Page 10 of Wishes for August

A playful smile lifted one corner of his mouth. My heart skipped a beat at the sight of it.

“Okay. Here’s one. Last year, Branson and I went to Bruges. We took the Eurostar over on a Friday and spent all weekend eating waffles and frites, visiting the market stalls and drinking beer. On the last day, we climbed the 300 something stairs to the top of the Belfry Tower and were just in time to hear the bells ring. I remember smiling so much during that trip, laughing and basking in the beauty of the quaint city. Branson bought about a kilo of chocolate, I think we must have visited at least ten chocolatiers. He also ate most of it on the way home and felt so ill for days afterwards.”

His smile was radiant. He was so beautiful. And I wanted to tell him that. Rubbing the back of my neck, I looked over at him and mustered courage I didn’t know I possessed.

“Your smile is beautiful, August. You are beautiful.”

A flush crept across his cheeks as he looked at me.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. And the smile stayed, much to my pleasure.

“Do you travel often with Branson?” I found myself asking. I didn’t want him to stop talking. His walls were down, and the cadence of his voice ran through my veins, soft and mellow like silk running across my skin.

“Yeah, we love visiting cities in Europe. When we first started working, we made a plan to visit as many as we could. We usually go on at least three weekend trips a year. He’s a great travel buddy and because we like the same things we never argue about the agenda.” He paused for a moment, lost in thought before he shook his head and directed the same question at me.

“Tell me one of your favourite memories, Caleb.” This time his words came out flirtatious, his smile playful.

The first thought that ran through my mind was‘the day I locked eyes with you in the conference room’but not only did that sound far too cheesy, it also crossed some lines we were not ready to cross. So instead, I told him about the first time I visited my sister. How we’d been on safari and seen the Big Five. How we’d seen elephants up close and visited a beach full of penguins.

“That sounds incredible,” he said, leaning further forward. “I would love to see that for myself one day.”

We continued to chat for another hour or so, both of us leaning in across the table. He was telling me about a recent visit to Berlin, but as the crowd got bigger and the music louder it became hard to hear each other over the multitude of conversations and 90s rock music blasting from the speakers. August shuffled out of his seat and slid into the booth directlynext to me, our thighs brushing against each other. The brief touch of his body against mine sent a shot of electricity through me and I instantly wanted to close the small gap between us.

We had both switched to soda at some point in the evening so I knew the warmth in my body had nothing to do with alcohol and everything to do with the man next to me.

My body trembled as he turned towards me, his lips raised in the sexiest smirk, “You know the best part of the trip?” he asked, leaning towards me, his mouth so close to my ear I could feel his hot breath on my skin. “I met this hot as fuck guy, we danced all night and when I led him to the bathroom, he let me fuck him while his friend watched and jacked himself off.”

I pulled back, letting out a stuttered breath as goosebumps broke out across my skin. His smile was even more wicked than before, and my cock grew incredibly hard. I tried to discreetly adjust myself, but it was no use, there was nothing discreet about the bulge in my trousers. His eyes tracked the movement of my hand and the air between us grew electric. A faint simmering buzz that I felt to my core.

He was watching me closely, his head angled slightly to the side as I felt his hand land on my leg. I watched wordlessly as he licked his lips and leaned forward, ghosting them over mine. He licked his lips again, his tongue subtly brushing against my lips and my breath hitched. I made to move forward, to kiss him, to taste him but the moment was ruined when another pub patron stumbled into our table spilling his beer over it causing August to pull back abruptly.

While I helped wipe up the mess, I noticed August reach into his pocket and frown before he cursed, “Fuck! I think I’ve left my mobile phone back at the office.” He looked again through his pockets, standing up to reach over the table to check in his coat. It was definitely not there.

Given that the moment was ruined, and I doubted we could get it back, I offered instead for us to walk back over to the office to get his phone.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” he asked tentatively, standing with his coat in his hands. Closing my eyes briefly and breathing deeply, willing my cock to calm down, I offered a small nod.

“Not at all, let’s go.”

We both slid on our coats and made our way back to the office, walking closely together, our shoulders knocking, my pinky finger brushing softly against his as we walked.

Chapter 8

Caleb

Once I’d unlocked and opened the office, August went over to his desk where he found his phone.

“Shit,” he mumbled under his breath. I walked up behind him, my hand itching to run along his shoulder. He had a scattering of thinly shaved hair at the back of his neck and I felt the overwhelming urge to nuzzle my face against it. To smell him. I stepped closer but didn’t touch him.

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah, Branson’s been blowing up my phone. He’s worried about me. I should probably stop ignoring him. I’ll speak to him when I get home.” He looked up from his phone, “Thank you for this, for tonight.”

“You’re welcome.” I didn’t want this to end but I had no way of asking him to stay longer. I thought about it for a moment but my thoughts were interrupted when his phone rang.

“It’s Branson again, I’ll just take this quickly,” he said as he answered. “Bran, hey mate. I’m fine. I’m sorry about this weekend. You won’t believe who messaged…”

I gestured towards my office, deciding to give August some space. He could find me when he was done.

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