Chapter 3Benny

3

Benny

P rivate islands were the freaking best .

Benny was curious now about all the miserable rich tourists his hometown got over the summers. Like, how could they be so mean if their lives were like this?

Or maybe they were rich but not private island rich. Maybe that was the problem.

Benny still didn’t know where exactly they were, or how they’d gotten there, or how to get back again, but he figured Helio had all that covered. For now, the weather was always perfect, the water was always welcoming, and the sand never got hot enough to burn his feet.

Even the sun seemed to cooperate, turning Benny a perfect golden brown without ever giving him a sunburn. And the nights were always just as warm, the full moon lighting up the ocean bright enough to see practically clear as day. Benny made sure to take a moonlit swim every night before bed, eager to take advantage of every bit of this vacation while he could.

He never saw any animals though. No birds, or fish, or mosquitos. That part was kind of weird. But maybe animals weren’t allowed on rich people’s private islands. Maybe there was some invisible net in the ocean to keep the sharks away, and special insect repellant pumped into the air that the birds didn’t like.

The rare times when Benny wasn’t outside on the beach, the villa itself was a pretty chill place to hang. He’d explored enough to know it was set up in a square surrounding an inner courtyard that was full of lush, tropical-looking vegetation, none of which Benny could name. There were lots of bedrooms—although only two were occupied, his and Helio’s—and an enormous dining room looking out onto the ocean.

Vacation home goals, basically.

And whatever the villa didn’t have quickly appeared whenever Benny asked for it. The very first night, he’d mentioned how it would be pretty chill to have an Xbox to unwind with in the evenings, and the next day, one had been all set up in one of the spare bedrooms, along with a massive television to play it on.

Helio’s staff must work hard as hell. Not that Benny ever saw them though. He hadn’t seen a single person except for Helio. It was kind of like how there was always ample food around but no kitchen that he could find.

Benny pondered the weirdness of that—was the kitchen, like, underground?—as he snacked on some pineapple rings in his lounge chair, the sun drying up the last bit of water on his skin from his swim.

He rolled onto his stomach, hiking up his swim shorts to get some sun on his butt cheeks. Not that he had to do much hiking—since he hadn’t brought his own clothes, Helio had provided him with a vacay wardrobe. A lot of it was several sizes too small for him, especially the shorts. Which was funny because Helio wasn’t all that much smaller than Benny. And he definitely wasn’t shorter.

A shadow fell over the sand in front of Benny’s face. Benny smiled. He didn’t have to look up to know who it was.

It was only ever one person here.

He rose onto his elbows on the lounge chair, shading his eyes. “Hey, man. Fancy a swim?”

Benny wasn’t sure why he asked. Helio never got in the water with him. Or played video games with him. Or did much with him at all, other than eat their meals together, when he watched Benny with an intensity that might have been creepy had he been any less attractive, and occasionally say something weird and mysterious.

All that money and still so shy, the poor guy.

Benny really didn’t mind though. In spite of Helio’s intensity, Benny found his company pretty pleasant. And honestly, it was kind of flattering being stared at all the time by someone so attractive.

Helio was staring now, in fact, definitely in one of his moods again. “Four nights you’ve spent here,” he said.

“Have I? Guess so.” Benny’s flight had come and gone, then. Was Helio gonna ask him to skedaddle?

“You have no one at home to miss you?”

Benny flopped onto his back, scratching his chest. “I guess Seth might worry. My cousin. But I can’t find my phone to let him know.” Benny must have dropped it at some point, that night in Miami.

“This phone?”

Helio was standing in front of him all of a sudden, close enough for Benny to smell his floral cologne, holding out the very phone Benny was missing.

“Oh, sweet!” Benny reached for it, but Helio held it back.

“And if I refuse?”

“Um…refuse?”

“If I refuse to let you contact your loved ones? If you’re trapped here with no link to the outside world?”

“Oh.” Benny considered. “Um, well I guess they’d stress about it. Which would kind of be a bummer.”

He left it at that. Really, it was Helio’s island, so it was Helio’s rules. If he had some “no outside contact” policy, who was Benny to argue?

But then Helio was dropping Benny’s phone onto his stomach with a heavy sigh.

Benny caught it before it fell onto the sand. “Thanks, man.”

He typed out a quick message to Seth. Met a cool rich dude. Living it up this summer. Pass the word around.

He received an instant response scolding him for missing his flight without letting anyone know.

But now that he had his phone…

Benny sat up, almost smacking into Helio. “Hey, you know what would be super cool?”

“What?” Helio had his fingers on the bridge of his nose, pinching there. Maybe he had a headache.

“If I filmed some workout videos on the beach. Like body-weight stuff? Stuff that’s easy to do on a vacation. I’ve never had a backdrop as nice as this.” Benny waved to encompass all the gorgeousness surrounding them. “Would that be cool with you?”

Helio stared at him, his fingers still pinching his nose. He still did that sometimes—took a minute to process things. It was probably tough being so smart, having to consider so many different angles all the time. Eventually he sighed. “Of course, Benny. Why not?”

Benny grinned at him. “Thanks, man. You’re the best.”

Benny fell into a fantastic routine after that.

He’d wake up early, always refreshed after sleeping in the most comfortable bed in the world. He’d film a short workout video just after sunrise, easy body-weight exercises anyone could do even while on vacation. He was naming the series “Beach Bod with Benny,” and he thought it was pretty decent, if he did say so himself.

His rising YouTube views seemed to agree.

After that, he’d have his breakfast in the inner courtyard with Helio. And then Benny would spend the day swimming or lying around in the sun. Sometimes he’d get a jog in around the perimeter of the little island. He’d play video games in the afternoon while Helio lurked in the doorway, then get his night swim on, then jack off furiously in the shower, then fall into an exhausted sleep.

He passed two more weeks easily like that. Maybe Helio was going to let him spend the whole summer here? That would be A-OK with Benny.

There was only one drawback to the whole thing. One teeny, tiny complaint.

He just wished Helio was down to bang.

At first, Benny had figured that would be part of the deal. Wasn’t that what rich people did? They’d give some hottie a place to stay in exchange for, like, easy sex on the regular?

But Benny was starting to think Helio might be straight, for all that they’d met at a gay club.

Which was totally cool—Benny accepted all kinds, no judgment. And he liked spending time with Helio, even if they weren’t touching butts or whatever. He liked that Helio lurked at the sidelines sometimes, letting Benny do his thing without making him feel totally alone. He liked the weird stuff he’d say at mealtimes.

He just…liked him.

And Benny was eating like a king and working out every day and spending so much time wearing so little clothing. He was… Well, he was horny as hell. Like, way hornier than usual. Hence the furious jacking off every single night.

It didn’t help that Helio was so attractive. Benny had met plenty of beautiful people in his life, but Helio had a certain magnetism that put them all to shame. He had a way about him that made Benny want to strip off his tiny swim shorts and rub up against him. Made him want to go skinny-dipping in the moonlight and wrap around Helio like an octopus.

But overall, it was really a minor complaint.

So Benny was horny. What of it? He could deal.

Because when it came down to it, meeting Helio was one of the coolest things that had ever happened to him.