At first, I was quite amused to see Liam completely off his game in the hours after our fun little morning. The auburn-haired man would lose track of what he was doing, shoot a glance my way, pace a bit, and then went back to what he was doing. Whenever we touched, like when our hands reached for the same fork or when our shoulders brushed as we walked past each other in the hallway, he would tense and walk away in such a stiff manner that it made me think of a tin soldier marching off.

“Liam, is it going to be like this for the rest of the day?” I questioned as I let out a sharp breath of air through my nose. “Because I was kind of hoping we’d actually sit next to each other and watch some more movies tonight.”

 He was the first to look away.

“I’m just a little scared, Seth,” he confessed. “I’ve been trying to get you to go out with me for the last two years. But, in the last few days, we’ve progressed further than I had planned.”

I stared at him. “You’re not going to start singing ‘Like a Virgin’ now, are you?” I teased.

He grumbled something into his bottle of water as he took a sip and I frowned.

“What was that?”

“I said more like ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’,” he clarified.

“Liam, if I had wanted a one night stand, I wouldn’t have agreed to date you.” Seth pointed out. “In fact, I would have probably been the one to ask you out and then pretended that our night of drunken revelry never happened the following day at work.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Why didn’t I what?” I countered as he took a step forward.

“Why didn’t you ever invite me to that one night stand?” he asked.

“There was a moment I thought of it, during the first two weeks you started working at the company,” I confessed. “My thoughts ran along the lines of ‘he’s annoyingly energetic, but charming…surely if I proposed a night out, he’d take it and then move on to someone else afterwards’.”

“You think I’m charming?” Liam prompted with a goofy smile on his face.

I shook my head as I wondered if he had selective hearing. Since teasing him was starting to become one of my favorite pastimes, I decided to pop his little bubble of joy. “I did at first…now, I just realize you’re barely more than a hyper child.”

I managed to keep a straight face as I said it and was rewarded with Liam’s sullen expression.

“I’ve always been energetic since I was a kid,” he admitted. “I don’t think it’s something I can control all the time…”

“I’m just messing with you. Your energy level’s actually starting to grow on me and, no, you’ve never stopped being charming. I’ve just been very, very paranoid for far too long a time,” I explained. “And though I can’t fully explain it, I really trust you. So, I hope that you can start trusting me back.”

A smile was back on Liam’s face. “Does this mean I can trust you not to touch me in my sleep again?”

“This morning, my curiosity got the best of me,” I responded, feeling a slight surge of lust as I recalled the morning’s events. “But, even so, I’m not making any promises.”

A slight blush formed on the man’s face. “Are you saying this might be a recurring thing?”

“I’m saying that I’ve been lacking more and more control around you, so it’s definitely a possibility.” I concluded. “And I refuse to take responsibility for how I act around my own boyfriend.”

Silence followed that statement. Liam suddenly rushed towards me and gave me such a thorough kiss that it caused a shiver to roll down my spine. I did my best to kiss him back, but I still felt a bit lightheaded when he pulled away. When he took in the confused look on my face, he grinned.

“You just referred to me as your boyfriend. I can’t begin to tell you how happy that makes me,” he explained.

If I had known that calling him my boyfriend was all it took for him to stop worrying that I only wanted casual sex from him, I’d have mentioned it sooner. When it comes to sensuality, I can barely control myself, especially if it’s someone I enjoy being around.

“Sorry, my mind strayed into the mysterious question of how my personal OCD works,” I admitted. “For example, how I’m totally fine with sex, but afterwards my OCD makes me anxious about the mess.”

“I don’t mind that at all. If…when we get to that point, just tell me what you need for us to do so you can feel at ease,” Liam suggested.

Some of my past lovers were accommodating, just like Liam seemed to be. Others were too selfish to put in that kind of effort and I rarely had a peaceful rest. I felt my lips thin as I recalled how many times Kris took advantage of my body’s reaction to him to lure me back. Was I really so easy?

“Seth?”

I shook my head and focused my gaze back onto honey-hued eyes. “I’m just a space cadet today, aren’t I?” I grumbled, feeling irritated at myself for being so rude.

“Don’t worry about it, we all space out sometimes.” Liam pointed out. “I asked what movies you had in mind for after dinner.”

“I saw that you had Ant-Man. I haven’t seen it since its original release,” I replied.

“Sounds good to me.”

:::

We continued to talk for the rest of the day. I helped him with dinner and it was more fun than I would ever admit out loud.  During the movie, I was on my best behavior. We barely did more than cuddle until after the final post-credit scene. Before we decided on a second movie, we found ourselves making out. Hands slid beneath clothes, but it wasn’t until I dove a hand into his pants that we stopped.

I was only able to watch the first half of the second movie, the lengthy but classic Gone with the Wind, before I fell asleep. When I stirred awake for a brief moment, I noticed that we were in the bed in Liam’s room. However, a few gentle touches from Liam lulled me right back into sleep a mere moment after.

The two of us woke up to the sound of Shawn Mendes’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back. I looked around for the alarm clock only to realize that the sound was coming from an alarm app on Liam’s phone. I started snickering.

“You like Shawn Mendes?” I teased. “I never would have thought it.”

Pink colored Liam’s face as he responded. “Yeah, my cousins stuffed my phone full of ‘modern songs’ a couple of weekends ago. They even set my alarm on random, so I never really know what song will pop up,” he explained.

“Tch.” I clucked my tongue. “Such a reasonable reason. And here I thought you were a secret Shawn Mendes fan. My brother Michael’s a diehard Shawn Mendes fan, himself. Would have made for a hilarious conversation that I could have secretly recorded for blackmailing purposes.”

“Tell me you’re kidding,” Liam groaned as he clambered over me and held his arms on either side of my shoulders so he could look right into my eyes. “Or is this one of those moments where you’re actually being half-serious?”

The smile on my face was gleeful and downright childish as I shook my head. “Absolute truth. I’m nowhere near as much of a prankster as Michael or even Antoine. But, even I’m barely more than a kid sometimes.”

I don’t know what he saw on my face, whether it was my expression or the fact that I was teasing him. But, I could almost see how his honey-hued eyes darkened a shade as he grinded down against me. My body instantly reacted and tried to grind right on back. I saw him take a sharp intake of breath before frowning and glancing down towards the lower half of our bodies.

“Would you be opposed to sharing a shower with me?” he suggested.

Though I was a bit surprised at the invite, I couldn’t help but feel excited at the thought. Touching each other without actual intercourse wouldn’t be a hundred percent satisfying, but being able to see Liam completely naked was worth holding back…at least for the time being.

By the time we really did stand before each other nude, I began to regret my decision. It wasn’t because of Liam. His nude form was not disappointing in the slightest. He actually had a bit more definition than his work clothes implied. I was the one who was self-conscious.

Before I became so involved with Kris, I had a bit of an ego when it came to my looks and my body. I wasn’t conceited to the point of posing before a reflection at every opportunity, but I was definitely proud of what I had. I used to have abs! Hell, I had better abs than even Liam’s at one point.

And yet, the lust on Liam’s face as his gaze raked over my average body was unmistakable. I had a feeling that he didn’t care what kind of shape I was in. The very idea was frightening to me. Why was it that I was fine with feeling lust towards others of all shapes and sizes, but felt wary accepting the same kind of judgeless acceptance from someone else?

Just what had Kris’s caustic relationship done to me?

While we were under the spray of the water, Liam took charge. I couldn’t have been more relieved. You see, I couldn’t think about my own shortcomings when I stroked us both in hand. I couldn’t recall Kris’s face when Liam’s mouth marked the side of my neck.

My thoughts were centered there and then.

When we released one after the other I felt so damn satisfied, I wondered why I even kept trying to push for more in the first place.

But, then Liam turned around to grab a sponge and shower gel. As my eyes drank up the sight of Liam’s wet hair and the water dripping down his back to the man’s tight ass and thighs, I knew that it just wasn’t enough for me. I wanted more of him, and I wanted him to have more of me.

:::

We emerged in terry cloth robes some moments later. Liam had offered to wash my back after I washed his, but he ended up dropping all his pretenses and ended up grabbing and kneading my butt cheeks as if he were worshipping them. I let him do what he wanted with them, all the while stifling my laughter.

I dropped the case for my toothbrush while we took turns brushing our teeth and caught him staring at it when I bent down to pick it up. The robe did next to nothing to keep me covered. Unable to help myself, I teased him about having been spanked once as a kid and ending up with pink butt cheeks. I then left the bathroom when I saw his eyes glaze over.

When he finally walked out after me, he didn’t even look my way as he headed toward the closet. Ever curious, I walked up next to him to see what kind of clothes he had. I reached a hand out to touch a white dress shirt and marveled at the material.

“So soft,” I mused out loud.

Liam made a motion with his head. “If you want to borrow it, you can. I know that pants are a bit trickier a fit from my size to yours, but shirts should be fine.”

“I think I will,” I stated. Liam let out a strange noise beside me and I turned to look at him, but by then he had already composed himself and cleared his throat.

“Keep it as long as you like,” he concluded before I walked back over to the guest room with the shirt in hand.

The two of us then went about getting dressed for work. Though I did bring a suit with me in preparation, I only pulled out the pants. The charcoal gray pants from my suit in combination with the soft white shirt looked better than I thought it would. The closer I looked, the more I realized that the shirt was actually a very pale gray. The collar had edges with a thin border of black. The buttons were clear. The sleeves were folded up to the elbow and the inside pattern were of black and burgundy tribal leaves. I left the top two buttons undone and noted that the inner button line also had the same black and burgundy leaf pattern as the inside of the sleeves.

I had never worn a simple button-up to work before, not without a vest and tie at the very least. But, I had to admit that it looked good on me. When I walked out into the hallway, I saw that Liam wore something similar. His shirt was a dark blue, but it was still folded up to the elbow. Liam never wore a tie of any kind, but I did sometimes see him with a vest on. That day, he opted to leave the vest behind. His pants were black.

As much as I looked him over, he was also looking me over.

“It looks better on you than it did on me,” he confessed.

“I feel a little naked without a tie, but I can live without one for a day,” I replied with a shrug.

The two of us decided to stop at a café to eat breakfast on our way to work. For the first time since Liam first began to flirt with me, I didn’t feel any shame whatsoever from being seeing getting out of the same car or holding hands with him. Which we did. Hold hands, I mean, during the entire walk to the elevator. We even kept our hands linked and didn’t release them until the elevator doors opened onto our floor.

Kathryn looked like she was about to have a heart attack. She rushed over and pressed the back of her hand to my temple. “First, you come to work without a vest, making me freak the heck out. And now there isn’t even a jacket or tie!?” She gasped as she looked me over. “Honey, you can confide in me. Did a close family member die? Did you almost die?”

By that point, Liam couldn’t contain himself any longer. He burst out laughing right next to us. “And this is why you should change your style of work clothes up a bit more often, Seth,” he teased.

The receptionist turned towards him and frowned at his attire. Her gaze fell on my open collar and the hickey that resided there. She looked back and forth between us for a moment before inhaling a large gasp.

I pressed a finger to my lips in a sign to keep quiet, not because I didn’t want anyone else in the office to know, but because there were other employees already working that shouldn’t be disturbed.

“Oh my gosh,” she hissed in pure excitement as she motioned between Liam and me. “Oh my gosh!”

I blushed slightly at her over-the-top reaction, but Liam was grinning from ear to ear.

“Liam, you’re slayin’!” she told him. “So happy for you two.”

“See?” I added. “No one died. Not yet, anyway.”

“You can’t kill Liam, I’m a witness now.” Kathryn countered. “Don’t worry Liam, hun. He’s all bark and no bite.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that…” Liam mused aloud with a slight blush on his face.

“Alright, that’s enough,” I interrupted. “We need to get to work before the company heads drop by and say something.”

“My boyfriend’s got a point,” Liam agreed. He shot Kathryn one last grin and a wave before he walked over to his office.

“His boyfriend,” Kathryn teased, grinning herself.

“Yeah yeah,” I drawled sarcastically as I began to walk past.

“Seth?” she called one more time as I turned to look at her. “I’m really glad he picked you.”

I tilted my head slightly, unsure of what she meant. “Me?”

“As prickly as you make yourself out to be,” she elaborated. “I know better than most that you’re soft and squishy on the inside.”

“I-If you say so,” I whispered as I made my way to my office before she could see me getting a little teary-eyed. Kathryn’s words were kinder than I deserved. I was touched.

I turned on the PC and monitor before taking a seat at my desk, as usual. A glint on my desk caught my eye. I felt my stomach drop at the sight of the pyramid-rutilated quartz necklace laid out in stark contrast on top of my purple file folders.

How had Kris gotten in here without being seen by Kathryn?