The last thing Alec expected was a text message from Tyler, a couple minutes after the office closed.

Wanna go for a drink?

Alec eyed the message for a minute. Tyler really ought to be on painkillers still, which meant he was either putting himself in unnecessary medical danger or unnecessary pain if he meant a drink drink.

Plus, alcohol could make the boundaries between them… well… blurrier than they’d already been. The memory made his cheeks burn with pleasure, though.

Coffee? Alec chose to answer, biting his thumbnail as he walked to his car, phone clutched tightly in his hand. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to meet up again anyway, and go over the finer details of their relationship.

He’d slipped up once already—he couldn’t keep it up.

His phone vibrated with Tyler’s response: Sure. I’m already downtown. Tell me when & where ;)

God, the wink was almost too much. Alec sighed to himself, trying to shelve his feelings for the guy. He really had to get his shit together. I’m around the corner from Starbucks. Meet there in 15? He pocketed his car keys again. May as well stay parked here and walk to the coffee shop if he was heading straight there.

Uh… that’s where I am. Are you spying on me? Was I sexy this morning?

Alec couldn’t resist a laugh, his cheeks flushing with heat as he altered his course for the coffee shop.

He was still disappointed in himself for promising himself he wouldn’t fuck Tyler, and immediately breaking that promise. The rules were there for a reason. A doctor-patient relationship could never have the same power dynamic as a healthy sexual relationship, and…

Oh, man. There was Tyler, sitting in the window, looking casually gorgeous—the kind of guy Alec would crane his neck back to check out a second or third time, if he’d just been walking down the street.

And he was about to have coffee with him.

Never mind the mistakes he’d already made… how the fuck was he going to keep it in his pants from now on?

“That wasn’t fifteen minutes at all,” Tyler greeted with a grin as he walked in. The slightly cocky, yet sexy self-assurance of the way he held himself even when injured… it was easy to forget until he walked into the same space as Tyler again and got knocked off his feet again.

Fucking fuck. It was easy to theorize about the best way to keep his distance, but there was something that pulled Alec toward Tyler like they were magnets. Like Tyler was straight from the center of the earth, made of some trace element that was scattered through his cells.

Like Tyler was a piece of himself he hadn’t even known he was missing.

Fuck. He craved touch sometimes like any guy, sure, but this wasn’t just that. Everything from the way Tyler smiled to the nuances of his mind fascinated Alec, and he barely knew the guy. He’d never had this happen before.

“H-Hi,” Alec managed, realizing he hadn’t said a word yet. He braced himself on the back of the chair and tried to pull himself together again. “Fuck, sorry. Just got off work, my brain’s fried.”

Tyler winced sympathetically. “I bet. I’d have thought your hands would be the most tired, though.”

“They’re strong.” Tyler’s smirk said, I know, and Alec’s cheeks flushed. “Uh, let me just…” Alec stuttered, trying not to let Tyler get those actual words out and embarrass him more. “Coffee. Want something?”

“Regular old latte would be great. Thanks,” Tyler said, leaning forward to shove bills into his hand.

“No, I’ve got this.” Alec tried to resist, but Tyler shook his head.

“I looked up the guidelines on professional relationships today, you know. Technically you’re not allowed to buy me things.” His eyes twinkled mischievously.

Fuck, he was a clever one. Alec glared, then cracked up as he took the bills. “Now you looked them up?”

“Yeah, yeah. Act first, ask permission later. Nothing would ever get done otherwise,” Tyler said with a cheeky grin at him.

Alec was positive his blush was visible from space as he made his way for the counter. Hopefully the barista didn’t feel it necessary to point it out. But she didn’t, and just smiled at him as she asked his order.

“Um, two lattes. Medium. Thanks.” Alec hadn’t experienced the sensation of being tongue-tied like this before, either. Did it come with the kind of uncontrollable attraction to Tyler that he was trying not to trip into? Was he about to turn into a teen klutz, tripping into Tyler’s arms?

That wouldn’t go well, in Tyler’s current state. He choked back the laugh at his own thought and paid for his coffee, then waited to bring the mugs back to the table.

It took all he had not to look at Tyler until he got back. If he looked over at him, he might just not look away again. Hell, the tips of his toes seemed to point toward Tyler whenever he was in the room—a prime sign of attraction.

Maybe lack of self-awareness wasn’t the problem. He’d known perfectly well that he was going to make a mistake with this man from way too early in their relationship, even as brief as it had been so far. If only Alec weren’t so goddamn self-aware. He could at least screw around with this guy without the professional guilt.

Alec swallowed the sigh and brought the coffee mugs back to the table. He couldn’t avoid him any longer. “Here you go.”

“Just what the doctor ordered.” Tyler smirked and took his cup, his eyes fixed on Alec as Alec took a seat opposite him at the cozy table. “How was your day?”

“It was a day,” Alec answered with a half-shrug. “Nothing much happened. I went for a run, but I’ve been thinking about trying a lower-impact sport. Mostly, I spent a lot of time thinking about… you know, a couple nights ago.”

Tyler’s grin was slow and meaningful. “Yeah? I did, too. In the shower.”

Alec’s cheeks were red as he looked around, but nobody else seemed to be listening in—or caring. He cleared his throat and looked back at Tyler. He was trying his hardest not to encourage it, but it sounded a lot like flirting was going on right now. “What about your day?”

“Meh.” Tyler’s smile wavered, which was unusual. “Just stuff.”

Alec raised his eyebrows and resisted the urge to lean in. Something else was there, but pressuring Tyler wouldn’t work, he didn’t think. He just stayed patiently quiet until Tyler decided what to say about it.

Finally, Tyler sighed and gave in. “I had an interview with a blogger. He mentioned that someone’s been sniffing around my personal life, looking for a scoop.”

“A scoop that’s there if they look hard enough?” Alec asked quietly, to avoid outing him in so many words.

Tyler nodded once.

Alec winced. “Fuck. Sorry.” Then, he paused and tilted his head, his coffee mug halfway to his lips. “So the first thing you did was…”

“Call you up and meet in public? Yeah,” Tyler laughed under his breath. He picked up his own mug and shrugged. “Never said I’m smart. I just drive cars.”

Alec shook his head. “So, a scoop… do you mean, like, I should look out for paparazzi hiding in the bushes?”

“Nah.” Tyler’s chuckle was quiet, and he put a hand on his chest every time he laughed. Alec winced when he remembered the bruising across his chest, and the fractures that lay beneath. “I’m not that big. Yet. Which is why hanging out with guys isn’t really a problem right now. Besides, normal guys do—I mean, you know…”

Alec winced but nodded. He knew what Tyler meant by normal: men who didn’t have to hide selective pieces of their heart from the world at large.

Speaking of which, Tyler continued, “But I’m trying not to lose sponsorships.”

“Ohhh.” Alec had a vague idea of how the racing world worked, but he’d never bothered to look into it much. All his patients were concerned about losing them because of injuries and being sidelined, and it tended to be one of their main sources of income—that was all he’d needed to know.

“Yeah. Last season, my sponsor was actually really… gay-friendly,” Tyler said, his voice uncharacteristically quiet. “It would’ve been okay. This year, I dunno. They’ve never said much publicly one way or another. But I lost last year’s sponsor… to a teammate of the guy who nudged me.”

“Oh, shit,” Alec murmured, his brows drawing together in a frown. “That has to dial up the pressure.”

“What kind of pressure?” Tyler asked.

Alec snorted. “To get back on the track, and to perform better, and… I don’t know. Pull riskier moves than you might otherwise.”

Tyler looked like he wanted to contest the point but couldn’t. He finally sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it does. I think there’s something more going on behind the scenes, actually. Something with that team. Something they said before the race. But anyway, I ain’t gonna prove it while I’m sitting around here doing nothing. How much longer, anyway?”

“Professional opinion?” When Tyler nodded, Alec blew out a sigh. “A week or two, minimum. Probably four weeks off in total. I’d prefer eight, but you’d never listen to me then.”

Tyler winced. “So I’ll miss a couple races. Goddamn.”

“Sorry.” Alec tried to change the subject subtly and get Tyler’s mind off the enforced rest. “I always thought motorsports are riskier than some of the other sports I deal with, even without anything fishy going on.”

He didn’t want to ask too much—didn’t want to know too much, if he were honest with himself. Which was silly. Not like the mafia owned car teams… or did they? He’d look that up later.

“It’s not without its pit stops and pitfalls,” Tyler said, his gaze on the surface of his coffee mug. “But it’s worth it.”

Alec pushed, “You’re a smart guy, whatever you say. It’s not just loud engines and sexy women, is it? There’s something more that pushes every athlete. What do you get out of it?”

“Calling me smart?” Tyler wrinkled his nose at him. “Fuck off.”

Alec just grinned at him. “Can’t change my mind once I’ve made it up.”

“Even with these long lashes?” Tyler winked.

“I’m immune,” Alec said, flapping a hand. “Don’t avoid the question.”

Tyler laughed. “Fine, fine. I don’t know. Can I say the money?”

Alec didn’t believe that one, either. Tyler didn’t act like a guy who had more money than common sense. He just raised his eyebrows.

Tyler looked strangely bashful for a moment, then glanced at the table to compose his thoughts. By the time he looked up, he looked ready to give an interview—passionate and certain of himself. “The rush and the adrenaline and all that macho stuff, obviously. But there’s a thrill, too. That humans come together to make machines that can do this. That can get pushed to the limit for hours on end. And being the one human element in that machine, the thing that makes it all work, using physics… much like your job.”

Alec just blinked at him. He sure as hell wasn’t strapped into a boiling hot car for hours on end.

“You’re using physics, right? But you’re the human element manipulating it to do what you need. Anatomy is physics.”

Alec understood. He pointed at Tyler and shook his head. “See? Smart.” Tyler blew a raspberry, and Alec laughed. He hadn’t seen anyone do that in so damn long. Maybe not since he was a kid, and… well, the sense of fun had gone away awfully fast.

As if reading Alec’s mind again, Tyler swore. “Oh, shit on a stick. I gotta call Mom, I think,” he said with a frown, glancing down at his phone. “I don’t wanna ditch you early. I forgot. Sorry. The meds…”

Alec shook his head. “No, no. She’ll wanna hear how you’re getting on, I’m sure.” Most moms would, he thought with a second of bitterness, but he pushed through it easily these days. Alec finished his coffee and stood up casually. “Besides, I’ve got errands. Are you fine to get home?”

“Yeah, my buddy’s driving me home after I meet friends later. Thanks for the chat.” Tyler offered him a smile as he stood to mirror Alec, and Alec instinctively mirrored the smile.

It was like they were in sync, which was a little weird, but also thrilling. “Thank you. Talk soon, yeah?” Alec kept it casual.

“Will do,” Tyler promised, plugging earbuds with a built-in mic into his phone and placing it flat on the table. He glanced around, then turned his head to kiss Alec’s cheek as he half-hugged him.

Oh, fuck. The warmth of his breath, and the smooth brush of his lips on Alec’s skin made Alec’s nerves tingle with excitement. It was all he could do to contain himself from giggling like a third-grade boy swapping cards on Valentine’s Day.

“See you,” Alec managed as he waved and left for his car with a lot more to think over than he’d had half an hour ago.

He’s got a big and fast life, doesn’t he? I could never keep up with all that. Hell, he’s injured and he’s doing interviews and calling his mom, and… all this stuff that isn’t me.

Alec drew a deep breath and let it out.

It had to be just friendship. It was actually good that he’d seen Tyler briefly today, they’d talked more or less professionally, and he’d left to go home alone. The kiss… well… that could almost be written off as an accident, it had been so brief.

Maybe it would train his brain not to expect flirting and/or sex whenever they met.

Alec pressed his fingers to his cheek, his joyful smile cracking through the brisk facade. He felt light, and flirtatious, and good.

Yeah. Maybe pigs could fly.