Ben sat in his office looking out of the window at the Port Wayne skyline. He couldn't concentrate on work, as his mind was flipping back and forth between Nick and Joey. Nick whom Ben felt he still loved and actually thought the idea of them getting back together is the ideal thing to do. He didn't know if he'd gotten over Nick or not. Leave it to Damien to stir things and throw Joey into the mix. Poor guy. Maybe he should warn Joey about Damien. Ben moved to pick up his phone, but quickly sat back at ease. It was none of his business what Joey was doing or thinking or anything. Maybe Joey was over Ben. He had no idea what Joey had done or where he had gone, all he did know was that when he told Joey to go the poor kid left.
Ben didn't mean to hurt him, but he would have eventually...just as he'd hurt almost everyone he became involved with. Ben knew that he thought with the head of his dick instead of the emotions in his heart and it was something that he couldn't control. Man, there were times that he wanted to, but he couldn't. Does he really want to? Yeah, for the sake of he and Nick getting back together. As a matter of fact, Nick didn't seem to want to talk about his past with Joey at all the other night. Maybe he has moved on; maybe he has changed more than Ben is willing to admit.
Fucking Damien, Ben thought. Joey's back, and, for the first time, Ben felt a little quake in his heart as well as his crotch.
* * *
"What's up with you? I haven't seen you this happy since we were back at school," Nick said, looking across the table at Jed. "Have you been getting laid?"
They were having a late lunch on the patio at Caverns.
Jed almost burst out laughing. "What the fuck, man? I got my magazine and my two best friends are backing me up with this. Can't I be happy?"
"This is something else, Jed. You can't fool me. I mean, I remember...wait a minute! You haven't smiled like this since you met Ken Darger back in college! You have a crush on someone!"
"Keep your voice down."
"Why? Tell me, who is it?"
Jed found that he couldn't help but to smile. "Yes, I've been seeing someone. His name is Steve Lassister and he just moved to Port Wayne from Italy. He's opening up a restaurant and he's the most beautiful man I've..." Jed stopped talking as he thought of Steve.
Nick looked at Jed from across the table. He grabbed his glass of ice water and raised it for a toast. "To you, Jediah Marcus Langton, happily in-crushed and in lust for the first time in, shit, how old are we?"
Jed laughed as he raised his glass and clinked it to Nick's. "Old enough, I guess."
"You look really good, Jed! Goofy, but good. "
"Thanks. I wish I can say the same for you."
"What do you mean?"
"You and Ben? Again? And you don't look one iota as happy as you were when you and he were together."
"We're just taking our time, that's all."
"In case he decides to fuck half of the population of the Northwest District?"
"Don't you mean the other half? Did you know that he and Joey used to, um, go out?"
"You mean my new mailroom guy? That Joey? Fuck, no!"
"Yeah, and I will give you one guess as to who set up the revealing situation."
"Damien. So what does all of this mean?"
"I don't know. It's just weird that Ben went for such a young kid like Joey."
"Maybe there was a real attraction there."
"Yeah, maybe there was..."
"Are you jealous?"
"No, not really. To be honest, I met someone when I was in New York and we sort of had a mild flirtation."
"The filmmaker you wrote me about?"
"Yeah."
"Do you keep in touch with him?"
"Nope. He had to go off to promote his latest movie and I was on the tail end of promoting my book and about to get your offer."
"Look, let's finish up here. I would like to take Steve out to dinner later on I have to review the plans for the launch party..."
* * *
Just as Nick was saying goodbye to Jed outside of the door leading to the loft, Joey walked out of the doors. Jed greeted him before dashing up the stairs.
"Hey Nick," he said.
"How's it going, Joey?"
"Okay. Uh..."
"Yeah, I know. It was pretty uncomfortable the other night."
"Yeah."
"How long have you known Damien?"
"Since I met Ben, about two years ago."
"Listen, Joey, let's just take one step at a time and move forward. I'd like to be your friend."
Joey smiled. "Me too!"
"Good. Where are you headed?"
"I'm going home. I have a roll of film I want to develop."
"You know, I would like to see some of your work."
"Really?"
"Yes. If you don't mind, that is."
"I don't mind at all!"
* * *
Damien entered Nexus with the same thing running through his thoughts that have kept his mind occupied for most of the day: Ben's scratchy words about meddling. Fuck Ben, he thought as he ordered a drink and took a seat on the stool. But how true could Ben's words be? He usually found someone that would catch his attention, and he would usually loose him to someone else. Why? Damien suddenly asked himself. And why am I letting this bother me?
Damien tried to think of all the relationships he'd had in his life. Of all, well, of the few of them which ones did he know he could actually settle down with? There was Denny Parker back in school, but didn't he turn out to be 'just experimenting' and ran off with some psych major? There was Justin Osborne, but didn't he end up confessing his love for Jed? Okay, what about Harry Gillis when he was writing obits for that rag of a paper? There was promise there...that is until Damien found out that Harry only wanted him because he came from a rich family. Didn't he run off and become a porn star?
Damien didn't need a relationship. He was fine all on his own. When the bartender set down his drink, Damien took a sip. A guy had just walked in and sat a couple of stools down from him. Damien did a double-take. The guy was handsome, masculine and looked almost familiar.
The guy looked over and it was then that Damien knew that he was staring.
"Hey," the guy said.
"Hi," Damien said.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Forgive me for saying, but you're absolutely beautiful."
The guy smiled. "Thank you."
"You look familiar."
The guy held out his hand. "Matt Galveston."
"Oh, shit, of course! I should have recognized you. I'm a big fan."
"Thank you. And you are?"
"Damien Chastain."
"Okay, I think I've heard of you...from somewhere."
Damien seemed to be offended for a second. But he left it alone. "Can I buy you a drink?"
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