by Cate Ashwood
Alec: Unlock the front door in five minutes.
I grinned to myself. It made me happier than it should have that Alec was coming to see me. I hadn’t realized how much it bothered me I wasn’t going to get to spend time with him that evening.
Hanging out with Alec after work was becoming my favorite part of the day.
Before now, we’d always seen each other at least once a week—for Friday night drinks—and often we’d make plans for something else during the week too. But since the start of the bet, seeing him every day had become more and more important to me.
I stood and walked out of my office, past the labyrinth of cubicles and out to the front door. Through the glass, I saw Alec walking up the ramp to the front. I twisted the lock until it clicked back, then pushed open the door.
Alec held up an overfilled plastic bag as he entered.
“Chinese.”
His declaration wasn’t necessary. The logo of my favorite Chinese restaurant was printed on the side of the bag, and even if it hadn’t been, I would have been able to tell from the smell of the ginger beef alone.
“You are the greatest husband ever.”
The look he gave me would have melted my panties right off if I’d been wearing any. It was playful and happy, and I wanted to lick the side of his face and call dibs forever. I shook myself out of the momentary bout of possessiveness and closed the door behind him, locking us in.
Alec followed me back to my office and dragged Jesse’s chair in from the other room to butt up against my desk. I cleared off as much as I could, piling most of my work on the floor near the stuffed-to-overflowing bookshelf.
“Long day?” Alec set all the containers out on the desk and passed me a paper-wrapped set of chopsticks.
I tore open the package and snapped them apart. “Kind of. I have a couple hours or so left.”
“It can’t wait until tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “The park opening is tomorrow. Everything has to be squared away before then.”
“Your park?” He looked up at me over his orange chicken.
I swallowed a bite of fried rice. “Yeah, the pocket park over on Belmont.”
He set his chopsticks down, leaning them on the corner of one of the white takeout boxes. “You didn’t tell me the opening is tomorrow.”
“It’s not a big deal,” I said.
“It’s a very big deal. I know how hard you worked on that project and how hard you had to fight that fuckface… Mark?” He searched for the name.
“Marcus.”
“Yeah. That fuckface, Marcus. What time is the opening?”
“Ten.”
“I’ll pick you up,” Alec said as though it was a normal thing we did every day.
I could feel my cheeks heating, and I had no idea why. I loved my job, but when it came to the public part of it like openings and celebrations, I preferred to fade into the background and let the spaces speak for themselves. Alec wanting to be there made me feel a strange mixture of pride and self-consciousness.
“It’s not a big deal,” I repeated. “And it’s in the middle of your workday. I don’t want to take you away from your shop when you’re just getting caught up. There’s a celebratory dinner afterward at Brix across the street. I was hoping you’d come with me.”
“I wouldn’t miss either.”
Gratitude flared. Alec was and always would be my best friend.
“So what are you working on now?” he asked before shoving an egg roll into his mouth.
“Something a little bigger this time. We’re looking at creating a new neighborhood in town, and I’m looking at the zoning to make the streets flow properly and create as much walkability for the people there as possible. Marcus and I are submitting competing designs yet again, and as always, his is focused more on the commercial aspect.”
I wiped the grease from my fingers and clicked my mouse to bring up the digital drawings I’d done as a mock-up to go along with my presentation. I purposely hid the information about where the neighborhood was located. Technically, we weren’t supposed to show people our designs until they’d been approved. I knew Alec would never say anything, but if my design was the one picked, I wanted the fact that it was the area around his shop to stay a surprise.
“That looks so cool.” He leaned in closer to inspect the drawings.
“Thanks.” I was beaming. “I wanted it to be a good blend of commercial and residential, so keeping the shops and restaurants on the bottom floors with condos above creates a dynamic area that attracts people. Everything is within walking distance, which reduces the need for cars since the city is also planning to expand the transit system to service the people who move here.”
“It’s charming.”
I pointed to the small parks scattered throughout. “I wanted to keep as much green space as possible. Trees make people happy.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever said this before, but you’re amazing, Chase. What you do, it’s amazing. You’re amazing.”
I swallowed hard around the lump that had suddenly jammed itself into my throat and tried not to blush too hard. “Thanks,” I said, then took a giant bite of beef.
Chapter Twelve
Alec
I woke up the next morning feeling more rested than I had in almost two weeks. I didn’t remember falling asleep the night before, and I couldn’t recall waking up repeatedly to make sure there was adequate space between Chase and me on the mattress. Because of that, Chase was wrapped around me, one leg thrown over mine and his cheek nestled in against my shoulder.
I glanced at the clock and saw there were a few minutes left before his alarm was set to go off. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply, my skin tingling everywhere it was in contact with his. I knew I should move, but a part of me loved the way it felt to have him sleeping on me. And in the darkness of my predawn bedroom, it was safe to indulge in the fantasy, just for a minute.
I imagined what it would be like if we were actually married… if this wasn’t some stupid bet thought up as a result of boredom and too much alcohol. I thought about what it would be like if I was allowed to touch him, to enjoy having him in my bed. The thoughts were somewhat foreign but not unwelcome. The more I thought about it, the more natural it seemed until I had myself almost convinced being tangled up in Chase was where I was supposed to be.
The electronic tones and rhythmic baseline of Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” split the air, shattering the silence of my bedroom and startling Chase awake. He flinched at the sound and shifted, breaking contact with me as he rolled onto his side and nuzzled his face into his pillow.
“It’s too early to be awake,” he groaned, despite the fact that he’d been the one to set the alarm. It was an hour earlier than he usually woke for work, but he’d insisted being at the office early was necessary.
“Then go back to sleep. Play hooky with me this morning. We can get breakfast, and then I can take you to your unveiling.”
The words were out of my mouth before I could think them through, and once they were, I realized how badly I wanted Chase to say yes.
“You buying?”
“Sure,” I said.
“Great. Does that French bistro near the river do breakfast? I hear they make a gold-plated lobster or some shit.” Chase attempted what I could only assume was his aristocratic voice—a mix of a mangled British accent and a weird falsetto. “It’s supposed to be to die for. You know I only eat la crème de la crème in breakfast foods on important days like today.”
“So that explains the chocolate-covered Twinkies you told me you had the last time?”
“Like I said. La crème de la crème. In that case, crème-filled.”
I huffed out a laugh. “How about I take you to Shorty’s. I’m sure they can accommodate your request for something crème-filled.”
“Not sure they’d have the crème-filled treats I’m after.” Chase waggled his eyebrows at me suggestively and a flash of heat filled me. The room wa
s instantly saturated with innuendo, and being that we were inches apart and already tangled in my sheets, it was impossible not to imagine, in vivid clarity, exactly what Chase had in mind.
I grappled for a comeback but came up completely blank, my mind already preoccupied with imagining exactly what Chase had suggested.
“As appealing as breakfast at Shorty’s sounds, I can’t,” he said, saving me from embarrassing myself with an unclever, stuttered response. “There’s a ton of shit I need to get sorted out before I head over to Belmont.”
“Okay. Maybe another time. I’ll come pick you up, though.”
“That’d be nice,” he said, shuffling under the covers to look at me.
A quiet moment passed between us in the dim light of morning. I tucked it away to examine later. “Would nine thirty be good?”
“That’s perfect.”
“So how is today going to work? The unveiling is this morning, and then there’s a reception at Brix tonight at seven, right?”
“Yep. I’ll head to the office after the ribbon cutting, and I’ll likely be there until the thing later starts. Do you want to meet me there?”
“I can do that,” I replied.
“Great. You don’t own a suit, do you?”
I crinkled my nose without meaning to.
“I’ll take that as a no. I didn’t think so. Whatever you have will be good, I’m sure. Or maybe you could borrow one from Reid.”
Somehow I didn’t think Reid’s suit would fit me any better than one of Chase’s would.
“Thanks for coming today,” Chase said after a pause. “You really don’t have to.”
“I wouldn’t miss it,” I assured him.
With Starbucks in hand, I arrived at City Hall a little after nine. I walked in through the front door rather than the side entrance I usually used when visiting Chase after hours. The receptionist waved me through to the planning and development department, and as I entered, it became apparent things were a little crazier than normal that morning. People buzzed about, rushing through the halls with rolled-up poster-size papers in their arms or file folders clutched in their hands. No one even bothered looking up as I walked through to Chase’s office.
He was seated at his desk, his hair stuck up at odd angles like he’d run his fingers through it one too many times. When I entered, he looked up at me and beamed before standing and walking over. He took the coffee in my outstretched hand and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“You’re literally my hero. You know that, right?”
“A double sweet caramel macchiato is all it takes? You’re pretty easy.”
“Can’t believe you’re only figuring that out now,” Chase countered.
I ignored him. “Almost ready to go?”
“Yep. All good.”
We headed out of the office, Chase’s cell phone ringing twice before we even got to the car. He ignored it both times. Belmont wasn’t far from City Hall. We could have walked over, but once we pulled out into traffic, I was glad we’d decided not to. Chase was a ball of nervous energy next to me, practically vibrating in the seat.
“You okay?” I asked, keeping my eyes on the road rather than looking over at him, as tempting as it was.
“Yeah, just excited.”
“Nervous?”
I’d never known Chase to be nervous about anything in his life. When we were kids, he was the first to come out in our high school. He’d sashayed out of the closet, bold and cocksure, not giving a fuck what anyone else thought of him. I’d always admired how brave he was. It was throwing me off to see him shaken up like this.
“A little? Maybe?” he admitted, though it sounded more like a question than confirmation. “I’m being stupid. It’s not like this is a multibillion-dollar project. It’s a park. A pocket park. Most people are going to walk right by it without a second glance.”
We pulled up as another car was leaving. I snagged the spot right out front and parked. It afforded us the perfect view of the site where a giant red ribbon stretched from one building to the other on each side. “No one is going to walk by without seeing that,” I said, pointing.
It was gorgeous. We’d done a drive-by on our way to Webster’s when the project was launching, but I hadn’t seen it since. The transformation was astonishing. What had been a dead-end alleyway, home to dumpsters and rats, had become light and airy. One side was made up of a living wall, the discolored stucco from the restaurant next door completely transformed with the addition of plants of all different colors. They were arranged in a way that created patterning and contrast.
The center was filled with cobblestones, tables and chairs on one side and benches on the other. A waterfall feature in the far corner completed the urban nature aesthetic and brought the whole thing together into a cohesive space. Bistro light swagged between the buildings, and although it was still morning, I could imagine what the place would look like all lit up in the evening.
“It did turn out, didn’t it?” Chase said.
“Fuck yeah, it did. You’re a genius, you know that?”
“I have a team, remember? This was not all me.”
Except it was. I could see Chase in every inch of that park. A lot of people didn’t take him seriously because of the way he tended to present himself, but I knew there was more to him than that. I saw beyond the jokes and the bravado. Chase was conscientious and caring. He put deep thought into everything that mattered to him, and he didn’t settle for less than perfection.
Belmont Park was a perfect example of that.
We got out of the car and entered the crowd of people gathered around the opening of the park. As the minutes passed, more and more people showed up and my pride in Chase grew. He had done all this. Everyone was here to see what he’d accomplished.
“I have to go up in a second, but I’ll meet you back here once the ribbon is cut?”
“Knock ’em dead,” I said, and without thinking I leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss against his lips.
He looked back up at me, stunned. “What was that for?”
“For luck. And because I’m proud of you.”
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half grin, but he didn’t respond. Instead, he turned and made his way through the crowd to where the mayor and a few other guys in suits were standing behind the ribbon.
When I arrived at Brix, Chase’s question about me owning a suit made perfect sense. I would have felt out of place being the only guy there in jeans and a button-up shirt. I’m not a suit guy. They’d always seemed unnecessarily constricting to me, but I guess spending most of my days with safety goggles propped on my head didn’t leave much room for fashion in my life.
I’d stopped at Men’s Workshop on my way home from work to find something and prayed they’d have stock in my size. When I’d walked in, three salespeople immediately swarmed me, accosting me with measuring tapes. Clearly they worked on commission because in less than fifteen minutes, I’d walked out with two new jackets, two shirts, and two pairs of slacks that definitely would need to be pressed, and three coordinating ties.
I didn’t need all that, but I figured, what the hell. If I ended up going to another one of Chase’s work things, at least I wouldn’t look like the guy who only owned one suit. They didn’t need to know I was the guy who didn’t even own a sport jacket. I did now. Two even.
The restaurant was swanky, all exposed brick and crystal chandeliers hung in that way that seemed trendy rather than stuffy, and hors d’oeuvres with names I couldn’t pronounce but tasted better than anything I’d ever eaten. The place was packed with people milling around, and I assumed Chase’s company had rented out the entire space.
I looked around, my eyes scanning the room for Chase’s familiar form until I spotted him over by the buffet table. He added one more to an already substantial stack of shrimp on his plate. Of course that’s where he’d be. The man couldn’t cook a meal to save his life, but fuck, did he love to eat. Despite the fact that most days he fi
lled his body with fast food, greasy takeout, and sugar, he was all lean, sinewy muscle.
I worked my ass off in the gym and spent most of my days doing a physically demanding job, but for him it was effortless. I took a minute to look at him, his soft gray suit nipped in all the right places. He was relaxed and open, talking with the man standing next to him.
He was beautiful.
It wasn’t that I’d never noticed. I had, so many times, but this was a different side of him I’d never really gotten a glimpse of before—the tailored, self-assured, professional side. At least until he shoved two shrimp into his mouth at once and suddenly he was transformed into the Chase I’d known most of my life.
I stifled a laugh as he was barely able to contain what was in his mouth, then walked over to him.
“Hey,” I said as I approached.
Chase whipped his head over to look at me and grinned, then covered his mouth, presumably to keep his chewed shrimp from making an appearance. I smiled back and sidled up next to him. An awkward beat of silence passed where the man he’d been talking to stared at me, and Chase’s gaze lingered on me until he swallowed and then spoke.
“Marcus, this is my husband, Alec. Alec, this is Marcus.”
I extended my hand to him. “It’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
He looked bewildered but shook my hand anyway. “Chase, I didn’t know you were married.”
“Yep,” he replied. “High school sweethearts. We have the perfect marriage, don’t we, babe?”
The question was obviously directed at me, but Chase didn’t wait for a response before continuing. “We never fight about anything, especially mundane bullshit. We’re the perfect couple… although it helps this one can’t keep his hands off me.” Chase waggled his eyebrows and stepped closer to me, running his hand over the breast of my jacket.
“How… nice for you.” Marcus gave a tense smirk. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I see some people I should say hello to.”
Once he’d disappeared into the crowd, I turned to Chase. “What the hell was that?”