What was so different now? What was making his skin burn and his heart squeeze?
“Nothing, really,” he said, not sure he was ready to try and explain anything to anyone.
“Bull!” Ry exclaimed. “You’ve been feeling antsy for a while now and it’s getting worse.”
Bennett had forgotten how observant his friend was, how well he could see even without his eyesight. He cut into the slice of cake Chandler had placed in front of him and said, before shoving it into his mouth,
“I can’t really explain, except to say I’m not really interested in random hookups anymore. Maybe I’ve lost my mojo.”
Ry smiled. “Or maybe you’re just growing up, bro. Growing older, wiser…”
“Needier?” Bennett spat out the word like it was a curse.
“Nothing wrong with being needy, if you can have those needs met,” Chandler chimed in.
“Which brings us back to the question that started all this…where in the hell am I gonna find someone to do that?”
No one spoke for a moment. Then Chandler said nonchalantly,
“I saw you making eyes at someone at the wedding. And he was definitely returning them.”
It might have seemed like a throwaway comment…except that it wasn’t, and all three of them knew that. Bennett had to address it, though the last thing he wanted to do was talk about his feelings or his attraction to a stranger. Still, Ry had been his friend for all his life and he knew he could trust him. And since Ry loved Chandler and trusted him, there was nothing for it but to trust him, too.
“So…even if I admit that you’re right, what am I supposed to do with it? I don’t know this guy. He doesn’t know me. We have no way of contacting each other.”
Chandler laughed. “You do remember he’s my bestie, right?”
Bennett felt his cheeks heat. “Yeah,” he admitted.
“So, if you want a meet and greet, I can arrange it.”
Bennett shook his head vigorously. “No! Thanks, but no. I don’t want you getting all up in my business in any way. I’ll figure it out.”
“If you say so,” Chandler said, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender, though he did nothing to hide his smirk.
“What we need is a timeline,” Ry butted in, making Bennett turn his head to look at his friend.
“Timeline for what?” He didn’t think he liked the sound of that.
“A timeline for when you need to have stuff done by. If you don’t want us meddling in your business, you’ll need to come back by our next lunch meeting with an update on the ‘meet Jordan’ situation. I know you, my friend. If we let you, you’ll just avoid doing anything and pray that the attraction will go away.”
Bennett sighed heavily. “I didn’t know that this was gonna be an intervention.”
“It’s necessary, my friend,” Ry retorted without an ounce of remorse. “I have been sensing a dimming of the Bennett force of late.”
Ry made it into a joke, but Bennett knew his best friend was really concerned about him, and it made him feel good to know that Ry had his back. Aside from him, Bennett’s only other close relationships were with his family…his older twin brothers and his parents. And their love was an unconditional and greatly valued blessing.
“Why can’t I have two weeks?” he answered. “Seems like you’re expecting a lot to happen in seven days.”
“Unless you’re going to be out of town, seven days is more than enough time to make a move, bro.”
Ry was adamant, and it amused Bennett just a little bit. “We’ll see. I’m not making any promises.”
The rest of the week was spent uploading Ry’s wedding album, printing and delivering the souvenir shots so they could do their Thank You mailings, and setting up meetings with a couple of prospective clients who wanted to talk business. There wasn’t anything too challenging to do, and he rather enjoyed posting a few shots from Ry’s wedding on his site in the section devoted to advertising his event photography. Uploading them to Pinterest and Instagram as well as Facebook was the work of an afternoon, and by Friday, he was ready for a break.
His phone rang as he stepped out of the shower on Friday evening. He reached for it as he passed the towel over his wet hair.
“Bennett Kincaid.”
“Have you forgotten you’re supposed to be here for dinner this evening, Bennett?”
Whenever his mother called him Bennett instead of Benny, he knew he was in trouble. And this time, he deserved every bit of the disapproval in