Dante cared if he did.

That changed things. It made his head spin and his feet itch to run. It made his heart race, and his muscles tense but...it was okay, too. Maybe even comforting. “I’m broken.” Tristan had been right about that.

“Would we be talking right now if I wasn’t, too?” Dante breathed deeply into the phone, and somehow Ben knew to wait. “I know I haven’t given you much....but I’m here.  I’m here when I haven’t been here for anyone in a long time.”

“I know,” Ben said simply. Because he did.

“Are you dressed?”

“Yes.”

“Did you eat?” Dante asked.

“Yes.”

“Come to my apartment. I want to take you somewhere. I’ll be waiting.” Dante hung up. Ben figured that was for the benefit of both of them.

It didn’t take Ben long to get to Dante’s place. There was no doorman like there was at Ben’s so he let himself up. He knocked twice on the door before it swung open.

Dante’s dark hair was wet as though he’d just gotten out of the shower. He wore faded jeans and a tight, long-sleeved shirt. He was muscular but not overly so. There was a bead of water on his forehead, where his hair hung. He was so fucking beautiful. Ben wanted to go down to his knees. Wanted Dante to lead him, control him, fuck him, because even though he tried to turn off the switch in his brain, he couldn’t. Not unless he was under Dante’s command.

“You like art, right?” Dante stepped out of the apartment and closed the door.

“I do. There’s something...freeing about it.”

Dante gave Ben a small grin and then said, “Close your eyes.”

Ben didn’t hesitate to do as he was told. Once they were closed he felt the hard press of Dante’s mouth on his. Dante’s tongue teased his lips open and Ben let him. It was possession, and he fucking loved it in a way he never would have thought he could want.

The kiss stopped when Dante pulled away. Ben’s cock was painfully hard yet he knew it would get no relief right now.

“Open them.”

Ben did and then the two of them went down the stairs together. Ben didn’t ask where they were going. He wasn’t really sure if it was because he knew Dante wouldn’t tell him or just because he didn’t want to know. He wanted this to be Dante’s show. Not that it wasn’t already but he wanted...Christ, he wanted to trust Dante in this. In taking Ben wherever he wanted Ben to go.

They were silent as they rode the subway. Dante stood close to him, their arms touching, as they held onto the bar. They were close enough, leaning into each other in a way that made it obvious they were intimate. His father would hate it. His mother would follow suit but not Ben. For Ben it was truth. He told Tristan months ago to help him cut the bond with his father forever. It had partially been because he knew it would get Tristan to do what he wanted and even though he couldn’t get his father, his life, and all its betrayals out of his head, he was finally pulling away. Finally accepting his father for the hateful man he was and severing their ties.

“This is our stop.” Dante nodded toward the door, and Ben went out. He knew where they were right away, and there definitely weren’t any art museums in this neighborhood.

“Did you bring me here to dispose of my body?” Ben asked as they made their way to the street.

“Is that a sense of humor I detect, or are you scared?” Dante cocked a brow at him.

Scared? No. Ben just hadn’t expected to come here. He hadn’t been here in years. His gut sat uneasy with memories.

“I was fifteen years old and I fucked my first man in a park one block over. It was night and I was scared out of my mind. I got off on that fear, too. If someone would have caught us, it wouldn’t have been the police and we would have been killed.”

Dante stopped so Ben did as well. There were questions in his black eyes that Ben couldn’t read. Dante didn’t ask them though. He only started walking again. “Funny, that’s exactly where we’re going.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

There were homeless people scattered around. Men and women passed out on benches—drunk and high on whatever they could find.

People spoke in hushed voices, bartering drugs and sex and everything in between. This wasn’t the kind of place Ben came to anymore, yet it wasn’t out of fear.

“I think of her when I come to a place like this. I don’t know why. Maybe that makes me an asshole.” Ben crossed his arms as they continued to walk.

“Who is her?”