“Come in.” Josiah stepped out of the way.
They sat in the living room, on opposite couches. Josiah couldn’t help but take in the sight of him—blond hair, smart eyes, a body that said he spent as much time as Tristan did keeping in shape. His suit hugged him the same way Tristan’s did. They looked like a match, the two of them. Like they belonged in each other’s worlds in a way Josiah feared he would never belong in Tristan’s.
It was those thoughts that kept him quiet. He had no idea why the other man didn’t speak. Josiah excused himself upstairs, though he didn’t really have anything to do there. He waited a few minutes before coming down again, only to have silence between them again. It was minutes later before spoke.
“Have you and Tristan known each other long?” Josiah asked.
Ben leaned back on the couch, all confidence, and yeah, he was gorgeous and he obviously knew it. “Since college. We were in law school together, too.”
He wasn’t sure why that surprised him. Maybe because he’d been living with Tristan for almost three and a half years, yet he’d never met one of Tristan’s friends. He was like this fortress that nobody could penetrate. No one completely made it past his walls, yet Tristan had been friends with this man for years. In Josiah’s mind, that was huge.
“Never mentioned me, did he?” Ben laughed it off. “The bastard. I’m not surprised. The only time he talks to me is before dawn. The man sleeps less than anyone I know.”
Jealousy bled through him that Ben knew these things about Tristan. Knew his sleeping patterns. He couldn’t help the challenge that seeped into his tone. “Yeah, he’s out of bed before me every morning, though I think it’s getting better.”
Ben cocked a brow at him. “You don’t have to try and stake your claim. I know you’re sleeping with him.”
There was a part of Josiah who liked hearing that. His storm calmed, because Tristan told Ben that they were together. If there wasn’t more between them, he wouldn’t have shared it. But to Ben, they were just sleeping together. In the grand scheme of things, that meant nothing. Sex was sex, and Tristan had had it a lot and none of those men were still around.
But Ben was.
“You want something to drink?” Josiah stood.
“No thanks.” Ben pushed to his feet as well and walked over to the large window on the far wall. He ran a finger over Tristan’s elliptical as he went and snickered.
Josiah went to the kitchen and grabbed himself some water before lingering there a few minutes. When he made it back to the living room, Ben spoke again. “I have to admit, I’ve been curious about you.”
“Why?” Josiah crossed his arms. “You know more about me than I do you.”
“And you’ve lived with Tristan for three years.” His voice was lower than before. Before Josiah could reply, the front door opened and Tristan walked in, obviously having left work as soon as they’d gotten off the phone.
“I’m going to kick your ass, Ben.” Tristan strode across the room and Ben smiled.
“No, you won’t. You’re secretly happy to see me, even though you’ll never admit it. Don’t you realize I know how you work by now? You’ll tell me not to come but be glad that I did.” Ben opened his arms in invitation for an embrace.
The familiarity between them burned a hole through Josiah’s gut.
“You think too highly of yourself, and you think you know more than you do.” There was a slight edge to Tristan’s voice, but he still briefly returned Ben’s hug. Tristan pulled away and glanced over at Josiah. “I assume you two have met?”
“Yes,” Josiah said at the same time Ben said, “I feel like I knew him already.”
Tristan’s eyes jerked away from Josiah. “Ben.”
Josiah wondered if Ben heard the warning in his voice. Wondered why Tristan felt he needed to use it. His first question was answered when Ben raised his hands in the air as if surrendering. “I get it, I get it. I’ll be good. I promise.” Laughing, he winked at Josiah. Tristan groaned.
There was an ease between them Josiah had never seen Tristan have with anyone else. Ben came at Tristan in a way no one else did. In a way he never could.
A couple hours later, the three of them sat around the kitchen table eating Thai that Tristan had ordered. Josiah hardly spoke, and though Tristan didn’t start many conversations, he always had a reply for whatever Ben said. And Ben talked enough for both of them. College, law school, study sessions. He had so many memories with Tristan. And they’d slept together, too. Ben alluded to that more than once, though Tristan ended the conversation each time.