by Jerry Cole
But when seven o’clock did come around – that golden moment – Bryce could have cried out he was so happy. He quickly finished up what he was doing, started shutting down his computer, packed up his briefcase and then... the phone rang.
Bryce stared at that phone, knowing who it was, but also praying that it would just ring out. He should have left it. He should have gotten up and walked out. He was entitled to after all. He had asked for and been granted permission. But that just wasn’t Bryce. A sigh, a depressed grunt and Bryce answered.
“Before you go, I need you to go over the Wassam liquidation – there was an error in the final report. It threw the projections for their final quarter out by about three percent. All right.” It was Mr. Stark on the other end of the line, and it wasn’t a question.
“Three percent?” Bryce groaned. “How did that -- it must have just been a rounding error.”
“Likely. But I need to be sure.”
“That’s fine.” Bryce took a deep breath, readying himself for what he was about to say. “I can take a look at that first thing tom —”
“You can take a look now.”
“Sir... there’s really no – the Wassam liquidation isn’t even starting for another week. We have time.”
“We?” Mr. Stark was baiting Bryce, and he knew it. “You mean, me. This is my company, Bryce.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Bryce hurried. “It’s just that —”
“If you have somewhere more important to be, that’s fine. I can get Jarrod to take a look. He’s always been a worker.”
Bryce sucked through his teeth. Jarrod was the number three in the office, right behind Bryce. He was a sniveling, snakelike, sneaky as anything suck-up that would stop at nothing to succeed. If Bryce were to die tomorrow, Jarrod would be the next in line for honors. But by the sounds of it though, and the implication, Bryce wasn’t going to have to die. He was just going to have to leave at seven o’clock.
“All right,” Bryce sighed. “I’ll take a look and get it over to you—”
“Before nine would be nice.” Mr. Stark’s voice was devoid of any emotion. Was he happy? Was he impressed? Did he even care? Bryce had no idea.
“Will do.” Bryce hung the phone up and felt his entire body deflate.
What was he going to do now? He checked his watch, saw that it was just on seven, and made a gut call. He’d power through this job, be done by eight and then head straight to dinner. He’d still be dressed in his work clothes, and he’d be a little late, but he’d still make it.
Of course, that perfectly laid plan didn’t end up coming to fruition.
Bryce didn’t manage to get out of the office until a quarter to nine that night. It would have been sooner, but Mr. Stark didn’t leave until twenty minutes to nine, which was also the latest he had stayed in the office for as long as Bryce could remember. There was no doubt that he did so just to watch Bryce and track his movements, which was as infuriating as it was frustrating.
When eight o’clock struck, Bryce called the restaurant and asked for them to tell Roman he was going to be late. When it got to fifteen minutes past eight, he called again to double check that they had passed on the message. At half past eight that night, he called a third time, only to find out that Roman had left. This of course sent a panic through Bryce, which had him then calling home to explain to Roman why he was stuck at the office and to ask for forgiveness. But when he called home, there was no answer.
And thus began the worst thirty minutes of Bryce’s life. Every five minutes he would call home, hoping for Roman to pick up the phone, only to be greeted with silence. And every time Roman didn’t answer, Bryce’s mind raced with possibilities as to why... all bad, of course. He was mad. He was angry. He was upset. He was crushed. He was a number of things that would lead to an awkward two weeks and would quite possibly destroy them.
Bryce raced home from the office that night. Ordinarily it was a twenty-minute trip. Bryce did it in fifteen minutes. He was expecting the apartment to be empty but wanted to be there so he could decide on his next move. Maybe Roman left a note? Maybe he would call later? The apartment was ground zero and Bryce needed to be in it.
For those entire fifteen minutes, Bryce felt as if he was going to be sick. It might come as no surprise to find out that Bryce wasn’t a relationship person. In fact, he’d never even been in a serious relationship before, which might not have been a problem if he were twenty... not twenty-eight like he was. But he just hadn’t been. Mainly because of work, but also because he’d never met anyone that he wanted to go down that path with.
This whole situation too was really helping to validate Bryce’s choices. Is that what it was like to be in a relationship? He and Roman weren’t even dating, yet he was sick with anxiety. He had tried to convince himself too that this was just a fun little fling he was having. But the more he thought about it, the worse he felt, and the sicker he became, the more he was forced to admit that maybe, and most likely, he did like Roman more than he had ever imagined he could like someone else.
Bryce and Roman weren’t dating, but it was as close to the concept as Bryce had ever come. And thus, he ran home like his life depended on it.
When he reached his apartment, he charged into the lobby like a lion chasing down its prey. He then took the stairs two at a time, he sped down the hallway toward his door like he was being chased, his keys were out before he was even at the door, the door was thrown open and --
Bryce came to a sudden halt in the doorway. His mouth hung open, his eyes went wide with shock, surprise and a little bit of awe, and despite his best efforts, Bryce could feel tears begin to brim just beneath his eyes.
“I was wondering when you were going to make it.” It was Roman, standing in the living room, holding two full champagne flutes. The lights were dimmed and jazz music played through the speakers. At the sight of Bryce in the doorway, now bent over and puffing, Roman strode across the room and handed him one of the flutes.
“I’m so sor—”
“Quiet please.” Roman held out his hand for Bryce. And Bryce, not sure what was going on, took the hand with some hesitation. “I kind of expected you to miss dinner. Sorry.”
“You did?” Bryce allowed himself to be led through the living room and into the dining room. If he had been surprised before, now he was positively floored with what he saw. “What is...?”
The dining room had been transformed into a dinner scene right out of any number of famous rom-coms. The table was covered with a white linen tablecloth. Candles sat in the center, their dim flame flickering and acting as the only source of light. A single rose lay in the center of the table, and the soft jazz music that Bryce had heard before played even louder. The strangest part of the set-up by far were the take-away containers stacked in the middle of the table.
“Well, I know how busy you are.” Roman explained. Still holding Bryce by the hand, he led him to his seat at the table. “So, a part of me predicted this might happen.”
“Should I be insulted by that?” Bryce half-joked.
“Not as insulted as I was at being stood up.”
“Oh... right. Seriously, I didn’t mean to —”
“Does it look like I’m angry?” Roman grinned and pulled out Bryce’s seat. “Now, sit please.” Bryce did as Roman commanded. “And eat.”
The shock of the moment was wearing off, but Bryce still couldn’t stop himself from grinning. “And what glorious feast have you whipped up for us tonight?”
Roman stood by the stacked take-away containers and started to open and serve them up. “Vietnamese food of course – vermicelli noodles with chicken for you. Just how you like it,” he winked.
It was the first meal the two had ever eaten together, all those years ago. When Bryce had first met Roman, he’d never even had Vietnamese food before... although there were a lot of firsts that day. So, the fact that Roman remembered this specifically, then went out of his way to recreate it was... it was... B
ryce was lost for words.
Again, Bryce and Roman weren’t dating. But if this is what dating was like, Bryce could certainly see an upside to it.
“You’re ridiculous,” Bryce eventually managed through his cheesy grin.
“Why, thank you,” Roman accepted the compliment as he served up food for he and Bryce. “There are forks too... unless you’ve finally managed to figure out how to use chopsticks?”
Bryce reached for the fork. “Maybe next year.”
“I wouldn’t bet money on it.”
Once the food was served, Roman topped their champagne flutes up, took his seat opposite Bryce and the two shared in a succulent, delicious, romantic, surreal and all-round perfect dinner together. It wasn’t anything fancy. It wasn’t anything bold. It wasn’t even that nice (the food, that is). But for Bryce, it might have just been the best meal he’d ever had.
Before Roman had arrived in Sydney, Bryce hadn’t really known what to expect, from both Roman and himself. The two had enjoyed three days together before this, all spread so far apart that they were hard to pair. As well as that, they’d spoken on the phone nearly every night for the past six months. Bryce had seen Roman as someone he cared for, and lusted after uncontrollably, but he wasn’t sure beyond that. Now however... well, in the space of one night, things had changed.
Roman so obviously cared for him. This wasn’t the act of a casual fling or hook-up, but something so much more. The only downside as far as Bryce could see was the expiration date; the day that Roman would fly back to Brisbane for good. Just thinking about it had Bryce’s lip trembling.
So, Bryce didn’t think about it. What was the point? Instead, he decided to enjoy the moment as it was... a philosophy he would apply to the next two weeks. Right here, right now, in the dull flicker of the candlelight, the two lovers dined out on cheap Vietnamese food and talked about everything and anything they could. Right now, Bryce was, without a doubt, the happiest he had ever been.
If this was what relationships were like, maybe they weren’t so bad after all.
Chapter Fourteen
The sun was about an hour away from rising, yet Roman was pretty sure he hadn’t gotten any sleep. Indeed, every time he was about to drift off, he’d feel the warm embrace of Bryce beside him, his cock would harden and sooner rather than later, they’d be all over one another.
It almost always started the same way too. It was a race really, to see who could get to the other’s cock first. Sometimes it was Bryce, other’s it was Roman and then it might be both of them. This time, it was Bryce. He was eager for it, pushing Roman onto his back so he could pleasure him.
And Roman didn’t fight it. How could he? Instead, he relaxed, arms behind his head as he marinated in the sensation of the blowjob. The way that Bryce gripped his balls had him groaning. The style in which Bryce kissed and licked up his shaft slowly, had his leg shaking. And the way that Bryce then drooled all over his throbbing, purple head before stroking it a little and then drooling some more, had his eyes rolling into the back of his head.
It was Bryce’s tongue that did most of the work. It was soft, moist and magical. It somehow wrapped itself around his shaft while also managing to massage Roman’s head. It was everywhere at once, licking, tickling, stroking. And as all of this was going on, Bryce continued to squeeze and tug at Roman’s full, aching balls.
Honestly, Roman could have lain there for the rest of time.
But Roman wanted to please Bryce too. That was all he wanted to do. So, he returned the favor; delighting in peeling back Bryce’s foreskin, and the way his reddish-purple head throbbed as it was released. Bryce was always extra sensitive too, and Roman delighted in making him squirm.
His favorite thing to do was work the head. With the foreskin peeled back, Roman wrapped his lips around the top of Bryce’s throbbing helmet and sucked and sucked and sucked. He dipped his tongue in Bryce’s hole, licked up the precum and then ran his tongue back over the top, all while sucking.
“Mmmmmmmm,” Bryce groaned and moaned. As he did, Roman changed his rhythms to match Bryce’s movements and responses.
But as said, Roman wanted to please Bryce. Even more than he wanted to feel the pleasure himself. This wasn’t some random sexcapade. Not anymore. There was something else there, and Roman was finding it impossible to ignore.
He and Bryce made love... or at least the closest thing that Roman had ever done to making love. He didn’t love Bryce, not yet. But the passion in the way they moved, the intensity, the desire and want... it was unreal. It was slow, it was methodical, it was near perfect.
It was just as the sun was rising that they finished. Bryce threw his arm around Roman and drifted quickly back off to sleep. As for Roman, he lay awake for a few more minutes, watching the top of Bryce’s head as he slept. What an odd thing, he thought. Just how random their meeting was and everything that had happened to lead him to this moment right now.
And the fact that Bryce was such a catch, just made the whole thing that much sweeter.
***
Roman woke a few hours later to an empty bed. His initial reaction was indifference. A quick look at the time and he saw it was only just past eight in the morning, so he assumed that Bryce must have been in the bathroom. This actually excited Roman a little as it meant that there might be time for another quick fuck before Bryce had to leave for work.
God, he hoped so. Just thinking about the night before – and earlier this very morning -- had Roman’s cock hard again. In fact, the moment that Bryce returned to the bed, Roman was going to pounce him whether he liked it or not...
The ‘quick fuck’ and the pounce never came.
After five minutes of lying in bed waiting, and listening for sounds of Bryce in the bathroom, Roman realized that Bryce wasn’t where he thought. He was tired, but he was also horny and a little lonely, so he pushed himself up and out of bed and headed into the main body of the apartment. Maybe Bryce was making him breakfast?
“Yoo-hoo!” he called out playfully as he moseyed from the bedroom and deeper into the apartment. “Where are you? I have a hard-on the size of the Eiffel Tower here and I want to put it to good use!” There was no response. “Bryce?!” Roman tried again. “Bry...” He trailed off as he reached the dining room.
There was a single piece of paper waiting for Roman on the dining room table; white, folded in half, positioned purposefully to face the entrance from the bedroom. Roman spotted it immediately and frowned as he went for it. Somehow, he already knew what it said even before he picked it up and read it, but that didn’t soften the word’s sting any better.
Hey, handsome. I had to go into work a little earlier than I had hoped. I’m so sorry. Come by at lunch and we’ll eat together. XX Bryce.
Roman’s entire body deflated.... as did his erection.
“Well... fuck.” Roman scrunched the note into a ball and clenched his jaw. He was angry... even though he was trying his hardest not to be. Fuck, he was trying.
He had known that Bryce would be working while he was down here. Fuck, he would also be working while he was down here. But together, the two had hammered out hours that would ensure they could spend as much time together as possible. He was only here for two weeks after all!
Bryce had stated unequivocally that he would be able to start work at nine o’clock each day and leave at seven in the evening. He claimed that he had cleared it with his boss and that there would be no drama. And when Roman asked what Bryce would do if his boss tried to change the deal—as he knew he would as he’d heard many a story about Mr. Stark—Bryce had said in no uncertain terms, “I’ll tell him where he can shove his request.” Bryce had been adamant that he wanted to spend as much time with Roman as he could and nothing would stop that.
It was worrying that one day in and already, Bryce was playing hard and very fast with his own rules.
As for Roman? He had work too, but the hours were far more manageable. The scene that needed to be shot while in Sydney t
ook place at sunset, which meant that filming could really only occur for about an hour of each day. And yes, there was preparation needed for each day of shooting to make sure that the single hour available was utilized to its fullest... but that was only another few hours each day. Apart from that daily block of time, he was as free as a bird and completely available... unlike Bryce.
Coming here, Roman had been uncertain what the future held for him and Bryce, but he had been certain that after two weeks of hanging out together daily, for hours and hours at a time, the answer to this question would become clearer. Well, for that to be the case, the two would need to actually spend some time together.
But it was only day one, and things were sure to calm down. Plus, last night had been unreal. Like... fuck. If there had been any questions to their compatibility, and if this whole long-distance thing was worth it, those were well and truly gone by now.
As such, Roman spent the morning lazing about Bryce’s fabulous apartment – it really was a swanky pad and spoke to how hard Bryce worked – before getting ready to meet him for lunch. He was a little surprised at how excited he was to meet up with Bryce too, as if he hadn’t been with him the previous night and some of this morning.
Indeed, as Roman made his way to Bryce’s office, he felt a nervous energy overcome him the likes of which he hadn’t felt in a long time, not including the previous day when he flew into Sydney, even though the cause was the same. Roman was falling for Bryce. It was as simple as that.
Roman tried not to get too ahead of himself though. The feelings that had been bubbling under the surface for Bryce had well and truly risen by now, but he still wasn’t sure how Bryce felt about him. Or better, he wasn’t sure where Bryce saw this going... if anywhere at all. So best to try and play it at least a little cool for a while longer... if he could.