Copyright Lexi Ander
Part Six: Leap of Faith
"You couldn't have
known what would happen. I still think it was better to find out before you
were married." Dawson snagged another cinnamon roll, this time taking a
single bite and chewing carefully. Ben hardly ever talked about what had
happened. Dawson worried Ben would keep it bottled up and turn bitter over the
betrayal, so when Ben felt the urge to talk, he listened. He knew it was the
best thing he could do for his roommate. Although, he did harbor the secret
wish to one day meet up with Javier so he could knock the bastard on his ass.
"I agree." Ben
sighed. "But the cancellations caused talk about our family and my parents
have always been very careful to keep their private and public lives separate.
We made news in some of the smaller publications and the tabloids hounded them
for weeks since I couldn't be found. I hid and left them to deal with the
fallout without explaining why. All they had to go on were Javier's lies."
Ben searched the dregs of
his coffee as if attempting to read something there. Dawson wanted to pull the
man into his arms and make him forget about those first couple of months. He
wanted to wipe Javier from Ben's mind, along with every other man Ben had
known, until all Ben could see was him.
"They understand
why."
Dawson recalled how Mr
Hamilton's bluster had dissipated when Ben, with a shuddering breath and an
embarrassed blush, explained to his father what had transpired the night he'd
disappeared. Dawson's opinion of the older man increased tenfold when he
snatched Ben up in a bear hug. Dawson's old man, fed up with his mother's drug
addiction, had left when Dawson was fourteen. His mother died of an overdose
not long after and Dawson had been placed in foster care when his father hadn't
been found and no other living relatives would take him in. Dawson's opinion of
family was slightly skewed.
"I know, but it
doesn't make me feel any less guilty for my actions." Ben gave a tiny
grin. "Although, you getting all of us rip-roaring drunk that day was
illuminating. I'd never seen my dad sloshed before. Once the alcohol had
loosened him up, it took both of us to hold him down to keep him from leaving
and searching out Javier."
Dawson chuckled into his
coffee cup. "Yeah, your old man swore he'd give the flighty bastard a good
ol' gentleman's one-two for messing with his family. I was stunned at some of
the cussing that came from a man so well dressed."
Ben released a genuine
hoot of laughter. "I'd never heard him cuss before. I thought I was going
to piss my pants I laughed so hard."
"Are you going to
dinner with them tonight? The invitation has been clipped to the refrigerator
for a couple of weeks."
Ben scratched the back of
his head and gave Dawson a sheepish glance. "About that, I wondered if you
would go with me?"
"Sure," Dawson
readily replied. "I can be your moral support and help you bail when you've
had enough."
He'd seen Ben in a suit
only once and the man had been fucking fine. Dawson had more than one fantasy
about deliberately stripping him out of the expensive garment with nothing but
his teeth.
Ben coughed into his
fist, his face turning pinkish as he tried to smile brightly. Dawson always
thought that Ben sucked at hiding his feelings.
"Yeah—friends—I'd
appreciate the company."
Before he could reply,
Ben had dumped the last of his coffee into the sink and walked through the
garage door. What was that all about?
Dawson washed his hands
in the sink and gulped the last of his coffee. Had Ben asked him on a real
date? His eyes slid closed with the dawning realization. It was possible he had
mucked up his only chance to have the relationship he'd been dreaming about
with Ben.
Dawson braced his hands
on the edge of the sink and hung his head, remembering how Ben's open
expression had slid off his face as he blushed. At the same time his heart
began to race at the knowledge that Ben had been asking for more. No, he wasn't
going to let Ben walk away now. The door had been open and Dawson was
determined to find a way through it.
Following his friend out
to the garage, Dawson watched Ben with a new awareness. He could see now how
Ben watched him out of the corner of his eye. The pulse in the column of Ben's
neck visibly jumped as Dawson drew closer to straddle his hog. He noted how his
friend's breathing sped up just enough that he wasn't quite panting. But
mostly, he noticed the erection straining against the crotch of Ben's jeans and
how the man tried to hide his arousal from Dawson.
Ben straddled his
motorcycle, wearing the leather jacket that Dawson had loaned him the first
time Ben had ridden on his bike. When he'd first loaned the coat to Ben, it had
practically swallowed the man. Not anymore. He liked how Ben filled out the
worn leather as the shoulders pulled tight over the man's new muscular frame.
Dawson felt a little possessive at the sight of Ben wearing his threads. Ben
pulled on his gloves then strapped on his helmet. They both started the bikes,
the loud rumble deafening in the garage.
Dawson followed Ben to
the tattoo shop, contemplating how to get his friend back on the subject of a
date. He'd always kept how he felt under wraps. But if Ben wanted more, then
Dawson would grab on to the sexy man and not let him go.
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