Apparently, his father quickly talked to Pete, because a shrieking Jaylynn had blasted into his office fifteen minutes after he and Ryan had left his father’s office, while they were in the middle of packing boxes Ryan had actually gone out and somehow sweet-talked a receptionist into helping him scrounge up from somewhere.
Jaylynn had been fired, too, although Brett wasn’t sure if that was due to her machinations, or running her mouth about her father’s retirement plans, or what. She’d been too busy angry-crying and incoherently screaming at him for him to understand exactly what she’d been saying.
That was how, an hour later, Brett found himself sitting in his car, the trunk and backseat filled with boxes, and he was pondering exactly how he’d reached that point. He was also staring at his phone, where he was looking at an e-mail that had dropped into his inbox less than ten minutes earlier.
Detailing his new job, duties, fringe benefits, and pay for gO! Network as one of their promotions vice-presidents, and a link to a digital contract he could sign and submit to them.
Holy. Shit.
Brett had enough time to stop by his condo and unload his stuff before heading out again to meet Kodie’s flight at Dulles, with one stop along the way.
When Kodie stepped into the main terminal, a carryon slung over his shoulder, Brett was waiting. Kodie’s sweet brown gaze met his even across the terminal, and the man’s smile as he walked toward him and watched Brett drop down onto one knee was a sight he knew he’d remember until his dying day.
Brett held up the ring when Kodie walked up to him. It was a plain gold band, and literally the first one he’d laid eyes on when he ran into the jewelry store. He hoped it fit him.
“I did something stupid twelve years ago,” Brett said. “So before I do something else stupid, will you please let me collar you, marry you, and spend the rest of our lives together apologizing and making it up to you?”
He wasn’t expecting the tears that filled Kodie’s eyes. Kodie nodded and dropped the carryon, holding a now shaking left hand out while Brett tried to put the ring on him. Fortunately, it fit on his pinky.
He stood and pulled Kodie in for a long kiss, cheered on by a few people nearby who’d witnessed what’d happened. “I’ll buy you a better one, boy,” he whispered. “I needed something to put on your finger now. Today. To prove to you now what you mean to me.”
Kodie sniffled as he laughed. “What about dinner tonight?”
“Change of plans. Ryan Ausar is coming by my place, and said the three of us can order pizza and talk work.”
“What about your dad and Jaylynn?”
Brett cupped Kodie’s head in his hands. “I told him about you and me this morning. In his office. Right there in front of Ryan Ausar. Ryan helped me pack my office after Dad fired me.”
Kodie’s smile faded. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You’re looking at the network’s newest promotions VP.”
“What?”
Brett grinned and kissed him again. “Ryan hired me on the spot. It means I’ll be able to afford to buy you a better wedding ring, boy. And, even better, I can telecommute from Florida.”
Kodie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Really. But Ryan also told me that I can take the rest of the week off, take a week after that to get me packed and moved, and then get to work promoting the show. I’ll get the condo listed in the next day or two. With the housing market here, it should sell pretty fast.”
“So…I’m really driving the moving truck for you? You mean it?”
Brett grinned. “Unless we rent a car hauler so we can ride together in the truck.”
Kodie pulled him in for another kiss. “Did I mention how much I love you, Sir?”
“I’m glad, because we’ll be working together for the foreseeable future. And living together.” His smile faded. “As long as you want me.”
“Fuckin’ A, I want you, Sir. Like hell are you living anywhere except with me.”
Brett’s smile returned. “That’s my boy.”
Chapter Twelve
Kodie rarely travelled, especially out of state, and normally would be staring at the scenery.
Today, all he could do was stare at the ring on his left pinky, where his hand rested on Brett’s right thigh as he drove.
With the fingers of Brett’s right hand curled around his.
Brett’s condo was in an upscale complex that made Kodie feel self-conscious until he realized Brett had literally just spent a week with him at his place, and not once had made any complaint about the accommodations.
Except if Kodie wasn’t in bed so they could fuck some more.
Which Kodie had been perfectly okay with doing.
Brett wasted no time and dragged Kodie into his bedroom, where he quickly stripped him and made love to him. Once they were both sated and lying nestled in each other’s arms, Brett sighed.
“I’m afraid to spank you here. The goddamned walls are too freaking thin.”
“That’s okay, Sir.” Kodie nuzzled his face against Brett’s neck and inhaled. “I can wait until we’re home.” He broached the subject. “You know, there’s a BDSM club down in Sarasota. I wouldn’t mind us taking a drive down there sometime and checking it out.”
“Oh, reeeeally?” Brett lifted his head and smiled at Kodie. “Is that a hint?”
“More like a direct request, Sir.”
Brett kissed him again. “I’m probably going to be spoiling you rotten over the next few weeks, then I’ll have to train you all over again,” he teased.
“Oooh, like that’s a hardship, Sir.”
Brett reached down and pinched his ass. “Want me to start banking your punishment strokes to give you all at once?”
“Ooooh, no, Sir, please don’t spank me alllll at once.”
“Brat.” Brett nipped Kodie’s left earlobe. “You’re a horrible actor.”
“Then thank god this is a reality TV show, and I don’t need to act.”
They both burst out laughing.
Brett settled into his arms. “Sure you can put up with me full-time?”
“The question should be are you sure you can put up with me full-time? I’m kind of a workaholic when I’m deep in a build and nearing the delivery deadline.”
“Then we’ll both do just fine, boy. I know we will.”
Kodie thought Brett had dozed off when he spoke, breaking the stillness. “I mean it,” Brett softly said. “I’m marrying you.”
“I know. I trust you.”
His lips feathered over Kodie’s temple. “I don’t deserve your trust, baby.”
“Yes, you do.” He tightened his hold on Brett. “You told your father off for me. You stood up to him. You finally broke his hold on you.”
“I desperately don’t want to fuck this up, Kode,” he whispered. “I don’t want to fuck us up.”
It actually relieved him that his Sir was scared. It meant he was in this for life, and serious about them.
“You won’t fuck us up, Brett. Not as long as you trust me, and you don’t leave me again.”
“I hope you don’t mind being stuck with me for life.”
Kodie took another long, deep breath. He loved having Brett’s familiar scent in his lungs once again.
And all over his body.
“Only if you don’t mind being stuck with me, Sir.”
* * * *
Four weeks later…
That Monday morning, Kodie stood at the head of the conference room table, in front of the whiteboard on the wall at the end of the room. “This is today’s wish list of sh-stuff we’ll get done.”
From the back of the room, where Brett leaned against the wall and remained safely out of view of the rolling cameras, he smiled. After a week of steady filming, his boy was getting a lot better at remembering to mind his language when they were filming. Less work for the editors to do later, meaning lower production costs, and a lot less likely to trigger parents into banning it from their childre
n’s viewing list.
Also meaning less likely to cause them problems later when posting clips on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media sites. It meant they’d be able to post them as suitable for all audiences, instead of getting slapped with a mature-content rating.
Meaning they’d have an easier time posting ads and boosting posts.
Brett had also won the discussion with the network to keep their relationship out of the main storyline. Sure, it sucked that, had he been a girl, they could milk their wedding and honeymoon and any number of circumstances.
Except in today’s political environment, that would be polarizing. Especially among a goodly chunk of their targeted demographic of viewers.
It was better to not talk about their personal life too much, and to let random bits of candid shots filter their way organically into the narrative. Frequent shots of them arriving at work together in the same vehicle, or Kodie dropping a kiss on the top of Brett’s head as he passed through the office to do something else, or working out together at the gym, shots of them out to dinner with friends—little things that weren’t made a big deal about, either.
Brett added that they wanted their show to stand on its merits as something people from any end of the political spectrum could come together and watch without feeling there was any kind of “message” being shoved down their throats. That they would focus on the entertainment. They weren’t a political show—they were a show about building motorcycles. They would more effectively spread a message of tolerance if they were doing it in such a subtle way that most of the far right-wingers wouldn’t even pick up on it. The ones who did and bitched about it would never be their demographic, anyway.
And Brett had lobbied hard for—and won—Kodie and him having creative control of the scripts the narrator read during final production. Meaning they’d control the narrative and the nuances of what happened.
Any manufactured drama would focus on the creative and mechanical process of bringing someone’s dream bike to life, or around the normal daily operations of the shop.
Hell, the renovation process of the other section of the shop building alone would give them several episodes worth of material, easily. Add in color commentary and video featuring customers or other employees, and focusing too heavily on Kodie and him would only provide unwelcomed distractions and controversy that they didn’t want.
Brett’s winning argument, made to Ryan Ausar in person, was that wouldn’t it be far better to focus on the normality of his and Kodie’s relationship? To treat it as a non-issue, the way they’d treat any other employee’s relationship?
Fortunately, the man had agreed with him.
This wasn’t a television show about in-your-face politics or romance. It was about motorcycles, running a shop, the build process, and their staff and customers.
Besides, he’d also successfully argued, Kodie was hot as hell. It would be a better tease to draw in more female viewers if they didn’t emphasize the two of them were gay, and the subtle coding would naturally draw in gay male viewers without alienating any straight male viewers who might not normally want to watch content featuring a gay male couple.
The only point Brett did give in on was allowing their wedding to be filmed to include in the season one DVD set’s special bonus features. Hell, from a marketing aspect, that was freaking platinum. On the show, however, only the briefest mentions would be made of it, with a one-second shot of their kiss at the end of the ceremony, shots of a few stills, and that wouldn’t even be brought up until nearly the end of the first season.
That meant it’d give them plenty of time to pull it from the episode if they thought their ratings would suffer too much as a result.
There were already quite a few fan sites “shipping” Brett and Kodie as a couple, though, and the first episode hadn’t even made it to final production yet. That was just from the promo teasers that had already aired on the gO! Network site.
My boy is haaaawt.
He proudly smiled.
They were already in the process of renovating the other half of the building, including an office for Brett to work out of.
Soundproofed.
Supposedly so he could work and talk on the phone without the distractions of shop noise. However, the added bonus would be no one in the shop being able to hear what went on in his office.
Like lunchtime spankings.
He couldn’t fucking wait.
Already, though, there were silent, subtle things between them. Like Brett now wore the ring he’d given Kodie on his left ring finger after having it sized. During the day, when at work or out riding dirt bikes, Kodie wore a silicon ring, black with a blue stripe in it. It was safer for him to wear, less risk of him getting injured. Any other time, he wore the band Brett had shopped for and found—in the correct size this time—black with grey lines etched in it, classy, sturdy, and totally fitting Kodie’s vibe.
They’d purchased matching wedding bands to wear after the ceremony. And then Kodie would wear the black band on his right hand when it was safe to, his official day collar, in addition to his wedding band—or the silicon one—on his left.
Subtle.
But more than enough for Brett to satisfy him, and Kodie.
That’s all that mattered.
Brett also rarely got mic’ed. If he was in a shot, the sound guy had to catch him with the boom mic. He was too often on the phone with other clients, or the network, stuff they didn’t necessarily want picked up by a mic pack.
Which meant it was easy for him, when they could sneak in time alone during the day, to reach behind Kodie, switch off his mic, and have a little sexy time with him in one of the bathrooms.
Two weekends ago, they drove down to Sarasota, to spend the weekend and visit the BDSM club…
Only to run into a man and a woman who were stars of another reality show on the network, about hoarders and their recovery. They ran a cleaning company in Sarasota.
Brett watched Kodie sit at the table with them, uncomfortable at first, until Essie and Ted were finally able to put his boy’s mind at ease that, yes, their privacy would be honored there at the club.
And, oh, by the way, they had private parties every few months that included even stricter privacy rules, and even more high-profile guests. Interested?
Fuck, yeah, they were.
Even more of both a surprise and a relief—the IP attorney Kodie had hired to help him with the contract at the network, Ross, and his wife, Loren, were also long-time members of the club. They showed up while Brett and Kodie were talking with Essie and Ted.
That night, they’d fallen asleep in their hotel room with Kodie covered in Brett’s marks from shoulders to knees after scening at the club, and both of them completely sated.
Brett had tried calling his father two weeks ago, but didn’t tell Kodie about it.
Didn’t want his boy upset on his behalf.
As soon as his father realized who it was, he hung up on Brett, and wouldn’t answer the phone again, sending his calls to voice mail.
Answered that question.
So it was him, and his boy, and his boy’s friends—who were actually adopted family now. That they’d loved and supported his boy meant he couldn’t help but love them back. And their permanent production crew was also quickly becoming adopted family.
It didn’t escape Brett’s notice that in one short month, his life had not only completely shifted for the better after his worst-case fear came true—his father disowning him—but that he was happier now than he could ever remember being in his life.
And so was his boy.
* * * *
Kodie felt exhausted that evening when it was time to go home. He handed Brett the keys to his truck. “You drive, Sir. Please?”
Brett frowned. “Are you all right?”
“Just…tired.”
Brett brushed a kiss across his lips as he took the keys from him. “Straight to the shower when we get home, boy. I’ll take care of
dinner for us.”
Kodie didn’t even have the strength to argue with him. “Thank you, Sir.”
As Brett drove them home, Kodie laid his head back, resting his eyes just for a moment and startling when Brett touched his shoulder.
“We’re home, buddy.”
He looked up, disoriented, to find that, yes, they were already home.
“Wow, you really are wiped out, aren’t you?” Brett asked.
He nodded.
In the shower, Brett tenderly scrubbed his back for him and held him under the spray. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I didn’t sleep well last night.” He’d actually awakened in the middle of the night horny as hell, but one of their rules was he didn’t masturbate. Especially without permission.
Except Brett had been sound asleep, and he didn’t have the heart to wake him.
So he’d lain there, horny as hell and unable to go back to sleep.
And the last thing he wanted to do was admit that to Brett and have Brett feeling guilty about it. Because if there was one thing that had become blatantly clear early on, it was that Brett took everything personally when it came to Kodie. By that meaning if Kodie so much as had the sniffles, Brett was immediately trying to find something to give him relief, and feeling like it was his fault Kodie wasn’t feeling well, whether that was logical or not.
It was adorably annoying sometimes. There was the sadistic bastard who had no problem beating him, and the Sir who would treat him like fragile china if he even suspected Kodie wasn’t feeling up to his best.
Like now.
After their shower, Brett ordered him to bed while he went and reheated leftovers from the night before. They ate in bed, the TV tuned by Brett to Kodie’s favorite show. Once they finished, even though it was still really early, Brett cuddled with him in bed, whereas normally he’d be going through e-mails or doing other work on his laptop.
“Anything else I can do for you?” Brett asked.
Well…
Kodie felt and found Brett’s hand, and pulled it onto his cock. “Please, Sir?”
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