More Than Words - Jerry Cole

Prologue

Exhaustion weighed heavily on Bennett Kincaid, seeping down his neck and spreading its way across his shoulders and back. It had been a long day, but he had enjoyed every minute of it, from the time he showed up at the Tucker home to take pictures of his best friend getting ready for his wedding and then of Chandler in Ry’s cottage doing the same thing until they both got into the limousine for the long ride to their honeymoon cottage. They were so in love, it made his teeth ache with the sweetness of it. And if he were honest, it made him so very envious.

What he wouldn’t give to have someone for himself, someone to call his own! Not even Ry knew how desperately he dreamed of more than the hookups that he had been avoiding for the last year or so. For a guy who was known for playing the field, he knew he was bombing big time these days. Very few prospects even caught his eye anymore and a little conversation over a drink very quickly shot down the few who managed to make it that far.

He sighed, discarding another bad shot from the set he was viewing on his laptop. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had even a quickie hand job from anyone but himself. He was pathetic and this unwanted moroseness was ridiculous. Shaking his head, he focused on his work. When the lovebirds came back from their honeymoon, he’d go over and sit with Chandler to show him the ones he’d picked out for inclusion in their official digital wedding album. They would also agree on which ones he could use on his website for his newest set of ads.

Pulling up the second set of shots, his eye immediately caught on the tall, hunky guy standing next to Chandler in the first one. Easygoing and very easy on the eyes, Chandler’s best friend was older than Bennett had expected him to be. The only real evidence of that, though, was in the touch of silver at his temples and in the carefully hidden seriousness of his gaze in unguarded moments, such as in the picture right next to it.

Bennett had caught him in a pensive moment, alone in the gazebo. He’d been looking out across the lawn, no doubt enjoying the view, a glass of champagne in his hand. The expression on his face had been at once wistful and serene. What was that about?

He kept scrolling through, deciding on which pictures he’d offer to the members of the wedding party, both from those of all of them together as well as those of just individuals. He and Chandler’s best friend — Jordan O’Leary was his name — had been the best men. Bennett’s twin brothers, Aidan and Adam, had been Ry’s other groomsmen, and Chandler’s had been his younger brothers, also twins. Chandler’s little sister had been the only bridesmaid, shared between the two of them.

Pushing the glasses he was wearing up onto his hair, Bennett left the work to get himself another cup of coffee and let his mind wander back over the day, which had started early for him and ended late. The highlights, aside from the wedding ceremony itself, and that moment when Chandler had smeared cake all over Ry’s lips which he’d proceeded to lick off like a cartoon character, had all involved Jordan — in fact, for some reason, those were the clearest in his memory. The minute Jordan had walked into Ry’s cottage earlier that morning in his ripped jeans and faded t-shirt, Bennett’s mind and body had been in hyperdrive.

What the hell was it about that guy that set him off like this? Bennett had had enough men in his life, despite the current drought, to recognize those who had potential as partners. And he’d never met anyone who sparked that particular awareness like Jordan O’Leary had. The man was fine but he didn’t even seem to be aware of it. He was affectionate with the entire McKenzie clan, but Bennett could see that the relationship with Chandler ran the deepest. Had there ever been anything other than that evident brotherly love between them?

Inappropriate much, Benny? That was so not where his mind needed to be going, even though he now knew for a fact — sometimes it paid to eavesdrop! — that Jordan was bisexual. He didn’t need to be thinking about the delectable man across from whom he’d stood as their friends