Chapter 3
Wesley
I step into my apartment, put my keys in the ceramic bowl, and toss my coat onto the hook on the wall. Minnie has a hotel for tonight, and she won’t be coming over until tomorrow afternoon. That gives me enough time to clean this place up.
It’s not exactly a pigsty, but towels are tossed on couches, and almost all my clothes are hanging on a single chair in my bedroom.
I got lucky with apartments when I came to Canada. This one is a two-bedroom, and one of the bedrooms has its own bathroom. It’s not cheap, but it’s about the same as New York.
I toe off my shoes and then start unbuttoning my shirt. After all the buttons are undone I take it off and throw it in the hamper. I do that with all my clothes until I’m in my boxers.
Standing in front of my closet, I look around for my sweatpants when I come across the T-shirt I wore six months ago at that bar. It’s ridiculous, but I kept that shirt and didn’t wash it because it smelt like him.
I have, on occasion… very rarely… pulled out the shirt and taken a large inhale, allowing the scent to pull me back to that night.
I put it back in my closet and decide to sleep naked. I need a shower anyway. Standing under the spray, I let the water wash away my stress. Rolling my shoulders and running the washcloth over my skin, I try to focus on the task at hand—not the way Pierce was looking tonight.
I don't really see him, with the exception of talking in his office. I feel him watching me, but he’s often in the dark, and I can’t see him clearly. This time, he was directly beside one of the large lights hanging from the ceiling of Sweet Cocktails. Illuminating his face.
His jaw was tight as well as his stature. He was wrapped in his expensive suit that fit perfectly, and his eyes followed my every move.
For a guy who says he doesn’t know me, he sure pays me a lot of attention.
Don’t touch your dick. Don’t touch your dick. Don’t touch… oh, fuck.
I wrap my hand around my shaft despite my brain telling me it’s a bad idea. I’ve done so well, trying not to jerk off to my boss’s face, but I’ve reached the end of my tether.
Six months of this. Six months not getting any because I can’t get past this man.
“Oh, fuck…” I groan. It feels so fucking good.
I get some soap and lather it up before sliding my first over my cock.
It would feel a lot better if it was his hand.
I jerk myself off to images of Pierce. Of him standing on the second level, watching me. I recall the way his hands gripped the railing and imagine that first wrapped around my cock.
His lips trail across my skin, making me shiver. He bites the part of me where my shoulder and neck connect. He tells me I’m a good boy.
“Jesus,” I growl and stroke myself faster.
“Are you a good boy, Wesley?” Pierce says in my head.
“Fuck. Yes, I’m a good boy. I’m your good boy,” I say out loud.
I’m so close. I can feel a shot of pleasure tingle down my spine. My balls draw up, and I lean my head against the shower wall.
“Oh, fuck. Please, Sir,” I groan.
I imagine Pierce spanking my ass as he fucks me with his clothes on. I can see it like an out-of-body experience. He’s teased me, entered me, and now he’s fucking me hard.
“That’s it, baby. Take my cock. Such a sweet little hole you got there. I love filling it up.”
“Motherfucker!” I cry out as I orgasm. My cum shoots out and coats the shower wall.
It takes the last drops of power I have not to crumble down to the floor.
“Fuck,” I grunt as I push off the tiled wall and run my hands through my hair, pushing the strands away from my eyes.
It was nice, a quick release, but nothing like the orgasm I had with Pierce. That thought has me tossing and turning in my bed, thinking about what I need to do. I can’t keep doing this because sooner or later, I feel like my dick might fall off.
The push and pull of the ache in my chest keeps me up. Part of me doesn’t want to ignore the pull I have to the man, the way he makes me melt, and this need to be around him. The other part doesn’t like this unrequited… not quite love, but like. But more than just like. Somewhere in between love and like.
Lust.
I can’t sleep, so I get up and start cleaning my apartment and preparing it for Minnie.
Minnie will be a good addition to my life. Having a roommate and someone to talk to and do stuff with instead of being stuck with my chaotic thoughts will be good for me. Yes, I’m running away from my issues, but as long as I work at Sweet Cocktails, I can’t run far anyway. But if I can get some relief, maybe I can get my head straight and figure out what I want and what to do about it.
Whether that means getting away from Pierce or trying to deal with him, time will tell.
The Next Morning
I have the weekend off, so I decided to show Minnie around Vancouver today. It gets me outside into fresh air and distracts me from thoughts of Pierce. Though there is zero chance that it won’t work. I swear the man has consumed my entire being. I think about him all the fucking time.
I shake my head as I head to my car, Minnie beside me, ready for our day out.
“So, how have you been?” Minnie asks, crossing her jean-covered legs and leaning against the center console like she’s looking for a particular answer.
“No,” I say as I drive to Jericho Park.
“What do you mean ‘no’? Your one-night stand is now your boss. That’s like… insane. Million to one kind of thing,” she says, waving her hands in the air up and down, palms out.
God, I regret telling her about Pierce.
When she gets no answer, she slumps in her seat and continues the conversation on her own.
We drive down the highway west of downtown towards the water to Jericho Park.
Jericho Park is a place I like to hike. They have trails, and sometimes you can see some wild rabbits, so I often take my camera. This time though, I have my backpack with lunch instead. After the hike, we can go to the beach and have a picnic.
Minnie loves BLTs so I made one for her and a ham and tomato sandwich for me. Plus, a couple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, just in case. Maybe that’ll make up for me not wanting to talk about Pierce.
After about a twenty-minute ride, I turn a corner that brings us to the parking lot.
It’s a beautiful day. Warm with the light breeze and blue sky, it isn't raining like usual. I’m wearing a pair of nylon pants, a T-shirt, a light jacket, and hiking boots—casual and practical.
I pull into a parking spot, and the conversation seems closed due to my silence. I reach to the back and pull out my backpack before exiting the car. Minnie’s long brunette hair gets blown all over her face as a breeze comes in.
“Oh my God,” she giggles as she tries to capture the mess of curls in her hand and tie them into a loose bun.
I chuckle as I put on my backpack and lead her into the park.
“This is pretty sweet!” she says about halfway through the hike.
It’s the height of summer. All the trees have leaves that shine in the sunlight, the flowers are all out, and the air is fresh. The structured path of the park makes it pretty easy to walk, and it takes about half an hour to finish. Mostly because we stopped to stare at a couple of wild bunnies sitting next to a bush eating grass.
“Oh my God, Wes. Look. Aw, they are so cute.” Minnie takes out her phone and snaps a few pictures.
I take my water out of my backpack while she enjoys the bunnies. Taking a sip, my eyes catch a runner in skin-tight blue and black lycra. He’s a little too far away, but what I see of him, the way his chest fills out his top and his muscular arms, I can tell he’s hot.
I stop mid-drink as the man comes closer, and I see it’s Pierce.
Fuck my life.
My body tightens as he gets closer and closer to us.
“Yo, earth to Wes.” Minnie waves her hands in my face just as Pierce slows down.
“What?” I say as I peel my eyes away from how Pierce licks his lips and removes his earbuds from his ears.
Minnie looks over to where I was staring and sees him.
“Well, hello there,” Pierce says, pocketing his earbuds.
“Hi,” I manage to get out despite my sudden dry mouth.
We stand there, staring at each other. Pierce looks hot as fuck, sweat dripping down his face, and the muscles on his chest are outlined by his shirt.
“Um, hello,” Minnie says, sticking her hand out to Pierce. “I’m Minnie. You know Wesley?”
“Yes,” Pierce says.
Oh, now he admits he knows me.
“He works for me at Sweet Cocktails,” he explains. “Oh, and my name is Pierce Donnelley.” He sighs. “It’s such a nice day today, isn’t it?”
Wait, is Pierce engaging in small talk?
“Indeed it is,” Minnie says, then jabs her elbow into my side when I don’t say anything.
“Ouch,” I rub my side as Pierce narrows his eyes at the two of us.
“Everything okay?” he asks.
No. My boss, who I have a crush on but also kind of dislike, is casually talking to me, and it’s freaking me out.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Awkward silence surrounds us like smoke, and I wish I knew what to do. If I didn’t get so tongue-tied around this man, I’d probably come up with some quip to get us out of this, but nothing comes to mind. Unfortunately, Minnie comes up with something.
“Would you care to join us for lunch? Luckily, Wes here packed some extra sandwiches. Peanut butter and jelly, wasn’t it, Wes?” She looks at me and mouths, “ Fucking say something.”
“Uh, yeah. I made two of those, but I’m sure Pierce—I mean, Mr. Donnelley—has better things to do,” I chuckle awkwardly.
Pierce shakes his head. “Not really. And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches happen to be my favourite. If you don’t mind, I'd love to join you.”
“Sure!” Minnie says. “We’re going to go down to the beach for a picnic,” Minnie points just off to the side, past the grass to the beach.
Pierce walks in front of us, and I pull Minnie to me.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
“What? You were looking at him like you wanted to eat him for breakfast.”
“Yeah, but he’s my boss,” I hiss as we follow Pierce down the stairs to the beach.
“Not right now. It’s the weekend. Plus, it’s just lunch.”
She’s right. It’s just lunch. Bosses and employees can have lunch sometimes. But Pierce and I are unique. He’s so hostile to me, and yet he wants to have lunch? Maybe it being the weekend has him relaxed and not in work mode.
I pull a blanket from my backpack and set it on the sand, where Pierce and Minnie get rocks to hold down the corners. Next, I pull out the sandwiches and lay them out in the middle of the blanket. I look at Pierce, who pulls out his water bottle from his pants pocket before taking a seat.
“So, you like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches?” I ask as I hand him one.
“Yes. Would you believe I had them every day as a kid?”
I can barely believe Pierce was ever a kid. He just seems like he was created in a lab as an adult. He has a perfect jaw bone, perfect hair, and a perfect body. His personality is a little robotic. More logical than emotional.
“Yes,” Pierce continues. “They were my favourite, and they still are. Though a close second would be this meat sandwich this guy from Brooklyn made. He had a little shop close to where my grandmother lived, and when he’d visit some weekends, I’d always go out and get myself one. I have no idea what he put in it. I just know it was good.”
Pierce looks at his sandwich, and a soft smile appears on his lips. I wonder if he’s thinking of those childhood memories, running off to the sandwich shop. I try and picture it in my mind. A little blond boy in a baseball cap, reaching up to place the money on the counter to get his sandwich.
“You’re from Brooklyn?” Minnie asks, pulling me out of my imagination.
“No,” Pierce shakes his head as he swallows his first bite. “I’m from New York City, but my grandparents were in Brooklyn, and we’d go there often.”
It looks like he wants to say more, but his eyes cloud with something dark, and he pulls back, giving us a smile that I can tell is fake.
“This is really good, by the way. You’re quite the cook.” He points at the sandwich before taking another bite. All I’m thinking of is how much I want to hear what he didn’t say.
His story about the sandwich made him seem… human. Which is a perception of this man that I lack. I’m wondering, if he were to open up a little, maybe I could understand him more. Understand why he’s doing what he’s doing to me because I know it’s on purpose. No one has a night like that, and in two months, just forget it. Do they?
“Mm, I’ll be right back,” Minnie says, standing up. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
“You don’t know where it is,” I call out as I panic.
You’re going to leave me alone with him?
“I can find the bathroom. There are signs for it everywhere.” She waves and runs along the path.
I turn back to Pierce, who just looks at me while he eats his sandwich.
“Don’t like being away from your girlfriend?” he asks. The way he says “girlfriend” sounds like a sneer. Does he not like Minnie? He just met her, and who wouldn’t like her? She’s like a sunflower in human form.
“She’s not my girlfriend. Just my friend. And now my roommate. Temporary roommates. She just moved into town and needs to find a place for herself.”
Why are you telling him this?
“Really?” I can’t tell if he’s shocked that she’s not my girlfriend or curious about her looking for a place.
“Yup!” I pop the P and take another bite of my sandwich.
It’s kind of funny watching Pierce eat a sandwich. The jelly doesn’t exactly help the stickiness of the peanut butter, and I catch him trying to be stealthy, using his tongue to pry it off of his mouth.
Pierce chuckles. “Always so very hard to eat.”
I chuckle, too. Because a loose Pierce is not one I’ve seen before. Sure, we were pretty loose in that hotel room, but we were also a bit… sexually charged. This is more casual.
Pierce leans back on one hand and looks at my backpack where my sketchbook is. Anytime I go out, I put that in there. Drawing and painting have become a new hobby of mine. I drew as a kid but didn’t pick it up again until a few months ago.
“You draw?” Pierce nods to the sketchbook.
I nod. “Yeah.”
“Can I see?” he asks.
I pause. I don’t really show my drawings. Not because I think they’re bad, but I don’t tend to want anyone else’s opinion. I show them to Minnie but that’s different. She’s my best friend. Pierce is… not. But part of me wants to do it. Just like when he shared his story about the sandwich, that sneak peek into who he is outside of his boss mode. I want to give him.
So I pull out my sketchbook and hand it to him. He places his sandwich down on his leg and opens up the book.
He takes his time looking at each page, but his face reveals no reaction to the drawings. With my free hand, I grip my knee nervously. What if he doesn’t like them? He’ll probably tell me, and it’ll crush me. Given the shit he’s done to me at work, I’m anticipating a backhanded compliment or something.
He closes the sketchbook, hands it back to me, and then picks up his sandwich. Before he takes a bite, he says, “They’re beautiful. Maybe you can frame some and hang them in the bar.”
Just then, Minnie returns and I absentmindedly go back to eating my lunch. Minnie and Pierce talk while my mind swirls with what just happened. Sweet Cocktails had some of the best art coming out of Vancouver. Pierce picked most of it himself, and it’s usually the most expensive shit you can get. And he wants to put my stuff on the wall? A drawing I did on a sketchbook that I got for seven bucks?
I look at Pierce as he chats with a carefree smile on his face.
I’ve got this man all wrong. The question is: how much more of him will I see? Is this all I will glimpse into who Pierce Donnelley is? Part of me doesn’t want to push. The other part thinks this is important. That there’s a reason for everything. For the way he treats me at work to why he’s here having lunch with Minnie and me. And I want to know what that reason is.
I can only hope that one day Pierce will tell me.