.
One of his reasons was because he just didn’t trust himself. He knew that if he got under those covers with Reign, and could feel the heat rolling off his amazing body, it would be all over. He wouldn’t be able to stop himself from touching and stroking and sucking. There would be no turning back.
But the other, and probably more compelling reason, was that he needed to get up earlier than Reign. He needed to be able to move around and make phone calls without worrying about disturbing his beautiful, sexy host.
It had been perfectly obvious the night before—well, just a few hours before—that Reign would need all the help he could get if he was going to keep his bar open. And it had also been obvious to Benji that he was going to have to go against Reign’s wishes, just this once, to provide whatever help he could come up with.
Seeing Reign so close to tears and knowing how hard he really had been working to save that place was almost too much for Benji to take, and there was no way in hell he was simply going to turn his back and fly home to Nashville without knowing that he’d done something—no, everything—he possibly could to help.
It was simple, and he was willing to take the risk of Reign being upset with him in order to get it done. He really hoped Reign wouldn’t be upset, though. Hopefully, he’d understand why Benji wanted to help, and hopefully he’d give Benji one of those amazing, wide, bright smiles that Benji craved more than air.
That would be more than enough to make it all worthwhile—even aside from the fact that helping a friend in need was the right thing to do.
So even though Benji wasn’t good at denying his impulses and his lust-driven urges when he was around Reign, he could at least rely on the practical side of his brain to keep him focused.
He had a goal, and he was going to figure out a way to achieve it. He was going to figure it out now. There simply wasn’t any time to waste.
His mind had been racing ever since they’d left the bar, and he’d been surprised that he’d been able to get any sleep at all. It was a good thing that his body had insisted on those three hours of rest, though, because he needed as much brain power as he could muster in order to figure out what to do next.
There was really only one thing and one area of expertise that Benji could bring to the table. But damn, it was a good one. And it just so happened, if everything fell into place, that it would line up perfectly with what Reign had in mind.
He hadn’t quite worked out all of the specifics in his head, but that was okay. There were other people who could help with that. The one thing he did know how to do was to bring in a crowd of people who were ready to have a good time and spend some money. He’d been doing that his whole life.
The crucial part of the plan would be figuring out how to get Chase on board. But he didn’t want to waste a lot of time thinking about it, and he wasn’t sure when Reign would wake up, so it was better to just make the call, make his case, and hope for the best. Chase didn’t often refuse to do a gig if Benji pushed for it, so he hoped this would be one of those times.
Without worrying too much about it, he picked up the phone and dialed his brother’s number.
“Benji?” Chase’s voice sounded faint and still half-asleep. “Are you okay? Do you know what time it is?”
Shit. In his excitement to find a solution for Reign’s bar problem, he’d forgotten that it was literally the crack of dawn. Probably not the best way to start off the conversation with his notoriously late-sleeping brother.
“Sorry, bro. I wouldn’t have called you so early if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“What? What’s going on?”
Benji winced as Chase’s voice began to sound panicked. He was definitely fully awake now, and he heard another voice in the background—Jackson, of course—asking if everything was okay.
Great. Benji might as well have set off the fire alarm while he was at it. He was going to need to turn this around quickly.
“I’m sorry, no. Not an emergency, well… not for me, anyway.” Shit, shit, shit. Get it together, Benji. “Let me start over. I’m okay. There’s no need to worry. I apologize for waking you and Jackson up so early, but I need to talk to you about something important, if you’ve got a few minutes.”
“Okay, let me go to the living room so we can talk and Jackson can go back to sleep.”
Benji tried to collect his thoughts as Chase shuffled to the next room. Luckily, Chase and Jackson had a big house, so Benji had a little bit of time to get himself together. But still, things had definitely not started out on the right foot, to say the least.
“So,” Chase said, sounding more awake and talking in a normal speaking voice, “tell me what’s going on.”
Benji had initially planned on starting with small-talk, then sort of easing into the main part of the conversation, but the way he’d mishandled everything up to that point meant that the time for small-talk had definitely passed. He was just going to have to be as straightforward with Chase as possible and hope for the best. Hedging around the issue at this point was only likely to piss his brother off. Benji had said it was an emergency, after all.
“I need you to play a gig in Dallas, Chase.”
Silence for a moment, then, “O-kay. This was the thing you had to call in the middle of the night to say?”
“Well, it’s technically almost seven in the morning.”
“Same thing. And don’t dodge the question. Why Dallas? And when?”
Benji sighed. They were valid questions, of course, but… couldn’t Chase just say yes first? Ask questions later? Preferably much later, after Benji had a chance to figure everything out.
“I was thinking maybe next week, um, the day after your show in Detroit.”
“Next week?”
“Well, maybe two days after the Detroit show…”
“Come on, Benji. What the hell? This is your emergency? That you’re going to fly me all over the country next week playing gigs? I don’t think so. I’m going back to bed.”
“Wait, no. Please, just… hear me out.”
This was not good. Chase was obviously pissed, and tired, and Benji wasn’t making things any better. He’d done a piss-poor job of making his case, and Chase had already technically said no. And while Benji had no doubt that he’d be able to reason with Chase at some point—probably after he’d had a chance to wake up and have some coffee—he just didn’t have that kind of time.
He needed Chase to be on board before they got off the phone because he wanted to be able to greet Reign with at least a little bit of good news when he woke up. So, fine. If he had to, he would beg. Whatever it took.
“I’m listening,” Chase still sounded annoyed, but at least he hadn’t hung up. Yet.
“Okay. Great. Now, let me tell you why it’s so important that you come play this gig. First of all, it’s for charity.”
“Which charity?”
Oh my God, seriously?
&nbs
p; “I’m not sure yet. Something to benefit the local LGBTQ community.”
“Okay. Still listening.”
Benji wiped his palm on the basketball shorts he’d slept in, only belatedly realizing that he’d started sweating. He hadn’t thought it would necessarily be easy to get Chase to come to Dallas, but he hadn’t planned on it being so stressful.
“And the second thing is… it’s for a friend. It would mean a lot to him—and to me—if you could be there and play a few songs for this charity gig.”
“This is the friend you’re there visiting now?”
“Yes. And his bar is in trouble, Chase. It’s a favor to him, but you’d really be doing me a favor by showing up, maybe doing a meet-and-greet before the show. Then play a few songs and I’ll put you up in a nice hotel, then fly you back home the next day.”
For several seconds, Benji held his breath while he waited for Chase to respond. When Chase finally spoke again, all of the irritation had left his voice, but he still sounded a little worried, and very apprehensive.
“Benji, I want you to level with me, okay?”
“Yeah, sure. I already am.”
“No, I mean really level with me. You’ve been acting different lately, ever since Anguilla. First, it was the weird behavior at work. Then, it was this mysterious friend in Dallas. Now, you need me to come out there? Can you see why I’m having trouble wrapping my head around all of this? Did you get in some kind of trouble in Anguilla? Do you owe money to some kind of drug cartel? I can write you a check, you know.”
“Oh my God, seriously, Chase?” Benji snorted and rolled his eyes, even though the expression was obviously lost over the phone. “You think I’m on drugs?”
“Well, no, not really… but I know something is wrong, and I’m not getting off the phone—and sure as hell not going to fucking Dallas—until you tell me what it is.”
Benji sighed. It was the moment of truth. Was he really about to spill his guts to Chase? There was literally no way he could know how Chase might react to the whole truth, but whatever his reaction might be, it would be better than letting him think Benji was on drugs, or involved with some kind of cartel—whatever that meant.
Fine. He would just say it. How bad could it possibly be, right? And the next time he saw Jackson, he would let him know that he needed to seriously limit the amount of SVU reruns Chase could watch. Mariska Hargitay might be amazing, but really? Drug cartels?
“Okay. You’re right. You win. I’ll level with you.” Benji took a deep breath. Here we go. “First, let me just repeat that no, I’m not on drugs. But this is important to me because… it’s not just for a friend. I mean, Reign is a friend, but… I like him. A lot. And I’d like it if he was more than just a friend.”
It was so quiet on the other end of the line that Benji had to take the phone away from his ear to make sure they hadn’t been disconnected.
Nope.
Still connected.
Still silent.
Finally, Chase spoke. Well, yelled, mostly.
“Oh my God, are you serious, Benji? Are you telling me what I think you’re telling me? Seriously?”
Benji laughed. He couldn’t help it. He could picture the exact face that Chase was probably making as he spoke. His oh my God, are you serious face.
“If what you think I’m telling you is that I’m bisexual, then yeah, I guess that’s what I’m telling you. Seriously.”
“Oh my God,” Chase repeated. “Ho-ly shit. I never would have guessed. I mean, I just never would’ve guessed! Does Riley know?” Chase gasped. “Does Mom know?”
“Nobody knows yet,” Benji said. “Besides you, now. And I’d like to keep it that way for a while, until I can tell them myself. Anyway, it doesn’t even matter right now, because we’re just friends. I’m just saying I’d like to be more than that. Someday. Hopefully. Maybe.”
“Well, that sounds convincing,” Chase deadpanned. “So is this event gonna be at a gay bar?”
“Yeah, I thought I said that already.”
“No, you said a bar, and a gay charity, but… anyway, yes, I’ll do it.”
“What?” Now it was Benji’s turn to sound incredulous. “Are you sure? What made you change your mind? Just a minute ago, you were about to hang up on me.”
“That was when I thought you were on drugs. Now that I know you’re just bi, I’m not worried about you anymore. But it’s clear that this guy means a lot to you, and I do want to support a good cause, so… yeah, I’ll do it.”
Benji grinned at his brother’s logic.
“So, that was easier than I thought it would be. All I had to do was come out of the closet.”
“Well, you’re not off the hook yet. I wanna meet this guy when I come down there.”
“Obviously. It’s his bar.”
“Oh, right. But you’re also gonna have to make all the travel arrangements and everything, just like a regular gig. You know the drill, just point me toward the stage and I’ll do my thing. Oh, and I want a nice suite for overnight in Dallas.”
Benji laughed and rolled his eyes again. This was the Chase he knew and loved. He was so glad to have that burden off his shoulders that he would’ve agreed to just about anything. Doing his job to organize the gig and getting a suite booked were just part of the routine. Chase was definitely letting him off easy.
“I appreciate it, bro. I really, really do.”
“I know,” Chase said. “I can tell how much this guy means to you. I’ll be there. But you’re still coming to Detroit, right?”
“You know I am. I wouldn’t miss it. Then I’ll fly back here with you.”
“Okay. Perfect.”
Benji smiled as they hung up the phone. It really was the perfect fix.
He just hoped Reign would see it that way.
22
Reign
Reign opened his eyes and smiled.
It felt like the previous twenty-four hours had been a dream. A really, really nice dream. But it wasn’t. It was real. Benji was really there in his apartment—he could even hear the low rumble of Benji’s deep voice from the living room, although he couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.
And… wait, what?
Was Benji really talking on the phone at seven in the morning on a Saturday? Reign shook his head as he stretched and tried to convince his legs that yes, he really did want to get out of bed right this minute, please.
He wondered briefly who or what would need Benji’s attention so early on a weekend—especially when he was supposed to be on vacation—but dismissed that thought almost as quickly as it came to him. It was no doubt something to do with work. Reign knew that Benji’s workaholic tendencies were nearly as strong as his own, after all.
Still, he’d have to mention that Benji was supposed to try and relax while he was in Dallas. If Reign had to keep work to a minimum while Benji was in town, it was only fair that Benji did the same. Maybe they could have that fun little battle over breakfast, though, because Reign was starving.
And that was finally enough motivation to get his body to roll out of bed and start looking for some clothes to put on.
At least Benji knew about the bar, though, so there was no need to spend any more precious time or energy trying to hide all of that unpleasantness. Reign definitely felt relieved that he’d told Benji, but he really did wish that it hadn’t been a conversation that had needed to happen in the first place. If only he’d been able to handle his business, he wouldn’t have hardly any stress in his life.
But Benji had taken the news like a champ, and—of course—had been right there for Reign to lean on when he was just about to fall apart.
Perfect, really.
Just like always.
Reign just hoped that the news wouldn’t cast a dark cloud over the rest of their time together. He was determined to have some fun with Benji, and now it would be necessary if he was going to keep their minds off the bar. As long as Benji didn’t think less of him—and he’d assur
ed Reign that he didn’t—everything else would be okay.
He took a quick look in the mirror, trying hard not to judge himself for the faded t-shirt and baggy cargo shorts he’d picked up in his still-half-sleeping state, shrugged a little, and stepped out into the living room.
Benji was just hanging up the phone and turned to greet Reign with a big, bright smile that only got wider when their eyes met.
“Good morning,” Benji crossed the small space and grabbed Reign in a hug, then shepherded him to the sofa. “Did you sleep well?”
Reign felt a little shell-shocked by the unexpectedly energetic greeting, but nodded through a slightly dazed smile. “Yeah… I would ask the same, but judging by the look on your face, I’m gonna guess the answer would be yes. Either that, or you’ve had about a gallon of coffee already.”
Benji laughed. “No, but that doesn’t sound like a bad idea. And yes, I slept pretty well, thanks. Your couch is actually more comfortable than it looks. Although, to be fair, I didn’t actually sleep for very long.”
“Yeah, I noticed.” Reign winced at the bright light streaming in as he looked toward the large window. “Do you always function so well on so little sleep?”
“Well… no, not really. But I think today is gonna be a good day.”
Reign’s eyes narrowed for a second. “Damn, that must have been some kind of amazing phone call… did you make a great deal at work or something?”
“Oh, no, it wasn’t work. But—” Benji’s eyes widened. “Did I wake you? I tried to be quiet, but people tell me my voice carries sometimes.”
Reign wanted nothing more than to ask more questions about the phone call, but it certainly wasn’t his business. For all he knew, Benji could have been talking to a woman back home, someone he was dating, or maybe interested in dating.
A surge of jealousy hit Reign, and he didn’t like the feeling. Not to mention the fact that he had no excuse to be jealous, no matter who it was Benji might or might not have been talking to.
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