by Aliana James
“Here. Please be careful with the pictures.”
Alec took the toolbox from him and placed it on the floor before rooting around in it for a screwdriver. His arms pulled his shirt tight against his pecs. They worked in silence for a while and he wandered into the kitchen to grab a couple bottles of water. A thump and then another thump caused him to run back into the living room.
His books—the ones he had spent years collecting—lay in a heap in a box and Alec had another stack in his hands.
“Stop!”
Alec paused, wide-eyed. “What? I finished the pictures so I figured I should pack up the shelves.”
“Those are—” He reached over and grabbed the stack out of Alec’s hands, “signed copies, books that have taken me years to collect.” He sat on the floor, placed the pile next to him, and pulled the books out of the box one by one surveying them for damage.
Two of the books were ripped, another one with its cover bent in half.
“You ruined these!” He reached in and pulled out the remaining books, sighing in relief. No more signs of damage. Travis put them down and picked up the ripped books. “These two are signed copies from the author. They were in really good condition.”
“I’ll buy you another copy and we’ll have her sign them.”
Travis examined each book in the pile, noting some had a nick or a tear on a page or on the cover. In five freaking minutes, Alec had managed to damage half of his book collection.
“You can’t. She’s dead,” he replied as he tossed the empty box across the room.
“Sorry.”
Sorry wasn’t going to fix this. He’d have to see what he could do to repair them later. Or he may have to call the bookstore and speak with Ming’s father. He was a master at restoring damaged books.
“Tell me what I can pack,” Alec insisted.
The movers were coming, and he needed to find something for Alec to do that he didn’t have to worry about. Travis looked around at his apartment.
After a short discussion, Travis agreed to give up his apartment and move in with Alec. He liked the natural light in his place, not to mention the location was close to all his favorite restaurants. Deep down, the real reason Travis agreed was for the security. Alec’s building had a doorman, but anyone could make their way into Travis’ building.
Alec’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out and frowned as he read the text message.
“Kane paid off Tyler’s debts.”
He spun around, startled. “He did what?”
Alec held up a finger as he typed out a reply.
“He said I can settle up with him, but for security reasons he wanted it done.”
“It’s eight o’clock in the morning.”
“If I know Kane, he hasn’t slept yet.” Alec put his phone in his back pocket. “I’ll talk to him later or tomorrow.”
“I want to be there when you do,” he answered.
“You don’t have to…”
“Seriously, Alec? This is Tyler, my brother, the reason why—” He gestured around the room. “all of this is happening and I don’t have to?”
“Okay,” he said. “I’ll make arrangements and let you know.”
“Thank you. Can you put together some of those boxes?” They needed to get going if they wanted to finish today.
He fingered the tapestry hanging in the hallway. His grandmother gave it to him a long time ago. She loved to travel and always made a point of visiting local markets. He promised her before she died that he too would travel. He shared her love for handmade goods, and what better way to see what the world has by visiting places where the natives made things from scratch… but he hadn’t traveled. Instead, he spent the last five years since she died working until it exhausted him. She’d be so disappointed in him.
Alec stood behind him.
“That’s your grandmother’s, right?”
He had mentioned it once in passing when he first moved in and didn’t expect Alec to remember. But then again, there wasn’t much that Alec forgot.
“Yes, a gift from her.” He glanced at the boxes. “I’ll find something to wrap it in so it won’t get ruined in storage.”
His eyes were damp. The last thing he needed was to get emotional now. They had a long morning of packing. They could just pack up things he needed now and he could come back by himself and do the rest.
He couldn’t imagine someone else living in his place. It made little sense for it to sit empty, and Alec convinced him they’d find a good tenant to sublet. But this was his space, his personal space.
“I don’t think you should put it in storage. Do you think we can find a spot in the hallway or in your bedroom?” Alec asked.
Tyler would finally be okay with Kane now responsible for his safety. He told Billy he was leaving; this was his last week there. So he would have free time to do whatever he wanted. But what did he want?
“Yeah, that should work.” Time to get started, otherwise nothing would get done. He needed a nap before his shift at Raven this evening. “I’ll just grab what I need at your place and let them pack up what has to go to storage.”
“Let me help.” Alec huffed. “Where do you want to start?”
He stopped in the hallway. Alec didn’t cook for shit, and the only thing he claimed to be able to do was scramble eggs. It was a logical assumption that he had nothing Travis liked to use in his kitchen.
“Let’s start in the kitchen.” He grabbed more boxes and tape. Alec pulled out a drawer and held up the first thing he saw.
“What is this?”
“It’s a baster. For when I cook meats.”
Alec turned it over in his hand, puzzled. “How does it work?”
Is he serious right now? Travis studied him. He was.
“You squeeze here and it sucks up the liquid, and then you release it for the liquid to come out.”
Alec laughed. “Sounds gross. Put this whole drawer in a box?”
“Yes.” Travis gasped in horror as Alec pulled out the drawer and dumped the contents into a box. A vision of his kitchen tools broken before they left the kitchen came to mind. He rushed over and snatched the box out of Alec’s hand.
As he glanced in, he spotted shards of glass inside of the box. Alec peered in as he tilted the box toward him.
“You broke my meat thermometer.”
Alec frowned. “Sorry. I didn’t realize there was breakable stuff in there.”
This would go quicker if Alec wasn’t here. He tried to tell him it was under control but he insisted on coming over this morning to help. This was not helping.
“What time is the truck coming?” he asked.
Alec glanced at his smartwatch. “In an hour ,so we’d better get a move on.” Travis stared in horror as he grabbed another drawer and another box.
“Wait!” He rushed over and took the drawer out of his hands.
“I’m not going to dump this one, Travis. Jeez, calm down will you? You’re treating this like everything is your baby. It’s taking so damn long because you won’t let me touch anything!” Alec yelled.
He backed up as Alec held his hands up and walked out of the kitchen.
“I need a minute, Alec,” he said as he followed him.
“A minute for what?” Alec asked as he spun around and glared at him. Couldn’t he understand that he was giving up his life here? His apartment? His things? To move across the city to Alec’s place.
He had been so proud of himself when he landed this apartment. It wasn’t the greatest, granted, but it was his. He paid the mortgage; his name was on the deed. It was the first thing that was fully his. Was a minute too much to ask?
He wanted to yell back at him, to tell him to fuck off and leave him be. He no longer knew where he fit in, and that disrupted his orderly life.
Tyler disrupted his life on a regular basis. Even in the chaos of fixing Tyler’s fuck-ups, he was in control.
But this week, Alec had made all the decisions and shell
ed out the money. For his brother. Alec told him to quit Raven because he no longer needed that job. And now even though he agreed that this was the best choice, Alec had arranged for the movers. Where in this had he made one decision for himself?
It was his job to take care of his brother—his family. Not someone else’s. Somewhere in agreeing to marry Alec, he agreed to let him take over his life, to manage him and his family. Travis wasn’t a kept man, friendship or no friendship.
He slammed the drawer closed. “You have no right to come in here and order me around like I’m a servant. This is my home, mine. And if I want things done a specific way, that’s how I want it done.”
“I’m trying to help, Travis.” Alec pleaded. “It’s stuff. You can always buy more.”
He whipped around, poking his finger into Alec’s chest.
“Everything is about money with you. It must have been nice to grow up and not worry about not having enough or having to work to earn the money to buy something. This!” He gestured to the surrounding room. “This place took me forever to save up for. It was the first thing I bought that was mine. Mine! Someone didn’t hand it to me. I didn’t inherit it or buy it with the interest I skimmed off of some investment. I worked for it.”
“Travis.”
“I bet that you’ve never ever, not once in your rich, privileged life, had to work to earn money for any single thing!”
“Travis.”
“Leave me alone, Alec.”
His mind was far from rational as he spun around and headed toward his bedroom. He yanked his closet door open and grabbed the shirts hanging on the rod. He tossed them on the bed and grabbed another stack until the closet was empty. Satisfied at the pile, he spotted the suitcase in the back of the closet. That would work for his sweaters.
The movers who Alec hired could pack the stuff on the bed. He was past caring.
Alec
Alec sat on the couch and listened to Travis as he slammed things around in his bedroom. The weight of yesterday must have caught up to him.
He figured it would have happened before they got married. With everything settled between them, Travis had been fine. A little hesitant, but who wouldn’t be? He was; he just hadn’t let it show.
First, he fucked up Travis’s books and then said the comment about buying new stuff. It sounded stupid to his own ears, and he wanted to take it back the minute he spoke.
Married to his best friend and for what? To save his position. No, wait, he had done this for Tyler. They both had. It appalled Grandfather when he found out what happened to him from Travis’s parents.
And when his grandfather looked at Alec and asked if he was handling it? In that moment, he was sure they did the right thing.
He cringed as another drawer slammed. He didn’t know what to do to calm Travis. Travis loved this apartment; he remembered the day he moved in here. He planned to remodel the kitchen and the bathroom, and shared all the plans with Alec.
And now Alec suggested he move out and rent his apartment. God, he was an idiot. Travis agreed though, hadn’t he?
What if he wanted to stay here? Two bedrooms would work. Not that he’d mind sharing a bed with him.
Travis stalked into the living room and grabbed a box.
“Hey,” Alec said. Travis stopped, with his jaw set, and looked at him. “We should live here.”
He walked over to where Travis stood and took the box out of his hands.
“If you want to live here… it doesn’t matter to me. I’m sorry I said that stupid thing about buying stuff.” He still was unsure how they would manage it but if it put a smile on his face, that was all that mattered. Still no answer from Travis.
Travis bent his head and rubbed the back of his neck. When he looked up at Alec, the pain in his eyes tore through him. He didn’t think—didn’t will his arms or his feet to move—but within seconds, Travis landed in his arms.
Travis tucked his nose into Alec’s neck, his hands still at his side and his body stiff. The hug, awkward and clumsy, was like they’d never hugged before. Usually, it was a quick one-arm pat on the back. Alec wrapped both arms around Travis and started to rub his back until he sighed and rested his hands on Alec’s hips.
Neither of them moved for a moment. If he turned his head to the left, his lips would brush Travis’s forehead. And what was the harm in that? His lips landed on Travis’s forehead, Travis’s hair tickling his nose, as he continued to rub his back.
Travis pulled away and gazed up at him. He looked at Travis’s lips and licked his own. Travis’s eyes flared. He needed a taste to see if this would live up to the fantasy he had harbored all these years. The kiss at their wedding ended too fast for him to be sure.
He gripped Travis’s hips and realigned their bodies so they faced each other. In all his fantasies, he didn’t know that Travis’ body would fit so snuggly, so perfect against his. A soft groan escaped his lips, and he tilted his face up to Alec’s. Ah, yes, there.
He leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. Travis’s arms scooped under his and pressed his body toward him. His tongue darted across Alec’s lips as it begged an invitation into his mouth. He loved to kiss. As he opened his mouth to let Travis in, a knock at the door caused him to pull away.
Damn it. What now?
“Movers!”
Travis dropped his hold on Alec and moved away. He adjusted his pants and rolled his shoulders, his gaze on the floor. The knocking continued, and he walked to the door.
He needed. Jesus, what the hell did he need? The door opened and the sound of wheels rolling on the floor. As he looked at his crotch, he saw that his dick threatened to pop out of his jeans and ran to the bathroom.
Tap water running, he cupped his hands under the cold water and splashed his face. He wasn’t a teenager. Hands on either side of the sink, he closed his eyes and willed his erection to go away. Thoughts of Travis’s dick pressed against his made him readjust his pants.
He didn’t know Travis kissed like that.
Travis
One day. He had been married to Alec for one fucking day and he already couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Alec offered a hug, and he tried to climb him like a tree. God, he was pathetic.
He stared at the ceiling. His phone on the dock across the room. He had no clue how long he tossed and turned. Not much of a nap with his dick hard as a rock.
He was thankful the movers interrupted when they did before he made an absolute ass of himself. He avoided Alec and helped the movers. At least he knew all his kitchen stuff had arrived in one piece, having watched the guy line a box with bubble wrap and layer all of his gadgets.
Hours later, they moved the boxes over to Alec’s and helped unpack his clothes and come up with innovative ways to store the other items he wouldn’t need right away.
They kept him nice and busy, too busy to think about what happened right before they knocked on the door. How fucking embarrassing. Alec tried several times to talk to him but it was difficult to look him in the eye.
Ugh, Alec’s lips were perfect. So soft and plump. Not only that, but when Alec held him, rubbing those sweet circles on his back to help calm him? He wanted to purr like a kitten and burrow deeper into his arms. His hand landed on his dick. If he rubbed one out, maybe he could finally sleep.
He grabbed his dick with one hand and fondled his balls with the other. Thoughts of Alec’s lips wrapped around his shaft caused him to squirm in search of friction. He pulled his sweats down as he tugged and pulled. Visions of Alec’s hard dick rubbing against his, of his lips as they nibbled on the sweet spot on his neck, his voice—God, his voice in the bedroom…that business bossy voice, telling him what to do.
Seconds later, his hand full of his own spunk, he sank back on his pillow and took a deep breath. As he grabbed a stack of tissues to clean up, a knock on his door caused him to freeze.
Shit. He rolled the comforter over him as the door cracked open.
“Hey, you told me to wake you up
at six,” Alec said as his head popped through the opening.
“Ok, thanks.” Alec nodded as he looked at the comforter and closed the door.
Oh my God. Was he in the hallway this whole time? He groaned. How would he survive this marriage? It was only day two.
Travis
The night felt strange as he walked toward his apartment. He was almost halfway to his place when he remembered he didn’t live there anymore. He muttered a few curses under his breath and rushed back to the subway.
Exhaustion clouded his brain, and he paused for a moment to remember what train he needed to make his way back to Alec’s place.
A part of him couldn’t believe they had gotten married. He removed his wedding band before going to Raven. He didn’t want to scuff up the beautiful ring Alec purchased.
He’d miss working at Raven. Not the drunk customers, but the sweet ones, the regulars. Billy accepted his notice of resignation without argument. He understood the urgency to quit, since he needed sleep, but it was almost as if Alec wanted it done for another reason.
His mind kept replaying the terms of their marriage as he took his seat on the subway. Two years of sharing the same space with Alec, eating meals together, trying to continue on as friends, and in public acting like husbands. That meant the kiss they had at their wedding wouldn’t be the only one, and that made him happy.
Alec’s lips were soft, and he looked forward to feeling them again. He hoped they needed a public display of affection soon.
The automated voice announced the stop for Alec’s apartment and he exited the train. His phone buzzed in his pocket as he jogged up the stairs. It wasn’t safe at this time of night so he stopped before he exited with his back to the railing and pulled out his phone.
Just checking up on you. Figured you’d be tired and go to your place. Text me if you’re sleeping there tonight.
It would be difficult to sleep at his place. He was sure even his sheets had been packed. He typed a quick reply.
On my way to your place.