Page 134 of The Bartender Special

After that, he'd shaken the comment off and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Who cared what Carol the Destroyer of Worlds Robertson said?

Everyone had already caught wind of how the town hadn’t cared about her attempt at a separate party.

They’d chosen Cassidy’s Place.

They’d chosen Benny.

She was just pissed.

Jack wished he’d been as firm in his stance in the light of the next morning. But his curiosity had finally needled through his resolve.

Jack had finally, finally read the post everyone seemed to have loved the most about Guy.

About Benny being in love with Guy.

And Jack had hated it.

Just as much as he hated that Carol had goaded him into reading it.

She'd poisoned him with the truth.

And there was no cure for the fucking truth.

Jack wasn't Guy. He'd just been the bartender who had used a man's secret to his advantage. Sure, they had gotten closer—real close—but the one thing they hadn’t done?

Talked about them.

About what they meant to each other.

About what happened after the festival.

About the future.

About…Marcus Golden Boy Robertson.

Being attracted to Marcus wasn’t the same as Benny being in love with him.

After the short-but-sweet blog post?

Well, Jack knew Benny enough to understand that that meant something.

That he might not have told Marcus about his being Guy, but Benny also hadn’t told Jack what Jack meant to him either.

Jack also hadn’t asked.

Maybe that was why he’d read the post, led to dirty water to drink by Carol. Part of Jack knew Benny couldn’t be with him. Wouldn’t be with him.

Not the way he would have been with Guy.

Jack had closed the browser on his laptop, a flash of The One Who Said Nothing the last thing he saw before he got up and dressed.

Could he even be upset?

Benny and he had made a deal—an agreement—and they’d kept it so far. They’d just made it a bit spicier along the way. A little more interesting than faking it only in public.

And they’d never addressed the extra things.