More Than Words - Jerry Cole Page 0,30

being, with a heart as wide as the world. Ry was lucky to have Chandler in his life.

“A little sun, a little fun, and my lover always by my side,” Ry said in answer, returning Bennett’s hug. “Did you miss me, Ben?”

“You know it,” Bennett replied with a chuckle before turning to Chandler and treating him to his own hug. “Thanks for taking care of my boy, Chandler,” he added.

“Anytime, dude!”

Chandler patted his back before letting him go and helped Ry make his way over to the armchair by the fireplace where Ry always sat when he came to visit. When the front door opened again, Bennett looked up with a grin for his older brother Adam, who looked exhausted as fuck. He walked over to grab him in a bear hug before pulling back to examine his features more closely.

“You look like you could do with some good sleep, bro”

“We’ve been slammed in the ER lately. Just finished a couple days of double shifts,” Adam told him. “I’m whipped!”

“Let’s eat first, so we can get the food out of the way.”

Bennett had reheated the pizzas and while he shared out slices on paper plates, Chandler got beers from the refrigerator and passed them around. They settled in comfortable silence to eat, and once the pizza boxes and beer bottles had been cleared away, they began the first game of Texas Hold ‘Em. Ry didn’t want to play this time, though Bennett had the braille deck ready for him. Bennett knew his friend liked hanging out with the others, but wasn’t always interested in playing games. Sometimes, he just needed to be where they were. He had his tablet, as always, and was preparing to lose himself listening to whatever novel he had queued to read.

“So, how was the honeymoon?”

Adam asked that question and Bennett was amused to see Chandler’s cheeks redden. He was the youngest of the group but he was an old soul, and had lived a lot harder life than any of them.

“It was fabulous,” he said. “Lazy days doing nothing but swimming or sunbathing. Sometimes we went into town for lunch, and we had a little tourist fun. But mostly, we just enjoyed being together.”

He paused, gazing briefly at Ry, who was oblivious, the noise-cancelling headphones over his ears, because their game nights could get really rowdy sometimes. Then he added,

“Also, it was really great not having to play parent to three young adults, and I only cooked if I felt like it. True bliss!”

“Are you guys gonna buy the cottage, then? Because Ry mentioned that you’d been thinking about it.”

Ry was wealthy enough that he could afford to buy more than one house if he chose to, but he didn’t care about possessions the way so many other rich people seemed to do. He didn’t care if no one ever knew anything about him other than that he was a blind man on a mission to raise awareness and provide lessons on how to treat, live with, and manage all visual challenges at all ages.

“It was my wedding present,” Chandler said shyly. “I told him it was too much, but he wouldn’t listen.”

“Wow! Congratulations, man!” Adam’s voice was warm with affection.

Bennett reached over and touched Chandler’s hand. “Congrats, Chandler! You chose a keeper,” he added. “I raised him right.”

Everyone laughed at that. One game ran into another, the ribbing and competitiveness raising the decibel level around the coffee table. Beer flowed freely. It was a good thing that Ry’s driver had brought Chandler and Ry to his house so they didn’t have to worry about driving while under the influence. And Adam lived next door, so his commute might only be interrupted by a bit of stumbling, if he drank too much more.

“You off the next two days, Adam?”

“Yeah. When I leave here, I plan to crash for at least the next twenty-four hours.”

Bennett laughed. He knew Adam wouldn’t last in bed longer than noon at the latest. His brother was not one to sleep in.

“I can’t imagine how hard your job must be,” Chandler said, and something in the way he said it, in the way his eyes dimmed, made Bennett think he was thinking of his parents, whose lives had ended in the ER eight years ago.

His heart broke a little bit every time he thought about how Ry’s husband had been thrust unceremoniously into full adulthood when in many ways he’d still been a child himself. It was a good thing he’d