Chapter 8
Griff
Each day, I looked forward to whatever chapter or snippet that Taylor would leave on my desk.
Sometimes it was just edits from the day before or additions to scenes I had already read.
He added things after his nightly inspiration.
At least, that was what he was calling our get-togethers.
I liked to think of them as dates, but if he was a little skittish on that idea, I supposed I could be patient until he came to terms with the fact that he and I were the real deal.
We had been hooking up for a few weeks now, always going to my apartment after work.
There we would get to know each other better.
At first it was purely physical, but now I couldn’t imagine my space without him.
Cuddling on the couch, cooking dinner side-by-side.
The little things that really built a relationship. We were doing all of them.
Wednesday morning, I missed seeing him because I was in a board meeting. I hated board meetings, even more so now that I didn’t get a chance to see Taylor. It was nearly two o’clock, and I hadn’t seen him in his mailroom office at all.
“He’s out sick today,” Sawyer said as he put a cup of coffee on my desk.
“Who?” I said, though I knew exactly who he was referring to.
“Your boy, Taylor. You think you’re discreet, but you’re really not. You’ve stared out that window more than you’ve looked at your laptop today.”
“Discreet like you and Mark were?” I rolled my eyes, behavior unbecoming of an executive in front of his employee, but I didn’t care. Taylor wasn’t here and he was sick? I hated that.
“Okay, so maybe you’re slightly more discreet than that, but still, it’s a little obvious that there is something going on between you two.”
“Let’s circle back to that ‘out sick.’ Is Taylor all right?” How come he knew Taylor was sick, but I didn’t?
“Yeah, he called in sick this morning. Head cold, I think. He sounded stuffed up yesterday. You didn’t notice?”
Yesterday, I hadn’t been able to entice him over to my place.
We didn’t necessarily get together every night, but it was pretty close.
He stopped short of staying over; many nights he would leave my place late at night, and I would order him an Uber.
I wished he would just stay with me. Perhaps never leave my place.
I could lock him up like Grysten had to with Tobias before Tobias realized that resistance was futile.
I didn’t like the idea of Taylor being alone while he was sick.
Mark came in then, smiling like the adoring goofus that he was at his fiancé. He tended to hand-deliver paperwork to me or others on this floor simply so he could see Sawyer. Mark handed me a folder as if he was doing me a favor, while really, he could have emailed whatever was in the folder.
“The stats you were looking for earlier. Sorry I didn’t have them this morning.”
“No worries. Your admin staff is slacking over on your side, probably because you left all the good ones here.”
Mark laughed good-naturedly. “Hell no. My staff is excellent. Though yours is pretty great, too.” He had barely spared me a glance; instead, he stared at Sawyer. Much like Sawyer had accused me of staring at Taylor.
“Also, you’re biased,” I said.
“Perhaps.” He winked at Sawyer. “I’ve got two of my people out with this head cold thing that seems to be going around. That’s why I didn’t have the report ready for you.”
“And Taylor’s out with it too,” Sawyer said. “Everybody better brush up on their vitamins. Gregory just came back to work after having it. He said it really knocked him on his ass. He was happy his husband was home to take care of him.”
“According to Evan, he was a big ol’ baby the whole time,” Mark said.
“Aww.” Sawyer pouted. “Would you take care of me if I were sick?”
Mark shook his head. “No. You’re the worst when you’re sick. I’d run away from you. In fact, if you get sick, you can go stay at your old apartment with Taylor.”
“Rude,” Sawyer said.
“I think I’ll work from home for the rest of the afternoon,” I said. “You don’t need me here for anything, right?” I didn’t care what their response was, I was already packing up my laptop and was halfway to the door.
Sawyer gave me a pointed look. “No, I don’t. But why do I have a feeling that your idea of working from home might be you working from my old apartment?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“You and the mailroom guy? Taylor? Jeez, man, you’re like four times his size,” Mark said.
Sawyer shot him a look.
Mark threw his hands in the air in a “what” gesture. “You were thinking it.”
“You guys are going to get us reported to HR. We’re all going to be out of a job,” Sawyer said, as if he wasn’t encouraging me to go after Taylor in the first place. “Seriously, though, man, there is a policy against that.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m aware. Taylor is aware. It’s just—don’t worry about it,” I said. “Unless, of course, you’re going to report us?” I looked between the two of them.
Mark scoffed. “Right, like I have any room to report anyone. As long as it’s not a harassment situation, you are free to do what you want.”
“We’re two consenting adults,” I promised.
“Good. Because I’ll ask Taylor the same thing.”
“Don’t bug him when he’s sick, though,” Sawyer said. “Not like Griff is going to. Believe me, the pining is mutual. The two of them are ridiculous.”
“I will not be bothering him. I’m going to swing by the café, get him some soup, pick up some cold medicine, and see if he needs anything,” I said.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad. See, he takes care of his boyfriend.” Sawyer elbowed Mark in the ribs.
“Oh, I’d take care of you too if you were sick, baby, as long as you promise not to whine the whole time. But please don’t get sick. I don’t have time for that.”
I left the two of them to their bickering and flirting.
True to my word, I stopped at the café and got two servings of the chicken noodle soup, then grabbed some cough drops, tissues, and cold medicine from the corner store. I had never been to Taylor’s place except to drop him off, but I knew where he lived.
He opened the door quickly after I knocked. He was wrapped in a bathrobe, his nose red from having wiped it and his eyes heavy.
“Griff, what are you doing here?” He wrapped the robe tighter around himself as if he was cold.
“I come bearing gifts. I heard you weren’t feeling well, so I wanted to take care of you. You know, nurse you back to health.”
He grimaced. “I hope that’s not a euphemism for getting me into bed, because I’m not up for that.” Taylor swayed on his feet, and I went to his side. I dropped my bags to the floor and held his elbow as I guided him back to the couch.
“None of that,” I said. “In fact, let’s get you off your feet. You look like you’re going to fall over.”
“I’m sorry. I really might fall over, or maybe I already have. This feels like a fever dream.” His voice was hoarse and nasally.
I chuckled as I helped him back down. He had a heated blanket next to him, and I put it over top of him, then started cleaning up the mess of tissues around him.
“You don’t have to do that. I’m gross. It’s been—”
“You’re perfect, and I’m sorry that you’re not feeling well. Do you want me to go so you can rest? I have soup if you want it now, or I can put it in the fridge. I just wanted to check on you. I didn’t want you to be alone.”
His stomach rumbled. “Soup sounds amazing. But are you sure you want to stay? I’m sick.”
“Of course I’m sure. I came here for you.” I brushed his hair out of his face. His forehead was beaded with sweat. The head cold did nothing to detract from his attractiveness. He was still my Taylor, the adventurous writer with an imagination that drove me wild.
His face flushed, either from the fever or my attention, I didn’t know. “You’re going to an awful lot of effort for a fuck buddy.”
I raised a brow. “Is that what we are? And here I thought we were dating.”
Taylor’s eyes went wide.
“Sorry. I shouldn’t have even brought that up,” I said. “We can talk more when you’re feeling better.”
“Well, you did bring it up. What do you mean dating?” Taylor’s eyes roved over my face and he blinked repeatedly.
“Well, I guess if you’re up for it, maybe we should talk about it.”
“About what?” He blinked again. “I think that I hallucinated for a second. What did you say?”
I grinned. He was too fucking cute. “That we aren’t just fuck buddies. This isn’t casual for me, Taylor. I didn’t want to spook you before, but I’m beginning to think you really don’t realize just how much I like you.”
“You do?”
My shoulders shook as I held in a laugh. “Yeah, I like you. And not just because of the super-sexy chapters you bring me. I’d make it more obvious in the office if it wouldn’t get us fired.” I grabbed the bags and began unloading the items I’d picked up for him.
The smell of the chicken noodle soup filled the air, though I doubted Taylor could even smell it.
Taylor groaned. “How’s this supposed to work? Me and you being a thing.”
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I have some ideas. Maybe we can talk about them after you rest.”
Taylor’s eyes fluttered closed, and he pulled his banket up to his chin. “This has to be a dream. When I wake up, this is going to be hilarious.”
I smiled. “Get some rest, Taylor. I’ll be here when you get up.”
“Mhmm, thanks, Griff.”