Page 61 of The Professional
“It wasn’t—”
He sliced his hand in the air. “I don’t care.”
Spinning on his heel and heading toward Rourke’s office door, he ignored her protests and took a deep breath before knocking. Whatever she wanted to say was forgotten as she stomped back down the stairs, probably toward her room. Rourke’s rough voice told him to come in, and he opened the door, turning to close it so he didn’t have to see Rourke right away. His heart pounded, and he rubbed his hand over it. He thought about the conversation with Conall, and the pain only intensified because Conall was right. Rourke would do anything to prove a point to the men who clearly ridiculed him, so he wouldn’t take the highest earner away from the Exotic Virtue.
“Forrest?”
At the creak of Rourke’s chair, Forrest turned. Rourke leaned forward against his desk, dark eyebrows furrowed in concern.
Forrest raised his palm before Rourke could say anything. “Don’t ask me if I’m okay. I’m sick to death of saying I’m fine.”
“All right.” Rourke stood and buttoned up his suit jacket. He looked immaculate as always, with his black suit designed to fit his body like a glove. The cut made his shoulders appear wider, and even from where he stood, Forrest could appreciate what the pants did to his thighs.
“New suit?” Forrest asked, making his legs move under him until he stood in front of Rourke’s desk. He didn’t bother to sit down. Once he sat down, he wouldn’t be able to move again. The fear tangled up in his gut already made it difficult to walk.
“Yes.” Rourke stepped around his desk until he stood tall in front of Forrest, the scent of his spicy cologne teasing Forrest’s nose. The smell of citrus and lavender made his tight muscles loosen, and Forrest wasn’t sure if he hated how calm Rourke made him or not. “I wanted to see you to apologize about Shay. What he said was uncalled for. Unfortunately, being Catholic doesn’t always come with positives.”
Forrest dipped his gaze to Rourke’s neck, but the collar of his dress shirt prevented him from seeing the gold chain where a cross hung on his neck. “Why do you believe in Catholicism?”
Rourke answered immediately. “Because it gives me hope that there’s something better than this nightmare we call life.”
“Life’s not that bad.” Forrest chewed on his bottom lip. “At least you know who your parents are. You’ve got a nice house too.”
Rourke made a noise that sounded like a disagreement. “Either way, I’m sorry for Shay’s behavior.”
“What is he to you anyway? I mean, I sort of got a feeling you were old friends?” Forrest kept the jealousy out of his voice, but it was there, right beneath the surface of his words. Shame curdled in his stomach. He was a sex worker; he had no right to be jealous of a priest.
“You’re right, he’s an old friend. I met him when we were kids. Sit down.” Rourke slid his hand into Forrest’s and tugged him over to the two chairs in front of his desk. Rourke took one, but when Forrest was about to take the other, Rourke dragged him onto his lap. The action made Forrest gasp, but he wasn’t going to complain. He settled in and leaned into Rourke’s chest, the scent of his cologne even stronger now he was this close.
“We’ve been friends since we were five. I met him when his family moved to New York. His father’s as Irish as they come and immediately joined the Killough Company. He’d heard about the company from his cousin and wanted a piece of the action. At the time, Sloan’s father was in charge. His father never really liked Shay’s father, Nigel. He thought he was a weasel, someone he couldn’t trust, so he gave Nigel the shit work. It barely paid anything, but Nigel never complained because he thought if he just did the jobs, he could make his way up the ranks. Being as young as we were, Shay and I didn’t understand any of it. Nigel brought his family around to our house one night for dinner. Our fathers met through the company, and Mom invited them around for her famous rump roast. At that stage, she was actually cooking for herself.”
Rourke’s lips tipped into a half smile of amusement. “So she invited them around and they came. That’s how I met Shay. We hated each other at first. Mom made me share my toys, and I didn’t want to. Then he broke my favorite He-Man toy, and I hated him. It took us three months of constantly seeing each other for me to finally accept him as my friend. He apologized every time I saw him about the He-Man action figure, so I finally forgave him. We kind of just grew up with each other. Shay was the first person I told about my sexuality, the same with me to him. We never… felt any different about each other. We were only ever friends. Shay was a little slut from the moment he lost his virginity.” Rourke leaned his head back on the wingback chair, expression thoughtful. “It took me a while to work up the nerve to lose mine.”
Forrest couldn’t help but smile at the story. “Who took your virginity?”
Rourke laughed. “Danny Green, football player. He was the quarterback at our school and a closet-queen bottom who begged for cock whenever he could get it.”
“How did you… well, you know? Get to the point of fucking him if he was so closeted?”
“Shay told me he was gay. He said he had a brilliant gaydar. I didn’t believe him, but then I caught Danny checking out my cock when I was pissing one day, and I knew Shay was right. I gathered my courage and offered to fuck him with it. He agreed, and we fucked right there in a bathroom stall.”
“You lost your virginity in thebathroom?” Forrest snorted in laughter. “That’s the saddest virginity story I’ve heard. Some of the bitches in here have better stories than that, and we sell our bodies for sex.”
Rourke poked Forrest in the ribs, making him squirm. “Okay, how did you lose your virginity? According to your records, you lost it to a Mr. Will Johansson, but I don’t believe that for a second. You mentioned your foster brother at dinner last night.”
Forrest grinned. “Yep. I thought if I played virgin, I’d get a bit more money to begin with.”
“Smart move.”
“Thank you.” Forrest rested his head on Rourke’s shoulder and let his fingers dance over his chest. “So I crushed on my foster brother for a while. I came out to him when I was sixteen. Unlike his parents, he wasn’t a religious nut.”
“How did that turn out?”
Forrest grinned at the memory. He could still see Abe’s face, flushed with excitement as he kissed Forrest square on the mouth. It’d been hot, and Forrest had nearly come just from his first boy kiss. “He fucked me in his bed.”
Rourke’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “So you lost your V card to him?”
“Yep. Maybe we should convince him to be a professional. He has a massive cock.” Forrest noticed the twist of annoyance on Rourke’s face and laughed. “Your cock’s nicer.”
