AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I did not sign on for bedroom duty. Totally not my job description. And no offense, but you are not my type.”
Simon grimaced. “That’s disgusting. Just get up here, okay?”
“Okay, Boss,” Hudson said, sounding dubious. “On my way.”
Simon disconnected the call and went back to looking at Ben. Sweet, beautiful,temptingBen. And it was so, so not right. Nothing about it was anywhere close to right.
“Who did you just call?” Ben asked, irritation lacing his voice. No wonder. Simon’s behavior had been beyond the pale. He still had no idea what had come over him.
“Hudson,” Simon said. He would come and sort everything out.
“But why?” Ben asked. The unhappy note in his tone became more noticeable.
Simon took a deep breath then confessed, “Because obviously, I can’t be trusted.”
He wasn’t at all prepared for Ben’s response. At first he just stared at Simon, his face a pale mask with darkness instead of eyes and a mouth in the low light of the room. Then he began to giggle, and then to outright laugh. A few times he sounded close to stopping, then he’d just start back up. He was still laughing when Hudson knocked on the door.
“Can I come in?”
“It’s open,” Simon called out, making his voice loud enough to be heard over Ben’s gasping laughter.
Hudson opened the door, letting a bright swath of light into the room. Simon had to squint against it.
“What the hell?” Hudson muttered. He flipped the switch on the wall, turning on the lamp beside Simon’s bed.
Ben, mercifully, stopped being hysterical and looked around the room in wonder. “Jesus,” he said softly, his hand petting the cashmere blanket that was folded across the bottom of the bed.
“Ben needs protecting,” Simon said.
Hudson looked between Ben and Simon. “Uh huh,” he deadpanned. “From what, exactly?”
“Fromme.”
“You?” Hudson looked bewildered. “Why?”
“I attacked Ben,” Simon replied stiffly.
Hudson swiveled his head toward Ben. “He looks just fine to me. You okay, kid?”
“This is the weirdest day ever,” Ben said, which wasn’t really an answer.
“That’s not an answer,” Hudson pressed. Obviously, he agreed with Simon on this, at least.
Ben flopped backward onto the bed. “I cannot believe this is my life.”
Hudson sighed deeply. “What the hell happened, Boss?”
Simon eyed Ben, wondering if he’d become hysterical again. “I’m not sure,” he confessed.
Still lying on his back, Ben said, “He made me breakfast and then I sketched him in my bedroom. Just his face. With all his clothes on. Then he said we should watch a movie and eat popcorn and candy for lunch. Then we watchedA Christmas Carol,which I really liked. We sort of… cuddled.”
“You… cuddled,” Hudson said, his voice deadpan. “You cuddled… Simon?” He turned back to Simon with an eyebrow raised.
“I… kissed him,” Simon confessed.
“On the top of my head,” Ben called out before Hudson could respond. He pulled himself back up into a sitting position. “It was actually pretty sweet. But then he got all weird, and I thought I’d done something wrong, and then I thought we were actually flirting, and I pretended to run away from him, but Simon caught me, which I thought was thepoint,but then he brought me in here and threw me on the bed, said I needed protecting from him, and he called you.”
Hudson scrubbed his face with his fingers. “Okay. I think I get the picture. Sorta. Ben, are you at all scared or uncomfortable?”
