26. Chase #2
“So, you’re the assistant then?” Theo gestures to the tray in my hands.
I blink, looking down at the coffees in my hand.
“Uh, no. I’ve been here for three years now working in Marketing.
I just got promoted to Director,” I mutter, walking over to Jeremiah’s desk, setting the coffees down.
Feels a little silly now that I brought those.
I should’ve just taken him up on his offer to have everything delivered.
“Hm. Congratulations,” Theo nods slowly, looking me over. “Must feel good to partner with all the big dogs.”
I give him a winced grin.
Jeremiah steps beside me. “Chase is actually a part of the executive team here. He makes up an important piece of WingMate.”
I give him a quick, small smile.
“Well, isn’t that just amazing? Congrats.” Theo grins, even though I can see it not reaching his eyes. That is until he moves his attention back onto Jeremiah. Warmth and joy radiating off of him. “And what about you? After you left for college, it was like you dropped off the planet.” Theo sighs.
Jeremiah glances at me quickly but averts his attention back to Theo. “ Uh, yeah. College was…college. And then after that I travelled for a bit before I worked at a few tech companies. Nothing too exciting.” Jeremiah plainly states, shrugging his shoulders.
“Dude, you’re COO,” Theo chuckles, raising his arms to gesture around.
Jeremiah lets out a small laugh, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“I’m not surprised. I knew you’d go on to do great things.” Admiration gleams in Theo’s eyes, and it makes my stomach turn.
“Plus, I can only imagine how wild your dating life’s been since. You can’t still be single after college, right?” He chuckles, tapping Jeremiah’s chest with the back of his hand. “Tell me there’s been some guy who’s managed to snag you up.”
Everything goes silent. The air shifts as my mouth goes dry.
“Wait…you’re gay?” I ask before I can stop myself.
Jeremiah’s eyes snap to mine.
“Oh shit, I’m sorry man. I didn’t mean to—did I just out you? Dammit,” Theo stammers, taking a step back.
“You didn’t out me,” Jeremiah says flatly. He turns to me. “Yeah. I’m gay. Does it matter?”
“You never told me.”
“You never asked.”
Theo awkwardly coughs, breaking the undeniable tension in the room. “Well…let’s catch up sometime, yeah? I’m not taking no for an answer. You owe me for disappearing.” Theo rushes out, leaving the room before Jeremiah can answer.
I feel a burning behind my eyes. I can’t deal with this.
“Fuck,” I huff out loud.
“What is it?” Jeremiah asks, turning towards me.
“I just…fuck this,” I shake my head, walking out of the room.
I can’t talk to him. I can’t tell him how badly this just fucked with my head even more.
Seeing him standing there with Theo Hart’s arm around his shoulder as he looked at him with such admiration…
it’ll make me combust. And him being gay this entire time?
What the fuck?
I hear Jeremiah calling after me, but I ignore it. I look to my left to see Heather, David and Theo talking to some of our coworkers so I immediately choose to turn right instead, bursting through the doors to the stairwell.
I won’t be able to make it through a whole week of this. Having to be around them…together…I won’t be able to take it.
Jeremiah shoves his way through the door right after they shut. Running up the stairs after me, he grabs for my wrist, yanking me to turn back.
“Are you seriously acting like this because I’m gay? How is that a surprise after what we—”
“Because I didn’t know!” I yell. “I never thought I was…until recently. And I thought we were figuring it out together but…you—” I swallow thickly, resting my back on the metal railing. “You always knew.”
“What do you want me to say?” He’s standing on a step lower than me, eyes burning a hole into my face.
My breath feels heavy, pressure built on my throat making it hard to breath. Looking down at him in his gorgeous face, knowing I can’t have him…it hurts.
“You don’t have to say anything. It just sucks. You were into men this whole time and…still never wanted me…” I breathe, taking a step higher to create some distance between us.
“You think I didn’t want you?” He takes in a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. “In case you didn’t realize, you weren’t particularly my favorite person in high school.”
“You think I don’t know that?” I spit, guilt crashing over me for how awful I was to him. “You won’t even let me apologize to you—”
He takes another step, meeting me closer again. “And not to mention the fact that I’m also your boss.”
His eyebrows pinch together, eyes flicking from mine to my lips.
I shake my head. “You can rock this week on your own. I don’t think I can be around you–”
Jeremiah grips my shoulders and pushes me back against the cold white walls. I feel his waist press into mine as he gets close, his face only inches from mine. “Do you even understand what you’re asking from me?”
“I’m not asking you for anything—”
“Oh, but you are.”
“Okay, fine. I’m asking you to be fucking honest with yourself…” I sneer, looking down at his beautiful lips. “I’m asking you to do what you want Jeremiah and stop being so damn scared,” I say, my eyes darting between his. “Miss the ferry.”
He freezes.
“Fuck it,” he growls, under his breath.
In one smooth motion, his lips crash into mine, instantly breathing life back into my body.
He threads his fingers into my hair as I grip his waist, bringing him into my groin.
Panting and soft moans immediately fill the empty hallway as our lips collide and tongues tangle. My hands roam up his back until I cup his cheeks, keeping him locked in my embrace.
“Tell me to stop,” he murmurs breathlessly against my lips.
“Not in a million fucking years,” I almost growl, gripping his jaw in my hand. I can feel his hard dick through his pants brushing against my thigh and holy shit, does it ever feel incredible.
Suddenly, I hear a rustling at the top of the staircase. We break apart, fixing ourselves to try and get rid of any sign of what we were just doing. From the sound of chatter and steps, it sounds like people coming in this direction.
“Come with me,” I say, tilting my head towards the door. To my pleasant surprise, Jeremiah follows close behind, as I guide us to an elevator.
We stand there for a short second before the doors open. Some coworkers file out and Jeremiah steps aside to make room. We lock eyes between the moving bodies and I can’t help but smile which prompts a smirk on his lips.
He’s so damn stunning and interesting and fuck, my whole body is vibrating.
We step into the now empty elevator. Hurriedly, I press the first level button and wait until the doors close. Once they do, he immediately closes the distance between us again, pressing me against the back wall.
After a moment of devouring each other, he stops to take a breath, leaning his forehead on mine.
“Staying away from you isn’t working.”
I shake my head. “I never thought I’d say this to someone but I can’t be just friends.”
He combs his fingers through my hair, lightly biting my jawline. I close my eyes, feeling the pleasure of every sting of his teeth.
“No, we can’t be just friends…” he agrees. “But, we can’t be together either.” He shakes his head, eyes locked on my lips.
“What does that mean then?” I ask before I gasp as his hands roam down my back and grip my ass so tight. My hard dick feels painful pressed against my pants and the soothing pass from his thigh is only making it worse. I need more.
“I don’t know…” He exhales. “This is against the rules, Chase,” he mutters before laying a kiss on my lips again.
“Yeah, but I thought we agreed to… fuck the rules.” I smirk, pulling gently at the hair on the nape of his neck.
All of a sudden, the elevator comes to a stop, the doors opening. We rush to either side of the elevator, quickly adjusting our hard-ons and fixing our hair before the elevator doors slide open.
My heart jumps into my throat, the moment I see who is standing there.
Jocelyn, our damn HR manager, looking at us happily and excited as ever.
“Hi!” She smiles, giving us a wave.
We’re frozen in place. If we don’t move, maybe she can’t see us.
“You two coming out?” she asks.
My eyes go wide.
“W-we…I—” I begin. I look over at Jeremiah who’s looking at me with concerned, wide eyes too.
How does she know?
“I kind of need to be upstairs, guys.” Jocelyn giggles. “You guys coming out of the elevator or no?”
Oh.
The elevator.
Relief floods over me.
I look over at Jeremiah again. “I’m coming out,” I say, exiting the elevator and stepping into the lobby. “How about you?” I swallow deeply.
I know this job is important to him. It’s important to me too. But…whatever this is between us, I don’t want to stop it here. I can’t. He’s too…good for me.
No, he’s fucking perfect for me, who am I kidding?
So, maybe we can figure this out. Maybe we can talk to Jocelyn right now and figure out how to make this work. Together.
Maybe.
“I’m staying in…for now. I—I’ve got to be upstairs with the investors,” Jeremiah answers, warily. Jocelyn nods her head and skips inside beside him. Jeremiah’s eyes look sad as he looks back at me. “I hope you understand,” he adds softly.
I stuff my hands in my pants pockets. “Yeah…” I answer as the door softly shuts.
I understand I’m not worth taking the risk for.