Living It

by Casper Graham

  He expelled a loud breath when he heard the knocking on his office door. “Come in.” He was surprised when his mom poked her head into his office.

  “Hello, Jojo.”

  He got up and walked toward his mom before embracing her. “Hey. So good to see you. What’s going on?”

  He had a strong feeling about the thing his mother wanted to talk to him about, but he waited patiently as she led him to the couch in his office. After all, Davion had been absent from their weekly family dinner two times in a row now.

  “Still no word from Dave?”

  He sat next to his mom and shook his head. “He’s mad at me. I can’t blame him at all, though. It’s all my fault. I was more than a little tipsy.”

  His mom gazed at him for a moment longer before speaking up. “Are you ready to tell me the full story now?”

  He nodded before launching into the events that occurred right before their short argument at his penthouse. When he was done, his mom looked at him with sympathy in her eyes.

  “I want to apologize and get Davion back, but I can’t do that. He wouldn’t reply to my text messages, and he didn’t pick up his phone when I called. It has been more than two weeks now.”

  “Oh, Jojo.”

  He sighed in defeat. “I couldn’t sleep well lately. I’ve also been snapping at my employees quite often, especially over the last few days. I hope to make things right between me and Dave, but I can’t do that when I can’t even talk to him. Any advice?”

  His mom simply stared at him before leaning against the back of the couch. “Did Davion have a horrible dating history?”

  “Yeah,” he confirmed with more than a little shame surging up from deep within his guts. “A few of them were verbally abusive.”

  “Oh, Jojo,” his mom repeated. “That’s…I have no words.”

  “I know, Mom. I’m not excusing my behavior or the shitty things I said to Davion, but I was more than a little intoxicated that evening. I…I love him so much. When I saw that man’s arm around Davion, my past just hit me out of nowhere. It was like my worst nightmare coming back to haunt me all over again.”

  “Davion isn’t the same person as Matthew. You’re doing Dave a huge disservice by lumping him into the same category as Matt.”

  He rubbed the back of his neck and massaged the ache gently. “I know, but I wasn’t thinking clearly that night. I’m not defending myself, Mom. Just giving you the whole picture of what happened.”

  His mom remained quiet for a minute or so. “You need to stop drinking so much alcohol. You do that a lot whenever you’re bored or angry.”

  He blushed from the embarrassment of being chastised by his mom for his unhealthy coping behavior at his current age. “Yeah.”

  The silence stretched on for a moment before his mom spoke up. “Do you know any of Davion’s friends?”

  He nodded. “Elizabeth.”

  “Have you tried asking her?”

  He bit his lower lip before responding. “She was pissed off at me. She slapped me really hard on my right cheek five days ago when I attempted to talk to Davion at the museum. I thought I could catch him early in the morning before the museum opened to the public, but she came out instead.”

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah. She screamed at me and warned me she would castrate me if I ever dared to bother Davion again.”

  “She’s a loyal friend.”

  “She is. Davion has been friends with her since their college years.”

  Neither of them uttered a single word for a few minutes afterward. Jonah expected his mom to tell him to give up. Instead, she told him something else that astounded him.

  “You should contact her again. She may have cooled down by now.”

  He gaped at his mom. “What? Have you lost your mind? What if she castrated me for real?”

  “You deserved it then.”

  He narrowed his eyes at his mom. “I’m your son. You should be on my side.”

  She snorted. “I love Davion. He’s sweet and kind, and he has made you happier than you’ve been in years. I was really looking forward to having him as my son-in-law.”

  “What about now?”

  “I still do.”

  “You’re a traitor.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Davion is a good listener. He’s also polite and nice. Your father absolutely adores him, and you know how difficult that is when it comes to the old man. Remember Grace, Nathan, and Gerald?”

  He chuckled out loud in amusement. “Of course. Dad took forever to warm up to them.”

  His mom laughed along with him. “The old man looks like a softie on the outside, but he’s actually even harder to crack than me. I almost had a heart attack when your dad told me upon reaching home how much he loved Davion after the first meal we had together here at your restaurant.”

  His eyes widened in surprise. “I never knew that.”

  “Now you do.” He and his mom exchanged a small smile. “Do you still love Davion?”

  He glared at her in irritation. “Of course, I do. What kind of a stupid question is that?”

  “Have you told him?”

  “I…no, I haven’t.”

  His mom sat up straight on the couch and grabbed his hands. “Find him. Apologize and beg for his forgiveness. You crossed the line this time around. Then you need to let him how you feel about him.”

  He suppressed a sigh. “I will. I’ll go to the museum at four o’clock. He’s usually much busier until then.”

  “Okay,” his mom said before getting up. “I’ll be leaving now. I’m just worried about you. I hope to see both you and Davion at the next family dinner at home.”

  “Wish me luck then.”

  He stood and hugged his mom for a few seconds longer than he usually did before walking her out to her car. As he watched her drive away, he couldn’t help the flutter of butterflies in his stomach, but he loved Davion. He wanted his man back. He was willing to get down on his knees and grovel if he had to. He just had to be given the chance to do that.

  * * * *

  “Okay. Enough.”

  Davion glanced up from his laptop screen toward Elizabeth’s annoyed expression. “What?”

  “You’ve been moping for more than two weeks now. I can’t stand you anymore.”

  He scowled at Elizabeth. “No one asks you to.”

  Elizabeth glared at him. “You’ve also been acting like a fucking bitch.”

  “It takes one to know one.”

  Elizabeth narrowed her eyes even more. “I’m going to chalk that up to a moment of insanity on your part and forgive you. Now, get up and get out of this office.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Jonah is waiting for you outside.”

  Davion’s heart almost stopped upon hearing that. He was still furious at Jonah, but he also missed his boyfriend. Sleeping alone sucked donkey’s balls. “Let him wait. He will give up soon enough.”

  Elizabeth sat on the chair across from him. “Is that what you want? For real?”

  He wanted to say, “Yes,” but he couldn’t. Not when he yearned to run toward Jonah and embrace his boyfriend. It was his damn pride that was stopping him from doing just that. “I’m busy.”

  Elizabeth grabbed his hand, startling him. “Your work will still be here. Go to your man. Put him out of his misery.”

  “You slapped him.”

  “He had it coming.” He was about to respond when Elizabeth cut him off. “Dave, I love you. We’ve been friends for years, so I know how much pain you were in with the way your ex-boyfriends treated you, but Jonah isn’t them. Yes, he made a mistake, but he’s not your ex-boyfriends. I know you don’t owe him a damn thing but give him a chance. Listen to him. At the very least, allow him to explain himself.”

  “But—”

  “Unless you don’t love him anymore.”

  He didn’t have a proper comeback for that because Elizabeth had him by his balls. Figuratively. He might be angry at Jonah, but he loved
that man so fucking much, it hurt. He saved the document he was working on in his laptop before Elizabeth had barged into his office unceremoniously. He shut the system down and headed toward the door.

  “Fine. I’ll meet him.”

  Elizabeth snorted in amusement. “Good idea. Just remember to thank me tomorrow when you get your ass nailed by lover boy tonight.”

  He raised both his middle fingers toward Elizabeth, who cackled at him, before walking out of his office. He bit his lower lip at the unfairness of life and everything in general when he noticed Jonah sitting on the couch in the waiting room. He had been feeling down in the dumps ever since his and Jonah’s argument more than two weeks ago. He was certain he looked as horrible as he felt at the moment. Meanwhile, Jonah looked even better than before. Davion wished he could run his fingers through the stubble on Jonah’s face and the hair on his boyfriend’s chest, which peeked out from the man’s partially-opened shirt. Jonah shot him a tentative smile when he almost reached the couch.

  “Hey,” he greeted while doing his best not to appear too excited at finally seeing Jonah again as he sat next to his boyfriend.

  “Hey.”

  “Liz told me you were here.”

  Jonah scratched the back of his head. “Yeah. She’s scary. She threatened to cut my balls off and feed them to the sharks if I said or did anything to further piss you off.”

  Davion had to suppress his amusement upon hearing that. “What do you want?”

  Jonah shifted closer to him on the couch. “I’m sorry.”

  “About what exactly?”

  “For behaving like an ass during the special exhibition and for every accusation I threw your way back at the penthouse. I wasn’t thinking clearly, and I was jealous. You know about Matt, my ex. I mean, not that I’m excusing my behavior or anything.”

  Davion was prepared to steel his resolve and stay mad a little longer, but he couldn’t. “Apology accepted.”

  Jonah beamed at him, but Davion noted a little doubt in his boyfriend’s expression. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I’m still furious, though. You have a lot of groveling to do.”

  “Absolutely. No problem. What do you want me to do?”

  Davion thought about it for a moment. “You can start with dinner.”

  “Anything, babe.”

  He nodded at Jonah. “Can we get your restaurant to deliver to your penthouse?”

  “Of course. Tonight?”

  “Sure. I still have a few things to take care of, though. I probably won’t be able to leave the museum before six. Maybe even seven.” He was surprised to notice the miserable expression on Jonah’s face, but he could guess what brought that on. He scooted even closer to Jonah and grabbed his boyfriend’s hands. “I wasn’t lying about having plenty of work to do. I didn’t say that to blow you off. I’ve accepted your apology. I promise I’ll be at your penthouse by seven tonight at the latest.”

  Jonah’s face brightened in an instant. “Sure. So, I’ll see you later then?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Davion noticed Jonah squirming and fidgeting on the couch. It was obvious to him Jonah wanted to lean forward and kiss him, but his boyfriend was probably terrified of being rebuffed. He shook his head a little in amusement before gripping Jonah’s face with his hands and pressing their lips together. For the first few seconds, Jonah didn’t respond to his kiss. He was about to pull away in embarrassment when Jonah clasped both palms tightly at the back of his head and proceeded to kiss him until he grew breathless and had to break away while gasping for air.

  “I…I can’t wait to have dinner with you, babe.”

  “Me, too, big guy. I miss you.”

  “I miss you, too.”

  The sound of a throat clearing out loud startled them. Elizabeth leaned against his office door and smirked at him and Jonah.

  “As much as I’m enjoying the show, this is a professional place of work. Save the hot monkey sex for the privacy of your apartments, boys.”

  Davion’s face heated up. Judging by the redness all over Jonah’s face, Davion was certain his boyfriend was as mortified as he was. He had no idea how long Elizabeth had been standing there, but he decided he didn’t want to know.

  “Go away, Liz. Leave me and my boyfriend alone.”

  Elizabeth snickered at him as she walked back toward the direction of her own office. “Fine. I know when I’m not wanted. Bye, boys. Don’t do anything I won’t do myself.”

  “That will be an extremely short list,” Davion muttered in annoyance.

  “I heard that.”

  “Whatever, Liz.”

  He and Jonah grinned at each other when Elizabeth was gone. Then they got up almost at the same time. He was delighted when Jonah gave him another brief but passionate kiss before bidding him farewell.

  “Later, babe.”

  “Right. See you.”

  He waited until Jonah had made his way out from the employee area of the museum before returning to his office. He felt much more invigorated now. He was determined to complete his work as soon as possible because he had a date with Jonah, and he couldn’t wait for it. It had been a while since he got to spend time with Jonah. It would be the first time in weeks, and he was excited for it. His day seemed so much brighter and better.

  Chapter 10

  Jonah stopped pacing back and forth in the living room before throwing Davion a sheepish smile. “Hey! You’re here.”

  Davion snickered at him. “Hey, too. Worried about me changing my mind?”

  Jonah wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t. “Kind of. I mean, not that I don’t trust you because I do. I just can’t be sure if you’re still angry enough to change your mind at the last minute and decide not to come by my penthouse after all.”

  Davion walked toward the couch and sat on it before patting the spot next to him. “Have a seat, big guy.”

  Jonah hesitated for a second or two before obeying his boyfriend’s instruction. “All right.”

  Once he was seated, he did his best to relax while discreetly attempting to shift his body closer to Davion, who smirked knowingly at him before snuggling up against him. He let out a sigh of relief and slung one arm over Davion’s shoulders.

  “Better now?”

  He chuckled under his breath and nodded. “Yeah.”

  “I was mad at you. A part of me is still furious and hurt.”

  He tightened his hold on Davion. “I’m sorry. I was a jealous, insecure asshole, and I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

  Davion shrugged. “True, but I’ve blown things out of proportion, as well. I shouldn’t have overreacted. I’m sorry, too, big guy.”

  “You don’t have to apologize.”

  Davion tilted his head to the side before glancing up at him. “I have to. I allowed my anger toward my ex-boyfriends to muddle my senses, so I ended up lashing out at you.”

  Jonah grabbed the side of Davion’s head and adjusted its position so it rested more comfortably on his shoulder before he ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. “Okay then. Apology accepted.”

  After that, neither of them continued with the conversation. Instead, they chose to cuddle on the couch in silence. Jonah didn’t mind the quietness at all. He could savor the blissful sensation of having Davion in his arms once again after weeks of deprivation. He was enjoying it so much that he loathed to relinquish his boyfriend from his arm when the intercom rang several minutes later.

  Davion sat up straight on the couch. “Is that our food?”

  Jonah nodded before getting up and making his way toward the intercom to answer it. Once he received confirmation about the food delivery, he got inside the private elevator and went down to the lobby to get the food. When he returned to the penthouse a few minutes later, he beamed at the sight of Davion seated on the chair next to the dining table. His boyfriend had already set the table with the proper utensils and even opened a bottle of wine, which Davion must have taken out from his wine coo
ler in the kitchen. He raised the cloth bag up higher before pointing at it.

  “Let’s eat.”

  “Great. It’s almost a quarter to seven, and I’m starving.”

  For the next few minutes, they chatted about their days at work while opening the various containers of food and pouring the wine from the bottle into their respective wine glasses. When they were done, Davion tapped him on his shoulder to grab his attention. He raised his left eyebrow in response as he sat next to his boyfriend.

  “Does your restaurant always do take-outs using such a high-quality cloth bags and food containers?”

  He chortled and shook his head. “Nope. Only for me. Owner’s privilege.”

  “I see.”

  “Yeah. The restaurant usually delivers using paper bags and containers, which are all made from recycled materials.”

  “Good to know.”

  After that, they continued talking about work and some of their plans for the next few days while enjoying the delicious food and sipping on the wine. Jonah didn’t contribute much to the conversation. He enjoyed listening to Davion. Moreover, the joy he felt reminded him of something important he had been meaning to talk to Davion about, but he had no idea how to bring up the topic. He thought he could try to address it later during dessert while watching a show on TV in the living room. He had a new tub of cookies-and-cream ice cream to share with Davion. It would be the perfect ending to a wonderful meal. However, he ended up blurting it out and cutting Davion off midsentence a moment later. He couldn’t help himself. Davion looked so damn beautiful next to him, and he missed his lover so much, the feeling threatened to overwhelm him.

  “Move in with me.”

  Davion faced him and gasped softly. “What?”

  He was certain he was blushing like the reddest tomato. “I want you to move into the penthouse and live with me for good. I want you here with me. I want to fall asleep with you next to me every night and wake up to your gentle snoring every morning.”