by Hunter Frost
Once I got home, I’d paced and fretted until I exhausted myself.
Me: You mean I can’t just ignore it and hope everything turns out okay?
Al: He lives!
Me: Sorry I took off. I couldn’t deal with everything right then. Did Trent say anything?
I did feel bad about leaving him to fend for himself. But I would’ve been useless. Or made it worse.
Al: Trent was too worried about his own slip of the tongue.
Me: What?
Al: Nothing. He didn’t notice a thing.
Me: Thank god.
Al: How are you?
Me: A mess.
Al: At least you’re a hot mess. Wait. That didn’t come out right. I meant, you’re hot.
There was a pause as he typed.
And I can’t stop thinking about you.
I smiled, and my heart soared at his words. Alejandro Rios couldn’t stop thinking about me and what we did today. Truthfully, neither could I. It had to be the sexiest thing I’d ever done, and with the most attractive man I’d ever known.
I sighed. No, I couldn’t get caught up in this. I couldn’t afford to. We couldn’t afford to.
Me: Al, we can’t do this.
Al: Do what?
Me: I’m not going to lie and say I didn’t enjoy every minute of what we did. Or that it wasn’t amazing. Or that I can’t stop thinking about . . . you. But it can’t continue. It’s too risky.
Al: And by “it” you mean the sex.
Me: Yes. The sex.
And the way I feel about you. The way I could easily fall in love with you knowing you’d never feel the same way.
Al: Because I’m your boss?
Me: That’s the major reason.
Al: Why else?
Of course, he had to ask that of me.
Me: It’s unprofessional and disrespectful to our colleagues. Could you imagine how they’d feel if this got out?
I knew he’d never want a committed relationship, with me or any other man.
Al: You really are a good guy, aren’t you, El?
Me: You are too, Al.
Al: I doubt that.
Me: I know you are.
I wouldn’t feel like I do about you if you were a total douchebag.
Al: So, no sex?
Me: No sex.
Al: No foot worship?
I sighed. The bastard had to say those words.
Me: No foot worship.
Al: Not even a little massage?
Me: You know where that would lead.
Al: Yeah . . . >:-}
I chuckled.
Me: Why am I being the moral, responsible one here?
Al: Not sure :-P
God, this would be difficult. I couldn’t believe I was trying to convince Alejandro Rios that we shouldn’t have sex. And that we couldn’t indulge in foot play!
Fuck my life.
If I let this continue, I’d be head over heels in love with him. And I knew how he was. He enjoyed the sex and got off on the kink. It was new. Fun. But after a while, he’d get bored with it. And I’d be shattered. Then we’d still have to work together, and I’d suffer even more than I do now every time I saw him.
No, we had to keep this platonic.
Al: What are your plans for Christmas?
He surprised me with the quick change of subject.
Me: I usually go to my parents’ place on Christmas Day to open presents and then have an early dinner. Naomi and Henry join us since they spend Christmas Eve with Henry’s family.
Al: Sounds fun.
Me: What do you do for Christmas?
Al: Hit the clubs with friends. Party until early Christmas Day. Watch some movies. Same thing I do on New Year’s.
Me: You don’t talk to your brother or sister in Spain?
Al: No.
Me: I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.
Al: They have their own lives now. I wouldn’t want to interfere and cause more drama.
Me: Al, they love and support you.
There was a long pause.
Al: I should get to sleep. Goodnight, mi amigo.
Me: Alejandro . . .
Al: Goodnight, El.
The next day I was determined and confident as I strode into the office.
I could do this. Ignoring my feelings for Alejandro should be easy. I’d been ignoring them just fine for years.
I stopped at Gary’s desk. “Any messages?”
“Parker’s wondering if you’re ready for that lunch you keep rescheduling.” Gary flipped his jet-black emo bangs and smirked. “I told him you were free today according to your calendar.”
“I’ll confirm with him. Thanks.”
I heard a familiar voice across the way talking to his assistant. I looked up briefly as Alejandro chatted with her.
A cool smile graced his sexy face. A face I had kissed and held.
My feelings for him smacked me in my face. And lower. I doubled over in my mind.
Why did I want him so badly? Every single part of him. From his gorgeous, delicious feet to the tips of his dark hair.
I tried not to audibly sigh.
I knew he could see me out of his peripheral vision. But he didn’t look over. He grabbed his mail and entered his office. The sound of the door shutting echoed in my head.
“Boss?” Gary was trying to get my attention.
Great. Had I been staring? Or drooling? “Yeah?”
“Mason is on the line. Did you want to speak to him or . . . ?”
Apparently, the phone had rung, and I was too busy gazing at Alejandro to notice.
“I’ll take it,” I said and walked into my office.
Somehow I had to get back to business as usual.
I met Parker and Charlie for lunch at a nearby café. It had taken nearly all my strength not to check on Al as the day went on, but I was glad to have something to distract me for a while.
“So why has it been so hard to get you to come out with us these last two weeks? Did Parker fuck something up,” Charlie said after we’d been seated and ordered our drinks. Charlie had always been nice to me, and he loved to give Parker a hard time, so we hit it off pretty quickly.
“No.” I laughed. “This rebranding project has been more intense than I expected. And the Christmas party reveal has me stressing.”
Parker considered me for a moment. “What’s more intense about it?” He was a senior analyst and mostly an ass when I first met him a little over a year ago, but he’d recently come around and changed his attitude. He could be a douche every once in a while, but not like before.
Still, I didn’t like his tone. He sounded like he was fishing for something. I sipped at my Perrier, eyeing him back. “The complexity of the coding for the website, if you must know. Why does that matter?”
“Just asking.” Parker stirred his iced tea.
“Don’t be a dick, Parker,” Charlie said, stretching out his thick thighs in his seat. “If there’s something on your mind, have the balls to say it rather than this passive-aggressive grilling.”
“I’m not trying to be a jerk. I’m catching a weird vibe. Ellison’s been particularly absent and particularly quiet lately. I’m concerned.”
My eyebrows shot up. Did he know something? Was I being too obvious? Could my feelings be written all over my face?
Charlie tilted his head to the side. “Truth be told, I’ve noticed it too. Is everything okay?”
I looked to both of them. They were my friends and I wanted to tell them, but I worried they’d look down on me. Or worse, lose respect for Alejandro.
“I can’t say . . . It’s not that I don’t trust you guys or anything—”
“You’re protecting someone,” Charlie guessed. He had the uncanny ability to read people really well.
The waiter came to take our orders, then once we were alone again, Charlie swiped a piece of bread and took a bite. “Tell us, Ellison, we won’t make any judgments.”
“I don’t want yo
u to think less of me, or . . . him.”
Parker huffed. “We could never,” he said, his gaze drifting oddly to Charlie, who raised a brow.
“You promise not to say a word,” I said, pushing up my glasses.
They both raised their hands in oath. “If you don’t want us to, we won’t,” Charlie said.
“Okay.” I leaned in close in case someone was listening nearby. “Something happened between me and Alejandro.”
Parker looked around before he asked. “With Dylan? Happened good or happened bad?”
“Um . . . good.” My face was burning up.
“We’re talking sex here, aren’t we?” asked Charlie.
I inhaled and nodded, closing my eyes.
Charlie held out his hand to Parker. “Pay up, PG.”
“Shit. Really, Ellison?” Parker pulled out his wallet and handed Charlie a one-hundred-dollar bill.
“Wait, you guys bet on this?” I blinked, suddenly angry.
“Before you get all bent out of shape. This was only between Parker and me, and it’s because we all have something in common.”
I kept my voice hushed. “I don’t understand how that makes any of this okay! I tell you something this personal and you’ve made it a game? I’m leaving.” I stood up, but Charlie and Parker jumped up to stop me.
“No, please. Ellison, let us explain. I swear it will make more sense after you hear us out. You can be mad at us after if you want. Just stay and we’ll tell you everything.” Charlie’s eyes were as serious as they were blue as he pleaded their case.
My head was spinning.
Did I get punked? For a bet? Who was in on it? “Tell me now,” I growled and sat back down.
“I’ll get straight to the point,” Parker said quickly. “Charlie is dating Trent, and I’m dating Morgan.”
My brain exploded.
“What?” I asked loud enough that everyone inside the crowded café seemed to turn and look our way.
Parker crossed his arms over his chest. “Judging by your reaction, you heard me just fine.”
I was still reeling with this information, trying to wrap my head around it.
I decided to go over it one step at a time. “You, Parker,” I said, pointing at Parker, “are seeing Morgan Brant, NetSmash’s recently former VP of Revenue Optimization?”
Parker nodded. “It started with an incident in his office,” he said, with air quotes.
I had so many questions, mostly because Morgan and Parker despised one another last I knew. They could barely co-exist in the same room without biting each other’s heads off.
“But you hate one another.”
“We’re proof that there’s a thin line between love and hate,” Parker said as their food was put in front of them. “It never made sense until one day, it did.”
I shook my head, having a hard time with this. “And you and Trent?” I asked Charlie. “How did that even . . . ?”
He grinned. “A case of mistaken identity at first. Now we’re just trying to keep it under wraps until Morgan can help me find something at Axion. But at this point, I’m ready to take anything so we don’t have to hide anymore.”
“Is that why Morgan took that job with Axion?” I asked Parker. “To be able to date you?”
Parker smiled. “Not really. They offered him more money and more time off to spend with his mother. He’s her caretaker. But the ability to date me sweetened the deal.”
“Holy crap. I feel like I’m in an alternate universe or something. I had no idea any of this was going on. And right under my nose. Does anyone else know?”
Both Charlie and Parker shook their heads. “Not anyone at the office. And we’d appreciate it if you would keep it that way.”
“You know I won’t say anything. Now tell me about this bet. And please say Alejandro’s not in on it?”
“What? No way,” Parker said. “It’s just obvious Dylan flirts with you like crazy. I never thought anything would come of it. Charlie thought otherwise. We decided to make it interesting.”
“I guess that’s not as bad as I initially thought.” I dipped a sweet potato fry in ranch and popped it in my mouth. “But it’s not great.”
“Sorry, Ellison. We shouldn’t have mentioned it. Especially before we knew where you were coming from.” Charlie patted my shoulder.
“You going to tell us how it happened?” Parker asked.
“No. And he and I’ve already discussed that it won’t happen again.”
“Right,” Charlie said sarcastically, crumbling crackers into his clam chowder.
“It won’t. It was a mistake. Not only is Alejandro my boss, but he’s not interested in me . . . like Trent or Morgan are interested in you. You know what a playboy he is.”
Parker and Charlie studied me for a moment as they ate.
“Dylan is quite the man-whore,” Parker said.
“Hey!” I said.
Charlie smirked. “I hear Grindr pays him to use the app.”
“Not funny, guys.”
Parker sighed. “I never thought you’d succumb to his charms, Ellison.”
“Me neither.” I ate another fry. “Somehow things just got out of hand.”
“Been there,” Charlie said.
“Done that,” Parker added.
They laughed, and I put my head in my hands.
“We should make Ellison an honorary member of this naughty club of ours,” Charlie offered.
Parker smiled. “Should we create a secret handshake?”
They chuckled.
“Guys, you’re both in relationships. Alejandro is not the relationship type. And even if he was, I’m definitely not in his league. There’s a big difference between casual sex, commitment, and reality.”
“Out of his league? Please. You’re adorable. I’m gorgeous and you could totally pass for my geeky little brother.” Parker said, running a hand through his blond hair.
“I’m older than you,” I deadpanned.
“Whatever. Older brother, then,” he said and smirked.
Charlie slurped at his soup. “Trent wasn’t one for relationships before he met me.”
“Neither was Morgan,” Parker added.
“But not because they were hot party boys that went clubbing every night and looked like they walked straight off the catwalk in Ibiza.”
Charlie laughed.
“True,” said Parker. “Morgan was an old fogy who didn’t want to bother.”
“Trent didn’t have time for relationships.”
“I feel like I know way too much about Trent and Morgan now,” I said.
“We’re just trying to show you that it’s not always that simple,” Parker said. “That if it’s something you want, why give up?”
It didn’t matter. Alejandro had to be into me in order for a relationship to be on the table. As it stood, he merely liked my kink.
“Don’t beat yourself up about it. But be careful. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.” Charlie wiped his mouth.
I nodded, and we went back to other office gossip.
Chapter Twelve
Alejandro
I finished a bowl of paella and settled into my favorite armchair with a glass of wine. Clubbing was out of the question tonight due to my shitty mood.
I hadn’t seen Ellison all day. Not being able to hear his voice or see his big adorable blue eyes behind those black-rimmed glasses made me . . . sad. I didn’t think it would be so difficult to keep myself in check and remain professional. But El had gotten to me. He’d crawled under my skin.
When I had issues again with NetStar, his assistant sent one of the techs to come fix it. It was horrible.
Me: I feel like I’m being punished.
I sent off the text as I sipped my wine, brooding.
El: I’m doing this for our own good.
He replied within seconds.
At least he said our, implying he felt the same way too.
Me: There’s nothing that feels good about it.
Me: Bullshit.
Minutes passed without a response.
Me: El, I thought about you all day.
Still no response.
Me: I miss your smile, your sweet blue eyes, and that cute little ass of yours.
I continued.
Me: And I really miss that sexy mouth; how it tastes and how you worship my feet with it.
I would keep going until he told me otherwise.
Me: I owe you some attention. I’d love to suck that hot cock that came all over my foot.
Where are you, El?
I worried he might’ve fallen asleep or decided to ignore me.
And then . . .
El: In bed.
Me: What are you wearing?
El: Seriously?
Me: I never joke around when it comes to clothes ;)
El: Lol pajama pants and a t-shirt
Me: If I asked you to get naked right now, would you?
There was a one-minute pause. He knew how to make me sweat.
El: Yes.
Yes, indeed.
Me: Then take it all off, sexy.
I did the same. Removing my clothes until I sat there in the buff, one hand on my thickening cock, the other on the phone.
El: Alejandro, we shouldn’t do this.
Me: I would never make you do anything you don’t want to do.
El: It’s not that I don’t want to . . .
Me: Please, mi amor?
Damn. That just slipped out. There was another long pause. I hoped I didn’t scare him away.
