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Ben turned back to her. “Lucky?”
“Neezer is always an option,” Simon pointed out.
It was awful to think of being called either Scrooge or Neezer, but the idea also pleased a small part of Ben. Being laughed at was awful but being laughed with was kind of wonderful.
“Hi, Maggie. I’m Ben Miller. Please call me Ben. Not any of those other things. It’s… uh… nice to meet you.” The awkward was back, but Ben tried to just go with it.
“It’s nice to meet you, too. How is your arm feeling?” She gestured to the arm that was held in a sling that hung around his neck.
“Um… it hurts, but less than it did yesterday.”
“That’s good.” She smiled, but it was strained.
“Ben,” Simon said from behind him. “What my mother is thinking but not saying is that she’s sorry and also embarrassed that she violated my privacy, and yours, because she’d lost her temper. If it helps, she doesn’t lose it often. Mother, what Ben is thinking but not saying is that he wishes the floor would swallow him up whole and he could disappear from this conversation. But I’m fairly sure he doesn’t hold grudges so I think him forgiving you is probably a foregone conclusion. How does that sound?”
That was painfully accurate. Ben nodded his head and saw Maggie did the same.
“Great,” Simon said. “I’m going to take Ben upstairs and get him situated. I don’t think we’ll come down to dinner tonight. We can fend for ourselves tonight.”
Maggie smiled and it didn’t seem forced to Ben. “Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She turned back to her Christmas minions and started barking out orders that they scurried to obey.
“Let’s go,” Simon said, “before I get drafted to help.”
Once out of the living room and up the first flight of stairs, Ben felt a lot lighter. He let out a sigh of relief.
“See, you survived,” Simon said.
“Barely,” Ben muttered.
“Believe me when I say that she was on her best behavior tonight. She wants you to like her, Ben.”
That baffled him. “Why?”
Simon opened up the door to his bedroom and ushered Ben inside. Ben didn’t miss how he locked the door behind them. “Because I like you,” Simon said. “And she wasn’t angry at you. She was mad at me because I first surprised her, then made her look foolish in front of her frenemies, and neglected for several decades to tell her I’m gay.”
Ben sat on the side of Simon’s bed. “Are you gay now?”
Simon laughed. “I have no idea what I am. I’m not sure it matters, but it seems to matter to her a lot.” He shrugged. “She can tell her friends she has a gay son if it makes her happy, but the truth is it’s you. Just you. No one at all but you.”
Ben’s pulse pounded so hard he could practically hear it. He’d had men attracted to him before but there was something in Simon’s single-minded desire for Ben that went right to his cock. There was something irresistibly hot about having a man like Simon intent only on him.
Simon laid his hand on the bulge that had grown in Ben’s jeans. “I want to make you feel good,” Simon said, stroking Ben’s hardening cock. “Will you let me?”
What a crazy question. “God, yeah.” Always.
“I’ll be careful,” Simon promised.
“Not too careful,” Ben said hopefully.
Simon leaned down to kiss him. He cradled Ben’s face in his hands, which unfortunately left his cock aching for touch, and then destroyed Ben’s mouth in the very best possible way. It was the most gentle and simultaneously suave kiss Ben had ever experienced. He completely forgot what they’d been talking about. When Simon pulled back, Ben whimpered at the loss.
“We need to get you undressed,” Simon said.
Ben forgave his desertion instantly. “Okay, yeah. Let’s do that. Now, please.”
“So polite. So sweet. I want you, Ben.”
“I want you, too,” he said, fumbling one-handed with the button on his jeans.
