16. Evan
EVAN
Ding .
The elevator chimed as it reached my floor. The doors slid open, and I stepped into the apartment, already scanning the main room for Nick.
He’d only been staying with me for a few days now, but each night I’d come home to find him waiting on the couch for me.
I’d never had that, and knowing he was going to be there, full of smiles and his contagious energy, made coming home something I looked forward to instead of something I dreaded.
“Hi,” he greeted as I came into the room.
“Hi.” I loosened my tie. A little flare of possessiveness went through me when I noticed the oversized sweater he had on. “Is that my hoodie?”
“Do you mind? I got cold and it smells like you.”
“Not at all.” I swallowed. “It looks good on you.”
“It’s not as comfy as you, but it did the trick while I was waiting. How was your day?”
“Long.” I smiled wryly and tugged off my tie. “But it’s over.”
“Yikes. That’s not good.”
I stopped behind the couch and pulled off my suit jacket. Nick’s eyes tracked the jacket as I tossed it over the back of the couch. I needed to have it cleaned after Nick’s lunchtime visit so I wasn’t worried about wrinkles.
“Well, it’s good because it’s over, but not good that you wanted it to be over. I mean, I guess you’d want every day to be over, but not over over. Like game over, you’re dead over. That would be bad.”
Chuckling, I rolled up the sleeves of my dress shirt. “Your mind is a fascinating place.”
“It’s something, that’s for dang sure,” he grumbled. “Try living with it and see how fascinating it is.”
“Did you have a good day?” I asked.
“Good enough. Better now that I got my daily dose of suit porn.”
“I thought you got that when you came to my office for lunch?” I flirted.
“That was bonus content. I’m talking about the nightly suit-porn show.”
“Did you get up to anything interesting?” I leaned my hands on the back of the couch. The last of the tension that had been simmering under the surface of my skin dissipated.
His stare dropped to my forearms. “I swear I never had an arm fetish until you. How are your forearms so sexy?”
“Maybe it’s the rolled-up sleeves. I’ve noticed they can have quite the effect on people.”
“That’s got to be it.” He lifted his eyes to mine and pouted. “You’re late.”
“I know.” I smoothed one hand through his hair. He pressed into the touch with a happy little sigh. “But I think you’ll forgive me when you see why I’m late.”
Ding .
Nick got up on his knees and looked around me as Vlado stepped out of the elevator carrying two handfuls of shopping bags.
“Prezzies for me?”
“Yes.” I smiled indulgently at his enthusiasm.
It didn’t matter what I gave him, Nick always responded with the same level of excitement. He didn’t care about how much something cost, he only cared that I’d thought of him. That wasn’t just refreshing, it tickled the part of me that loved to spoil and provide for the people in my life.
“Gimme!” He made grabby hands at Vlado, his smile wide and brilliant.
“There’s something I want to show you before you open them.” I took his hand.
“You know that’s just mean, right? Dangling presents in front of me but making me wait to open them is a form of torture. It’s basically the same as being waterboarded.”
Vlado let out a strangled snort-laugh. “Do you know what waterboarding is?”
“Isn’t it that thing where they drip water on your head to drive you crazy?”
“That would be water torture.” He grinned. “Waterboarding is a little more…involved than that.”
Nick took my hand and let me pull him off the couch. “Either way, making me wait is torture.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“I don’t know about that.” He followed me as I led him toward my gym. “Are we going to your room? Oh! Are we going to bone on your swinger’s hammock? That’s like the only thing in there I haven’t jizzed on yet.”
“Do I want to know?” Vlado asked me over his shoulder.
“No.” I turned to Nick. “And also no.”
“Boo. You’re no fun.”
“That’s not what you said while you were kneeling under my desk at lunch,” I pointed out.
“I wasn’t saying anything then because your dick was too far down my throat to talk,” he countered sweetly.
“You had a better lunch hour than I did,” Vlado mused as I opened the hallway door to my home gym. “I was drowning in paperwork and you got some afternoon delight.”
“We need to find you a girl,” Nick said. “That way you can get some afternoon delight too.”
“I’ll take all the help I can get. It’s been…a long-ass time since I had the opportunity for any delight.”
“Is that because Evan is a bossy boss who works you too hard and won’t let you have a life?”
“You know it.” Vlado grinned and shot me some finger guns, rattling the handful of packages he was still clutching.
“I’m standing right here,” I said dryly.
“So where’s my surprise?” Nick asked. “Are you guys going to do some lifting for me? You know how much I love it when you get all grunty and sweaty.”
“Not quite.” I pushed the door to the gym open. “I did some redecorating. What do you think?”
“What in the fifty shades of stripping is this?” he gasped.
I’d had a crew come in and install a small stage Nick could use where the yoga area used to be.
It had lights, a music system, a detachable pole, and the whole thing was on a floating pad that would absorb any shock or impacts to help protect his joints.
Across from the stage was a new leather armchair.
“You said you needed a place to practice.” I motioned to the stage. “Does this work?”
“It works.” He slid his gaze to mine. “And I’m guessing that chair isn’t there for me to rest my heinie in while I’m taking a water break?”
“You could also use it for that.”
“I’m just going to put these in your room, Ev.” Vlado slipped out of the hallway and into the main part of the apartment.
“Are you angling for some private shows, Mr. Williams?” He arched one eyebrow at me.
“That was my hope. But it’s not contingent on the setup. I know this is your work and practicing is part of your job, so if you don’t want—”
“Of course I’m gonna dance for you.” He smacked my arm with the back of his hand. “Did you forget I have a major performance kink? Give me a captive audience and I’m gonna sparkle like a diamond in the rough!”
“I think you mixed up a few different sayings there,” I said, unable to keep the affection out of my voice.
“Probably. Now. Is it prezzie time?” He gave me big blue puppy eyes.
“You’re a brat.”
He batted his lashes. “Pretty please can I have my presents?”
“In my room. Vlado should’ve had enough time to set them down and escape.”
“Yay!”
Spinning on his heel, he darted for my room.
I followed at a slightly more leisurely pace, my anticipation building with each step that brought me closer.
“Slow poke,” he chastised as I crossed the threshold. “Could you walk any slower?”
“Probably.”
“Cheeky,” he muttered and leapt onto the bed. “It’s kind of a dick move that you made Vlado carry this stuff up here,” he said as he grabbed the closest bag.
“I didn’t make him. He wanted to come up and say hi and used carrying the bags as his excuse.”
“Awwww, he’s a sweetie. We really need to find him a girl. He needs someone he can spoil and take care of.”
“Agreed.” I sat on the edge of the bed.
Nick carefully pulled a decorative bundle of tissue paper free from the bag, then dug out the small, wrapped item.
“Breakable?” he asked.
“Not breakable, but some of them are delicate.”
Gingerly, he unwrapped the bundle, revealing his present. “Are these…” He picked a pair of underwear and unfolded them. “Oh wow.”
The low-rise briefs were gorgeous. The front was made from sheer black mesh that was as soft as silk, and the back had a large heart-shaped cutout over the ass, but instead of being bare, chains of glittering jewels hung from a metal ring in the middle of the heart and connected to the V part of it.
“I never got to take you to my friend’s boutique,” I explained. “I had him send me a selection of his best pieces. That one might be hard to dance in because of the chains, but can you imagine how incredible they’ll look draped over your ass?”
“Um, yeah. I can. And I’m gonna look hot as fuck.
The chains, the cutout, the material. I love everything about them.
See how they doubled up the material to make the dick pouch?
It’s just opaque enough that you won’t be able to see my dick unless you’re up close and personal.
Sexy and revealing, but still classy and mysterious.
” He carefully laid them out on the bed. “Are all these lingerie?”
I nodded.
“Eep!” He grabbed the next bag and flung the excess tissue paper aside.
Watching Nick open the packages was as much of a delight as it had been picking out which ones I thought he’d like best. I’d tried to get a little of everything, and by his reactions, I’d chosen well.
He held up every pair or set he opened and gushed about all the things he loved about them. I’d chosen the items based on how I thought they’d look on him and from what he’d told me about his preferences, but it was fun to learn the correct terms for the various styles.
I’d picked out a few bodysuits, one of which he’d called a gladiator style and another he’d said was harness style. There was also a selection of jocks and briefs, and few pairs of boy shorts. I already knew he preferred cage and garter styles with those and had made sure to get some of each type.
I’d also included a couple of bikini sets, a silk robe, some body chains, and a collection of stockings and garters.
“What do you think?” I asked as he rubbed the robe against his cheek.
“They’re beautiful. All of them.” He put down the robe and ran his finger over a line of cascading jewels on a strappy jock. “Thank you.”
“I have one more thing for you.”
“Really?”
I nodded and stood. Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I went to my dresser and pulled open the top drawer. Inside lay the necklace box I’d stashed in there a week ago.
“Ev?” Nick asked when I hesitated.