Page 49 of Something Unprofessional

“I can’t say I blame him,” Gabe shot back. “You clearly need supervision too. You have terrible taste in dance partners.”

Butterflies swarmed in Ev’s belly. He should really take more offense to that than he was, but it felt good to have someone worry about him, even if it was misplaced when it came to Remy. “If he drives you so crazy, why did you invite him?”

Gabe’s lips pursed in annoyance, like he bit into a lemon and was trying to pretend he didn’t care. “I didn’t. I invited Kelsey. Remy invited himself.”

Ev laughed and stretched up, kissing the pout off his face.

Oh crap. He shouldn’t have done that.

Gabe’s lips softened at the pressure, and he immediately kissed Ev back, taking control. Ev’s head swam and his knees went weak when Gabe’s tongue brushed his lower lip, asking for entry. Ev opened for him, clutching the back of his neck as Gabe swept inside, claiming his mouth.

Half of his brain was screaming, “What the fuck are you doing?” while the other half told it to shut the hell up because this felt too good to ever stop. He whimpered when Gabe slid his hand into the short hair at the back of his head and adjusted the angle so he could go deeper. It was too much and not enough. He wanted to climb Gabe and cling to him like a baby koala, and he wanted to push him away and insist they weren’t doing this. He was a mess, and the only thing he could do was hang on and hope Gabe had a plan, because all of Ev’s plans had just dissolved like the cotton candy in his duckie drink.

Gabe broke the kiss and seemed like he was going to say something. But instead, he looked into Ev’s eyes, then dove in and kissed him again. And again. In between the assault on Ev’s senses, Gabe gripped the back of Ev’s neck and told him, “Don’t run.” Then he kissed him again, deep and hungry, until escape was the furthest thing from Ev’s mind.

Gabe

Now that he’d finallygotten a taste of his boy’s mouth, Gabe wasn’t going to stop any time soon. Ev was so sweet. So perfect. He opened for Gabe eagerly and kissed back with every bit of the enthusiasm Gabe had expected from his little tiger. Gabe just wished it wasn’t so loud in the club so that he could hear the sounds that were vibrating against his lips.

Finally releasing his boy’s mouth, he let Ev hide against his shoulder. Ev’s hands were fisted in the back of his shirt, and they didn’t have a centimeter of space between them. At least he wasn’t trying to bolt. Gabe trailed kisses down Ev’s neck and pressed his lips to the warm skin, breathing him in. He moved them to music he could barely hear, all his focus on the boy whose pulse was pounding against his lips.

He knew Ev was in a precarious spot, still determined that he shouldn’t date his boss, but clearly wanting more from Gabe.The trick for tonight would be to keep him from thinking about it too hard. Tomorrow, they could have the conversation they so sorely needed. Because despite his best efforts, Gabe had fallen hard for his boy, and he wasn’t going to let him go without fighting for this thing between them.

Ev was the perfect mix of sweet and sassy. He kept Gabe on his toes at work, wowed him with his talent for both music and people, and slotted into his life, both kinky and vanilla, like they’d been made for each other. Gabe was probably an asshole for subverting the kink-only arrangement—especially since he’d been the one to propose it—but there was no helping that now. Ev was everything he’d never expected. Now, he just needed to figure out how to get past his boy’s stubborn streak and prove that, despite Gabe breaking all of their rules, Ev could trust him to be not only his Daddy, but his everything else as well.

A hand appeared in his line of sight and waved to get his attention. Gabe looked up to see Nick, who had a knowing smirk on his face. Gabe’s eyes narrowed. Nick could keep his expressions to himself, thank you very much. Nick gestured over his shoulder to where Xavier was on his way from the bar with a tray of drinks, his boy next to him, sipping on something bright blue.

Gabe nudged Ev to get him to lift his head. “Drinks,” he said, then turned Ev so his back was to Gabe’s front.

Ev accepted the matching blue drink Xavier handed him. Gabe took one that was less blue and smelled like his preferred whiskey. The other members of their party gathered around totoast Ev again, then some of them peeled off to dance more. The rest headed back upstairs to the igloo Gabe had reserved for the event.

Back on the roof and away from the worst of the noise, Gabe settled on one of the low sofas and pulled Ev down next to him, tucked under his arm. Ev was suspiciously quiet, so Gabe squeezed him closer and was rewarded with a soft sigh and his boy relaxing. Finn plopped down on Ev’s other side, and the two of them started a conversation about a video game that Gabe couldn’t follow. He wasn’t a gamer—he’d deferred to Finn’s expertise when choosing Ev’s birthday presents.

Xavier settled on Gabe’s other side, stretching out his long legs and crossing them at the ankle. He sipped his drink, watching Gabe with an indecipherable expression. “Finn’s birthday is in March. I’m taking him to the Maldives, and he’s asked if Ev can come along.”

Gabe controlled his reaction. “I’ll make sure he has the time off.”

Xavier raised his eyes to the plastic grid above them and sighed. “Do I need to give you the same speech you gave me four months ago?”

“I don’t recall a speech,” Gabe returned, tone flat.

“I believe the gist of it was, ‘Get off your ass and say what you need to say before you confuse him with mixed signals.’”

Oh, right. That speech. Gabe glanced down at Ev, but he was oblivious, fully engaged in his conversation with Finn—and looking like the latest round of drinks was going right to hishead. Gabe would make sure his next one was water. “No,” he told Xavier. “No kicks in the ass necessary. I’m aware of what I need to do.”

Xavier nodded, satisfied. “Good. I’ll have Asher reserve the adjoining villa.”

Gabe rolled his eyes. “Maybe hold off for a few days. Not all of us share your optimism.”

Xavier leaned over and clinked the rim of his glass against Gabe’s. “I have faith in you.”

Gabe woke the nextmorning to Ev sprawled across his chest and snoring cutely. God, Gabe was in trouble when he even thought his boy’s snoring was cute. This “feelings” business was ridiculous, and the worst part was, he didn’t even care. He wanted a thousand more mornings just like this—the sun poking through the narrow crack in the curtains, the sheets tangled around their legs from Ev’s aggressive cuddling, Ev’s warm skin against his own, and the rest of the world a distant, unimportant rumble on the street below their apartment window.

Gabe let his hand drift over Ev’s skin, needing to memorize the moment—just in case. There were so many ways this could go wrong. And Ev was as stubborn as Gabe was convincing, so there was no telling how their conversation would turn out. Gabe could say and do everything right, and Ev might still decide it wasn’t worth it. His boy had been hurt by more than onepiece of shit who’d held power over him. Gabe couldn’t blame him for being wary.

Their kink arrangement had been an easy solution. One that allowed Ev to continue protecting himself but, at the same time, get something he needed from Gabe. Now Gabe wanted Ev to let him in, to make himself vulnerable, to trust Gabe with more than just his body and his mind.

Gabe was afraid that was going to be a tough sell.

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