Page 106 of The Bartender Special

At least, not when it came to anything other than the tampon prices.

“Once Missy Robertson put her stamp of approval on this party, we were guaranteed almost all of Arbor Bay. Then Benny said he’d also talk it up, so I’m sure that’ll pull in whoever Missy’s mouth missed. Which means it should be a killer party if we do it right. Even Mom and Dad are so excited that they're going to help us and Santana run things. Lucy was even talking about catching a flight here just for fun.”

He was right.

And that made Jack’s barely-there nerves…a little more there.

That wasn’t even adding in what had happened with Benny the night before.

Jack had gone to his house out of guilt afterwards.

He’d been trying to get Benny to relax. To let go. To worry less.

But what he’d done with the gel?

Well, to say he hadn’t gotten something good out of it too would be a lie.

Jack, his gel, and Benny’s candlestick.

In the damn bedroom.

But, what his candlestick wanted aside, being physical with Benny had also seemed the only answer, the only way to show Benny that he…cared.

The second Benny had reacted to that care?

Was the second Jack had lost his composure.

It wasn’t until he’d woken up that morning, Benny fast asleep in his arms, that Jack had remembered their deal.

So, like any normal fake-boyfriend would do after performing a dual hand job before becoming the big spoon, Jack fled the scene.

Then, when Benny didn’t reach out to him later?

Well, he wasn’t going to be the one who did it first.

Just because biology had taken over control the night before, didn’t mean it needed a repeat. In fact, if Benny didn’t want to talk about it, then Jack wasn’t going to either.

He’d made his point after all.

If Benny didn’t believe he was over Felicity, then there was nothing else he could do.

Just like there was nothing he could do about Marcus Robertson.

Anger trickled into his chest at the thought of Golden Boy. Not at the man himself, but at the fact that he made Jack jealous.

Because that’s what he had felt on the boat.

Jealousy.

Every time Benny had laughed at his jokes, talked to him a little too long, or when he’d gotten his answer during Carol’s stupid little game. It was a nasty, crawling feeling, and Jack hated he couldn’t stop it.

So, maybe he hadn’t just gone to Benny because he thought he needed reassurance.

Maybe it had been him looking for a sign that he was the choice.

Not Guy.

But it hadn’t mattered in the long run.