Need Me (Broke and Beautiful #2)(59)

“Wrong.” Louis held up a finger as he chugged the frothy drink. “Roxy has nothing to do with this. She’s the best thing that ever happened anywhere in the world, and she’s going to bear my children. Right after I convince her to move in with me.” He gave Russell a pointed look. “This is work related.”

“Don’t spare any details,” Ben said. “I need a distraction.”

Louis heaved a sigh. “I’m trying to help those community center kids relocate elsewhere, but the city is reluctant to give them another lease, and private commercial spaces are too expensive.” He tapped his empty cup against the table. “They’re meeting at an outdoor park, but I can see the group starting to thin. They need more space. Resources. And there’s nothing I can do.”

“Sorry, man,” Russell said. “Sometimes you can’t fix something, no matter how hard you try.”

“A sincere comment from Russell.” Louis held his cup up to the light. “What is in this beer?”

“You know, there is such a thing as being too clever, Louis.”

Ben needed them to keep this up. To keep talking so he could try and focus on the words. As soon as he walked out of here, he’d be back where he started, but for now the banter was dulling the rougher edges. For the last few weeks, he’d been a shitty friend, and they hadn’t given up on him. So he would make an attempt to put his own motherf*cker of a situation aside and return the favor. “You have something on your mind, Russell?”

A dark blond eyebrow went up. “What?”

Yeah, okay. That question had been pretty out of character for any of them. They tended to needle each other and drop personal information only when enough beer had been consumed to make talking about their feelings acceptable. They’d just gotten to the Longshoreman five minutes ago.

Ben pushed up his glasses and immediately thought of Honey saying she found that sexy. Jesus, he missed her. Distract. Distract. “Don’t take this the wrong way,” he said to Russell, “but you’ve been acting kind of . . . sensitive lately.”

Russell split an incredulous look between them. “How am I not supposed to take that the wrong way?”

“He’s right,” Louis jumped in. “You’ve already got the shaved head, now you’re channeling Gandhi in two ways. What gives, man?”

“It wouldn’t have anything to do with Abby, would it?” Ben asked into his just-delivered water.

“Hey, just because you’ve both got your balls in a vise doesn’t mean I do.” When neither of them took the bait, Russell’s big shoulders dipped, head falling forward. “It might, maybe, possibly have something to do with Abby. That’s all you’re getting from me, though.”

“Oh, come on—”

“Fine. Twist my arm.” Russell signaled the waitress for another pitcher of beer before delivering them both a stern look. “Nothing we say here leaves this table.” Ben and Louis waved him on. Russell started to talk, but stopped. Then started again. “She’s out of my league.”

Louis’s mouth dropped open. “Did you just admit that out loud?”

Ben shook his head. “Who are you anymore?”

“See, I knew you would react this way.” Russell sprawled back in his chair. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

Ben picked up a wadded-up napkin and threw it at him. “Keep going. Your pathetic condition is the only thing distracting me from mine.”

“Oh, how comforting.” Russell tugged at his collar. “Look, here’s the bottom line. Abby is . . . she’s . . .” He blew out a breath. “She’s f*cking Abby. Do you know how smart she is? Her mind is like one of those fancy calculators, but she doesn’t want anyone to know because she thinks it makes them uncomfortable.” His throat worked. “She’s so smart and yet she thinks I want to be her friend. Just her friend. And you know what? I’m not going to shatter that illusion for her. I don’t want to smash those rose-colored glasses. She’s perfect and I’d only f*ck that up, anyway. So I’m her friend. Just her friend.”

In what world did Ben think this would distract him? His sympathy for his friend was in danger of being eclipsed by Honey. No, it was done. There she was, stunning him speechless with a smile, arms stretched out above her head in the grass. “You’re right.” His voice sounded dull to his own ears. “If I could go back and even have Honey as a student—only—I would do it. It would be painful, but I’d do it. So I could at least be near her, the way you can do with Abby.” He cleared his throat. “It’s like she doesn’t exist for me anymore. It’s worse. So much worse. You’re doing the right thing.”

“What? What the—” Louis sputtered. “No. No. You are both fired. I wasn’t supposed to tell you this, Ben, because there’s this little thing called boyfriend-girlfriend privilege, which is apparently just as binding as attorney-client privilege—”

“The point,” Ben muttered. “Get to it.”

“Honey is in New York.” Louis paused to let that sink in, but it didn’t. Not right away, at least. It poked holes in him, head to toe, and let him bleed out onto the floor before rocketing straight to his gut. “She landed this afternoon,” Louis continued. “Rox doesn’t know if she’s staying permanently or just collecting her things, but—”