Page 13 of When Ben Loved Jace (He Loved Him #2)

Karen rolls her eyes in response, although I detect grudging respect. By the time we leave, Jace has them all thoroughly charmed.

“He’s gorgeous!” my mom whispers discreetly.

“Jace seems like a fine upstanding gentleman to me,” my dad says with a nod of approval.

“You could do worse,” Karen weighs in.

Coming from her, that’s high praise indeed.

All of this, of course, makes me love him more.

I’m not saying I’m in love with Jace, but only because some ridiculous part of me demands restraint.

It doesn’t help that the last guy I felt that way about never said it back.

Besides, there are other ways of expressing how much I like him, which I passionately employ once we’re alone in his trailer.

It’s a good night. I just wish it could have continued the next day.

When I wake up, I’m alone. Mostly. A purring cat is sitting next to my pillow while staring at me. I rub his head affectionately before getting up and discover a note on the kitchenette counter.

Good morning, Ben! Please feed Samson when you wake up. And yourself. If you need anything, just let Greg know. -J

He doodled a cat next to his words, which is little more than a smiley face with pointed ears and whiskers.

Very basic. That’s fine with me. I’d be traumatized if Jace revealed a secret talent at this point.

I open a can of wet food for Samson, the fishy smell making my eyes water.

Then I pour myself a bowl of cereal before checking the fridge.

No milk. The coffee pot is empty too. I could stop by my parents’ house again on the way out of town, or make the three-hour drive home on an empty stomach. Or…

I move one of the curtains aside to check on the house across the yard, which looks especially luxurious at the moment.

Of all the charming features in the trailer, the shower stall and toilet combination is not among them.

I get dressed in yesterday’s clothing and hurry across frozen ground to knock on the back door.

I’m wondering if I should circle around to the front and ring the bell when it finally swings open.

“Ben! My man! What can I do for you?”

I stare, because Greg is wearing nothing but tight boxer briefs. He’s got the beefy sort of body that I was obsessed with in my youth, all curved muscles and bulging… well, everything really. I quickly look elsewhere.

“Do you happen to have some milk? Jace is out.”

“Sure! Come on in.”

I let my eyes wander again while following him to the kitchen. He’s got an amazing ass. Way above standard. As for my own cheeks, they burn as I watch him dig around in the fridge to pull out a gallon of milk.

“How about some coffee?” he asks when spinning around.

I avert my gaze. “You’re a lifesaver!”

“Jace is always out of everything,” Greg says, potentially nodding in understanding. I have no idea because I’m studying his bare feet, but not in a pervy way. I’ve always been more into hands. “When you’re gone for most of the week, stuff tends to go bad.”

He takes a mug off a high shelf, his back muscles flexing before my eyes dart away again. “Want any sugar?” he offers. “Or some cream?”

“No thanks,” I say, studying the sink faucet.

I listen to him pour. When he hands the mug to me, I have to cast around before I manage to grab it, because just beyond it would be those tight briefs, and I’m dying to look again. So I won’t.

“How’d you sleep last night?” Greg asks. “Or did you? I could swear I saw the trailer rocking.”

“Ha ha,” I reply before focusing on the coffee.

“I’m guessing you wanted the milk for cereal, but I can offer you something way more substantial. If you’re interested. ”

“Cereal is fine,” I reply, my pulse racing.

“You feeling all right?”

I nod rapidly. “Mm-hm!”

“I’m up here,” he says, bending over to catch my gaze. When he straightens up, my eyes travel with his. “I’m used to Jace staring at me. I don’t mind. It’s flattering. Take a good look.”

The invitation is impossible to resist. He must work out. No way is all that muscle natural! My gaze travels across his pecs and then down to his stomach, where a thin trail of hairs leads from his belly button down to his—

“Wanna see the rest?” Greg asks, hooking his thumbs in the elastic waistband of his briefs.

“No!” I turn and grab the gallon of milk, coffee sloshing out of the mug in my haste to reach the back door. “I’ve got everything I need. Thanks!”

“Wait wait wait!” His feet slap the floor in rapid succession to reach me. “Ben! Let me explain.”

“I’ve gotta go!” I say, but despite having reached the door, my hands aren’t free to turn the knob.

“It was a test!” Greg says from behind me. “And you passed!”

My panic slowly subsides as I turn around. “A test?”

“Yeah,” he says with a grin that is friendly, but not seductive.

My brow furrows up. “Jace put you up to this?”

“No! Oh my god, dude. He would kill me if he found out!”

“I won’t keep a secret from him.”

“Good!” Greg holds up his palms in surrender. “Just let me explain. Okay? I’ll make you breakfast.”

That does sound nice. And I am curious. “Put something on first.”

“You’ve got it.”

Greg retreats deeper into the house. I grab a paper towel and wipe up the spilled coffee. By the time he returns in a rumpled T-shirt and torn shorts, I’ve already got it figured out. Only a best friend would attempt something so ridiculous.

“You like scrambled eggs?” he asks.

“Sure!”

“Coming right up.” Greg moves to the fridge. Then the stove. “I don’t do that to every guy Jace brings home—”

“Have there been that many?” I interrupt.

“Nah. Hardly any at all. And I don’t blame anyone for looking. There’s no harm in that. At least I don’t think so. What about you?”

“It’s only natural.”

“Exactly. But this one guy put the moves on me. I figured maybe he was flirting just for fun. I like to do that myself on occasion.”

“I noticed.”

“Heh. This guy didn’t let up though, so I asked if he was serious, and the dude offered to blow me. I didn’t hook up with him of course, but you bet your ass that I told Jace.”

“Rightly so!”

The toaster pops, and soon enough, a plate with steaming eggs and two triangles of browned bread are placed before me, followed shortly by a fork and a bottle of hot sauce. Greg sits down on the other side of the table with transparent need on his face. I’m just not sure why.

“Dig in,” he says.

I do so and chew thoughtfully. “Is there something about me that made you think I was that kind of guy?”

“Not at all,” he assures me. “You seem cool to me, but here’s the thing: Jace is getting really serious about you, and that makes me nervous, because I don’t want to hurt him again.” He shakes his head. “I mean, I don’t want to see him get hurt. Shit. That was a Freudian slip.”

“How did you hurt him?” I ask after taking another bite.

Greg sighs. “It was back when I was young and dumb. I had no idea about Jace. Completely clueless, but you know how it was in those days. Gay people weren’t on TV or anything like they are now.

The most I had to go by were mean jokes and stereotypes, which he heard plenty of from me.

I said some terrible things. Like how gay people should all be shipped off to some island in the middle of nowhere. ”

“Why?”

“Young and dumb,” he repeats.

“No, I mean, why an island?”

He chuckles. “Who knows? Probably because I thought it made me sound macho. I didn’t need a reason to hate back then.

I was too drunk on all the power I’d come into when going through puberty.

Testosterone is a trip. So there I was, saying all kinds of stupid shit, not realizing that my lifelong best friend was thinking about killing himself.

I didn’t find out about his suicide attempt until later, but that’s no excuse. ”

“When did he come out to you?”

Greg withers. “That wasn’t my proudest moment either.

We were hanging out with Victor in the woods, chilling around the campfire.

That’s the first time I met him. Victor was kind of a legend in our school for taking on one of the absolute worst teachers.

I was eager to impress him, beating my chest and talking smack, which included badmouthing gay people.

Victor called me on it. He didn’t yell or anything.

He just challenged my preconceived notions.

‘What if someone you knew was gay? Someone you love. Would you still feel the same way?’ I stood my ground, like an idiot.

That’s when I noticed the look on Jace’s face.

Like one of his cats had died or something. ”

Greg grimaces. “I hurt him. I fucking hate it, but I did. Jace went running off through the woods. I managed to catch up with him and—” His voice strangles to a halt.

Greg meets my eye again, his gaze intense.

“That was the last time. For me, anyway. I swore to never hurt him again, and to never let him get hurt but…” He shakes his head. “Some things you just can’t control.”

“Victor?” I hazard.

Greg looks up in surprise. “He told you about that?”

“The breakup? Yeah.”

“And the other stuff?” He motions with his hand, like he wants me to keep going.

What else is there to tell? He doesn’t need me to explain that Jace left for college and ended up here. That’s the happy ending.

He sees my blank expression, his becoming guarded. “You know how life can be,” Greg says casually. “You get hurt sometimes. When it happens to him, I fucking hate it. So I’m glad you managed to resist my hot bod.”

“I don’t know how anyone can,” I say teasingly. “It’s not a fair test. Speaking of which, when are you and Michelle finally going to get together?”

“Michelle?” Greg splutters. “Michelle who?”

I tilt my head. “Oh please…”

He winces. “You can’t tell Jace! I’m not really asking you to keep something from him because there’s nothing to talk about. Michelle and I have never even kissed. I don’t think she’s interested. ”

“Are you blind? She totally is!”

He perks up. “You really think so?”

“I guarantee it! So what’s the problem?”

“Like I said, I don’t want to hurt him. He’ll think it’s weird.”

“No he won’t.”

“I’ve dropped a few hints, making jokes about how I could marry into the family, and trust me, Jace doesn’t like the idea. Do you have a sister?”

“Yes.”

“How would you feel if your best friend started dating her?”

Shocked, because Allison is just as boy-crazy as me. But if she wasn’t and started dating Karen—I have to admit that it would be weird.

“See?” he says while studying me. “And just think what a mess it would make if we had a bad breakup. My parents live right next door to his and are friends with them. They get together on holidays sometimes. It would be so awkward. But uh… Is your sister hot?”

I laugh humorlessly. “She’d eat you alive.”

We continue talking as I finish eating. Greg is a good guy. I really like him. That he cares so deeply about Jace is endearing. But no amount of playful banter will make me forget what he accidentally let slip. There’s more to Victor’s story than I’ve been told.