Lost and Found (Twist of Fate #1)(2)

The man with Bennett was a good-looking guy who should have had all my cylinders firing. He had a rangy, muscular body and sharp blue eyes. His chestnut hair was thick and his little bit of beard scruff was usually my kind of thing. But I felt nothing. Well, not true… I felt something. But it wasn’t directed at the tall stranger.

“Aiden Vale,” the man returned as he shook my hand. He glanced uncertainly at Bennett, but I didn’t follow his gaze.

“Xander…” Bennett said, but I didn’t look at him.

Aiden spoke up. “Mr. Reed, this is my associate, Bennett Crawford—”

“Fifteen minutes,” I said and then I was moving again.

“Xander, wait!” I heard Bennett call, but I ignored him. I wasn’t surprised when he followed and darted around me so he could step into my path. I’d gotten a glimpse of his tenacity on the very first day we’d met as polar opposite five-year-olds. Bennett hadn’t remembered the exact details of our first meeting, but I remembered that day as if it were etched into every brain cell. My parents had spent all of breakfast arguing about the fact that my mother had to work on a Sunday, and after she’d stormed off, my dad had taken me to the park to play.

Though he hadn’t been interested in playing with me like he usually did.

He’d merely sat on the park bench by the small playground and stared off into the distance after telling me to go swing by myself for a while. I’d sat on the swings watching him, wondering how to make it so he wouldn’t seem so sad all the time. I hadn’t even noticed the short, dark-haired kid plop down on the swing next to mine at first. It wasn’t until he’d started talking a mile a minute that I’d turned my attention on him.

“You like rats?” he’d asked me.

I’d immediately laughed at him. “Rats?”

“Rugrats, I mean. You know, the cartoon.”

What a weirdo, I remembered thinking.

I’d tried ignoring him at first, but Bennett had been hard to ignore.

He still was.

I forced myself to stop walking so I wouldn’t bowl him over, because unlike when we were kids, I was now considerably larger than he was. He was only a few inches shorter than me, but my active lifestyle had given me the kind of body you couldn’t get in a gym. And while Bennett looked fit, I probably had a good thirty pounds or more on him.

“God, Xander,” he whispered. His eyes raked over me. I inwardly cursed myself as the effect of his perusal went straight to my dick, though I knew he couldn’t be looking at me that way. Jesus, what the fuck did it matter how he was looking at me?

“What?” I snapped.

Bear whined, but before I could put my hand down to reassure him I was fine despite my raging anxiety, Bennett dropped his fingers to the animal’s muzzle. My dog sniffed him a few times and then he pressed his big body up against Bennett’s legs. Stupid fucking traitorous dog.

“I just… I thought we could talk,” Bennett said.

“About what?”

“About what?” he repeated dumbly. “About… everything. About that night, about your dad—”

I didn’t even consider who might be watching as I fisted my hands in Bennett’s shirt and forced him backwards until his shoulders hit a tree. “You don’t get to talk about my dad ever again, you hear me, Bennett?” I practically snarled at him. “You gave up that right. You gave up everything when you turned your back on me.”

Bear began barking frantically and I remembered where we were and that we weren’t alone. I jerked away from Bennett and tried to get control of myself. “Stay the fuck away from me,” I warned quietly as I reached down to settle Bear.

“Xander…”

I ignored the plea in his voice and turned my back on him.

And I did it without regret… just like he’d done to me fifteen years earlier.





Chapter 2





Bennett





I was embarrassed to admit that despite the tension simmering between us, not to mention the agonizing guilt weighing down on my chest, I couldn’t stop staring at his goddamned ass. It had only been a few hours since reuniting, and I was already so tuned in to Xander’s body, I could barely spare a single moment’s thought for anything else. Namely, the kids.

And I loved these kids. I’d already spent time with many of them in one of the after-school programs my father’s company sponsored, and I knew what a wilderness adventure like this one could do for them. Broaden their horizons, provide them time and space to think, show them the expansive beauty of their world, and give them the opportunity to learn leadership skills. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for most of these guys. And I was lucky enough to be there for it.

I glanced around the darkening campsite as the boys settled down from the excitement of setting up their tents and sleeping bags. We’d only hiked an hour or so down the trail from the drop-off when Xander had stopped and declared a nearby clearing as our campsite for the night.

The eight teenage boys in our group were the ones who were old enough to learn more advanced skills like navigation, rock climbing, and river crossings. The younger group had gone with two other volunteers and a guide. They would focus more on the easy stuff like basic hiking and camping. Since I was a city guy myself, I was more nervous about being with the so-called “advanced” group than I cared to admit, but Aiden had reminded me that my rapport with the older kids was an important asset, since they weren’t quick to trust just anyone.