by Sky McCoy
“What the fuck do you mean? Just because you didn’t have the foresight to recognize that I was an honest man who just wanted someone to love me, doesn’t make him like you. He’s changing and I feel it. When he made love to me, he said that he’d tell his family about us and he asked me to marry him.”
“This was before or after he’d fucked you. Men say all kinds of things when they’re ready to shoot their load. I’ve been known to promise a man the world—”
“Yeah, I know, Phillip. It was me you promised that to. He’s not you, nor is he like you, and I think you’re a bit jealous.”
“I guess I am. I never saw you as passionate about anyone like Jeremy Westbrook before. I just don’t want you to be hurt.”
“Well, if I get hurt and need to lick my wounds, I always have you, don’t I?”
Phillip lowered his eyes. When he’d taken the time to lie to me before, he’d usually looked up at the ceiling. When I’d wanted him to lie to me like now, he couldn’t. I’d known the answer before I’d asked. I got it the other night. I really needed him then.
“Eric and I are getting along well for once. I don’t want to—”
“Just as I thought. Don’t worry, Phillip, I won’t fuck anything up for you. I’ll leave that for Eric to do. But if you ever need me I’ll be there for you.”
“I can’t do anything today. Why don’t you leave everything for tomorrow? I’ve checked your plans for Westbrook and they’re great. Why don’t we go drinking and dancing to celebrate.”
I didn’t know what the fuck he’d have to celebrate, but me? I could celebrate getting a second chance after the spectacle I’d made of myself.
“The drinks are on me. You need to wind down from that ordeal today. We both need some time off. There’s this new club that re-opened for repairs. I’ve been dying to go see what they’ve added. Eric’s working all hours and he’ll be late tonight so that leaves you and me. What do you say?”
“I’ll go. But I’m only going because I hate going home to an empty apartment.”
“Why don’t you get a dog?”
“Let’s not go down that road again, Phillip. I’m trying to forget and forgive. I want to relax, not think about committing murder. Let me get my things.” I rose from my chair. “I’m not going to stay long, because I have to see Jeremy tomorrow.”
“You do know how to catch a cab or Uber,” Phillip said, and that had me thinking that maybe I should take my car, but I decided not to.
Grabbing my coat, I turned to Phillip. “What happed to the old saying, ‘leave with the one who brought you’?”
“Not in this world. You go home with the man who wants to fuck you.”
WHEN WE PULLED INTO the underground parking garage, and found a space at the very top, we took the elevator down. We had to walk a block to the storefront. On the outside rainbow-colored flags were hanging. As we entered the first door and stood behind four guys, who had started kissing the guys behind them, there was a banner indicating theme night. It was Kiss and Don’t Tell night.
When I felt a palm run down my back, I refused to turn for fear someone would try to kiss me. I didn’t want anything to interfere or have anything to lie about to Jeremy.
Turning to Phillip who had his hand on the guy’s shoulder, and his tongue down the guy in front of him’s throat, I pulled him away and asked, “Do you think we should be in here? And how do you know about this club?” Phillip glanced at me and grabbed my arm, tugging me inside the crowded club. There were two empty spaces left at the bar and we took them.
When we sat, I could see how comfortable Phillip appeared because he leaned over and kissed the guy next to him. When Phillip pulled away, I said, “Suppose someone sees you and they tell Eric that you were here not to drink and dance, but to take advantage of tonight’s theme.
“Eric was the one who introduced me to this club, and we met here a few times.”
“Is this where he’d take you when you and I were an item? We were partners then. We had a home together.” I had to remember to not be so bitter. I was going to start my life anew.
“Yes, but don’t get angry, Dorian.”
“I’m not angry. It’s just that there are dots that are getting connected. I’m long past caring about what you did then. All I can say is good luck to you and Eric. I hope you find what you’re looking for. I finally know what I want, and that’s Jeremy Westbrook. I knew what kind of man you were, and I was willing to overlook it to have someone to come home to at night. But no more. I wish you two luck. The drinks are on me.”
When the bartender poured our vodka shots, I clinked my glass against his. We drank it down and asked for another.
“I know I shouldn’t be here and I feel like a cheat for coming here because I have Eric,” Phillip considered. “But you should definitely be here tonight. You can’t really count on new relationships. A man like Jeremy Westbrook, handsome and probably has an enormous cock—”
My face turned sour with what I thought Phillip was going to say and he cut it off.
Then Phillip started his rant again. “With some men, you can’t put the soup pot on and wait for them to bring the meat.”
“Don’t start with that down-home shit, Phillip. You must be drunk already. You know you can’t drink. I don’t know why you try. I’ll probably have to end up driving you home—something I’m not looking forward to.”
“I knew this gorgeous man from Georgia, and he’d always say that to me.”
I glared at Phillip. “I wonder why?” Yet I knew why. I could guess. Phillip had always been a cheat.
“You look frightened, Dorian, as if you think Jeremy will walk in here and catch you doing something. He doesn’t know you like I do. So relax.”
Phillip ordered two more vodka shots and as the liquor coursed through my body, I thought about Jeremy. “No more drinks for us, or we’ll both have to take taxis home.
With the next drink I wanted to pick up my phone and call Jeremy. Phillip and I were holding each other’s hand and talking about how much we were in love with our men. Then, as we looked up into the large mirror at the bartender, out stepped from behind a partition, Eric and a man about twenty-five, younger and shorter than Phillip. I guessed it was true, opposites attracted because the guy had black hair and olive skin.
Eric had his arms around the guy’s shoulder, and they were kissing as they walked in the direction of the game room. I saw the look on Phillip’s face, and for the first time, I felt sorry for him. He’d put so much into making that relationship work.
Phillip tried to get off the bar stool, but he didn’t make it before I placed my palm on his shoulder. “Stay here. I want to have a talk with Eric.” I slid off the chair. I wasn’t drunk because I knew my level of alcohol consumption before I’d have to stop. I was in complete control of my facilities. However, Phillip would have only managed to make a fool of himself. Me. I didn’t give a fuck about Eric. When you didn’t care that was when you could do the most damage. I’d wanted to have it out with Eric since he’d stolen Phillip from me.
He didn’t steal Phillip. He was never mine. We liked each other as friends, and as a friend I thought it was my duty to help Phillip out by threatening Eric. I marched over to where I’d seen Eric pawing on the hot young Latino.
When I reached the dance floor, the couple were grinding on each other’s cocks. Eric was dry fucking the cute twink. It was dark and everyone was grinding and kissing, and some were exchanging partners and kissing strangers. I tapped on the twink’s shoulder and he turned and when he did, I took Eric and held him close, and then I whispered into his ear.
“Eric. Phillip is in the next room. He saw you with that young boy. Don’t pull away. Right now he doesn’t want to see you anymore. But, I had to convince him that I would come over here and get the real story. Now, what do you want me to tell him? The truth, or the one where you just happened to be in here, and you were trolling for a boy for Phillip to fuck tonight. However, you and I know the
truth. You didn’t want to share him with Phillip.”
“You have me wrong,” Eric lied.
“I have you right, and now you’re about to lose everything when I go back and tell him what he saw was you fucking around when you should have been home waiting for my friend with a home-cooked meal, and a hard cock to fuck him.”
“What do you want me to do?” Eric’s mouth tightened and his eyes searched around the place looking in Phillip’s direction.
“I want you to leave out the back door if there is one. Leave that little boy for someone else to fuck tonight. Go home and get Phillip’s bath ready for him, because he will need it.”
“What if I tell him the truth?”
“You and I know you won’t. First of all, you wouldn’t know the truth if it bit you in the ass, and second, if you do anything to hurt him, and he’s stupid enough to buy your shit, then I will take my name off that mortgage for that expensive apartment, and you will have to put your name on it, and you and I know that you’re up to your ass in debt.”
We were standing looking at each other in the dim-lit room, and then Eric turned and walked to the back of the building. I headed for Phillip sitting and saw he’d ordered another drink.
“Phillip. That wasn’t Eric after all.” I heard a sigh, as if confronting and losing Eric would have been the worst thing that had ever happened to him. I realized that he did love Eric, and I’d hoped Eric felt the same way about him.
“Time to get you home.” I had to drive Phillip home and when I parked his car in the garage, Eric’s Maserati was parked alongside Phillip’s Range Rover. I got Phillip into the elevator and up to his floor. After that I rang the bell and Eric came to the door.
“You’re home, baby. I thought you were working late.” Eric looked at me and took Phillip in his arms.
“Come on baby, I have a hot bath waiting and had supper delivered.” I pulled the door shut and took a cab home.
Chapter 11
Jeremy
“I don’t know why the fuck I’m nervous as hell. Yes I do,” I mumbled into an empty office, biting my thumb. It was just me and the weather outside. It was sunny now, and my spirits were better than last time. I was staring out at the sun covered by clouds, and wondering how did I have this conversation with Dorian.
I was hoping I could convince him that I didn’t mean to deceive him in any way and reveal to him that I’d left out a piece of important information about myself.
I had to tell Dorian the minute he walked into my office that I had a child—not a child, a baby, a little baby that I didn’t know how to raise—and the baby was now home with me. I had to care for her, feed her at night, stay up late, and take her to the doctor. However, I did have a nurse for her when I was working, who happened to be a man, and he lived with me.
That last statement didn’t sound right, but that was all I had without sounding like an arrogant prick again.
I’d walked, talked to myself, and practiced that speech over and over when I realized that I hadn’t worked on several solicited and unsolicited proposals for Max. I’d get them done hopefully in time, but where the fuck was I going to find the time when my personal life was a disaster?
What the fuck was I going to do and how could I fashion my words to tell Dorian everything without a lie creeping into the conversation, and leaving out important information that could drive us further apart?
What if he walked out on me again? What the fuck was I to do? I’d walk out on me. I didn’t know what to do. My life is fucked up, I thought. How the fuck am I going to get this straight, when I don’t know where to start or end.
I’d had a woman turn me down, and now I had a man who was one second from bolting and never coming back if I said the wrong thing. Who was next? This can’t be happening to me, I thought. How the fuck did this happen? It wasn’t that long ago I’d been perfectly happy fucking women. No complications there.
They said it was the ones you didn’t see coming that got you. And without me realizing it, bam, I fell in love with a fucking man. No one had prepared me for the drama and complications of that with that one joyous heart-stopping moment.
I’d paced around the office like a crazy man and couldn’t concentrate for looking at the time. Hell, Dorian should be here any minute. My hands shook as I anticipated him walking in this office. I opened the door several times checking for the sound of the elevator and to see if he’d stepped out and gone to the wrong office.
Where the fuck was everyone? Oh hell, they were out at one of those team field trips for idiots that I’d scheduled at Max’s insistence. The kind where the young lawyers could work with the more seasoned lawyers aimed at teamwork. Max had said they needed something like this, so I offered to schedule one where we’d put everything on hold, and they’d spend half the day learning how to cook as a team. Who thought of that shit? Oh yeah, it was Jami, Max’s husband.
If the lawyers in this firm didn’t think I was gay before I’d made that announcement, it sure as hell would leave no doubt in anyone’s mind now. Thank god I’d scheduled bowling, indoor rock climbing, and a few more activities next month to take the edge off of that cooking debacle just waiting to happen. Some men didn’t want to get close to the kitchen, but I’d got a straight dude who’d said bring it on and gave me a high five. Maybe I didn’t screw this up after all.
I’d found myself back at my desk trying to appear busy by glancing at my calendar, thumbing through those same unfinished proposals, and checking my iPhone to make sure I didn’t miss a text or call from Dorian.
When I’d sat behind my desk, I’d searched through my computer pretending that I’d been busy. I informed my secretary to send Mr. Dorian Hart in once he’d arrived. It was almost time. What if he doesn’t come? My nerves had taken a toll on me. I raked my fingers through my hair, looked up at the door when it opened, and in he strolled.
Dorian looked amazing in his jeans and white shirt and jacket. He aimed a closed smile my way, and all I wanted to do was part his pink lips with my hard length and shove it down his throat. My cock twitched, and fuck me, if this wasn’t going to be an unusual day.
“Did I catch you at the wrong time? You looked flustered,” Dorian said with a smirk. I raised my hand as if I was busy typing out an email. I was writing one to myself on my personal email account that said, Don’t fuck up with Dorian. Don’t fuck this up. I hit send and turned off the computer.
Standing and walking around the desk to get a better picture of Dorian, I sat at the edge of my desk. I nodded for him to sit in front. He opened his messenger bag and pulled out the plans to my home, and laid it on my desk. I didn’t look at the plans. I stared into those green eyes that I’d seen every night in my dreams since the first day I’d met him. That face and those eyes had called me to him, and had me saying and doing things I’d never thought I’d do.
As I glanced down taking in every part of him from my high position, his hair, his jacket, his jeans, my breath hitched, my cock quivered. He was too near. God could he just stand somewhere else, like on the other side of the world. If he’d gotten any closer, I’d lose my mind and tear his clothes off. Fuck if this can be business. Seeing Dorian and being near him was pure pleasure for me. Just looking in his face and thinking about the last time I leaned over him as I entered his tight pucker sent my cock into a pre-cum frenzy. I had to get up and walk it off.
Good luck to me if I could.
I felt the drip of pre-cum already. All I had to do was try to get it under control. I didn’t realize that I’d have to wear a ring to keep me from ejaculating, or a condom on my hard cock to catch what I knew was coming. Maybe I should excuse myself to go to my restroom, but I thought Dorian would know, and my cool unaffected demeanor would be shot to hell, and then he’d know that I was a fraud. What the fuck, who am I kidding? He’ll know soon enough after I beg him to come back to me.
“You’ve got a very interesting office here,” Dorian commented, glancing around, his green eyes lan
ding on every piece of furniture. Everything except me. It was as if he’d purposefully avoided eye contact with me. “I’ve never seen an office this large before.”
“It appears larger because I don’t like too much furniture. A desk, a few chairs and a large couch and a table.” Dorian turned after biting his lip, and smiled broadly. I didn’t think I’d convinced him with understating the facts that it was an enormous office with way too much shit in it.
“I make it a practice not to go to lawyers’ offices often.” I raised an eyebrow waiting for him to say that he thought we were a greedy, horny bunch of men, and women, who’d fuck anything that moved, literarily and physically, but he didn’t.
“I have a partner who takes care of legal issues, I don’t want to touch,” he added.
“Partner?” I panicked. My voiced shook and my lips quivered. I really was losing it.
“Phillip. You know, partner as in our architectural firm.”
Thank God. I thought he’d meant that he and Phillip had reconciled. If they had, I knew what that meant. He’d come here to gloat at me and tease me. If I’d had oxygen in the brain I’d realize how Dorian felt about Phillip and cheating.
I trod over to the window and looked out at the Seattle skyline. I heard Dorian’s sneakers on the hardwood floor, and when I turned, he stood behind me. Close.
“Why all the small talk, Jeremy? You haven’t once looked at the plans. I thought you wanted to get going with the house as soon as possible. Is it because of the man I saw you with?” Dorian’s voice was soft and appeasing.
“Of course not. I thought we’d settled that,” I insisted.
“Then what is it?” I stared into his green eyes.
“It’s you and me. I want to start over.” I got that out, released the breath I’d been holding since he walked into the office. “I said that I’d tell you everything once you came here, and here you are. I want to tell you today because I don’t want anything to come between us ever again.”
