I felt a touch of fear at the idea of Kris invading my work place. I craved some semblance of control in my daily life; it was in my nature. An invasion of my personal bubble, be it my office or my house, well and truly bothered the hell out of me.

I had to down two mugs of black tea with milk and honey before I was able to force myself to focus on my administrative tasks. Once I got started, it wasn’t that difficult to stay on task, considering that Mondays were fairly busy. When eleven o’clock crawled around, I felt the effects of having gulped down so much tea. So, I rushed to the men’s room to relieve myself.

By the time I finished and started washing my hands, I felt loads better. Every now and then, one or more of the other employees on the floor would cross paths with me at the restroom. So, I thought nothing of the sound of one of the stalls unlocking and swinging open. That was until I looked up at the mirror to see the reflection of who it was.

He took hold of my elbow and tugged with such force that I nearly fell backward. The next moment, I was shoved against one of the doors of the stalls, and Kris sharply pressed his forefinger against my forehead, right between my eyebrows. A cellphone was in his hand, and I wondered if he had been holding it the entire time.

“Same old boring work, different building.” Kris drawled. “What took you so long to come to me? My battery’s nearly caput.”

Memories that I had buried away came flooding back to the forefront of my mind of Kris leaving me trinkets on my desk and then waiting for me in the janitor’s closet, beneath my desk, or in the restroom. He used to perform those kinds of gestures in the very beginning of our relationship, and whenever he needed to get back in my good graces. But, that’s all they ever were, performances.

Kris Locklear never gave gifts without strings attached.

The time I had wasted in our on and off relationship felt like it had been a lifetime ago. I no longer felt remorse, pity, or any kind of heartfelt forgiveness in the presence of such “gifts.” I only felt fear and disgust…the same fear and disgust I felt for the man in front of me.

“You don’t have the clearance to be in this building,” I said, but the words came out like a weak whimper.

“Yes, the cleaning lady…Lucy?” Kris responded with pride in his voice. “She was most kind allowing me to slip in to use the bathroom on this floor. She never bothered to make sure that I left. Finding your office was child’s play.”

The very thought of Kris having manipulated the kind woman made me angry enough to think clearly. “You are going to take that necklace back with you on your way out,” I all but demanded. “And you are never to step foot in my workplace ever again.”

The taller man let out a snort as he pocketed his cell phone and held my jaw tightly. “Make me.”

However, before I was able to move, his head dipped down. The moment felt quite surreal to me. I didn’t react fast enough before Kris’s lips were shoved against mine. The damn actor even managed to slip his tongue inside before he was suddenly ripped right off of me.

“The fuck?” I hissed as I wiped away at my mouth with the back of my hand. I felt nothing but revulsion and a touch of nausea, which was bewildering, as the green-eyed man’s kisses had never made me feel that way before.

When I finally focused on the sight before me, I felt even queasier. Liam was downright livid. I had never seen him so furious before.

“You have two choices,” Liam growled. One of his hands was fisted into Kris’s long hair while the other clutched his shoulder tightly. “Either walk out of here on your own two feet with your dignity still intact or be escorted by our security guards all the way out of the building.”

The shock on Kris’s face seemed genuine enough to make me think that he hadn’t realized that Liam was one of my co-workers.

“You have until the count of five,” Liam insisted as he shoved him towards the entrance of the restroom. “One, two…” He pulled his own cellphone out of his pocket and swiped it unlocked as he counted. He quickly snapped a picture of the actor’s face. “Three, four…”

Kris took one last glance at me, and I could see his face morph into an expression of rage before he all but stomped off.

“Five.” Liam finished as he sent the picture as an attachment to one of the security guards.

I saw his thumbs flying across the tiny digital keyboard, his text expressing the importance of enforcing security.

“I was at the copier when I saw you heading here to the men’s room,” Liam explained, startling me out of my reverie. “You took longer than sixty seconds, so I came in to tease you about it.” After he had sent the text with the attachment, his honey-hued eyes shifted right to me.

I felt my heart skip a beat. But, it wasn’t due to fear. Hell, it was a mixture of relief and a surge of untimely lust.

“I would have preferred that scenario a hundred times more to what I saw,” he concluded.

“Honestly, Liam…so do I,” I responded in a voice so soft it was almost a whisper. Liam threaded his fingers through mine and gave the hand a gentle, supportive squeeze.

“I’m sorry that this happened to you,” he stated. “In our company building, of all places.”

I took a step closer and dropped my forehead onto his shoulder. “I’ve never wanted to work so much in my life just to keep my mind busy,” I confessed before giving a nervous, shaky laugh, trying to dispel the stress. “A part of me wants you to kiss his horrid taste out of my mouth.”

The auburn-haired man responded in kind by kissing me thoroughly. I didn’t think he’d heed such a request, especially when asked in such a childish manner. But, maybe Liam had felt something similar…the need to erase any trace of Kris Locklear from my person.

:::

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Never had I been more grateful to have been given so much work. I was so busy that I didn’t have time to linger about what happened. When lunch came around, Liam urged me to eat with him and his team, and I was happy to accept the invitation. Liam’s fellow team members were polite enough not to voice their surprise at my presence.

After the work day was done, a part of me felt a touch of paranoia. I all but clung to Liam as we walked through the parking garage. Kris had gone to great lengths to show up early that morning. What was to stop him from hiding out in the garage?

But, all my fears were laid to rest when we saw no signs of him. Liam pulled out the garage without any incidents, and the two of us made our way back to my house.

Almost as soon as we pulled into the driveway, the door was opened and out rushed my younger brother, Michael. 

“Big bro!” He called out as he ran towards me with his hands flailing up in the air. His hair was also black, though it had a natural blue sheen to it, and reached down to his shoulders. His eyes were hazel.

My eyes were gray with a purer blue around the pupils, but his were a mixture of gray with the color saffron around the pupils outlined with a touch of brown. He also had caramel-hued skin that he inherited from our paternal grandmother and was speckled with small, flat beauty marks that he considered to be his sexiest physical trait.

We hugged each other tightly, not letting go for a good moment. Though I’ve never said as much out loud, Michael was definitely my favorite family member. He was the first I had told about my orientation and the fastest one to accept it. 

“Michael, this is my boyfriend, Liam Lux. Liam, this is my infamous younger brother Michael Slater.”

I saw my brother frown and lift a finger to his chin as he looked Liam over. He ignored the hand that Liam offered for a handshake and reached in to pat a hand against the man’s abdomen. Michael then circled around him like a hawk and gave a definitive nod before giving him a quick hug.

Poor Liam seemed a bit out of sorts as he awkwardly patted Michael’s back before he, too, was released.

“We don’t know each other much yet,” Michael said. “But, from the looks of it, you protected my brother over the weekend.” He finally grabbed Liam’s hand, giving it a firm shake. “Thanks, man.”

I let out a groan. “Not just over the weekend. Kris tried to corner me at work, too,” I relayed.

I could almost see how quickly Michael’s pupils contracted at the news.

“Oh, I really hope he comes over here,” the college student commented in a low voice as he cracked his knuckles. “I would like nothing more than to have a few choice words with him.”

“Please, Mike, no violence,” I pleaded. “He can spin such tales that it’d only end up with you in a cell instead of him.”

“Violence? I don’t even need to lay a hand on that skinny coward for him to fear me.” My brother scoffed as he tapped his temple with a finger. “I know his brand of crazy, and he doesn’t want to come anywhere near me. Not after last time.”

A part of me wanted so badly to know just what Michael had said or done to Kris to scare him off last time. If Liam and I hadn’t gone to the fair and come across Kris, would we be in this situation right now? Had the sight of me somehow triggered him into old habits? A frown formed on my face when I thought of the last time Michael stayed with me. Some days, I couldn’t get him to wake up before noon. I assumed that he had been staying up to study. Now, I wonder just what he had been doing.

“Mike, what did you- ” I began, only to be cut off.

“So, Liam,” Michael prompted. “How’d you get my bro to agree to go out with you? For the longest time, he didn’t date anyone no matter what I tried.”

“To be honest, it took about two years for him to take me seriously,” Liam began as the two of them walked towards the house. “But, then one day, there was a bit of an emergency revolving a pair of torn pants…”

“Yeah, I heard about that!” Michael eagerly responded with a grin. “You really did him a solid that day.”

I placed my hands on my hips and shook my head. On one hand, I was glad that Michael and Liam were making an effort to get along. On the other hand, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to get any more information out of my brother about what he did to Kris in the past to make the actor fear him.

After the three of us were inside, I couldn’t have felt safer. My house felt like a haven once again. I wondered what their reaction would be if I asked them both to actually move in with me? I could only dream. For the time being, I was grateful to have two of my favorite people under the same roof, even if it was for a small while.

“That reminds me!” Michael’s voice snapped me out of my reverie. “I brought over a huge pizza from that place near campus you said you liked, Seth. Half’s vegetables, the other half’s Margherita!”

“Haven’t had Margherita in a long time,” I mused aloud. “Thanks, Mike!”

Michael made a show of pressing a hand to the corner of his mouth as he whispered dramatically to Liam. “This is why I’m his favorite.” He then rushed about to pour Sprite into three cups for us to drink.

That drew forth a laugh from the auburn-haired man before my brother urged him to grab a couple of slices. Then, the three of us ate and conversed. We talked about movies, Michael’s best friend’s antics while on campus, and about family. Between the three of us, there wasn’t a single slice of pizza left.

Then, Liam stood up to leave. Michael and I walked him over to the door.

“I’m…gonna go take a shower first,” Michael insisted with a smug expression on his face as he walked away backward and waved good bye to Liam. “Was nice meeting you!”

“Same!” Liam called after him before stepping outside. He peered down at me. “Are you sure you two are going to be alright by yourselves? I wouldn’t mind staying over.”

I cupped the side of his face with a hand. “We’ll be fine. I promise that I’ll call or text if I need you for anything, even if just your presence. It’s been a while since I’ve spent some time with my brother.”

“If it’s what you prefer, then I won’t insist,” he replied.

I closed the door behind me after I stepped out with him and smiled as Liam leaned down to give me a parting kiss. I responded in kind, sticking to his pace, but wrapped my arms around his neck to keep him in place. The kiss was quite chaste in comparison to others that we had shared, but Liam then whispered into my ear just why.

“Don’t look now, but Mike seems to be filming us on his phone from the window,” he explained.

“Hmm, too nervous to give him more of a show?” I teased in a return whisper.

Liam pressed another soft kiss to my lips. “Just want to leave him with a good first impression,” he pointed out.

“See you tomorrow at work, then,” I replied. “Unless you’d want to go somewhere for dinner afterward…”

“You mean for our second official date?” He asked a little too eagerly, which made me snicker.

“Yes, it can be our second official date.” I agreed though I did find it silly at that point to keep counting. I had already agreed to be his boyfriend, after all. Regardless, I decided to humor him. If it were that important to him that we reach the end of our agreement, then I would allow him to reach it on his own terms.

The smile on his face was bright and hopeful. I had a feeling that I would have to keep on encouraging him until the very end for him to truly believe that I wanted to be with him.

“Then, I’ll find some good restaurants near the company building and text you the options later tonight,” Liam suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” I agreed.

He gave me another kiss, one that was quite a bit more enthusiastic than the previous one, and then made his way to his car in good spirits. By the amount of tongue that was involved in that last kiss, I wondered if he completely forgot that my brother was probably still recording.

I let out a sigh and made a conscious effort not to touch my lips or face as I walked back inside. “Michael Slater,” I began in an authoritative tone of voice. “If that clip ends up on social media, I might suddenly forget that we’re related and will punish you accordingly.”

“Oh, come on! I’d never do that,” Michael countered. “Besides, I don’t actually share anything on my social media accounts. I only browse the stuff other people post.” He then waved the phone in front of him. “This is the clip I’m showing mom, dad, Antoine, and Cara when I next visit them!”

My jaw dropped. “You wouldn’t!”

“I would and I will!” He teased as I started chasing him around the house. “Antoine and dad will probably be grossed out, but I’m sure Cara and mom will simply swooooon!”

“Get back here!” I called out as he kept running out of my reach. “You better delete it!”

“I just e-mailed it to myself, so even if you do delete it, I still have another copyyyy!”

“Damn it, Mike!”

Laughter and the sound of running echoed throughout the house until the two of us flopped down onto the carpet of the guest room, gasping for air.

“I just hate these crazy stunts you pull,” I huffed between breaths as I glanced over at him. “But, I’ve sure missed you.”

Michael curled onto his side as he locked gazes with me. The expression on his face was pure childlike glee. “Love you too, bro.”