Melissa

It feels grubby to take his money in the morning, but he insists.

He hands me the envelope when I’m finishing up my muesli and won’t hear any of my protests.

“How is it?” he asks as I scoop up the final dregs of milk from the bowl, and I have to smile another stupidly-ignorant smile.

“Delicious. I love how the peaches taste with the chocolate. It’s so unusual.”

He seems to like that. “One of my silly little specialities. I’m not much of a chef.”

I tell him I disagree, but he laughs it off.

His laugh is divine.

He asks my plans for the day and it catches me off guard.

My heart pangs at the thought of Joe waiting at home.

Alexander looks a little disappointed as I tell him I’ll have to leave soon. I wish I could invite him to come along and hang out with us, maybe push Joe on the swings awhile.

Maybe one day.

“I’ll see you later, yes?” he checks, and I nod.

“Of course. Delaney’s at eight.”

He shakes his head. “No need for Delaney’s. I think we’ve well and truly crossed professional boundaries, don’t you?”

I know this is a triumph. Waking up in his bed with him was the most amazing feeling.

“I’ll come back here, then? At eight?” I’m so happy I could cry.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

I nod. Thank him again for the money and the breakfast. Thank him for everything.

I hug Brutus goodbye, and kiss Alexander right on the mouth in the doorway without holding back.

There’s nothing left to hold back.

* * *

Alexander

I wire the rest of Amy’s money to Claude’s offshore account and let him know about my impromptu evening by email.

I tell him I’ll no longer be needing Delaney’s while I’m at it.

His reply comes through instantly.

No venue?

No venue, I confirm. I’ll take it from here, I confirm.

You exchanged personal information?

I don’t bother replying to that one. It’s none of the cunt’s fucking business what I’ve exchanged with her.

Having the girl in my home was the final straw for me. The final scrap of my restraint has shrivelled and died. For better or fucking worse I’m all in with this insanity.

I browse upcoming music events after I’ve walked Brutus, but there’s nothing that takes my interest.

I haven’t felt alive in so long. This surge of life is addictive. It makes me believe anything is possible. Anything.

That’s why I fire an email off to the Kings and Castles management team. That’s why I ask them why their current gig listings are empty on their website.

It takes a few hours to get a response, but when it arrives it’s very forthcoming.

That’s what an email signature like mine gets you. That’s what being a lawyer gets you full stop in fact, even if your email has nothing to do with the fucking law whatsoever.

They tell me the band are recording a new album. They tell me there will be no upcoming gigs for at least six months.

I call the mobile number listed, and a shy woman answers.

“It’s Alexander Henley,” I tell her. “I just emailed.”

“Yes,” she says. “I’m sorry about the schedule, but if you check back in six months…”

“I’ve no interest in checking back in six months,” I say, and I have my calendar open in front of me. “I want them to perform next week.”

“But that’s… impossible…”

“Five hundred grand,” I tell her, and her gasp of breath tells her I’ve gone in way too high, but I don’t fucking care.

“Five hundred thousand? To play next week?!” I hear the frantic tapping of keys and imagine her looking me up from my email details.

“I’ll transfer the funds on confirmation.”

“I’d need to make some calls…”

“I’ll be waiting,” I tell her.

She calls me back in fifteen, and by then I’ve already confirmed a venue. An intimate little gig in Charing Cross road. The venue also cost me a pretty penny, but I don’t care about that either.

I’m used to Brenda organising my entire life for me, but not this time. I’m glad I’m handling this one for myself. The thrill is exhilarating.

I’m surprised I haven’t done this before, but Claire hated this band. She hated pretty much everything I loved.

“I’ve pulled some strings,” the woman on the phone tells me.

Her words make me smile.

I give her the venue details and she writes them down. I ask her for their bank details and she reads them out twice.

I ask for an official invoice which she assures will arrive in my inbox in less than five minutes.

It takes four exactly.

I wire the funds with a smile on my face, and it takes all of my reserve not to head right on over to Amy’s house to spill the crazy fucking news.

But I don’t.

The surprise will be the sweetest.

* * *

Melissa

My heart feels full to bursting as I lift Joe into the baby swing. His sweet laughter tickles me, his little bobble hat swaying in the breeze.

Dean has a quiet smile on his face as he watches us, his hands shoved into his jeans pockets against the chill.

I try not to stare at him, but I can’t help it. I try not to wonder what will happen if he agrees to my crazy scheme, but I can’t help myself.

I try not to imagine him taking Alexander’s beautiful cock in his ass. The idea makes me lurch like a rollercoaster.

I don’t know whether I can ask him. I don’t know whether doing something like that would be too weird to ever come back from.

But he wants Alexander. I know he does. I know he thinks about it.

I know he’d be the perfect set-up. I know he’d enjoy it like I enjoy it. I know he’d know what to expect and not go screaming for the hills as soon as that grip landed firm around his throat.

“You’re quiet,” he says as we head away from the park.

“Am I?”

He smiles. “Yeah, Lissa, you really are. All Henley’d up, I guess.”

“Something like that.”

We buy a pot of bubbles on the walk back, and Joe claps his hands as they float all around.

He’s happy. He’s really happy.

And I am too.

“You out again tonight?” Dean asks as he pours us a coffee back home.

I nod. “It’s Saturday. My usual night.”

“What about Wednesday? Is that a usual night now as well?”

I don’t know, I tell him. Because I don’t.

“And Fridays?”

I don’t know that, either.

“It’s great money,” I say. “Crazy money.”

“So quit the day job.”

I feel the niggle in my belly. “Maybe soon.”

“Maybe right now, before he puts two and two together and this whole mess puts you on your ass.”

He’s got a point and I know it.

“Soon,” I repeat. “Maybe.”

He lets it drop.

The pressure to confess my crazy scheme is right behind my eyes. But I can’t. Not with Joe chomping happily on apple slices in the room next door.

I feel guilty all over again, but this time it’s not for Alexander. It’s for the shit I’m going to try to drag Dean into.

It’s for the crazy way I’ve been thinking about him.

“Do whatever you have to do,” he tells me when I’m all dressed up and ready to go. “Whatever it is, just go all in and get it done. You’ve got to, Lissa. You’ve got to make this real or walk away, for all of us, not least for you.”

My heart thumps.

“I know,” I tell him, and I do know.

I’m close enough to taste it. Close enough to feel my dreams at my fingertips.

I just need him to help me with the last final hurdle.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” I say. “We’ll have an us night tomorrow. Wine, takeout…”

“Sounds good to me.”

“We need to talk,” I tell him, and his eyes are so suspicious.

They should be. He knows me too well.

“Talk about what?”

“Alexander Henley stuff,” I say as I head for the door. “And stuff about us, too. I’ll tell you all tomorrow, I promise.”

I kiss Joe on the way out, and dash off for Kensington before Dean can grill me for details.

* * *

Alexander

My attempt at homemade paella is quite abysmal, but Amy doesn’t seem to mind.

Her eyes sparkle across the dining table as I top up her wine, and I’m itching to tell her about my grandiose gesture for next weekend.

I keep a poker face regardless.

A full stomach does nothing to quell her libido. She’s tearing my shirt from my chest before we’ve even cleared the plates.

I fuck her all the way through my house.

I push her to her knees in my hallway and ram my cock right down her pretty throat.

Her lips are still glistening with my cum as I finger fuck her asshole over my kitchen island.

She’s perfectly ready for my cock as I take her tight cunt over my coffee table.

I fuck her again as we’re washing up for bed. She braces herself on the wash basin as I choke her until her legs are weak. Her eyes are stark in the medicine cabinet reflection. Her skin looks so pale as I take her to edge.

I have to support her weight as she comes with my thumb against her clit.

She’s still loose and limp as I carry her through to the bedroom like a perfect little doll.

And there she rests – her head snug in the crook of my shoulder as she drifts off to sleep.

I browse gay hook-up sites on my phone until sleep finds me too.