Spice by Lilah Suzanne

Author:Lilah Suzanne
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Interlude Press
Published: 2015-03-30T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

To: Simon Beck

From: Andrew Klaff

Subject: Please do not delete!

Simon, I know you don’t owe me anything or want to hear from me, but I needed to reach out to you and apologize. What I did and how I treated you was inexcusable, and I’m sorry. I’m figuring some stuff out, working on myself. I’d love to have lunch and clear the air.

-Andrew

Simon dumps Peggy from his lap and brushes stray black hairs from his shirt. Benji is stretched out on the couch, reading something on his iPad. His phone is chirping with text after text that he’s completely ignoring save for a tick in his jaw every time it vibrates with a new message.

“You’ll never guess who e-mailed me, I can’t—” Benji’s phone buzzes and buzzes and chimes. Simon nods at it. “Are you gonna get those?”

“It’s just Brandon being a jackass.” Benji swipes at the screen, concentrates instead on whatever he’s reading.

“I take it he read the article, then?” Simon props himself on the edge of the couch by Benji’s feet. He knows it’s less that Benji worries about being judged and more that he’s just a private person. And, of course, Brandon knows exactly what buttons to push.

“Yeah.” Benji says, without any further explanation.

“Well, you could ask him why he’s reading a women’s magazine in the first place,” Simon offers.

Benji swipes again, swipe, swipe. “He claims he’s learning to decode the mysteries of females.”

“Ah,” Simon says. “Has he tried maybe treating them like actual people?”

Benji huffs and finally looks up, his forehead still crinkled in irritation. The phone finally stops buzzing and he offers Simon a wry half-smile. “He is kind of an idiot, isn’t he?”

“Mmm. A lovable one, but yes.” Simon squeezes at his ankle. “Ignoring him is smart.”

“Yeah.” Benji sighs, looks back at the screen in his lap, then quickly back up again. “Oh, hey. You said someone e-mailed you?”

“Oh! Yes. Oh my God. Andrew. Can you believe it?” Simon whacks at his leg and laughs, but something dark flickers across Benji’s expression. His jaw knots, mouth pulling flat.

“And you deleted it after you told him to leave you alone right?”

“I didn’t reply yet. But get this, he apologized.” Simon lifts his hands, palms up. “He seemed genuine, which is quite a feat for Andrew.”

Benji flinches a little. “The guy’s full of it.”

Simon doesn’t deny it. “He wants to have lunch.”

Benji jabs angrily at his screen and doesn’t answer until his phone chirps again. He flips the iPad off his lap, stands and snatches up his phone. It buzzes in his hand.

“I don’t want to do the articles anymore.”

“What?” Simon stands, too. “Because of Brandon? Who cares what he says. Come on.”

“No.” Benji looks away, breathes sharp through his nose. “Because I just don’t want to, okay?”

Last week, Benji was fine with it, if a little wary, but Simon thought they were in a good place. They trust each other. Or at least he thought so.

“Because of Andrew,” Simon says flatly, arms crossed over his chest.

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