Page 36 of Something Unprofessional

Daddy groaned in Ev’s ear, his arm tightening.

Ev went still and licked his lips. Was that—? He wiggled again experimentally and got a bitten-off curse in reply. Yep. Ev’s cheeks went warm. That was Daddy’s hard cock digging into his spine. He lowered his controller, suddenly much less interested in what was happening on the screen. “Um. Daddy?” he asked, feeling a little shy.

“It’s okay, tiger,” Daddy said, his lips near Ev’s ear.

Ev swallowed hard and tried not to squirm. “Is that— Do you want—” He dropped a hand to Daddy’s thigh.

Daddy caught his hand before Ev could do anything more and drew it up, pressing a kiss to the back of it. “Not tonight,” Daddy replied, his voice rough.

Ev bit his lip, something shriveling up in his chest. “Sorry, Daddy,” he managed to whisper.

Daddy brushed his lips to Ev’s hand a final time, then lifted him and set him on his own side of the mattress. “None of that, baby,” Daddy said, “You keep doing what you’re doing. Daddy will be right back.”

Ev watched him cross the room, the bathroom door shutting with a click behind him and the water turning on.

Ev’s eyes stung. He’d been staring at the screen for too long, that was all. Sometimes he forgot to blink. He shut off the game and set the controller on the nightstand. He took slow, even breaths as he listened for the water to turn off. It was okay. Itwould be okay. Daddy hadn’t been mad or anything. He’d said no, and that was okay.

Ev shivered. It was colder in the room than he’d realized. He crawled under the blankets and curled up, carefully staying on his side of the bed. It would be okay.

Ev woke up withthe sun in his eyes and a twisting in his gut. For a minute, he thought he might have had too much to drink again. Then he remembered. Ice cream and pizza and Daddy. Fuck. He dragged the pillow, which smelled distractingly of Gabe, over his head and tried to smother himself with it. What part ofstay away from his bosswas so fucking difficult for his brain to comprehend?

Ev dug himself out from under the covers and was relieved to find that—though he was on Gabe’s side of the bed again—he was alone. It was late enough that Gabe had probably gone down to the gym. Ev took the opportunity to get dressed and head off in search of breakfast. Their first meeting wasn’t for another hour, and with any luck, Ev could avoid the morning-after awkwardness.

Had he really spilled his guts to his boss about all of his so-called childhood trauma then dived headfirst into his middle space? God, how embarrassing was that? He’d probably sounded like a whiny brat who fell apart when things didn’t go his way.He couldn’t even blame alcohol for the word-vomit. He’d only had a couple drinks at the party.

Gabe had been way too nice about everything, getting Ev comfort food and letting him play video games until he felt better. Why did he have to act like such a perfect Daddy? Ev needed him to be off-limits. Ev was supposed to be keeping his distance. Instead, he was all twisted up and aching for more.

The sick feeling in his stomach wasn’t easing. Ev was definitely regretting all of his life choices this morning.

He was just putting his shoes on when the door beeped and Gabe walked in, dressed in workout clothes as Ev had expected. His tank top had a dark vee of sweat down the front, and his skin was still rosy from exertion. And his shorts. Unf. Daddy had fantastic, thick, muscular thighs that Ev wouldn’t mind having wrapped around his—no.

Ev turned back to his shoes.

“Morning,” Gabe said, his back to Ev as he retrieved a change of clothes from the dresser.

“Mo-morning,” Ev replied, trying to clear the raspiness from his throat. It didn’t help.

“I already ate, so you should head down if you want to get something before we leave,” Gabe called over his shoulders as he walked into the bathroom. The door closed behind him and the shower cut on, leaving Ev at a loss, standing in the middle of the room and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Was that it? Was Gabe just going to ignore everything that had happened the night before? Ev blew out a breath. That was good, right? It waswhat they’d agreed on. Professional was what Ev wanted—had insisted on.

He texted Finn on his way downstairs, but his friend was just waking up and had a lazy morning planned with his Daddy. No big deal. Ev was perfectly fine eating on his own and wallowing in his misery.

The buffet was filled with sizzling-hot deliciousness, and Ev went a little overboard. Then he found a table near a window with a view of the pool. He bit into a slice of perfectly crispy bacon as he watched the sunlight glint on the water. It was crazy to think they’d left the icy cold in New York only the day before yesterday and would go back to it on Monday. Ev didn’t mind the winter, and New York was a hell of a lot better than Chicago, but there was something to be said for low seventies and sunny in January.

Ev was tackling his blueberry muffin when Remy dropped into the empty seat across from him. Ev stared at the tanned, blue-eyed man, completely at a loss. Did you just say good morning to a god?

“I hear I owe you an apology,” Remy said, biting into a half-peeled banana as he sprawled back in the chair, knees wide, his head propped up on his fist.

Ev’s mouth opened and then closed again. “For what?” he finally managed.

Remy eyed him, expression serious. “Finn chewed me out for last night. He said I put you on the spot by convincing you to play, and you don’t like being the center of attention like that.”

Ev stared, dumbfounded. “Sorry.Finnychewed you out? My little Finny, who lets people cut in line at the grocery store because he doesn’t like confrontation?”

Remy flashed his perfect teeth in a smile that made Ev feel a little off-balance. “He doesn’t seem to have an issue when he’s defending his friends.”

Ev shook his head to clear it, bemused. “It’s fine. I’m sure people were more interested in Kelsey than they were in some piano player in the background anyway.”

Remy winced. “I guess you haven’t been checking social media this morning. I think it’s safe to say the two of you went viral.”

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