Page 95 of Never To Suffer

“Woah, deep breaths, love,” Skylar coaches, putting a hand on his shoulder and making a breathing motion over their own chest with the other hand. “In and out. That’s all you need to do right now.”

“No! I need a suit. I can’t borrow yours, either of you. Mine are all with my parents. Well, all but that one, but I threw out the pants. Shit, Dani ripped the jacket up and turned it into a dress for one of the shows. The vest, too.”

“Okay, let’s go get you a new one.” I offer. “My treat. We’ll call it my way of investing in your sales pitch. But that means I also get first dibs on ripping it off you.”

“Smooth.” Skylar laughs. “Also, the thought of bending him over a desk with a tie shoved in his mouth to keep him subdued? Perfection.”

Xander shakes his head. “You two are worse than me, I swear. Also, no office. Please, do not let me get an office.”

The conversation about offices, suits, and business in general continues as we pile into my car and head down to the fashion district. I’ve had a few clients that work in the area and they love to tell me I should come by sometime and see what they do, so I’m going to take them up on it for once. We head to see Sage first at her shop in Santee Alley. It’s early enough in the day the crowds haven’t hit their peak yet, but it’s still bustling as the shops open. This place resembles a carnival of colors and fashion, everything from high end, custom pieces to knock off sports jerseys and bags all next to each other in cramped stalls down an open-air corridor.

It takes us a while to find her stall, losing Xander to a cologne stall once, Skylar by a candy vendor, and both in a stall packed with replica vintage t-shirts. When we do find her, Skylar’s eyes light up and he dives right in, flipping through fabrics and colors across the spectrum. When Xander freezes, I take his hand and introduce him to Sage. She takes a few measurements and disappears somewhere in the racks of clothes.

“I don’t know if any of these work for me,” he laments, cringing at the three-piece suit hanging on the wall. “I don’t want this. I don’t want suits and offices.”

“Oh, you’ll want an office,” I promise him, cupping his face and kissing him a dozen times. “An office with little surprises everywhere. A place for Skylar to tie you up and remind you who’s in charge. A place for me to hold you down while you tremble below me, begging for me to fill that pretty ass of yours harder.”

“Oh, I like the sound of that office,” Skylar says, appearing from nowhere with a handful of ties. “A nice couch where Dani can ride you, and some added soundproofing to keep your assistants from hearing too much.”

“I’m gonna need a lock on the door. Wait, I said no office!” His eyes light up as the flick between us and he reconsiders hisstance. “Okay, but Dani gets the desk first. My desk. Not my dad’s, not someone else's, mine. I’m gonna eat her for lunch one day, papers everywhere, phones ringing, and her, spread wide and dripping for me.”

“Seems fair,” Skylar replies, picking up a tie and holding to Xander’s eyes before taking his hands and wrapping the tie loosely around them. “Get this one.”

“He hasn’t even picked out a suit yet!” I laugh, nudging Sky’s arm with my elbow.

“Who said anything about wearing it with a suit?” They wink at me before they go back to the labyrinth in time for Sage to reappear with four suit bags.

“Okay, so you’re like a perfect size for these, which is amazeballs, since I haven’t been able to show these off since fashion school. By the way, I used to go to school with your girlfriend. We had a class together. Don’t let her fool you into thinking she can’t do menswear, because she’s fucking boss at it. Seriously. Absolute fire.”

Xander’s crooked smile and soft pink cheeks make my heart flutter. We need to help Dani and him work through whatever they’re going through, because those two are something beyond the normal constraints of love and affection. For now, we focus on the bags, though. Or, more importantly, what we’re about to find in them.

His jaw drops when she pulls out a beautiful black jacket with studs decorating the pockets, a handwritten message filling one side of the chest, and beautiful matching details making sparse appearances on the other side. He blinks rapidly, gawking at me before looking back at the jacket.

“Try it on, bro!” Sage offers, holding it up for him. It’s damn near made for him. “I need to adjust a couple of things to make this work for you, babe. But seriously, look at how boss you look? I’d work for you!”

He looks in the mirror and, for a while, he can’t speak.

“I’ve never seenmyselfin a suit. It’s always been someone else, someone I pretended to be to fit in. Someone I didn’t recognize and didn’t want to be. I don’t feel that right now.”

“Yeah, your grandpa ain’t wearing my suits. I mean, unless he’s like super rad or whatever.” She stands on her tiptoes and glances around the shop before looking at me again. “Doc, please, oh please tell me I’m gonna dress that tall, broody, and beautiful creature that came in with you, too. I mean, seriously, you let me dress these two. I’ll throw in a free suit for you.”

“I’m down. I need some new stuff for the road. Sexy me up, baby!” Skylar answers before I can, holding up a vest covered in chains, buckles, and studs. “This place is a punk’s wet dream and a corporate dickhead’s nightmare. You’re a saint, Sage.”

“I aim to create chaos and confusion!” She yells, throwing her hands in the air. “Let’s get to work!”

“I guess we’re in business,” I finally answer. Xander and Skylar each kissing my cheeks as Sage hugs me.

The plane touches down with a jerk, jarring sleeping passengers awake, which included the two children sitting right behind first class. I don’t normally fly first class, but I had enough points and figured what the hell. The food blew my mind, but the privacy sent my imagination on an adventure. Xander would love this, and I could keep him busy enough to not think about it. At the least, I’d be able to hold him through it, snuggled into the small bed together.

I text him when I land, and he sends me a picture of Baggy eating salmon out of his hand. I should tell them not to eat inthe bed, but the sweet face he makes in the next picture melts my heart. I don’t know what brought us together other than a couch in the hallway, or if we’d have found each other eventually without the couch, but I can’t imagine my future without him now. All of them.

Climbing into the cab, I get a text, but this one isn’t from Xander.

Pixie

Papa, we’re running late. Maybe twenty minutes. Please wait for us!

I’d wait all night for you.

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