I grinned, triumphant at gettingthatpiece of information out of him.“Well, there you go. If you had a TV, you could watch theHistory Channel.”
He muttered a curse under his breath before adding,“I work too much tojustsit and watch TV.”
My smirk widened.“You know what they say.‘All work and no play makes Ben a dull boy.’”
“I’m sure it’s Jack,”he corrected.“It makes Jack a dull boy.”
I chuckled at the grump, earning a scowl.“Okay, fine. What do you do for funthen?”
His features turned serious, his gaze fixing on the beer bottle label.“Fun? I don’t think I’ve ever had fun.”
The pang of longing in his voice hit me in the chest, my curiosity about his past growing exponentially.“Notevenas a kid?”
He took a long swig of his beer before he answered.“No.”He paused, and I thoughtthatwould be the end of the conversation before he sucked in a deep breath.“I spent my entire childhood bouncing from kids‘ home to kids’ home. They weren’t exactly fun places.”
Words lodged in my throat, but I forced them out.“Dude. I’m…I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
He shrugged. “It’s fine.”
Bitterness laced his tone, making me hesitate before I asked my next question.“What happened to your parents?”His scowl deepened as a flash of anger passed through his eyes.“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,”I quickly added.
Ben guzzled more of his beer before he leaned forward, his eyes once again fixed on the bottle as if he could see his memories reflecting in the glass.“I was two when my mom dumped me outside a fire station in a bassinet with a note telling whoever found me what my name was, andthatshe was sorry. As for my father, you’re guess is as good as mine.”
Jeez.Thatwas fucked up. No wonder he hated the world. What a thing to happen to you by the one person you should be able to rely on in your life.
His shoulders hunched as he sucked in a deep breath.“I was toldthatthe authorities couldn’t find a record of me being born. They concluded my mom hadn’t registered my birth. For two years, I existed, and no one knew.”He took another mouthful of beer, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.“I stayed in group homes until I was eighteen. Not one person wanted to adopt me.”
The agony in his voice was unmistakable, and before I could think better of it, I shifted forward to rest a hand on the middle of his back. He didn’t tell me to fuck off, so I tookthatas a good sign.
“Ben, I…I don’t know what to say. I can’tevenimagine what it was like for you.”
My childhood flicked through my head like a movie. We may not have had a lot of money, but I had my mom and dad, and the twins when they came along. The thought of not having them in my life was like a dagger to my heart.
“I don’t think I’ve ever admitted it out loud, but…”he trailed off as if he was struggling to find the words.“It was fucking awful.”
He fell quiet, and not knowing what to say, I rubbed soothing circles on his back. We sat in silence for a few minutes, and while I had a ton of questions, I waited for him to continue. When he didn’t, curiosity got the better of me.
“What happened when you left the home? How did you go fromthatto where you are now?”
Ben sat back to look at me, my hand dropping to restjustabove his ass. His shirt had ridden up, and my fingers found the warm skin of his lower back where I continued to rub circles.
“I worked my ass off at school. Got top results and won a college scholarship. That’s where I met Jake, and it went from there.”
I’d never met Jake Morley, but from everything my dad had said about the other business partner of Morley and McScroodge Properties, I didn’t think I would have liked himverymuch. Dad didn’t. He’d always found Ben tolerable, but I’d often overheard Dad telling my mom how Jake was always making crude comments, particularly about women tenants, Bella included.
She’d told methatabout a week after moving into the apartment she rented from Jake and Ben, Jake had turned up on her doorstep to check everything was okay, and had propositioned her, telling herthatshe could have a free month if she spread her legs for him.
But I wanted to know what Ben thought of him. How he could have been friends with someonethatvile for as long as he had.“What was Jake like?”
He swallowed another mouthful of beer, and I copied him.“He was an asshole.”
Wide-eyed, I stared at him.“Wasn’t he your friend?”
“I thought he was, but now, I’m not so sure.”His sorrowful eyes met mine, and the overwhelming urge to wrap my arms around him and hold him against me flowed through my veins.“I owe everything to Jake. If it wasn’t for him, I would never have been able to start my own business. I was the brains, he was the money. But truthfully? I put up with so much shit from him, and there were days when I genuinely hated him.”
My brows furrowed.“Why did you put up with him for so long?”
Ben’s gaze met mine, a world of hurt held in his dark eyes.“Because he was the only person I had in my life and I didn’t want to lose him.”He looked away, and when he spoke again, it was barely audible, as if he was speaking to himself.“I didn’t want to lose him, but keeping him in my life meant I lost myself.”His gaze met mine again.“He once told methatif he ever discoveredthatI preferred cock over pussy, he’d have to re-evaluate our friendship.”
