by K P Maxwell
Sebastian stands up, shaking his head at Damien and still smiling slightly. He holds a hand out to take Damien’s plate. “You’re not going to eat that are you?”
Damien shakes his head, “No, sorry. It’s delicious, but I just can’t.”
A small smile quirks the corner of the other man’s mouth. “A compliment, even. You’re really in an odd mood today.”
Damien feels himself smiling back, as much as he’s able. Sebastian’s heading to the sink with the dishes, and Damien has to force the words out.
“What should I do?” he asks, and Sebastian looks back at him as he sets the plates down next to the sink.
“Just tell him the truth, Lambert,” Sebastian says. “You’re going to regret it if you don’t.”
And Sebastian’s the second person who’s told him that today, but Sebastian seems like perhaps he has personal experience in the regret part of the equation. Damien gives him a considering look, but Sebastian’s already turning back to the dishes.
“I’ll get those,” Damien offers, because he’s honestly appreciative of the advice.
“Thanks,” Sebastian says, and Damien can’t help but notice that he has another plate set aside for Daniel that he picks up, heading out of the kitchen with it. Damien thinks Sebastian might know a lot about that sort of regret, actually.
Chapter Twelve
There’s a lull in customers in the afternoon. Liam’s back on barista duties after taking a lunch break of his own, and Kaz is out on some sort of errand for Melanie. Now that he’s getting more familiar with the workings of the café, she’s having him do all sorts of odd jobs for her, some of which Damien used to do on top of everything else.
The cold is creeping in through the large glass windows at the front of the café. Damien’s found a corner table near one of them and is scrolling through the café’s social media feeds on his phone. Earlier he posted a photo of one of Liam’s attempts at latte art, along with a gratuitous photo of the cute barista himself, and it’s been getting a lot of attention. Melanie really did need another assistant, he thinks. Damien usually does the social media along with managing the staff and making sure inventory gets done and multiple other things besides. He’s trying to train Kaz to take over a few of the others as well.
The words on the phone screen blend together, though, as he thinks about his earlier conversation with Sebastian. The contract. He’s been trying to push it out of his thoughts for the day, until later tonight when he can really think about how he’s going to handle the situation on Thursday.
The bell on the door startles him out of his thoughts, though, and he looks up, feeling guilty for daydreaming again. The man from his daydreams is striding in through the door, however, heading directly for Liam at the counter. Ty is dressed in similar clothes to what he usually wears to their sessions, and seeing him in this different context is jarring, almost dreamlike. Damien finds himself blinking several times to ensure that he’s really seeing Ty, here in the café.
Liam flashes Ty a gorgeous smile, head tilting in that way that he has when he’s genuinely interested in a customer, and Damien wants to grab him by the throat. He’s my client, he thinks, standing, and the reaction shocks him into pausing. It’s not like he’s actually going to sign the exclusive contract. And after Thursday, if he really does admit what he thinks he’s going to admit, he might not actually be seeing Ty at all anymore. Perhaps after that he would be Liam’s client.
But the thought makes his blood burn in his veins. Liam couldn’t handle him, he thinks, almost cruelly. He makes his way over to the counter slowly.
His client looks like he’s in a bad mood, and Damien wants nothing more than to fix all of his problems. Or perhaps make a scene. He can’t decide which. There are other patrons in the café, in the lounge – the building is full of people who can’t know what else they do here, though, so Damien can’t do the latter, even if he wants to.
Ty is asking Liam a question in a low tone of voice, and Damien slides up right behind him.
“Can I help you with something, sir?” he asks, perhaps standing a little too closely, perhaps just wanting to feel the heat of the other man. A thrill runs along his body when Ty immediately turns to face him, almost as if he started turning before Damien asked the question.
“It’s you,” Ty breathes, and Damien gives him a carefully, crafted blank look.
“Have we met before?” he asks, tilting his head and letting his anger show in his eyes.
Ty’s scowl deepens at the question, and Damien smiles sweetly at him, all innocence and light.
“Damien,” Ty says, and then glances back at Liam and lowers his voice. “I need to talk to you.”
“I’m sure I couldn’t possibly have anything to say to you,” Damien replies, and he reaches up to smooth the collar of Ty’s shirt, grazing his knuckles against the stubble on the other man’s jaw with the motion. His skin is so warm, even though he was just out in the cold air, and he’s not even wearing a proper coat.
Damien knows exactly how to push this man’s buttons. It’s his job after all. And Damien delights in having the full weight of Ty’s attention on him, like something heavy, pressing, warming his chill from earlier. He’s never seen this man outside of their Thursday night sessions, and this man knows nothing about him other than that. There’s something delightful about that idea, especially in this moment.
Ty grabs his wrist, and Liam makes a noise of protest, but Damien just laughs, feeling completely in control. This is what he likes about this job. As intense as Ty makes him feel, he gives as good as he gets.
“I just needed to make sure –” Ty says, and his eyes skate to the side, seeing Liam watch them, feeling the glances from other customers. Because of course, there’s no way Ty would know that Liam is also a host. “Is there somewhere we can go? To talk?”
Damien wants that suddenly – to take Ty up to one of the hosting rooms and chat with him – but he just knows that he can’t, that it would break all sorts of protocol. The clients can only come through the doors that Melanie makes. They are never allowed elsewhere in the building. They shouldn’t even have any way of knowing that the rooms they visit are above the café, actually. And at that realization, Damien takes a step back, but Ty’s still holding onto his wrist with a firm grip.
“How did you find me?” Damien asks suddenly, the heat leaving him, something wary taking its place. Melanie mentioned Ty bringing the contract by, but it couldn’t have been at the café – Damien would have noticed. He frowns, and Ty looks confused at the question. Does Ty know about the café? About Melanie’s whole operation?
“What the ever-loving fuck are you doing in here, Balducci?” Melanie’s voice is utterly calm, the words spoken barely above hearing register from behind Damien. Ty lets go of Damien’s wrist, and Damien can feel the places where his fingers were touching Damien’s skin as if he’d been marked. When Damien turns around, he imagines he can still feel the heat of Ty at his back and hates himself a little for wanting to melt back against the other man’s body.
The smile plastered on Melanie’s face is deceptively friendly. “Both of you, into my office. Now,” she says, her tone still too low to disturb the customers.
Damien steps aside, gesturing to Ty to go ahead, suddenly not wanting the other man walking behind him. He gives Liam a reassuring look, and Liam whispers, “That’s your client?” His eyes are wide.
Damien nods, wondering at the look on Liam’s face. He looks… impressed, almost. That Damien can handle a man like Ty? That couldn’t be it. That’s the sort of thing that only Damien would think. Damien files the thought away for later, though, and follows Ty and Melanie back into Melanie’s office where she slams the door behind them.
“Again, Balducci. What are you doing here?” Melanie’s more furious than Damien’s ever seen her before. Ty has the good sense to look abashed, and glances back towards Damien as if he’s embarrassed somehow that Damien’s seeing this.
�
��Mel,” he starts, and Damien’s instantly hit with the crystal clear thought that he’s never heard anyone address Melanie Selinofoto as Mel.
“Wait, wait,” Damien holds up his hands, interrupting immediately. “You know each other? Like, outside of the fact that this is my client?”
Both of them give him a look like they really wished he wasn’t here at this particular moment, and he raises an eyebrow at Melanie. “Mel?” he repeats. “Just how well do you two know each other?”
Melanie sighs, sitting down in her desk chair. “You’re both idiots,” she says, and then waves a hand vaguely at Ty. “Look at what you’ve done. You’re making such a mess out of this whole thing.”
Maybe she’s right, maybe Ty is the one who’s causing trouble now, but Damien has a distinct feeling that he’s the one who let it continue. He’s feeling bad that he put Melanie in this position, but there’s also the question of how Ty even knew to find him here in the first place.
Ty’s fists clench and unclench at his sides, and he finally places his palms flat on the desk in some sort of gesture to calm himself. “Did you give him the contract?” he asks.
“I’m standing right here,” Damien says, and he’s pissed. He doesn’t know what’s going on, why they seem to know each other more than the Lady of the house and a client should, but he’s determined to figure it out.
Ty glances back at him again. “Well?” he asks, and there’s something that flashes across his face. Something that Damien thinks he’s never seen before in their time together. Uncertainty.
“I got the contract,” Damien says. “And I’m not interested.”
Ty spins to face him. “The hell you aren’t!” he says, stalking closer to Damien. Damien’s body is shaking with adrenaline. He’s definitely interested in Ty, just not in the terms of the contract, but he is going to make Ty fucking work for it after pulling this sort of thing. Especially after the way he left the last time.
“Will you two just settle down?” Melanie says, voice loud but not exactly a shout. She stands up again, and both men look at her.
“Ty, it’s completely inappropriate for you to harass him in his place of employment,” she says, and holds up a hand when it looks like Ty is going to interrupt. “Damien just received the contract this morning. He’ll discuss it with you at your next session.”
Ty shakes his head in one, rough single motion. “No way,” he says. “I don’t want him seeing other clients this week.”
“You don’t have any say in that,” Melanie says, sweetly, and Ty glares at Damien as if it’s somehow his fault.
Damien folds his arms, tilting his head as if he’s considering Ty very carefully. “Maybe I need more out of the deal,” he says. He’s definitely bluffing, of course, because even if he was actually considering the offer, the sort of money Ty is throwing around is absurd by any standards. But he’s feeling irritated and doesn’t want to give in so easily.
Ty’s eyes flash. “A negotiation?” he nearly spits the word, but it seems to calm him down somewhat. Perhaps familiar territory for this man. “Alright. What do you want?”
Damien hadn’t actually thought this through this far. He thinks about the conversation he had with Sebastian. About how he should probably just tell Ty the truth and stop this little game they’re playing.
“I want time to think about it,” he says. “I won’t take any other clients. I’ll tell you my decision on Thursday.”
Ty nods. “Done,” he says. “Is that all?”
Damien glances between the two of them. “I also want to know what is going on between you two. How did you know to find me here?”
Ty gives Melanie a glance at that, and Melanie shrugs as if giving him permission. “We’ve known each other for a very long time,” Ty explains. “I’ve always known about the café and Melanie’s side business, even before I met you.”
For some reason, the explanation seems too easy. If Ty has always known about the café, then he’s always had access to Damien. He’s been purposefully, respectfully keeping his distance this entire time? It’s confusing in some way to readjust his entire frame of reference like this. Damien has always thought that Ty was just another random client.
Melanie looks at him apologetically. “Does it make a difference?” she asks him, and it’s not an unkind question. Damien shakes his head.
“Not at all,” he says. “Just surprising, I guess.”
Melanie nods. “Okay, you two done here?” she asks, and Ty shakes his head.
“I want a few minutes to talk alone,” Ty says, and Melanie rolls her eyes.
“Only a few minutes. Got it? You two better not be fucking when I get back,” she says.
But as soon as she closes the door, Ty’s large hands are all over him, and Damien’s groaning at the feeling. He’s usually already naked for their sessions, or wearing little other than some silk boxers, and feeling Ty’s hands through his clothes is refreshingly new.
“God, I can’t get enough of you,” Ty says, breathing in deeply at the base of Damien’s throat. “I’m sorry I left like that last week. You drive me crazy.”
“What, are you smelling me?” Damien asks, pushing the other man back, but this is his teasing tone. The one he uses when he works as a host with Ty.
Ty grins crookedly at him. “You smell amazing, you know that, brat,” he says, and it must be the smile that does it, because Damien feels like he could forgive Ty for nearly anything in this moment.
Ty takes a step back though, giving Damien a full look-over. “You look amazing, too, in that uniform. All black, and those damn long legs of yours.” Ty readjusts himself through his pants, and Damien can see the tenting fabric there. His mouth waters thinking of the last time he sucked Ty off.
“Let me,” he says, suddenly, knowing that he could have just a taste. Just a small taste, before Melanie comes back.
Ty looks like he thinks better of it, but doesn’t protest and lets Damien make quick work of the zipper, pushing the nice fabric of the grey slacks down Ty’s muscular thighs until they are pooling on the floor of Melanie’s office. Damien gets on his knees.
He loves this part.
Ty’s cock is thick and heavy as Damien pulls it out of his boxer-briefs. Ty groans loudly at the first swipe of Damien’s tongue, and Damien hopes that this room is soundproofed as well.
“Should be doing this to you,” Ty says, “Make you beg to have me every day this week,” but Damien just takes Ty’s cock deep into his mouth, and Ty’s fingers twist in his hair, words lost suddenly.
“Damien,” Ty groans, and Damien pulls off of him before he gets too into it, too far gone. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he steps back to look at his handiwork.
Ty’s eyes blink open eventually, confused, but Damien’s smirk must tip him off to the game.
“You’re a fucking cock-tease, you know that?” Ty growls, but he doesn’t demand Damien continue or anything so crude. He puts himself back into his boxer-briefs carefully, the outline of his cock clearly defined through the fabric, and bends over to pull his pants up.
Damien feels the grin break out across his whole face at that, and he nods. He feels oddly happy at the result, something like excitement twisting inside him. Something like hope.
“See you on Thursday,” he says, winking, and he leaves Ty in the office like that, zipping up his pants with the door open. Melanie shakes her head at him as he passes as if she knows what they were doing in there. And knowing Melanie, she probably does.
Chapter Thirteen
Ty is not sure what kind of game Damien is playing, but he feels mostly placated by the promise that Damien won’t take any other clients until he gives Ty his decision on Thursday. When Ty got home yesterday after meeting Damien, he went straight to his bathroom, nearly tearing off his dress slacks to get his cock out. When he came all over his fist, he was imagining Damien’s pretty lips around it and the teasing look in Damien’s eyes when he left Ty hard and unsatisfied.
/> It’s Sunday morning, now, and Ty’s getting ready to meet his friend Eli at the gym. He’s known Elijah Hayes since they were kids — pups, really, because both of their families are full of wolf shifters, including Eli himself. Eli’s family has a large plot of land east of Vancouver, Washington, and they all used to go running together, terrifying the local fauna. It’s been a long time since they’ve had the freedom to do that, though. Nowadays, they’re lucky to be able to meet to go to the gym or sometimes out for drinks. Occasionally a family dinner with a patchwork of people attending from both sides.
Eli’s an emergency physician, so he’s even busier than Ty, but still likes to keep in shape even beyond the natural inclination towards muscles that wolf shifters have. They have a few standing gym times that they swap between depending on Eli’s schedule at the ER.
Ty puts on gym shorts, a t-shirt, and grabs a bag with his gym shoes in it. Even though it’s still technically winter, Ty’s body always runs hot enough not to bother too much about the cold unless it’s really below freezing, and it rarely gets cold enough in Portland to worry about it anyways. Most mammal shifters, including Eli, tend to be this way, he’s noticed. Today he’s going to jog to the gym, so he doesn’t even bother with the pretense of wearing a jacket.
He does a quick check in the mirror, and runs a hand over his head. His hair is growing out again, and he needs to buzz it, but he doesn’t have time this morning. He started buzzing it himself in high school out of convenience, and now he’s just too busy to take the time to go to a professional to get it done. After so many years of doing it himself, it’s second nature.
He grabs his wallet and keys. He checks the notifications on his phone, but there’s nothing, so he shoots a quick text to Eli, On my way, and shoves that into his pocket as well.
He takes the elevator all the way down to the lobby of the building, nodding to the door clerk on his way out. It’s a crisp day when he finally hits the sidewalk, but there’s no ice, and it’s probably not cold enough for that anyways, so he starts his jog.