“Well, not for work. But yes, my work has its perks, definitely. It has allowed me to do a lot of traveling.”
They stood in the lobby, waiting for the elevator.
“You could meet us in Australia,” he said to Tori.
She laughed. “Unfortunately, after the holidays I have to go back to work.”
“Yeah, we all know about work,” Ben said with a wry grin.
“I’m going to head upstairs to shower,” Alex said as they stepped into the elevator.
“I’m going to do the same,” Victoria said. “Catch up with both of you later?”
Ben nodded. “We’ll call you.”
They got out and went to their separate rooms.
Once back in the suite, Alex told Ben he was going into his room to shower. Ben waved him off, saying he had a call to make.
Alex went into the bathroom and turned on the shower, then stepped in under the hot spray.
It had been a really good day. Until they’d started talking about what came after this.
He didn’t want to leave Tori. He knew she had a successful career. So did he. So did Ben.
So what the hell were they going to do about that?
When he got out of the shower, Ben was in his room.
“Need something?” Alex asked.
“Yeah. I want to talk to you. About Victoria.”
“Okay.” He grabbed a clean pair of board shorts and slipped them on. “What about her?”
“I need to know if what I’m feeling for her is just me. Or if it’s both of us.”
They went out into the living room. Alex grabbed a beer for himself and one for Ben and handed it to him. They both sat on the sofa. Alex knew how he felt. This was as good a time as any to talk it out with Ben.
Ben had been holding this all inside for a while now. But he trusted Alex, his best friend, and knew that before he said anything to Victoria, he had to talk to Alex first.
“Tell me how you feel you feel about Victoria, Alex.”
“I think I’m in love with her.”
“You’re not the only one who feels this way. I’m in love with her, too, Alex.”
Saying the words out loud were like a gut punch. First a little bit of fear, followed by overwhelming relief.
Ben blew out a breath. “Okay. This is both good and bad, Alex.”
“I know.”
“I don’t even know how to approach this,” Ben said. “It’s not something that’s ever happened with us before.”
“Yeah. In love with the same woman. I never saw that coming.”
“Neither did I. It happened so fast. I never thought I’d ever fall in love. But Victoria. She’s—”
“Unique. Smart. Fun. Sexy. Beautiful.”
Ben smiled. “All those things and more. She’s warm. Generous. Everything I’ve ever wanted. Maybe everything I never even knew I wanted.”
Alex nodded. “Exactly.”
“And the worst part is, we have no idea how Victoria feels. She might see us as just a vacation fling.”
Alex sighed. “Yeah, that’s a possibility. But the only way to find out is to tell her how we feel.”
“Scary thought.” Ben stood and walked to the doors leading out to the terrace. He stared out over the water, then turned to face Alex. “I’m going to be honest with you, Alex. I’ve never been more scared of anything in my life. I’ve faced monster waves, the end of my career, and nothing was more daunting than that. But laying my heart at a woman’s feet and asking her to love me back—that is something that scares the shit out of me.”
Alex stood, too, and walked over to Ben. “I’ve never told a woman I loved her before. Hell, I’ve never had these feelings before. She could shoot us both down, you know.”
Ben took a long swallow of beer, staring at the can before lifting his gaze to Alex. “There would be a lot of good reasons for her thinking we were both crazy. I mean, we both travel nearly all year long. And she has a career where she travels as well. This could never work.”
Alex went back to the sofa and sat. “It’s a pretty fucked-up situation. But you know what? We don’t even know yet how she feels. Maybe she feels the same.”
Ben raked his fingers through his hair. “God, I really hope she does the feel the same.”
“So maybe we should talk to her about it first, and figure it out from there?”
“Yeah. You’re right about that. Let’s give it a few more days. She wants to spend Christmas with us. We’ll do Christmas, then talk.”