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“Thanks,” Wil said quietly, his hand falling away, and Ben immediately missed his touch.
“Anytime,” Ben replied, loosening his grip on Wil so he could step away.
Two
Wil reluctantly moved away from Ben, his fingers trailing down Ben’s arm before squeezing his fingers. Ben gave him a shy smile and squeezed back. Liquid brown eyes looked up at him through some of the thickest, longest lashes Wil had ever seen, and he fleetingly wondered if they were real or fake.
They both seemed at a loss for what to say or do next. Wil’s first thought when he’d seen Ben walk into the room had been, ‘wow!’. Ben was about three inches shorter than his six feet and had a lithe dancer’s body. He had what Wil could only describe as a mop of dark brown, almost black curls that framed his face. He reminded Wil of the actor from the Swedish royalty drama that was hugely popular.
“Do you—”
“Are you—”
They both spoke at once, simultaneously laughing and breaking off.
“You go first,” Ben said with a wave of his hand.
“I was going to ask if you maybe wanted to grab a drink or something?” Wil felt uncharacteristically shy. Usually, he was confident in asking someone out, but this felt odd, like the earth’s axis had tilted, throwing him off balance.
“Normally, a guy buys me a drink before he kisses me,” Ben said with a grin. “I was going to ask if you were going back to your game, but sure, yeah. I’d love a drink.”
Excitement skittled through Wil at Ben’s words, and he gave him a grin of his own. “I’d much rather get to know you.”
He glanced over his shoulder to find his friend Chris watching them, the rest of the group disbanding to find their own drinks and other entertainment.
“Hey, Chris. I’ll catch up with you later in the week. Thanks for the invite tonight,” Wil called to him.
“Sure. No problem, man.” Chris gave them a wave before heading towards the kitchen.
Shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, Wil returned his attention to Ben. “Do you want to stay here, or go somewhere else?”
Ben pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the time. “I don’t think there’s anything open this time of night unless you want to go off campus to the all-night diner?”
“Nah. I’ve had a couple of beers, so I don’t want to drive. My dorm isn’t far from here, but I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you into anything just ‘cos we’ve kissed. I mean, I’m only offering a drink and somewhere quiet to chat. I… um—” Wil stalled. Damn it, he was acting like a high school freshman asking his crush out.
Ben snorted a laugh and laid a hand on Wil’s arm. “You’re okay. I get it.” He waved towards the back of the frat house. “I just need to find my roommate and tell him I’m leaving and who I’m with.”
Wil nodded and indicated to Ben to lead the way. After a few minutes of searching, Ben sighed and turned to Wil.
“I can’t see him.”
Wil hoped his disappointment didn’t show. He wanted to get to know Ben. Yes, they could arrange to meet up tomorrow, but Wil didn’t want this to end. He felt a connection to Ben that he hadn’t had before with anyone else.
Once again, Ben pulled his phone out and stared at it, chewing on his lip, clearly indecisive. Wil decided to give him an out.
“Hey, look. It’s cool if you want to take a raincheck. We can meet up another time. Like I said before, no pressure.”
Ben looked up at him, searching his face. Wil wasn’t sure what for, but he hoped he was coming over as honest and sincere.
“No. I’d like to chat a bit more tonight. Let me just message Emory. Would you be okay with us taking a selfie and me giving him your dorm name?”
“I’m good with that,” Wil assured him. He moved next to Ben, dropping his arm across his narrow shoulders. He noticed how well they fit together as Ben lifted his phone to snap their picture.
“Smile,” Ben said, and Wil grinned as the camera flashed.
Ben inspected the picture before nodding. “That’s actually quite a good one.” He flashed the screen to Wil.
“Send me a copy of it too?” Wil asked.
