Page 72 of Beni

Beni cleared his throat at the sound of his twin’s voice greeting him first thing in the morning. The hard-on he had been sporting was gone in an instant, and he blinked away what sleepiness remained in his vision so that he could focus on the call.

“Yeah, getting up and around.”

Bene huh’d under his breath before saying, “Thought I should call, you know.”

“Oh, did you?”

Because it had been … a while.

A fight or argument was certainly not the first thing Beni wanted to have with his brother after going a week without speaking. In fact, he couldn’t remember another time when they had gone this long without speaking or seeing one another.

It felt strange.

“Was thinking we should talk,” Bene said.

“All right, so talk.”

“Can’t even ease me into it, huh?”

“What’s the point in that?”

Bene sighed, the air crackling through the speakers. He gave his brother the second he needed to gather his thoughts, and at the same time, glanced at the empty space next to him in the bed. August’s blankets had been tossed to the side, and her pillow was left with nothing more than the indent of where her head had been laying.

You know, when it wasn’t on his chest.

He liked being her pillow better.

“I just … are you making a trip home anytime soon?” Bene asked.

“Hard to say. I’ve got shit going on here, you know that.”

“Right, right. Uh, you know me leaving wasn’t really about you, don’t you?”

“I don’t know fuck all, Bene.” He shifted in the bed, raising up so that his back laid against the plush headboard, and he could stare at the empty doorway a few feet away from the foot of the bed. Where had August gone to, anyway? It wasn’t like the hotel room was that big, unless she had jumped in the shower again right after waking up. But why bother when they’d had one the night before? He shook off those thoughts and went back to the conversation with his brother for the moment. “All I know is that it kind of felt like you went behind my back to talk to Dad about going home, and then when I found out, you had the nerve to be pissed off at me when I said you should have told me. And then you got in a whole fucking mood about August like—”

“It wasn’t her. It was—”

“You acted like a full-on asshole.”

“Jesus Christ, would you let me speak?”

“Doesn’t negate the fact you were a prick. I like this girl, Bene. A lot, okay? And if I get my way, she’s going to be around for a while. So, whatever your fucking issue is with that, I need you to get over it.”

“Listen, I—”

“Everything okay?”

Beni’s attention had drifted away from the doorway to focus on the red detailing of the comforter covering the bed, thus missing August coming to stand there. His grin stretched his cheeks as his gaze landed on her, and despite the worry in her stare, she still smiled back.

“Just a minute, yeah?” he asked.

August nodded. “Sure.”

On the phone, however, his brother had gone silent.

“Bene?”

“You’re busy, huh?” Bene muttered.