Something Real

by Nellie Christine

  “Just a friend,” Elijah reiterated. For some reason, he was highly intimidated right now. “I just stopped in to say hello. That’s all.”

  Mr. Paul stared at Elijah until Elijah found the pattern on the rug to be really intriguing. The man shook his head.

  “What’s going on with the girls’ session? Their manager says you’re trying to get X-Phile to change the arrangement of a song?”

  Grayson took a deep breath and looked up at his father. “The song sounds atrocious, Dad. It’s making Dana have to scream practically to hit her note. I tried to talk to them about it and they took me for a joke.”

  Elijah looked over at him.

  “Why didn’t you handle it?” His father asked him. “I let you sit in on the session so that you would take charge.”

  “Well no one wants Harvey “The Assistant” Junior’s input on anything.”

  Harvey took a deep breath. “I’m going to go have a listen. Come down when you’re finished.”

  Grayson nodded. “Okay.”

  His father looked at Elijah again and closed the door.

  Elijah swallowed hard and relaxed his muscles. “My god. How did you grow up with that? I’d be scared to speak without raising my hand.”

  Grayson went over to the door to lock it this time. He shrugged in response.

  “You get used to him after a while.”

  Elijah nodded. “I’m sorry these people are giving you a hard time. They should respect you.”

  Grayson smiled at him. “You’re sweet.”

  “No I’m not.” Elijah pulled the bowtie out of his pocket as he sat back down on the couch. “Don’t try to diminish my street cred by calling me things like sweet. I’m a gangster.”

  Grayson sat down at his desk and pulled the sandwich out of the paper bag. “Because gangsters totally bring dudes they were screwing the night before lunch when they can’t make it out to get their own.”

  Elijah smirked at him. “I had a feeling there was a cafeteria in this place, but I thought you’d be too busy to get yourself something.”

  That much was true. Grayson still had things he needed to get done before going back down to the studio. He unwrapped the foil and nodded.

  This was impressive.

  “How did you know I was a ham and Swiss guy? Please don’t tell me you found that on Google too…”

  “I Googled you once,” Elijah lied. “You don’t have to bring that up all the time.”

  Grayson took a bite and wow that was delicious. He didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t eaten since that ravioli last night or because this thing tasted that damn good, but he was ready to sing praises to whichever deli was responsible. He swallowed and replied. “I would believe that if your friend Tony hadn’t thrown you under the bus last night.”

  “He’s not my friend.” Elijah looked around the office and focused on the business books on the shelf. Next to one was a regular composition notebook. He was too lazy to get up and be nosy. “He’s nothing.”

  Grayson smirked before taking another bite. “Hm. Do you tell other guys I’m nothing too?”

  Elijah stared up at the ceiling. “What’s the point of even inviting me in here if you think I see you that way?”

  Grayson didn’t answer at first. Instead, he continued eating and switched focus to booking the flights for the two artists.

  Elijah looked at his watch. There was still a decent amount of time before he had to leave for work again. He leant back on the couch, propping his head on a sofa pillow.

  They enjoyed the silence for a few minutes. All that was heard every now and again was Grayson’s typing and Elijah’s humming. When the flights were booked, Grayson ate the last bite of the sandwich and reached for his cup.

  “I’m sorry if I made you upset.”

  Elijah looked up at him from where he was playing with the Peanuts bowtie. “What? Not at all. I just hope you know you’re not another Tony to me.”

  Grayson didn’t know what that meant exactly. According to the monologue he’d gotten on a piano bench the night before, Elijah wasn’t the ‘more than just another Tony’ type. He was okay with Elijah just being… Elijah to him. Neither of them wanted anything complicated, and Grayson knew when he was ready to walk away and had the time for something serious, he’d be able to do so without there being a big hoopla about it.

  Now Elijah was being confusing.

  “What are you doing tonight?” Elijah asked.

  Grayson finished swallowing a bit of his coffee and answered, but not before realizing that the coffee was made just the way he liked it. First his sandwich, and now this.

  Grayson was suspicious.

  “I went to Symphony Café for the coffee,” Elijah said. “Your friend told me that you like it light and sweet and made it for you.”

  Grayson smirked. That made sense. Now he was going to have to worry about dealing with her smiling and wiggling her eyebrows at him later. “How very gangster of you.”

  Elijah continued. “She told me that you like ham sandwiches with Swiss cheese, hence the sandwich. There was no Google involved. There you are.”

  “I feel like I should know your coffee order now.”

  Elijah smiled. “Black, like my soul.”

  Grayson rolled his eyes, but it did make him laugh. “I promised Oscar and his girlfriend Eleanor – the one who made this coffee – that I’d take them out for a bite to eat tonight. They want to hear about the guy who found my phone and then fucked me senseless.”

  Elijah twirled the bowtie in his hand and smiled. “There’s not much to tell them – besides he’s an imbecile.”

  “He’s a decent looking imbecile,” Grayson told him. “But that’s all there is to my night. Why do you ask? Did you plan to serenade me in the park again?”

  Elijah sat up and shook his head no. “I was going to ask you to come over, actually.”

  Grayson smiled. “No you weren’t. I was over there last night. That goes against everything you stand for.”

  “Or,” Elijah said, rolling his eyes. “I look at you as more than just another guy I had sex with and I’d like to see you again. Don’t look too far into it.”

  Elijah didn’t get an answer. He sighed and spoke again.

  “Is this not fun for you? I mean, most guys I try to hold a conversation with put me to sleep, but I can talk to you. I like that.”

  Grayson threw his trash into the garbage bin and thought about that. “I must’ve been a really good lay.”

  Elijah shook his head and laid back down. “You’re missing the point.”

  “Then what’s the point?”

  “The point is; it isn’t every day that one comes across another individual who wants the same thing. We both just want something casual,” Elijah said. He had his eyes closed now, but he could hear Grayson’s red bottoms walking across the floor. “And I think this space we’re in right now where we can both just hang out and laugh and maybe mess around, I think that’s a good space for the two of us to be in.”

  Grayson fixed his tie as he looked down at his guest slouched on his office sofa. “Oh really? That sounds like an exclusive fuck-buddy proposal if I’ve ever heard one.”

  Elijah smirked. He kept his eyes closed; one arm thrown over them to shield the light. Honestly, the guy was upset that this couch was so comfortable. He had to get back up in a matter of minutes and moving wasn’t a thing that was high on his agenda right now. “Your tone of voice implies that there’s something wrong with us being fuck buddies…” he stopped when he felt the couch sink from Grayson kneeling on the sofa. Then he felt him hovering over him.

  Then he felt very tentative kisses being pressed against his lips. Again, and again, and again.

  Elijah tilted his head up to meet the next one, not expecting Grayson to hold it for so long. He parted his lips and exhaled through his nose; hands finding their way to Grayson’s waist with ease.

  When the kiss ended, Elijah found himself holding back a whine. Grays
on stood up and fixed his clothes.

  “I should probably go back downstairs. I’m actually curious to know if my father is going to take sides with X-Phile on this one.”

  Elijah sat up. “What was that for?”

  “The kiss?” Grayson asked. “I wanted to know if you’d stop me. You didn’t.”

  Elijah licked his lips. He didn’t know if his confusion was evident on his face, but he wasn’t too sure what or why or how or?? “Were you trying to prove a point? Because all you accomplished was making me want to finish what we started.”

  Grayson smiled. “There was a point.”

  “Which was…?”

  “The point is that it’s a terrible idea for us to become exclusive anythings.”

  Elijah rolled his eyes. “Here we go. You’re about to complicate it.”

  Grayson walked over to his desk for his cell phone. “Actually, my friend, I’m keeping things simple. There’s no such thing as fuck buddies who like talking and laughing with one another, or kissing. That’s a one-way ticket to falling for the idiot.”

  Elijah couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Why are you fighting this? It’s nice.”

  “Open your eyes for one minute,” Grayson told him.

  Elijah was confused. His eyes were open. “Dude –”

  “You have rules for guys that you keep breaking. For me.” Grayson turned around and made sure there was eye contact before he resumed. “Today, you brought me lunch to my job because I couldn’t make it to our spot. We pretty much have a spot. This is already more of a relationship than I had with my ex-boyfriend and we aren’t about to do this.”

  Elijah smiled. “You’re crazy.”

  “You’re in denial,” Grayson quipped back. “Get out of here.”

  Elijah slid his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he walked closer.

  Grayson stared at him. “Go on. Get.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  He was face-to-face with Grayson now, and that stupid-but-gorgeous smile that Grayson was a huge fan of was painted on his stupid but-gorgeous-face. God, Grayson hated him.

  Focus, he told himself.

  “Admit that this isn’t fuck-buddy behavior.”

  Elijah smirked. “After you admit that you don’t want me to get on my knees right here and right now, I’ll admit anything you want.”

  Grayson tried to back away from Elijah and ended up bumping into his desk.

  Elijah smiled.

  “I don’t want you blowing me at my place of work, Elijah.”

  “What?” He looked Grayson up and down. “Why not? Is it because there’s no way for you to make that more than it is?”

  Grayson scoffed. “You think that I’m making this more than what it is? You’re being ridiculous.”

  “How so?”

  “Because if you bring me lunch and then blow me, you’re really losing your playboy touch.”

  Elijah laughed. “Oh my god –”

  “You obviously like me. Like, like-like me.”

  “I do not.”

  “And if we do this, we’ll end up falling too deep and someone – most likely me – is going to get hurt, and I don’t want to deal with any of that again. I wanted easy and something that would be no-strings attached. You were the perfect image of that. Now you’re just confusing me.”

  Elijah scratched at his jaw as he turned away from Grayson. That wasn’t something he was expecting to hear.

  “I find you insanely attractive, Elijah.” Grayson reached out and grabbed his wrist. “And like you said, we get along pretty well. I haven’t known you long, but I know that you make me laugh and there are butterflies when I think about that, no matter how small they may be. All the points you were making to support why we should be friends with benefits are the same that I’m using as to why we shouldn’t. I don’t think we should.”

  “You suck.”

  Grayson smiled. That was him. The killjoy. “Sorry. I’m protecting us here. Besides. I’m the shiny new toy, Elijah. There are plenty of fish in the sea.”

  Elijah looked past Grayson and out the window as he thought about what he’d just said to him. It was probably true. They’d get tired of one another after they got used to this. “This little infatuation we’re feeling will probably pass after we do it again, right?”

  Grayson nodded. His phone vibrated and it made him look down at it. “I think it will for you. I have a feeling I’m going to be working a lot harder than I am now soon. I won’t have much time for anything but a fling, and as fun as this is.” Grayson gestured between the two of them. “It’s not really the type of guy I am. You’re lucky I trust you for whatever reason.”

  Elijah smiled. Though he was in no rush to admit it, there was some truth to what Grayson was saying. He needed to get this out of his system. “Yeah. Are you really going to make me leave?”

  “I should.”

  Elijah turned around and looked at the door. He checked his watch. They could fit in a little something. One last fling to end it all. “I promise not to ever bring you lunch ever again if you let me bend you over this desk.”

  Grayson laughed. “Really, Elijah?”

  “It will be strictly business. No niceties.” Elijah stepped forward and undid the top couple buttons of Grayson’s shirt. He could see him smirking at him as he did so. “We’ll stop after this. I’ll go back to being the dick I am. You can go back to being the next leader of this company.” He paused for a moment and smiled. “I think you need matching hickeys on the other side.”

  Grayson could not believe he was getting turned on right now. At work. With the guy he just told to leave on several occasions, AKA the guy he wanted to stay so badly. But if this was going to be the last time, there was no pressure. No one would end up hurt, no one would have to recover. It would just be remembered as a thing that once was.

  “Have you ever bottomed, Elijah Dawson?”

  Elijah began to smile as his fingers worked on unbuttoning Grayson’s shirt the rest of the way. He pushed it off of his shoulders, letting him stay in the tie he wore. “I can’t say that I have, Grayson Paul.”

  Grayson watched him undoing his belt buckle. “Ever?”

  “Have you ever topped?” Elijah quipped back.

  “Of course,” Grayson replied. “I enjoy bottoming more but I switch it up from time to time. Why haven’t you bottomed?”

  “We should probably talk less if we plan on keeping this last time nice and casual, don’t you think?”

  Grayson smirked. Now he was being petty. “Sure.”

  He watched as Elijah reached into his back pocket for his wallet – the leather pouch was ripped and taped up in certain spots. It looked like the guy had it for no less than 10 years. Out of it came a Trojan condom and a travel-size packet of lube. Grayson wasn’t surprised. Of course this guy was always prepared. He began to lower his pants as Elijah returned the wallet, remaining there in his tie, boxers, and Louboutin shoes.

  Then, Elijah started undressing. “So. Last time, huh?”

  Grayson kept his eyes on him as Elijah took his shirt off. There was very little that was sexier than Elijah Dawson in a white V-neck undershirt that fit him as well as his own skin. He reached out and ran his fingers over Elijah’s tattoos as he dropped his flannel shirt to the floor.

  “I think this is for the best,” Grayson said.

  Elijah began to lower his jeans and underwear to his thigh and stroke himself. “Hopefully the magic hasn’t worn off yet.” He relaxed, watching Grayson mirror him by sliding a hand into his boxers as well.

  “Hopefully it has,” Grayson countered. “That way, we can move on and forget this. Order will be restored.”

  Elijah turned him around.

  The magic hadn’t worn off, at least not for Elijah. In fact, it felt ten times better.

  Fuck.

  Maybe it was because he wasn’t a drunken mess right now. As he pressed in and watched Grayson take him; grabbing at the edge of his desk and knockin
g the phone off the hook in the process, he tried to convince himself it wasn’t as good as it was. It was just sex, after all. Any guy could make him feel like this. Any guy could look back at him with green eyes and his bottom lip pinched between his teeth, moaning in a way that said they were loving every thrust.

  He could have this with anyone.

  Who’re you trying to convince? he asked himself.

  Elijah stopped for a moment, just to bury himself deeper. There was something about the way Grayson pushed back against him that drove him absolutely crazy. None of this was fair.

  “Oh my god,” Grayson panted, biting down on one fist while the other dragged up and down his cock. Elijah grasped a handful of Grayson’s hair and yanked it back as he thrust in and out. He didn’t want this to end, but fuck was he close.

  The desk moved forward a bit, but Grayson held on; his cheek pressed against the cool surface. Never did he think he was one of those guys that’d have a quickie in his office. His father? Yeah. Him? Not so much.

  It made him smile, though. Especially when Elijah pulled on his tie, using it for leverage as he fucked him deeper.

  There wasn’t a lot of dirty talk or cute banter this time around. Elijah was quiet and focused as he sped up, save a few curse words here and there. Grayson tended to be the more vocal one, though. He tried to keep his groaning at a level that wouldn’t be heard by anyone walking by.

  It was Elijah that came first. He didn’t bother to pull out, steadily fucking Grayson as he spilled into the condom. Grayson winced as the grip on his hips tightened. There’d more than likely be finger shaped bruises to compliment the marks on his neck there later.

  “Shit.” Elijah pulled out slowly, making sure the condom stayed put as he did so. While he took it off, he listened to the sounds Grayson made as he jerked off.

  Grayson remained bent over the desk. He was writhing, and his legs were shaking, and all Elijah could do was watch and think about how he’d never be doing this again.

  Of course it was for the best. Grayson made it clear that he wasn’t interested in doing this and getting hurt, and Elijah knew deep inside that he did not want to hurt him.

  But, still.

  Their sex was going to be hard for him to walk away from.