Chapter 12 #2
His office chair squeaked when he dropped into it.
He got started on the motion. The discovery period was set to end next month, and the justice system worked notoriously slow.
Once they gained class certification, that notice period would drag this case out even more, and Baz wasn’t getting any younger.
The big thirty came closer every day, and with it, the deadline to become the youngest partner yet.
Why Grash hadn’t filed for early classification was beyond him. They had enough plaintiffs, and a mass tort was in no one’s best interest. Handling forty-two individual, yet almost identical lawsuits? There weren’t enough hours in the day.
Bzz bzz.
Annoying Stalker
better warm up that core xoxo
Underneath, a picture loaded. Two figures popped up under the headline The Butter Churner. One was propped up on their shoulders, their back and butt high in the air with their legs folded over them. The other seemed to sit on top of their hips, apparently… penetrating them? Jesus Christ.
Are you trying to break your neck?
There are less embarrassing ways to die.
me? you mean you
Baz barked a laugh. When hell froze over.
You’re delusional.
no
i am excited for tonight <3
Did you just give me a heads-up before coming over? Are you maturing?
i didnt say i was excited to spend it with you
Oh. Baz’s stomach tightened. That was… hm.
Got a list of people to visit, huh?
theres no ring on this finger
He bit the inside of his cheek. Right. Of course they didn’t have any loyalties to each other, that would defy the point of a strictly sexual affair. As long as Sami didn’t give him herpes…
dont work late <3
Oh. Or that.
Baz squeezed his lips together to keep himself from smiling—Sami coming over was not something to be celebrated. It just was… nice. To know. Yeah.
Besides, he could do with some fun tonight. The kind that didn’t involve breaking their necks.
“You okay?” Aya’s voice had his head snapping up. She stood at his door with her laptop cradled against her chest.
“Uh, yeah,” Baz said and placed his phone upside down on the desk.
“You looked like you got good news.”
“No! No, just, you know. Eevee. Being a cheerleader.” Baz swallowed.
“Glad to hear you made up.” Aya settled into the free chair.
Was this supposed to be a longer meeting?
Baz glanced at his watch. Just past six. What constituted working late in Sami’s world? He had said he assumed nine pm was Baz’s regular finishing time. Or did he mean working late by normal people’s standards?
“What do you got for me?” Aya asked.
“Hm?”
“Don’t tell me you think we’re done on the Captain Green case just because you filed one motion.”
Right. That. “Of course not.”
“What do you want to tackle first, Mr. First Chair?”
He glanced at his silent phone. Was Sami on his way already? Would he wait? For how long? Would he leave, or would he find a way to let himself in and linger around the condo by himself? Alone. Naked in bed perhaps…
“Actually,” Baz blurted. “I’m not feeling that great.”
Aya’s eyebrows drew together. “What’s wrong?”
“I can feel a migraine coming on.” In the shape of a 5’8” guy with unrealistic expectations for sex positions.
“Oh. I didn’t know you were prone to migraines.” The softness in her tone pierced through his chest.
“Increasingly so.” That was barely a lie. “Can we take a rain check for tomorrow? I think I need to go lie down.”
“Of course. If you’re up for it. Must be serious for you, of all people, to take a night off.”
He had taken nights off before. He had also argued cases while so high on flu medicine that he could barely stand, but that was neither here nor there.
“Do you need anything? Water? Meds?” she offered.
“I’m sure I just need to sleep it off.”
Aya nodded as she stood back up and gathered her laptop. “Sure. Hey, feel better.”
“Thanks.” He kept the apologetic smile plastered onto his face until she was out of sight. Then, he jumped up, scrambled his things together, and rushed out of the office before his arm was through his jacket’s sleeve.
Seven pm.
Eight pm.
Nine pm.
This was a fucking joke.
Baz paced around his living room. The black sky had long swallowed the sun, and still, not a single fucking word from Sami. Baz was a hair’s breadth away from calling him to demand answers—but then Sami would know he was waiting for him, and he did not want to give him that kind of power either.
Maybe he had misinterpreted the messages. Maybe this was all part of a weird power trip, and Sami was currently in some douchebag’s bed, getting sat on and having the time of his fucking life—
Knock knock.
Finally!
Baz was at the door in two long strides and ripped it open. And there was Sami, charmingly disheveled, no sign of an injury that would explain his tardiness. In fact, he was gorgeous as always, his wide smile showing off the crooked tooth. The dick.
“Hi.”
Hi? That was all he had to say for himself?
“You’re late.”
“Does that annoy you?”
“Yes!” He had lied to Aya for nothing, had wasted hours waiting that he could have spent working—
“Good.”
A hand wrapped around the back of his neck; Sami claimed his lips in a soft kiss. No movement, no demand for more. That was new.
Baz lingered in his proximity, noses touching. “What happened to all your other people?”
“You’ll do.” With that, Sami kissed him again, just as sweet. A low hum escaped Baz. He threw the door shut, cupped Sami’s hips. The tension bled from his body with every second he got to hold him close.
If this was Sami’s way of apologizing, it wasn’t awful.
When they came apart, Sami’s forehead was in creases above his heartbreakingly round eyes.
“You’re not mad?”
Of course he was. Had been, anyway. It seemed like a waste to keep it up now they finally could get to the good part. So then, why did Sami look so disappointed?
“You want me mad?”
“Obviously. It’s more fun when you resent me. Keeps the passion alive.” It sounded like one of his jokes, except toneless, missing the usual glee.
Sami’s hands glided to his collar. Baz’s tie was long gone, but Sami freed the top two buttons from their prisons. His movements bordered on mechanical.
What had gotten into him? And how could Baz fix it?
He maneuvered a curl off Sami’s forehead, used the chance to stroke through his tangled hair. “Don’t worry. I still dislike you as much as the day I met you, and I resent you plenty.”
Sami’s smile was so delicate, so breathtaking, it ought to be persevered in a museum for the admiration of generations to come.
“Really?”
Strange thing to seek validation for. Good thing sanity had never taken up much room in their relationship. “Sure.”
“Thank you.” Sami’s voice was barely more than a breath, as tender as his thumb tracing Baz’s cheekbone.
Sami tugged at his shirt, begged him closer. Even as they kissed, he remained passive, so… vulnerable. The urge to swaddle him in a blanket and hold him until whatever burdened him lost its power overcame Baz. He resigned himself to gently scratching Sami’s scalp instead.
“Anyway,” Sami mumbled, his eyes closed. “It’s your turn. I’m feeling lazy.”
How could he talk about turns when something was upsetting him? Sex, even as great as theirs, didn’t fix everything.
“Did something happen?”
Sami’s eyebrows jumped up. His cheeks turned red. “Eh. No. Just a long day.”
“Oh,” Baz muttered. It didn’t feel like enough. What was the protocol when the guy he had sworn to hate showed up to their hookup sad? “Do you, maybe, wanna talk?”
People loved talking about emotions, didn’t they? It seemed to help in the movies.
“No,” Sami whispered. Before Baz could argue, his lips got squashed under Sami’s—harder, more desperate. Still… wrong.
Baz pulled back, keeping both arms wrapped around Sami’s lower back. “Are you sure?” He could see the battle in Sami’s eyes, saw the bob of his throat when he swallowed hard.
“It’s just…” Sami pressed his lips together, just for a second. Baz pictured himself freeing the soft skin, white under the pressure, from the abuse. “Ian. He’s a world-class dick.”
The only news here was that Sami seemed upset by that. “You said I’m a dick too.”
“But you’re the fun kind I can tease and have a good time with. He’s the lowball-a-bunch-of-kids-with-cancer type.”
Did Sami just admit that he knew Baz was on the right side of this case?
“Is that a conscience I see?”
“Shut up,” Sami chuckled. It ran out of steam too quickly, too heavy to reach its usual melodic heights.
“What did he do?”
Sami tilted his head down. His vacant gaze focused on something that wasn’t there on the floor. His forehead was so close… Oh, what the hell. They were about to do nasty things with each other. Baz brushed his lips over the hot skin to smooth out the wrinkles.
Sami’s arms tightened around his middle. More and more of his weight melted against Baz as Sami buried his face in the crook of Baz’s neck. His scruffy beard tickled Baz’s skin.
Oh.
Hesitantly, ready to withdraw at any second should he cross a line, Baz stroked up his back, his neck, then sank his fingers back into the thick hair. He wished he could tell Sami everything would be okay, but he didn’t want to risk lying.
For a long moment, neither of them moved. Then, Sami sighed.
“He has two rules. ‘Screw ups will not be tolerated,’ and ‘every screw up is Sami’s fault.’ Some days, he’s worse than others. That’s all.”
That was exactly the kind of unjust, tyrannical boss Baz had pegged Ian for. The kind of person he had taken Sami for, too, though he could see now that he had been wrong. Even Sami deserved better.
“Why don’t you quit?”
Sami peeled himself out of Baz’s embrace. “It’s not that simple.” His tone rammed an icicle into Baz’s heart. He hadn’t meant to make it worse!
“Okay. Sorry, it’s none of my business.”
He offered his hands out. Sami regarded them. His Adam’s apple bobbed, but he allowed Baz to pull him close again. Thank god. Baz mentally filed work under touchy subject.
“Don’t worry about me. I don’t deserve it.”
“Don’t be silly. What can I do to help?” There had to be something. He was no Aya, but he did know some people in the legal world who could offer Sami a better job. The bar was on the floor.
Sami’s fingers dug into his shoulders. He shifted onto his toes. “Right now, I just want to forget.”
With pleasure. He bridged the gap between their lips. Sami welcomed him with gentle movements. The flick of his tongue sent a bolt of electricity through Baz, quick and intense, from his mouth all the way to his knees. That was more like the Sami he knew.
Baz ran his hands down Sami’s side; he squatted and grabbed Sami’s thighs, hoisting him onto his hips. Sami’s adorable yelp as he wrapped his legs around Baz’s hips went straight to Baz’s heart. The surprise melted into a disbelieving laugh.
Much better.
Baz would be damned if he didn’t manage to magic that cocky smirk back onto Sami’s sunny face.