Fan Fiction ❯ Dear Mister Manager ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

Title: Dear Mister Manager

Author: Quirk otheTrade

Category: Original Fiction

Genre: Romance, Alternative Lifestyles, Homosexuality, ect.

C&CC: Thank you in advance! quirkothetrade@yahoo.com

Archive: aff.net, mediaminer, FanFictionNow

Warnings: Sexual content, bad language

Disclaimers: I do own this work of fiction, and any resemblances to any people, alive or dead, is purely coincidental. Same thing applies to the situation.

A/N: I’m used to writing fan fiction, so this is something different. Tell me what you think, please.

Beta: Un-beta-ed

Synopsis: The beginning of an affair.
+++
"YOU want to have sex with me? What the hell's up with that?" Gage asked, stabbing out his cigarette. The music from the dance club was muffled by soundproofed walls, the crowds in full swing at midnight straight up on a Friday night. One of his regulars of almost twelve months now stood before him, dressed in tailored black slacks, white and black pinstriped dress shirt, untucked, and a dark printed tie, unruly short black hair artfully spiked with his bangs falling over his forehead. ('His' being the operative word here.) "I don't fuck guys."

"I saw you with Harry last night on the roof. It sure looked like you were fucking him to me." Crossing his arm, Adair glared at the two-inch taller man seated behind the desk. Long chestnut hair coiled at the back of his head with a pen shoved through it and a tiny mole just under his left eye, the club manager was dressed in charcoal pants and a white shirt open at the throat, the sleeves rolled to his elbows. "I've caught you looking at my ass, so I know you're attracted to me."

"I look at everyone's ass and you're too young, brat. Scram."

"I turned twenty three last week!"

"Tough." Blue eyes narrowing, he reached for the half emptied crimson cigarette pack before him on the desk and his lighter. "Your business is appreciated, but your harassment is not."

"Look, there's a little more to it than that, okay? I want you to be my first."

"Your first what?"

"First ever, period." Large chocolate eyes in an innocent face pleaded with the manager, who lit up like the dedicated smoker he was. Slowly exhaling, the smoke drifting sideways, his stare was making the younger man nervous, sapphire eyes burning like icy flames. It was hard not to fidget, to accept the manager’s refusal and slink away like a dog with his tail between his legs; Gage, while always friendly and a flirt, was reserved in the end. The scene on the roof had been the only clue that Adair might have a remote chance at what he really wanted. “If it’s a question of who’s on bottom, I’ll do it. I even have condoms and lube on me.”

Gage stood, all but glaring at him, and circled around to the door, black wingtips silent against the tiled floor. The sound of the door locking was loud in the nerve wracked silence, and Adair bit his lip uncertainly, not daring to look around at the chestnut haired man.

“Put the stuff on the desk.”

Fumbling the condoms and pocket sized flip top bottle on the paper covered surface, Adair jumped when he saw Gage’s hand reach past him to stamp out the cigarette. They bumped into each other, and a large hand grasped the ebony haired man’s hip to prevent him from moving away. The other hand left the half finished Marlboro behind in the ashtray to ghost across a pinstriped front and raise goose bumps before loosening the tie with its tiny pattern. It took less than twenty minutes for the blue eyed man to have Adair hard and willingly bent over his desk, pants around his ankles. Before prepping the ass before him, Gage reached around and slid a rubber on Adair; he wasn’t about to be put in a position of having to clean up a mess. He didn’t believe that story about being the first; he managed a club where nothing was sacred save the latest fashions.

But… Adair responded so sweetly. The youth’s skin was electric beneath his touch, a single finger tip traced across an expanse of flesh raising shivers and moans. Gage hadn’t even kissed him yet, had just touched that fair skinned body with his hands, had traced skin, muscle and bone beneath the cloth of Adair’s shirt, unbuckled his belt and undid his pants before slipping his fingertips inside to stroke lightly. Now that he was stretching him, the club manager found himself aching with an eager erection and almost believing the tight heat clenching around his slippery finger was untried. Bending over Adair, he sought out the nape hidden by the folded collar with his lips, his free hand setting the little bottle down and reaching for the buttons of the brown eyed man. Each button released meant another bit of skin, and he bit and nibbled at it like a juicy piece of fruit. The third bite drew a particularly loud reaction, and seeking to recreate it Gage scraped his teeth over the spot. The form in his arms whimpered, and soothing the abused skin with his tongue, he reached for the lubricant again. Drizzling the watery gel over his fingers, he inserted two with some coaxing and scissored them repeatedly, drawing a slightly pained sound from Adair’s throat.

“Sorry.” He was surprised to find that he was, was sorry he had hurt the innocent faced youth who never stayed down in the dumps and listened to everyone’s story no matter how absurd or unlikely. Hell, Adair had even helped break up a fight or two. The dark haired man was a good customer; maybe Gage could just consider it a little extra service or something. “Pass me the tissues.”

Growling low in his throat, Adair jerked the box close to them and Gage took a handful to clean off his fingers before he reached for one of the foil packets piled on his desk. Undoing his belt and pants, he dropped them to the floor, stepped out of them and kicked them aside. Then he ripped open the wrapper and pulled out the latex disc to smooth over himself, cock twitching in his own hands like a skittish, impatient horse. Pausing afterward to slick himself with the lube, he set the head of his erection directly where he wanted to go. In keeping with Adair’s story, he warned, “Hold on.”

Gage pushed in, and Adair’s hands scrambled across the desk knocking almost everything aside as they searched for something to catch on to, a wail rising in a crescendo from his throat. As soon as the head of his cock breached the tensed sheath of the other’s body, the chestnut haired man stopped to take stock of his partner. Torso moving with harsh breaths under the black pinstripes, hands managing to grip the other side of the desk, his chocolate eyes were squeezed shut as Adair tried to keep his head turned to the side yet bury his face against his arm all at once. It threw Gage for a loop and made him think that maybe, just maybe, Adair had not be telling tales but speaking the simple truth. “Adair? Are you with me? You okay?”

“Y-yeah.” The word was gritted from between clenched teeth, and Gage leaned down to kiss the other’s neck, gripping fabric and pulling it over his shoulder as the other hand still covered with leftover lube reached purposefully for Adair’s latex covered cock. Gage was going to fix this, damn it, because the face trying to hide from the pain and discomfort didn’t deserve it, didn’t deserve Gage and his messed up, cynical attitude. Adair was A Nice Guy, with capitol letters, and why he had taken to hanging out at Gage’s distasteful, hyped up club was something the sapphire eyed manager could only guess badly at.

He lavished attention on the smooth skin he found as he delved under the shirt, nipped, kissed and laved with his tongue as he fisted the other’s erection and pumped slowly, thumb rubbing the glans through the creamy, thin shield. It elicited some very interesting, indecent sounds from Adair’s throat and the tension in the youth’s body lessened, allowing Gage to slide in a bit at a time until his cock was encased in that taut heat as far as possible. Squeezing Adair’s erection before releasing it, he wrapped his arm around the younger man’s hips as his lips worked back up to the delicate curved shell of Adair’s ear. Soft words fell out of his mouth, a litany of praise that was both truth and nonsense as he held still for a few moments savoring the clutch of the other’s body, the titillating heat that rose off the chocolate eyed man like a haze tearing at his control.

Adair wiggled against him, breathing hard and deep, and Gage groaned. Moving slowly, slowly enough to kill him if he let it, he backed his hips until he could thrust forward again, working the stretched, virgin passage open an inch at a time. The dark haired youth moaned, sighed, tried to move beneath him but the club manager pinned him with his weight and set to work on the side of Adair’s neck, hips leisurely moving. The pen finally fell out of his hair, and the strands fell around them like ribbons, unfashionably long for a man, glints of red and blond mixed among soft brown. Gage felt a hand grip one strand, holding it possessively like a treasure or a lifeline, and he sank his teeth into the muscle between neck and shoulder and sucked hard. Adair hissed, then groaned as Gage’s hips snapped to, kicking the pace up until the desk was jumping under them and they both were vocalizing their approval, the hickey forgotten in the pleasure. Gage didn’t stop until they both reached climax, Adair screaming incoherently as he threw his head back, body arching to receive each unrelenting thrust, and the manager followed after the ebony haired man gladly. The trembling heat refused to leave him much choice as it clenched around his erection in any case, milking him dry.

It took Gage a few moments to become lucid, blinking the stars from his eyes and taking stock of every little thing. Loosing the arm around Adair’s hip, he reached for and pulled the used condom from the spent, gradually fading erection and tossed it in the trash beside the desk. Then he pulled slowly from the precious body that has given him such a special thing, ignoring the delicious shudders, and stripped the latex from himself to dispose of likewise. Swiping tissues over each of them in a mock clean up, he gathered up the young man draped unconsciously over his desk in his arms and moved to the sofa, grateful for the blanket between the chilled leather and his bare backside. Draping the thick cloth around them, he adjusted the dead weight against him until they were half reclining against the furniture’s arm. Adair, now thoroughly debauched, took a bit to wake up, and Gage took the opportunity to study his latest lover as the youth rested in his lap, noting the little things on a list in his mind while the image of Adair remodeled itself. An unusually serious expression greeted the younger brown eyed man when he finally awoke and he stilled for a moment uncertainly before completing his yawn. “Hi.”

“Hi. How do you feel?”

“Really good. You were awesome.”

“Why did you want-? With me-?” A small flush rose in Adair’s cheeks at the mangled question, and he dropped his gaze from Gage’s with a small, embarrassed smile. “Because I like you; I saw you on the street and followed you here months ago.”

“Oh?” The chestnut brow arched in question gave nothing away as blue eyes studied just how pretty dark lacy lashes looked against creamy skin. Gage has never seen Adair behave shyly and the image made him wish he had a camera.

“I just wish we could have kissed. I really wanted to know what you kiss like.”

He kissed him. Gage put his finger under his chin, tipped his dark head as if he had done it countless times before and, tilting his own head just so, kissed him chastely, lips moving against each other. Azure eyes watched chocolate, watched them flutter shut and the lovely, tiny sound Adair made in the back of his throat made the auburn haired man want to devour him. Instead he settled for deepening the kiss with a swipe of his tongue, parting soft lips and tracing the outline of teeth and moist heat that tasted faintly of sugar and cinnamon. A skilled tongue slid along his own, the taste of cinnamon and sugar spreading across his tongue along with a fission of familiar heat. A hand touched his jaw, cradled it hesitantly, the longest finger just touching his earlobe, and Gage covered it with his own, larger hand before he pulled away, his breathing heavy. Their eyes met again, drawn together like magnets. “You don’t kiss like a virgin. Besides, you’re too old to be one in this day and age.”

“I never said I was a virgin; I’ve made out and done things with people. I just never found anyone I liked enough to do this with, to have actual sex with.” Adair replied, a blush blooming in his cheeks as he panted lightly. “Um… my pants-”

“In front of the desk. All I did was pick you up and move us somewhere more comfortable. What about girls?” Gage asked, abruptly changing the subject. The hand clutched in his flexed involuntarily, but the chocolate gaze didn’t fall from his own. “Don’t you have any interest in them?”

“I like them and I’ve done things with them. I just hadn’t found anyone I wanted to do this with, of either sex.”

“And what makes me so special?” He looked away, to the painting on the far wall. A cubist impression of music in primary colors, it had appealed to him when he had first landed the manager’s position. Now it struck him as insipid. Music was just as cold as any other enterprise, the big labels promoting only what would sell in a mainstream market of mindless people who made no time to actually study and appreciate what they heard.

“I don’t know. I just know I like you.”

“You’re one weird kid. Who sees a stranger on the street and follows them to a club? Do you have any fucking idea how dangerous that is?” Thumb rubbing little circles on the edge of Adair’s palm, Gage shifted beside him on the couch.

“I’m not a kid, I told you.”

“You’re younger than me. That makes you a kid to me. So what now?

“You’re twenty eight, right? That only makes you five years older than me. What do you mean, ‘so now what’?”

“Five years is a lifetime, trust me on this. And I mean, so now what do we do? We’ve had sex, now what? What do you want with me?”

“I don’t know. I just knew I wanted you to be the first.”

“You’re an awfully impulsive kid, you know that?” Blue eyes shifting back to Adair’s face, Gage studied him further as black brows scrunched into a frown. He almost hated himself for what he was going to say next, but he had gotten in the habit of pushing away anyone who might try to take things further to a level he didn’t want to go to. This most certainly qualified; a first time implied a relationship. “What happens the next time you see someone on the street you like? Will you follow them, too?”

Chocolate eyes flinched, hurt by the acid tone, and the younger man drew away from him slightly. “Don’t. Don’t be an asshole. I don’t intend to hurt you, at least not on purpose. Just so you know, you’re the first person I’ve ever followed like that. Call it instinct or whatever you want, but something just told me to follow you. And it’s not like I went after you right away, either, I’ve been watching you for a whole fucking year trying to figure everything out.” Sliding from under the blanket, the dark haired man tugged his shirttail down modestly as he stood. He frowned down at his socked feet still in their black loafers before moving to the desk to untangle his boxers from his trousers. Watching him, Gage leaned his head against the leather sofa arm, feeling his hair pull as it was trapped between his skull and the furniture. “Never mind. I’m going now. See you around, okay?”

Something in that statement didn’t…feel right. No, it just didn’t feel right at all, Gage decided as Adair finished dressing, shirttail untucked over his buckled pants. There was an air of finality to it, a calm, fake finality that was concealing true emotion. Adair was upset; that didn’t sit well with the auburn haired man at all. But still, he couldn’t have the man thinking there was anything special between them. He looked at the ceiling. “Look, I just don’t want a relationship, all right?”

“Did I say anything about a relationship?”

Gage’s head snapped sideways to stare at him. Adair was looking at something on the desk; the lube and condoms on the blotter. The look on his young face was contemplative and aloof. Then he shrugged slightly, turned and started for the door, and the older man sat up, eyes blazing and hair flying around him. This was too much like his own first time with another guy, only this time he was older and… why did the feeling of being out of control never go away? “Look, it’s just that-”

“Gage, it’s okay. I know, okay? Remember, I’ve been watching you for a year? You haven’t had a single relationship in that whole time- lots of flings, yes, but no relationships.” Long fingers touched the doorknob, grasped it, and a sudden regret filled Gage that he hadn’t given Adair a chance to touch him. His hands looked strong, a little rough maybe but gentle. The dark haired man smiled at him, eyes scrunching. “It’s just that you always look a little lonely when you think no one’s watching you.”

The door opened and closed, leaving Gage tongue-tied, wrapped up in the blanket on the couch and staring after a young man that he had horribly underestimated. Then he was scrambling across the room for his pants, cursing the entire way. He got them untangled and up his legs before he slowed down, hands working on automatic pilot as they pulled his pants over his hips, fastened them shut and buckled the leather belt. (What the hell am I doing? I don’t run after people).

Forcing himself back to his seat behind the desk, he stopped and stooped for his cigarettes and lighter on the floor, leaving all the pens, pencils and paperwork right where they had landed. Only the ashtray hadn’t hit the floor, and as it was half full and made of glass, he was thankful. Gage settled down in the oversized, overstuffed manager’s chair and lit up, the tobacco tasting unusually bitter in his mouth. The scent of sex lingered in the room, teasing him, and the tube of lubricant and handful of condoms at the far edge of his desk taunted him silently. “Shut the hell up.”
+++

(Two damned weeks have passed, and still not a sign of that little brat.) Taking a heavy drag off the cigarette clinched in his teeth, Gage ignored the squeals and greetings from the various customers flocking to the entrance of the club. He had stopped to take a smoke break around the corner near the back parking lot, a headache starting to build in his temples. His shirt tail was untucked and his wingtips were overly shiny from his vigorous use of polish, his unbound hair waving in the cool night time breeze. (Two weeks of pulling I.D. check at the front door and he doesn’t show up. Asshole.)

When the first Friday night had rolled around with no sign of Adair, he hadn’t been too alarmed. Adair had come most frequently on Saturday nights than any other night. That Saturday he had traded places with Drake and sent the bouncer to patrol the crowds while he pulled identification check duty with the other two. Adair hadn’t shown up but word had gotten out and around about him taking door duty. It had young, nubile women flooding the club, his good looks and his reputation as a flirt drawing them like flies to honey. Every subsequent night when he took the door between nine o’clock and twelve midnight, which Drake and the boys assured him was the time period that Adair was most likely to show up in, there was a long line of dolled up women for him to smile falsely at while he checked licenses.

“It’s so nice to have all these lovely women come to see you, hum?” Harry had asked him last night when he had escaped to the nearest bar and demanded a bottled water. An azure glower had been the blond’s answer, and Harry had laughed at him as he handed over the water. “Why are you manning the door on a Friday night, anyway?”

Ripping the cap off, he guzzled a third of the water down. “It’s nothing.”

“If it were nothing, you’d be wandering the crowd for your next lay.” The blond squinted at his flinch. “Sorry. Did I hit a sore spot?”

“Do I ever look lonely to you?”

Someone came up with an order for a Long Island iced tea and three margaritas, which Harry absently took, made and passed out in record time based on sheer experience. “…Sometimes. Did something happen, Gage? I’m your friend, you can always talk to me. You know that?”

“Yeah. I just need to talk to Adair.”

“Adair? So the boy made his move on you, then?” Gage choked on a mouthful of water, and the blond laughed as he reached over and thumped him vigorously on the back. “It’s not surprising. He watched you like a hawk every moment you were out in the crowds. Though I wouldn’t recommend him to you. Adair’s relationship material and you… just aren’t, not right now, anyway. I suggest you stick to your usual fare.”

“Too late,” He mumbled at Harry’s late advice and dropped his cigarette to the cement to grind the cherry out beneath his heel. Tapping out a second stick from his pack, he fumbled in his pockets for his lighter, silently cursing the fact that he couldn’t find it at once or recall which pocket it had gone into.

“There you are looking lonely again. What are you doing out here when you should be inside doing paperwork, anyway?” Gage’s attention jerked sideways to see the object of his obsession regarding him with a questioning expression, a flame flickering in his hand as he offered up a lit lighter. Adair was almost as tall as him except for two inches, but tonight they were looking each other in the eye. His attention immediately dropped to the other’s feet, where a pair of boots with thick rubber soles silently explained the difference. (Not that I’m going to let that make a difference.)

Gage grabbed the other man’s wrist and proceeded to drag him inside the club. He ignored Adair’s squawks of protest, the bitching from the long line of people waiting to get in and the employees’ looks of amusement. Rita at the register obeyed his dark stare and head jerk that demanded that Adair be stamped with the florescent ink without the usual coverage charge, then he was free to elbow through the crowds to his office and lock the door, trapping the hereto absentee man with him. “Where the fuck have you been?”

“WHAT? Damn it, Gage, you couldn’t wait until I got inside to ask that? You just had to shove past everyone and piss-”

Fisting his hand in the front of the brown eyed man’s jacket, Gage pushed him against the door as he kissed him hard, the other hand grasping the nape of his neck to hold him still. The taste of cinnamon and sugar lingered on his tongue as he reacquainted himself with Adair’s mouth, pinned the dark haired man in place with his body even though Adair wasn’t trying to get away. Hips rocked against each other, and a pair of hot hands slid up Gage’s back, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt and tugging painfully on long loose strands of chestnut hair. He didn’t mind it, though, just as long as they didn’t stop kissing. When they did, he moaned, leaned his head against Adair’s and loathed his need for air as he panted. “Where have you been?”

“Work. School. I do have a life, you know.” Adair gasped back at him. “What the hell’s gotten into you?”

“I don’t know but not seeing you just pisses me off.”

“Not seeing me pissed you off?”

“No, it PISSES me off.” Tightening his hands in his jacket, he pulled back an inch to look at Adair critically. He was dressed in a barn jacket, a chambray shirt, pressed jeans and the height adding boots. The dark hair was styled in its usual spikes, though the bangs hadn’t been left untouched this time but instead slicked back with the rest of the barbs. (He looks all right). “Where the hell have you been?”

“School and work, Gage, I told you. I finished off term papers for a couple of classes and one of the guys at work had paternity leave to be with his wife and kid. I filled in for him.” Frowning at the older man, Adair slid his hands to Gage’s hips. “Why?”

“I don’t know why.”

“You’re being weird. You never get pissed off when one of your girlfriends disappears.” Hands dropping away entirely from Gage, Adair slid from his grasp and stepped away from him. “Have you been smoking something other than Marlboros?”

Hands feeling empty now that Adair had slipped away from him, Gage frowned down at them. “No. I just didn’t like the way you left that last time.”

“Oh, okay. Well, if that’s all, I’m going down to get a drink.”

“NO, THAT’S NOT ALL! SIT YOUR ASS DOWN!” Gage roared, pointing back at the couch.

Adair, frown growing deeper, obeyed and settled on the edge of the couch.

“Look, I don’t want a relationship, but I didn’t mean for things to end on such a sour note,” Gage started, running fingers through his hair. “You’re a good customer, and I was an asshole-”

“Gage, I understand and I didn’t come in here asking for your hand in marriage or anything. I just wanted you to be the first person I did it with, that’s all. You don’t have to feel guilty or anything. We both got what we wanted, pretty much.” The dark haired man said patiently. “I’m grateful to you. You’ve made me see what I’ve been missing out on. Now that I finally know what all the fuss is about, I’m thinking of expanding, you know?”

The auburn haired man stared. (Yeah, I see, and I don’t like it. It’s like I’m looking back at myself all that time ago. Fuck, Adair- I don’t want that to happen to you.) Memories tumbled through Gage’s mind, both bitter and pleasurable. “No, you’re not.” His own voice sounded too strained and echoed unpleasantly in the sapphire eyed man’s ears. “You’re not the type. You don’t sleep around.”

“How would you know what type I am? You’ve barely acknowledged my existence for the past year.” Adair snorted at him. “Besides, it’s just sex.”

(Oh, god, no). “…If you touch anyone else, don’t come back.” Gage’s mouth pinched shut into a thin, unyielding line.

“What?” Shock spread like a ripple across the younger man’s face.

“If you have sex with anyone else but me, don’t ever come back to the club. Stay away; stay out of my sight.” Reaching for the doorknob to unlock it, Gage felt like he was moving in a fog while that little voice in the back of his head screamed at him. The click of the lock seemed to reverberate in the suddenly silent room, and it was hard not to flinch at it. He turned, strode to his desk and settled down in the cushioned seat behind it. Picking up a pen with one hand, he drew the nearest piece of paper before him and stared at it, pretending to read.

“…The appropriate thing to do right now would be to either scream at you or walk out that door, but you just look too upset for me to do that.” Rising to his feet, Adair made his way to Gage and knelt down beside it, hands clutching the arm. “Gage, what’s really wrong with you?”

“Nothing’s wrong. Get out.”

“No. Why are you angry with me? You said you don’t want a relationship, and I’m not trying to force you into one, so why are you demanding I only sleep with you?” Sighing as the blue eyed man refused to look at him, Adair continued. “You’re not about to give up all your other partners, are you? That makes it sound like you want your cake and to eat it, too, Gage. I’m not about to give up my freedom and not get the same in return.”

Fingers tightening around the pen, his knuckles slowly turning white, Gage gritted his teeth. “Get out.”

“What do you want from me, Gage? Tell me. You were the one who dragged me through the front door. You were the one who kissed me the instant the door was shut.” The brown eyed man paused. “You’ve ignored me this entire time-”

“Who the hell could ignore you when you stare at them like you want to devour them?” The sentence hung in the air between them, a sudden awareness wrapping thickly around them with the gritted out words. Gage dropped the pen on top of the pile of papers, suddenly drained and tired. “Every time I came out of my office, you were always somewhere near by like a shadow or a ghost. I felt scorched just from the heat of your gaze. Ignore you? All I was trying to do was keep the situation from becoming serious.”

“Why?” The dark haired man demanded.

“You remind me of myself when I was younger.”

“How? Why?” Laying a hand on Gage’s arm, he tugged slightly, drawing the blue eyed man’s attention. “I want- need- to know. I want to understand, Gage.”

“…You remind me of myself with my first man is all. Once he had enough of me, he moved on, and nothing I did made a damned difference.” He locked his gaze with Adair’s. “You’re a decent guy; you don’t deserve that shit. Harry says you’re relationship material and I’m not, and that’s the truth.”

“That’s not true, Gage-“

The long haired man looked away. “-You should be looking for a nice girl to settle down and have kids with, make your mom happy-“

“WOULD YOU SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME?” Adair yelled. Azure eyes fastened back on him and he sighed. “First off, my mother’s dead; my uncle raised me. Second, I’d love to have you all to myself, Gage, but after watching you for so long I also realized that you probably can’t maintain a real relationship. You go through women like water, for crying out loud. That’s when I settled for simply having you as my first sex partner, if I could convince you.” One hand reached out to wrap around a stray lock of red and blond shot brown. “When I saw Harry with you on the roof, I thought maybe it could happen, and so it did. I knew what I was getting myself into, Gage, so you don’t have to feel responsible for me.”

“I don’t feel respon-“

“Yes, you do. That’s just the way you are. You used to be a decent guy too; you just seem to have forgotten that somewhere along the way.” Brown eyes smiled up at him. “I’m not asking you for more than you can give, Gage. I swear.”

“Maybe I want you to, Adair.”

Eyes widening, the dark haired young man blinked. “That’s maybe the fifth time you’ve ever said my name to my face.”

Gage bit down on his bottom lip, unwilling to explain the irrational thought that maybe Adair would stay away if left un-named or named as little as possible. (It sounds so childish…) “I said, maybe I want you to, stupid.”

Adair blinked again. “Huh? But you didn’t- don’t mean that.”

(To hell with it.) “Move in with me.”

“What?” Shock rang out in the younger man’s voice.

“You heard me. Move in and live with me.”
+++

TBC… probably.