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“Hey!” Seth protested. “I’ve mellowed in my old age. Just ask Cal.”
A snort of laughter came from the blond-haired man relaxing on one of the loungers, a laptop balanced on his knees. He waved cheerily in greeting. “Hey, Ben. Welcome to the madhouse. I’m the sane one amongst the bunch, so feel free to come and find me when they get too much.”
“How can you say you’re the sane one when you married Seth on the spur of the moment in Vegas?” Jamie asked. “You’re probably the least sane amongst us.”
“Ignore them, Ben,” Wil said, slipping an arm around Ben’s waist and pulling him in close before addressing the group. “Please don’t frighten him away. I like him, and I want him to stick around.”
Warmth slithered through Ben at Wil’s words, and he snuggled a little closer into Wil’s side.
“Oh. Like that, is it?” Seth asked, walking over to join them. “I think Ben and I need to get to know each other better.”
“Uncle Seth,” Wil growled, tightening his grip on Ben’s waist, and it was all Ben could do not to laugh at the horrified look on Seth’s face.
Seth pointed a long finger at Wil. “Don’t call me that!”
“You started it,” Wil shot back. “Ben and I are newly dating. Yes, we think there is the possibility of it being a long-term thing. We don’t need you doing the whole ‘hurt him and we hurt you’ speech, okay?”
“Babe, come and sit down, so we can all get to know Ben,” Cal called out to his husband.
With a huff, Seth stomped over and dropped onto the lounger where Cal was. Cal put his laptop to the side, allowing Seth to lean back against his chest.
“Ben, what can I get you to drink?” Kellet asked. “We’ve got just about everything, including a nice IPA from a local micro brewery.”
“Beer sounds nice, thank you.”
“Make yourself at home. I’ll order the pizza while I’m at it.” Kellet looked around the group. “The usual for everyone?”
“Can you get mine with only half mushrooms please, Dad? Ben doesn’t like them.”
“That’s okay. I can just pick them off,” Ben protested. He liked that Wil had remembered his aversion to mushrooms, but didn’t want to make it an issue.
“It’s just as easy to take them off the order,” Wil reassured him as he guided him to a vacant chair.
“Thank you,” Ben said quietly, and to his surprise, Wil planted a quick kiss on his lips before settling into his own seat.
“No problem.”
“So, how did you two meet?” Seth asked.
Ben glanced at Wil, who grinned back at him.
“We met at a frat party the weekend before midterms,” Wil replied.
Seth’s keen gaze flicked between them, and Ben tried not to squirm under the scrutiny.
“I feel there’s more to it than that, but we’ll let it go for now,” Seth said.
“Seth, you aren’t tormenting Wil’s boyfriend, are you?”
The fresh voice had Ben turning in his seat as an older man who could only be described as a silver fox strode towards them.
“No Miles, I’m not,” Seth sighed.
Ben watched as Miles leaned over and kissed Liam. He said something too low to be heard that had the bass guitarist blushing faintly, before he nodded. Liam looked over and caught Ben’s gaze.
“Ben, this is my partner and also our manager, Miles Cartwright.”
Ben stood and stretched out his hand in greeting. “Hi Mr. Carwright. A pleasure to meet you.”
