Confused and basically feeling ashamed, I find myself heading back into Cole Dunn’s estate.

I’m such an idiot for hooking up with him. Not only would Jayson freak out beyond repair, and rightfully so, but I’m freaking the hell out myself.

I’ve never been with a man like him before.

A real man.

I’ve never touched a body that strong, or felt a kiss that passionate. And I certainly never let a man blow his load in my mouth. On my face, yes. In my mouth, no.

I loved seeing him have an orgasm that fast, knowing that I turned him on that much. And him knowing perfectly damn well that he was having the same effect on me.

It was just plain fucking hot. But I’m also a hundred percent sure that that’s all it was… a really hot, and a really random, hookup with an older man.

As I walk into the kitchen with my bags, Jayson is reaching for a couple of slices of pizza from the microwave. “Hey man, I assume one of those is for me?” I say casually, doing my absolute best to seem as normal as possible.

Jayson shakes his head, and then grabs another plate from the cabinet. “I can’t believe he pulled that on you, Gav. I take it he found you considering you’re back?” he says, handing me a slice.

I wave off the slice of pizza. “I’m good. Not super hungry.”

“Bullshit, it’s from Kelly’s Deep Dish. We’re eating pizza together.”

I grab the pizza and take a seat at the slick, white marble table in the kitchen. “Yeah, your dad tracked me down which is probably a good thing, I’d be scoping out cardboard boxes right about now. Everything’s cool,” I say, avoiding eye contact with my best friend.

Jayson wolfs down a bite of his pizza. I catch him eyeing me suspiciously, and I have to force myself not to fidget. Call me crazy, but I’m a little bit paranoid after what I just did with his father. “What?” I say.

”Nothing, dude. I’m just glad my father came around, he was acting like a nut job earlier.”

"Yeah, thanks. Well, I’m sure I would’ve ended up fine either way,” I say, guilt washing over me and suddenly feeling discombobulated, like I can’t think straight.

“I don’t know about that, but we're all good now. You can stay here as long as you need to. Hell, my dad would probably rather you stay here than me, especially once he gets to know the real Gavin,” he says, pausing to stuff another bite in his mouth. “Not this quiet, awkward version who’s been lurking around all creepy and shit."

I shoot him a glare, only half-joking. ”Hey, at least your father still gives you access to the home you grew up in," I say. I feel like a bit of a dick, there’s nothing worse then one-upping someone when they show you a window to their soul.

But the truth is, things are horrible at home with my father and me. I can’t even call it my home anymore. And to make matters worse, the last fucking thing I need is for my best friend to think his father likes me more than him.

“I guess,” he says, shoving the last bite of crust into his mouth. He avoids eye contact with me as he gets up from the table.

“Everything cool?” I say.

“I should be asking you that,” he says somewhat sharply.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know, something’s just off with you. Since the moment I came home and saw you the other day, you didn’t look the same.”

I can feel my cheeks start to burn hot from Jayson’s inquiry. I look him dead in the eye, mustering up as much confidence as I can. “We haven’t seen each other in basically a year, Jayson. That could be part of it, no?”

He grabs a carton of orange juice from the fridge. “Sure, probably just need to get loose.”

I look at him for a moment, trying to figure out what the fuck’s wrong with him. Why is he prodding me like this?

Then it dawns on me… I should be trying to figure out what’s wrong with me instead.

Jayson walks towards me and hold his hand out for a casual fist pump. “I’m glad you’re here, man. You’re as much family to me as my own family. Maybe more.”

“Amen, brother. I feel the same way.”

I breathe easy knowing that the mood just lightened a bit.

For now.

“Are you coming out with me and Bones or what? We need to get laid, and Lansdowne Street is running that international food festival thing tonight. It’s like Whole Foods on steroids in terms of the talent that will be there.”

I force a laugh and say, “Yeah, just like the last time you said that. We brought those girls home and they went fatal attraction on us. That’s half the reason my parents hate me,” I say. “Plus, I can’t hang with Bones. Every time he drinks he wants to fight.”

Jayson raises his brows. “No, your girl went ballistic on you. You just couldn’t pull the trigger on that pussy.”

Well, that could be because I’m gay. But you don’t know that.

I can feel my palms start to clam up, just like they always do.

“Bones is dangerous. The guy picks fights with people just for fun. I’m all set, but don’t let me stop you from having a great time,” I say.

My friend shoots me a puzzled look. “I seriously don’t know what happened to you over the last year.”

“I think it’s commonly referred to as becoming an adult. That happens to college graduates. Maybe it’ll even happen to you once you finally graduate.” Jayson still looks disappointed in me as hell, so I add, “Look, we’ll kick off the summer tomorrow night. I’ll bring my A-game, promise.”

He looks me up and down suspiciously. “Fine, tomorrow night. You’re on. Don’t flake on me.”

“Like how you flaked on me by not being here to meet me when I first showed up at your house for the summer? Or like how you forgot to tell your father that I was staying in the first place?”

He shakes his head, his gaze defensive. “It shouldn’t have mattered. He hardly knows if I’m here, never mind my friend.”

I can feel the skin on my neck start to burn, me being an idiot and all for bringing up his father again. “Whatever, it’s all good. I need a shower, if that’s okay with you?”

He jabs my shoulder. “Better than okay. You smell like my dad’s cologne for fuck’s sake.”

Fuck.

I get so lightheaded I can’t stand up. I reach for the freshly bagged Wall Street Journal that’s sitting on the middle of the table. I start fiddling with the bag, pretending as though I hardly heard what he just said. “Thanks, Jayson. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I say with a sarcastic tone.

He puts his hand on the paper and says, “We’re like brothers, Gavin. I need you on that wall with me. You’re the only person I can be myself around, and I know you feel the same way about me.”

I force another small smile. “Absolutely, brother. Absolutely.”

Jayson seems content as he smiles and then walks off, leaving me all alone at the kitchen table, feeling like I might throw up in my throat. I hate lying to him… hate keeping this all hidden inside.

All of it.

Not just the situation with his dad, but the fact that I’m gay. My best friend thinks he can trust me, when really I’m just full of total shit.

I read through some of the front-page headlines on the Journal. I try to force myself to feel grateful, knowing that there’s some really bad shit going on in this world. Mass shootings, horrible wildfires… but somehow, it’s not helping me right now.

I sneak upstairs and make my way into the guest room that I’m staying in. This bathroom is literally more comfortable than my parent’s living room. I strip down naked and step into the glass-enclosed shower. I pump some of the organic lavender body wash into my hand and lather my body from head to toe. The warm water feels amazing, not like a normal shower head would ever feel. Even the shape of the tiles beneath my feet are unusually comfortable, like they’re designed to be therapeutic in some way.

I rinse off and grab a soft, white robe that’s folded to perfection and resting on a beautiful wooden shelf. I check myself in the mirror, the robe now on my body but not fully tied. Somehow, seeing myself in the bathroom mirror like this, half-naked, it brings everything that happened between Cole and me back…

In high def.

Part of my brain is wondering… how could I have done that? How could I have let that happen?

But the other part remembers…

It knows exactly the way his strong, sexy hands maneuvered my body. The heat that poured from his hard, thick cock as I pleasured him in my mouth. The way his fingers tortured and tantalized my asshole, a tiny glimpse of the unbelievable sexual explosion I would feel if a man like Cole Dunn were to enter me from behind.

I look down at my dick, already puffy and needy.

Why can’t I get this man out of my mind?

A moment of insanity washes over me and I’ve fucking had it. I self-declare that, from this point forward, I absolutely need to stay away from him… no matter how rude I come off, how long I have to hide in my room, or how late I’ll have to stay out at night just to avoid seeing him.

That’s it, that’ll work. Out of sight, out of mind.

Easy peasy.

I fool myself into a state of contentment as I crash my body down onto the world’s most comfortable bed.

My body starts to weaken as I lose consciousness, repressing the ache I still feel down below. Then I drift off into a painfully restless night of sleep.

That’s when I really should have known I was starting to go down a long, hellish road.

* * *

I wake up, determined not to let my lack of sleep, or the fact that I’m somehow supposed to avoid Cole in his own house deter me from having a good day.

I shower, shave, and throw on a pair of snug-fitting kakis with a white dress shirt. Perfect for the occasion.

My hopes of making it our early enough to bypass Cole are shattered before I can even make it down the stairs as voices from the kitchen seize my attention. The glossy, hardwood stairs beneath my feet are making too much noise for me to escape unnoticed, so I don’t bother trying.

I enter the kitchen and spot Jayson, flipping an egg and totally lost in whatever music is pouring through his headphones. Then I see Cole, and my heart starts racing. He looks up from his laptop, flashing a wry grin my way and pressing his full, perfect lips together.

“Morning,” he says, as if everything’s just so super normal. “Hungry?”

I glance over at Jayson who’s still lost and oblivious in his headphones. “I don’t like eating first thing. Can I just grab a drink of water?” I say.

Cole shoots me a disapproving look. “You should eat. Jayson’s making eggs. Dig in.”

I look over at the pan Jayson is standing in front of, his head bobbing mindlessly to his music. “Looks more like he’s making egg, not eggs.”

He glares over at the pan and nods in agreement. “Fine, he’s making egg. But I can make you some more.”

“I’m good,” I say.

Cole raises a brow and gets up from the table. I stop myself from swallowing, and staring, as he walks past me so close that I smell the familiar cologne he was wearing when we hooked up.

The same cologne Jayson could smell on me yesterday.

Cole walks over to his fridge and pulls out some more eggs. I can’t stop myself from stealing a glance at his tight ass and back muscles as he reaches into a lower cabinet for a pan.

Not cool. The way his muscles ripple in his white t-shirt, and his tight jeans… my body can hardly take it already. I glance over at the sliding glass door and literally imagine myself jumping right through it.

He walks next to Jayson and mutters something about him taking his headphones off. Jayson gives his father a double take, and then catches me out of the corner of his eye.

Great, everything I wanted to avoid this morning is suddenly staring me right in the face.

“There he is, the same guy who wrote the book on picking up women,” Jayson says, staring at me and pointing a spatula at my chest.

I pray that my cheeks aren’t burning red. I glance at Cole and can’t help but the notice the way his eyes narrow slightly.

He doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall, but the one thing he does know is the most important thing of all…

I’m a total fraud.

“Yeah, well, people change buddy. You might want to change too someday,” I say to Jayson. “Take it you had a good night?”

He shakes his head and fetches two pieces of toast from the shiny chrome toaster. “I change plenty, don’t worry about that. And yes, I did.”

I startle as Cole directs his next words right at me. “You’re all dressed up, what’s the occasion?” he says, his eyes raking my body like he’s undressing the fuck out of me with his mind while his son is semi-distracted with a coffee pod.

“There must be a librarian rally downtown today,” Jayson teases.

I glare back at Cole. I want to say… Why are you torturing me with your way-too-sexy devilish glare? But I opt for the less destructive route instead. “I have a job interview.”

Both men stop what they’re doing and pay me way more attention than I want or need right now.

Jayson looks at me like I have three heads, and then turns to grab a mug from the cabinet. I turn left and face Cole as he’s staring right through me. “What are you applying for?” he says, for some reason acting like he cares way more about me than he should.

I shrug my shoulders. “Some café in Davis Square.”

His eyes narrow. Again. “A coffee shop?”

I scratch the side of my head, wanting this entire ordeal to disappear, but somehow burning up inside from all the attention that Cole is pouring on me. “Is there something wrong with that?” I say, now drawing the attention of Jayson himself as though he’s been waiting his whole life to watch his dad face off with anyone but him.

But that’s not going to happen.

“Nothing wrong with that at all,” Cole says.

I almost let out a deep breath I’d been holding onto, but then he finishes his thought. “Nothing wrong with that if you happened to drop out of high school at sixteen. And if you didn’t just graduate from college and have the whole world in the palm of your hands.”

I glance at Jayson, who’s watching intently. Then I look back at Cole, my eyes strangely on the verge of tears, not that I’ll ever show him those tears. “I’m not ready for the whole world, Mr. Dunn. I just need to make some cash for now.”

Cole’s eyes soften, as though he can sense my fragility. And he wants to comfort me for some reason. “I get that, Gavin. But you’re better than this.”

“Am I?” I say. “Because I sent over forty resumes out and didn’t get a single response back.”

He nods, his eyes pensive as I fidget and wait for his response. “Jobs don’t happen that way. You need connections.”

“Well I guess therein lies my first of many problems. I don’t have a home, never mind any job connections.”

Cole half-smiles, which I’m learning is unusual for him. Even Jayson looks dumbfounded at his dad’s response. “Did I miss something?” I ask.

He checks his watch, the chiseled muscles in his forearm flexing as he bends his elbow. “I need to get cleaned up. Then you’re coming with me.”

My brows snap towards each other. “Coming with you where?”

“To my office. You can shadow me at my company for the day. If you like what you see, I’ll find work for you there.”

Now I’m really not hungry. “Okayyy. Thanks?” is all I can muster.

I’m screwed.

I can’t go to work with this man, but I can't not go either.

Then I notice Jayson out of the corner of my eye as he shakes his head and dumps the rest of his egg sandwich in the trash. Both Cole and I lock in on him, my best friend’s brows furrowed as he glares at Cole before storming out of the kitchen, and eventually right through the front door.

I swallow hard, feeling awkward as fuck as I look at Cole who looks only mildly disturbed, at least on the outside. “What’s his problem? I say.

He shrugs a shoulder casually. “I don’t know. I’m guessing he drank too much last night.”

A small part of me wants to go after Jayson, but I can’t. I can hardly deal with the proposal that Cole just hurled onto my lap, let alone some father and son drama. Plus, I have my own father and son drama to star in.

Cole throws up his hands, his dark, sinful eyes zooming in on me in a way that makes me want to run and stay all at once. “What time is your interview?” he says.

“Eleven. Why?”

“Give me a few minutes and we’ll go. I’ll show you around, give you a feel for my company. If you don’t like what you see after an hour or so, I’ll drive you to your interview in time.”

“Fair enough,” I say back to him, glowing inside.

He smirks and then takes off his shirt.

Okay, so that’s really not cool.

I purposely turn away and pretend to be fascinated with the beautiful array of flowers in Cole’s meticulous backyard. “It’s actually not fair at all. Because I guarantee after you get a taste of my firm, you’ll forget all about your Starbucks interview.”

“It’s not Starbucks,” I say, my gaze determined not to look back at his ridiculously hot, shirtless body.

Cole laughs, his voice fading out as he walks off. “My bad. I’m showering. Be down in a few.”

Damn. Why do I keep letting myself go down these treacherous roads?

As I wait for Cole to come back down, I walk around a bit and try to grasp how anyone could ever make so much money that they can afford these kinds of things. I stop and study a Van Gogh tile mosaic hanging above the gas fireplace, a work of art that Jayson told me Cole bought for over twenty thousand dollars on a whim while he was doing some business in Italy.

Then there’s the “forbidden” living room, that one living room where Jayson and I were never allowed to enter when we were kids. His mom used to tell us she’d rather we destroy every room in the house, as long as we left this room unscathed. I look around in awe, my gaze especially drawn to the diamond-encrusted sofa at the center of it all.

I laugh to myself, remembering how Jayson and I would sneak into this room, pretending to be army soldiers, as we’d crawl across the Persian rugs as quietly as we could.

I flinch as a hand lands on my shoulder, a shot of adrenaline bolting down my spine. “The forbidden room? Really?” he says lightly. I turn and face Cole, his black hair combed to perfection and his cheeks and neck smelling like oats and honey from whatever soap he just used. God this man is beyond handsome.

“Damn that was quick,” I say.

“I do everything twice as fast as other men.”

I chuckle and add, “I’m old enough to not break shit in this room, don’t you think?”

He raises a brow playfully. “Yeah, barely.” Then he adjusts the collar on his pressed, blue dress shirt. “We should go.”

I nod and follow behind him. “You know those are real diamonds on that couch, don’t you?” he says as we head into the garage through the kitchen.

I chuckle softly. “Yeah. I do. Are you trying to make me feel worse than I already do about my life?”

He looks at me with eyes so serious, and so damn hot, even my pulse reacts. “Not trying to demoralize you, more like the opposite. Just want you to see what’s possible.”

I scoff at his comment. “Sure, I’ll keep that in mind.”

He taps the roof of his red Porsche. “We’ll take this car.” We get in and Cole looks at me as he presses his thumb onto a small circular pad on his dashboard, causing the slick garage door to open behind us. “Trust me, Gavin. You have way more potential than you can see right now.”

“All due respect, I think I know my own limits better than you.”

He shakes his head in defiance. “We all need someone to keep us in check, someone to show us our blind spots in life.”

I think about his comment for a moment and then say, “Okay, so what are your blindspots?”

He hesitates from responding as he pulls his hundred thousand dollar sports car out of the garage. “Well, I don’t mean literally everyone. There are exceptions,” he jokes.

As he rips out of his driveway, I shake my head and say. “If you could somehow monetize your arrogance, man…”

“Trust me, I’ve already tried. I eventually gave up, and that’s when I started my own wealth management company. Things worked out in the end either way.”

“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?” I add.

He pushes another button and the sunroof slides open without making a slight sound. The crisp morning air coupled with the perfectly engineered hum from his engine has me feeling more relaxed than I deserve given this situation.

We slow down and come to a stop at a four-way intersection in Cole’s exclusive Boston neighborhood. He looks over at me, and I catch him glancing down at my thigh. My throat tightens and I can’t help from squeezing my legs together tightly, determined to repress whatever energy I’m feeling between them. “No, not everything, Gavin.”

We look deeply into each other’s eyes for what feels like an eternity before the two us break from our trance and Cole punches the gas on the hedge-lined, cobblestone street.

I realize I’m heading down a incredibly stupid path with Cole, but I can’t seem to get off this ride. As we make our way downtown, the two of us are relatively quiet, letting the music in the car do most of the communicating for us.

We make it to Cole’s building and pull into the underground garage. He parks his sports car in a VIP space that’s positioned among a few other cars that remind me of how much money there is here in Boston, at least for the few. Most of the garage is empty right now, apart from this small, exclusive section of the lot. Which makes sense, given it’s a Saturday morning.

Cole grabs a tan blazer from his trunk and puts it on. “First rule if you want to succeed in the private sector, dress better than your competition. Even on Saturdays,” he says.

I try not to stare at the way his hulking biceps bulge through his blazer. Then I look down at my own B-level wardrobe. “Shit, that’s one broken rule already and we haven’t even made it inside yet.”

He smiles and looks my body up and down, his eyes curious and lustful at the same time. “Rule number two, be more handsome than your competition. That’s something that can’t be bought with all the money in the world, and you already have it.”

I can’t stop myself from smiling and biting down on my lip. Why does he make me feel like a blushing fourteen-year-old girl every time he pays me a compliment? “I guess I’ll take the compliment,” I say as we make our way inside the elevator.

“It’s not a compliment. Compliments are subjective. You’re a good looking man, Gavin. You should feel confident knowing that fact.”

I can’t tell if he’s hitting on me, or simply telling me this to bolster my confidence. Either way, I half love it, and half fear it. “Fine, then thanks for your non-biased feedback,” I say lightly.

He presses the button for the sixtieth floor, the very top of the building. As the elevator swiftly transports us to the sixteenth floor, I feel slightly intoxicated from being this close in proximity to him right here in this elevator. The doors open, and I feel my shoulders drop just knowing I can breathe a little easier now that we’re unloading from this tiny, enclosed box.

I follow Cole into his executive corner office, and my jaw literally drops open. His office itself appears bigger than the Oval Office. Everything in here is sleek, modern and white… the walls, the furniture, even the conference table. Two of the walls are almost all glass, and the view of Boston below us is beyond breathtaking.

“What do you think?” he says, placing his phone down on his desk.

At first, I’m speechless as I continue my visual tour of this incredible space. “You could charge people just to visit,” I say.

Cole chuckles. “In a way, I do. My company only works with clients who have significant net worths. My clients expect the best from anyone they’re willing to let manage their money. Skimping on office space would send the wrong message.”

“How high are we talking here in terms of net worth?” I say.

Cole pauses, his eyes raking over my body so quickly I’m almost not sure that I even saw what I think I saw. “Higher than most of the patrons at your coffee shop.”

I raise a brow, feigning annoyance that he won’t tell me. “Rich people don’t go to coffee shops?”

He opens up his laptop, his eyes fixed on the screen as he settles into his desk. “I only work with clients with a minimum of a hundred million in net worth.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

He shakes his head, his eyes glued to the screen of his laptop. “I wouldn’t do that to you. Not when it comes to business.”

“Jesus,” I mutter as I walk around his office in awe.

“But there’s still plenty of room to expand my company,” he says, coming from behind and startling me. “Still many more clients I need to win over if I’m going to expand internationally.”

I turn and face him head on. Our eyes lock, and I can hardly take the rush of energy that’s coursing through my veins .

All because of Cole.

“How are you going to do that?” I say.

“Like I said, everyone has their blindspots. I’m one of the best money guys in the country, but not everyone trusts me with their fortune, regardless of the fact that my ROI’s outpace every mutual fund on the market.”

I stare blankly at him, trying to understand why he really brought me here. “Return on investments,” he says to me.

“Yeah, I know what ROI means.”

He winks. “Just testing you.”

“Is that all you’re doing, testing me?”

And for the first time, I caught him off guard as he squints.

But my victory is short-lived as he reaches out his hand to comb my hair with his fingers. A jolt of electricity rocks my spine. “Hang on, I need you to look the part. Or at least understand that to be very successful in business, you can’t have a hair out of place.”

My heart is beating like a drum. This is going to be a long ass morning, unless I do the right thing and get the fuck out of here. But instead, I do the wrong thing and say, “You could’ve just told me. I would’ve fixed my own hair.”

He presses his lips together, the corners of his mouth curling up just slightly. His eyes flicker as he stares right through me. I can feel heat start to gather again between my legs. “This is my office, Gavin. When I spot an issue, I don’t wait to fix it.”

“I don’t need fixing, Cole.”

Whatever smile he had immediately disappears as he walks right up to my face. His warm, minty breath is intoxicating. “Don’t bullshit me. You wouldn’t be here If you didn’t need fixing.”

I cross my arms in front of my chest defensively. “Maybe I should just leave right now to prove you wrong then.”

Cole runs his fingers through my hair again, his thumb grazing the side of my cheek as he brings his hand back to his tie and methodically adjusts it. “I’m calling your bluff. You wouldn’t make me spend all of this time and effort fixing your hair, only to walk out that door right now,” he says with a deadpan expression on his face.

The two of us break our stare and laugh. Cole steps away from me and moves towards his desk, my eyes seemingly unable to not stare at his body in that tight, expensive suit of his.

That said, at least he didn’t kiss me.

I feel relieved for the moment.

I think.

He punches a few keys into his laptop, and then closes it. He loosens his tie a bit more and then takes off his blazer. I gawk at how much his shoulder muscles fill out the corners of his dress shirt. I can almost feel my fingers moving towards his body like little magnets gravitating towards a giant, gorgeous hunk of steel.

“Come on, I’ll show you around some more,” he says.

Cole gives me a tour of his company’s office space. There isn’t a spot of dust to be found, a single furniture knick, or even a faint window smudge. I’ve never seen such a meticulously kept place in my life.

All of the equipment, the furniture, even the decor… everything looks so sleek and brand new and worth more than I can even comprehend.

He leads me down a long corridor and I can’t help but stop and look at several rows of perfectly aligned pictures on the wall. Pictures, mostly of men, all of them shaking hands with Cole himself.

One pic in particular catches my attention. “This guy looks like a Saudi Arabian prince,” I say.

Cole reaches over my shoulder and adjusts the picture frame ever so slightly.

“It’s all about trust, Gavin. If you can earn the trust of others, it doesn’t matter where they come from or how much money they have. Everyone needs someone they can rely on.”

I turn to face him, this time our mouths are too close for comfort. This little cat and mouse game we’re playing is really starting to mess with my sanity.

I don’t know how long I can take it… how long I can pretend as though I don’t want to see his rock hard body naked again… feel his hands on my body.

Or taste his kiss.

Stupidly, I open my mouth and say softly, “How do they know they can trust you with all their money?”

He leans in slightly, his eyes steady and completely transfixed on mine, like he wants to devour my body whole. ”Sometimes, it's because they don't have a choice. They fully comprehend my company's track record for being the best money management company there is. But other times, even when I just started in this business and hadn’t built a reputation yet, my clients just knew. They knew I wouldn’t steer them wrong. It’s one of those nonverbal, intuitive feelings we all get when you know that you’re on the same page with someone.”

I break eye contact with him and point to another photo, a picture of an older woman wearing a gray suit and shaking hands with Cole. “It’s good to see that not all of your clients are men,” I tease.

“Do I look like the discriminatory type to you?" he says sarcastically.

I look him up and down, pretending to study him carefully as though I’m not sure. “How the hell would I know? I’m just a kid who needs fixing, right?”

He shakes his head and I swear he just smiled. “Well, I didn’t discriminate against you, did I?”

I cross my arms in front of my chest, my mouth inadvertently forming a pout. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Cole reaches out and peels my locked arms apart. My breath gets trapped in my throat as his fingers slowly slide off of my forearm. “Relax. I’m an equal opportunist here. Men, women, old… even you. So there, clearly I don’t discriminate.”

“I don’t know if it’s as clear as you’re making it sound, but I’ll take your word for it.”

He looks over at the picture of the woman that I referred to. “Although, it does help that she’s one of my wealthiest clients.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes, pretending to be disgusted. “Typical alpha male bullshit," I say.

His eyes narrow. He lets out a slow, deep breath, and I can’t stop glancing down at the way he keeps nibbling on his lower lip with his straight, white teeth.

”You think you know all about me?" he says, his eyes suddenly serious and piercing right through me. I can't tell if I just said something that pissed him off…

Or made him want to fuck me.

“Not especially, no,” I say, my voice shakier than I want it to be.

Then his eyes soften, a devilish flicker lurking behind them. “I’m joking, Gavin. Well, mostly. The truth is, you don’t know much about me at all.”

”I don’t know much about myself still, so no argument there.”

Cole grins and sets his hand on my shoulder, his palm lingering on my body as though he’s determined to torture me once again. “Well, that’s why you’re here. Even if you do decide that this isn’t the right place for you-“

I cut him off and say, “Or you decide that I shouldn’t be here.”

His eyes dart towards his hand on my shoulder. “It’s not looking like that’s going to be the outcome here, Gavin. But, you might decide that coffee shops are more your thing, and that’s totally your prerogative. Either way, maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about yourself in the process of getting a taste of my world.”

The way he pauses and glares down at me after he talks about me tasting his world… I suddenly feel slightly chubby down below, memories of how lit up my body felt when I had his cock inside my mouth.

Reality sets in…

Why did I come here?

Worst mistake ever.

I make a bold move and reach down to grab his wrist. I turn his wrist slightly so I can read the time on his watch. Our eyes meet, causing my cock to bulge even more as I open my dumb mouth again. “I only have an hour to make my decision,” I say.

He smiles. And it’s the godliest smile I’ve ever seen. “The shit I can accomplish in only an hour will blow your mind.”

He leans towards me with his lips, and I assume he’s going to kiss me as my heart starts to pound in my chest.

Then he stops. My cheeks flush red. I want to grab onto his thick, wide chest and pull him towards me.

Not that I would do something that outrageously idiotic.

“Come on, let’s finish the tour,” he says, grinning as he looks down at the bulge in my pants. “You look like you could use some cooling down.”

Embarrassed, I hesitate to follow after him at first. “Let me guess, you’re going to force me into another pool with you so I can cool off?” I say.

He shakes his head and loosens his tie so much that I catch a glimpse of his sexy chest hair. “Actually, there is a pool on the lower level that’s exclusive to my company.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

He undoes his tie completely, his gaze deliberate and slow as he watches me like a hawk. “Because you’re starting to get the feel for me now.”

“I thought I hardly knew you?” I say, heat building between my legs.

He squints. “You really are going to get yourself in trouble one of these days.”

“Are you threatening me?” I say.

He flashes a wicked grin and then looks down at the bulge in my pants again. “Are you?”

I look down at my cock, my cheeks flaming red as it pushes through the front of my khakis. “I’m not trying too, trust me.”

“Nobody ever tries to get a raging boner, Gavin,” he says.

My cheeks are now outright burning.

Before I can run the hell away, his hand is on my bulge and his lips come crashing into mine, sending every hair on my body to stand tall.

My whole body is suddenly buzzing, but my mind can’t help from getting in the way…

Is this the only reason he brought me here? To fool around with me again?

He pulls his lips away from mine sharply, our breathing choppy and chaotic. “What the fuck did you do that for?” I say.

“I wasn’t trying to do that,” he says back to me.

I shake my head and narrow my gaze. “I don’t get you. What do you want from me? Because I thought maybe you wanted to help me, but now...”

He grabs my hips and slides his hand down my ass. “Maybe I do want to help you, and maybe I want something else too. Can’t you wear two hats at once?” he says.

“This is getting out of control. What about Jayson?”

“It’s not getting out of control, it already is out of control. And Jayson is the least of our worries. Believe me.”

“This is messed up, Cole. We both know it. I shouldn’t have come here in the first place. Maybe a job at a coffee shop isn’t so special to you, but it’s where I belong,” I say.

As hard as it feels to do, I turn and start to leave. Then Cole’s hand snatches the back of my wrist. I take in a sharp gasp of air as I try to pull my arm away. The second I resist, I feel his other hand on the back of my second wrist. “You can’t leave. You belong here, Gavin. With me. Right now,” he says, his voice low and raspy as the warm air from his breath tickles the back of my neck.

I resist even harder, but it’s no use. My backside is facing his front side, a dangerous position to say the least.  “You’re insane, you know that?” I say.

He chuckles, and then I hear the sound of fabric sliding across fabric. Before I know what’s happening, I can feel something long and silky on the surface of my wrists. My stomach feels like it’s just been raided by thousands of butterflies as he proceeds to bind my wrists with his necktie.

“I think I’m well aware of that, yes." he says, tugging on the knot around my wrists to make sure that it's secure.

I test the knot myself, my hands unable to budge even a millimeter. “You’re a Boy Scout too, I take it?” I say, referring to the tightest knot on record.

He lets out a grunt. “I’m a lot of things, Gavin, but I’m not a Boy Scout. I never pretended to be either.”

I make one last attempt to pull my hands free, but it’s clearly no use. Not only because his necktie is so tight, but also because my body is filled with so much need that even if I could break free, I wouldn’t.

“Then how are we going to resolve this?” I say.

Cole reaches around to the front of my pants, forcing me to arch my head back towards him. His large, strong hands make their way into my underwear. “I’m going to throw my dick into that tight ass of yours, that’s how.”

“And what if I don't want you fuck me?”

He pulls my pants down to my ankles, my hard, bare cock now in the palm of his hands.

And his mercy.

”Doesn’t look like that's going to be an issue. It's time you start following my orders instead of being a little brat."

I push my hips forward, driving my cock into his hand. “You’re not my father, Cole. Do you think you can just keep me in line just like you do all of the other people in your life?”

Cole squeezes my shaft just enough to cause a dribble of pre-come to ooze out of me. I hear the sound of his pants coming undone, and before I can say another word, his thick cock is nestled between my ass cheeks.

“Holy fuck, I’ve never felt anything so hard,” I accidentally mutter, forgetting that I should be protesting right now.

“Bad little brats like you have a way of testing my nerves, and my cock,” he says, his palms now on my bare ass, spreading my cheeks open for him.

I bite down hard on my lip. I’ve never wanted another man inside of me this badly. Funny, because the man I want to get fucked by right now happens to be the same man who I thought was straight his whole life, not that I knew much about him until this summer.

He’s also the same man who just so happens to be the father of the only true friend I have in this world.

I shake the worrying out of my head, knowing it’s no use…

I get it, none of this shit should be happening right now. But I’m done fooling myself… I’m also not about to stop shit from happening anymore.

I need him inside of me, so much so that I think I might go insane if I don’t get what I need.

I can feel him lower his body down as he rakes his fingers down the backs of my legs. I let out another moan as his warm tongue slides between my ass cheeks, circling my rim as he buries his mouth in my ass.

Lightheaded and somewhat delirious from the pleasure that’s taking over my body, I stumble forward just enough to accidentally knock one of the pictures off the wall. He stabilizes my body by grabbing onto the necktie that’s binding my wrists. “You taste even better than I imagined you would. So young and fresh, I could eat you all day,” he says, circling my hole with his tongue, and occasionally dipping it inside.

I seriously can’t believe this is happening.

I reach my fingers as far back as I can and then grab the sides of his face as he continues to eat my asshole. ”You know this is so wrong," I say.

I can feel his tongue leave my ass. Then I hear him stand up, his palms grabbing both sides of my bare butt. ”No, the fact that I want to fuck you more than I’ve ever wanted to fuck anyone else before is what’s so wrong.”

“Untie me, and I promise I’ll be good.”

He chuckles, and then tightens the necktie even more. “You can’t be trusted. You need a man like me to teach you real etiquette, someone to make sure you act like a good boy,” he says, positioning the warm tip of his cock into my still-wet hole.

My pulse is racing. I know what the right thing to do is, but like I said… that ain’t happening. Funny, maybe he’s right, maybe I do need somebody to keep me in line.

Only it shouldn’t be the one man who can single-handedly destroy my life.

”I don’t need shit from you, Cole," I say, only my voice is weak and not very convincing.

He presses his dick into my opening enough so that my muscles relax for him. The head of his cock slides inside of me, forcing a muffled scream out of my mouth. “Are you sure?” he says, his tongue now teasing my ear lobe.

I find myself reaching for his hips, my fingers desperate to pull him towards me even more. “I think so,” I bumble.

Cole drives his hard shaft deep inside of my ass. I mutter a bunch of four-letter words as I bite down hard on my lip. “You have no idea how much you need me,” he whispers in my ear, his hands reaching around and grabbing my chest muscles as he starts to fuck me against the wall.

I grit down on my teeth and bounce my ass back and forth in the same rhythm that he’s fucking me. Cole kisses my neck and nibbles on my shoulder, my heartbeat speeding up even more.

This is so goddamn wrong…

And yet nothing has ever felt more right.

”I’m going to fuck the brattyness right out of you,” he says.

I arch my head back and reach my tongue out for him. He grabs the side of my face and pulls my lips towards his mouth. We kiss, and my body has never felt this warm inside. Giving myself over to him completely, I pull away from his mouth and say, “Teach me, Daddy.”

The moment the word daddy leaves my lips, Cole’s eyes widen. I swear to god his cock expands even more as he starts to pound me into the wall. And something about our sex is somehow so rough, yet so intimate and sensitive too.

I’ve never been with anyone like this before.

Never had a man touch me like this.

Never been fucked like this.

But part of me has to wonder, has he done this before? Is this how he has sex with everyone else?

He buries his cock in even further, so far that I swear his dick is going to come out through the front of my body. His balls slap against the back of my ass as he presses my bound wrists into my lower back with his stomach.

I can hardly breathe, the ecstasy too much for my heart and lungs to keep up with. As he pounds me even faster, I can feel him fiddling with the necktie around my wrists. Before I know it, my hands are free and the necktie is off.

Finally, I’m free to reach back even further and pull him into me even deeper. He groans loud enough for someone on the floor below us to hear. “Where do you want my come, sweet boy?” he says.

“Inside… Inside of me," I manage to say.

Instantly, I can feel his hot come fill my body up to completion. When he’s done, he drapes his tall, muscular body over my back and shoulders.

I’ve never felt this warm inside, or this safe.

I feel like a pussy even saying that, but the real truth is even scarier…

Being around Cole makes me feel something I’ve clearly been missing out on.

Not that I’m actually with Cole.

My cock is so damn hard it’s about to explode. As if he can read my mind, he pushes my shoulder down and lowers me to the floor. The gray carpeting is hard and scratchy, but it’s perfect for the occasion.

“I want to make you come now, Gavin,” he says as he looks deeply into my eyes.

I nod and say, “Please, Daddy. I have so much come ready for you.”

He moistens his finger with his warm, wet mouth. “You’re mine now,” he says as he starts to finger my ass with one hand and jerk my cock off with the other.

I lean back and brace myself by clawing my fingernails into the carpet behind me. Cole jerks me and fingers me, his dark eyes staring into mine. “Kiss me now,” I whisper. He leans in and does what I ask him to. Our kiss is strangely sweet and beautiful, the energy between us magnetic and harmonious which makes no sense at all.

My body starts to buckle as come starts to shoot out of my dick. He jerks me off until every last drop pours out of me, the pitter-patter of my heart wild and fast as I stare down at the come on his hand and forearm.

Then something really messed up happens, as if somehow this whole situation with Cole could get any stranger.

He looks at me, his eyes dead serious, and then he pulls me into his body. I don’t know how to react at first as he wraps his arms around me tightly. And I swear to fucking god my heart almost melts in my chest.

We hold each other for no more than a minute, but it feels like ten years.

“What do we do next?" I say.

He studies my face carefully. Our hands are still clasped. ”Honestly, I have no idea.”

I let out a semi-insane chuckle. “Well, that's not exactly a great sign coming from a man who knows how to run a multimillion dollar company," I say. I stand up and start to get myself dressed. “If you don’t have an answer, we’re even more fucked than I thought.”

He walks towards me and tilts my chin up with two of his fingers. The hairs on the back of my neck shoot up towards the ceiling. “First of all, I run a multibillion dollar company, not million,” he says with a grin. “And second of all, I don’t know everything. And I never meant to give the impression that I did.”

“You never said you knew everything, I just kind of assumed you'd have an answer to what’s happening between us."

He shakes his head, his gaze strained in a way I’ve yet to see with him. “Look, obviously we shouldn’t be doing this stuff. We shouldn’t be hooking up like this. But we did, and I don’t think either one of us felt like we had a choice in the matter.”

“You’re not helping the situation right now,” I say.

He folds his necktie and places it in his front pocket. “Relax, Gavin,” he says confidently. But as I watch him put his shoes back on, that worried look still lingers on his face.

“No problem, I’ll just relax,” I say, my mind spinning a thousand miles a second.

Cole suddenly pulls me towards him and presses his warm lips into mine. I moan as I wrap my arms around his wide shoulders. I don’t want to let him go. He pulls back, and we both let out a deep breath in total unison. Cole winks and says, “Come on, let’s finish the tour.”

A deep, deep part of me knows that this really isn’t going to end well. But as the warm, soothing sun comes pouring through a large window in his building, heating the side of my body as Cole walks down the hall, I have to think…

Maybe I can at least just enjoy this moment. What harm could that do?