FRIDAY morning, Brandon’s phone vibrated. He knew it wasn’t Ralph’s reminder—wrong tone. He plucked it from his nightstand and read the message.
2p my house. Tony.
Not a “please.” Not a request. Not even a check to see if he was already busy, which he wasn’t. He could ignore it, say he never received it, but more than likely this was more work for him, and no matter how torn Brandon was over the mistake he’d made with Tony, he needed the job and the money.
He replied, Today?
Please came back nearly instantly. Too bad he had no idea the inflection of that one word. Please in a persuasive addition, or rather in suffering mockery?
I’ll be there.
Then nothing. He tossed the textbook he’d been reading onto the bed. Last one, thankfully. He was so ready to be done with books, studying, stressing over grades. All of it.
There hadn’t been much spoken between them since the weekend. Brandon hadn’t been to the office—Ralph was taking it easy on him for his finals. He hadn’t seen Tony at the gym either. He was sure Tony was going, just not when Brandon was there. Whether it was deliberate or not, he couldn’t have said. In fact, this was the first Brandon had seen or heard of Tony since Monday morning.
It didn’t alleviate his curiosity over what Tony wanted. Or his worry.
After cleaning up and dressing, he found himself knocking on Tony’s door right before two o’clock. Looking in either direction, he was able to study the homes. They still intimidated him. It was obvious they were high-end by their location alone; all the hills behind them made the area upscale. They were also spacious and spread out over at least an acre if not more. All were well tended, with sparkling green lawns.
Millionaire? Maybe. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. He tipped like he could be, Brandon silently joked.
It chilled him a little when his next thought was that Tony might believe he had ulterior motives for last weekend. He was most definitely not after any of Tony’s money. Brandon might be a college student, but he wasn’t penniless, just more often broke than not. He wasn’t eating cheap noodles every day.
He should have seen this as a possible perception, but unfortunately, he had only one thing on his mind at the time. Especially after that kiss….
He sighed, slipping his hands into his jeans pockets. It had been too easy to fall into a cloud of need and lust after that. All the longing he’d been keeping under tight lock and key had broken free and he’d taken a chance. The weekend they’d shared was definitely the best of his life. Memories he would savor and treasure.
Another moment or two passed, and he wondered if Tony had heard him. He raised his hand to knock again but the lock finally turned on the inside. He let his hand fall.
The door gaped open and his vision was filled with Tony. He was simply gorgeous. Brandon’s heart thudded into his ribs as he soaked in a long drink of him. The shirt formed to his shoulders and chest, and Brandon took a second or three to enjoy.
“Come on in,” Tony said evenly.
Brandon walked through the door, keeping his face neutral to hide his inner thoughts. He was still on edge over the request to meet Tony at his home rather than the office. Tony wasn’t being too welcoming either, which wasn’t helping Brandon’s disconcertment.
Tony motioned for Brandon to sit on the couch. And then Tony sat beside him. He clasped his hands between his knees, a very deep, thoughtful furrow between his eyes as the silence grew pervasive. Brandon waited patiently, or as patiently as he was able to portray.
“I need to know what happened last weekend.”
Brandon leaned back, creating a larger space between them on the couch. “About what?”
“Why did you leave?” Tony was still staring between his knees at nothing. “What did I do? I feel like I did something, hurt you, and I don’t know what it was.”
“You didn’t do anything, Tony,” he replied, popping to his feet. He really didn’t want to have this conversation. He didn’t have to come here to say nothing.
Tony was quick to copy him.
“Then what changed?” He took a step closer and Brandon didn’t have room to evade him. “Was it a bad weekend?”
“No,” he quickly denied. It definitely wasn’t bad. Maybe too good, but not bad at all. Dropping his gaze to look away, he was determined not to cross any lines again. He’d been living in misery since Monday, knowing he couldn’t do this again. Knowing he couldn’t have Tony. He’d made a massive error and had been paying for it with the now-astronomical desire burning inside for the man in front of him.
“Brandon.” Tony sighed and reached out for him. Brandon hesitated, then let him scoop up a hand and obeyed when he was urged closer. “What changed? You’re even acting different.”
“How old are you?” he softly demanded, raising his chin to meet Tony’s gaze.
“Thirty-four. With my birthday in March, I’m nine years older than you,” he explained.
Brandon nodded, his heart feeling heavier knowing the truth. “That is a gap.” He’d been right all along.
“Brandon? Devyn was thirteen years older than me. Age means next to nothing to me.”
His brain swirled. “But…. Then…. I mean, you let me believe that—”
“I know.” He tugged and Brandon tipped unsteadily on his feet, closing the space between them when he fell forward to keep his balance. “I’m not used to being the older man. It felt weird.” His voice gentled. “So tell me why you left and gave me the cold shoulder on Monday.” One of his hands rose and threaded into Brandon’s hair. “Give me at least that much,” he whispered. “This has been one of the longest weeks, waiting for you to come to the office or trying to snag you at the gym.”
“I’ve had to work time around finals and studying.”
“I know. I finally figured that much out today. And you’re avoiding answering.”
Brandon bit his lip. Then with a huffed sigh and a bounce of shoulders, he realized Tony might have a deeper reason to want to know. Maybe he suspected something worse? He didn’t know. There were too many possibilities. Being truthful was the only thing he could do.
“You’re still in love with Devyn,” Brandon managed, not meeting Tony’s probing gaze even though he knew Tony was studying him for every detail.
“Why do you say that?” The slow tug and sweep of fingers through his hair stuttered but didn’t completely stop.
“I’m not saying it’s wrong, but I can’t be in competition with a ghost. You still have photos of him up and….” He swallowed. “You called me by his name twice.”
“I did?” The fingers in his hair drew still to fall free. A low groan filled the silence right before he was wrapped into Tony’s strong arms. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
Tucked against Tony's chest, Brandon settled cautious palms on Tony’s hips. He relaxed, but not completely. At least Tony wasn’t still upset with him. “It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it.”
Tony lifted his head to stare at Brandon. “Maybe not, but there’s no excuse for forgetting the person I’m with, either.”
Brandon dropped his hands and went to step out of his hold. It felt too good. Tony refused to release him completely, his hands gliding to stop at Brandon’s sides.
“Forgive me?” he asked, brown eyes soft and warm.
“Of course. We still work together, right? Can’t be running around mad at each other.”
Tony’s pleasure faded a few degrees. “That’s another thing. Would you be against me showing your portfolio to a few friends? I think you can do better than my occasional needs.”
“Be a full-time model?” He scrunched his brow. “What about my degree?”
“You’ll still have it and will have a great fallback plan, a plan B for when you’re done or tired of it. It’s just with you working for me….” Tony’s eyes darkened, his expression growing serious. “I can’t do this.”
Brandon’s lips were claimed before he really understood what Tony was getting at, the whole idea of modeling full-time leaving him spinning. Then he was being kissed to within an inch of sanity.
TONY realized the real mistake he’d made with Brandon, and that even if he wasn’t showing it, he’d hurt the younger man. He’d had no idea about accidentally calling him by Devyn’s name but could see how that had cut him deeply. Devyn had been on the fringes of Tony's thoughts a lot of late. Whether it was his subconscious creating conflict or Devyn actually talking to him—which freaked him out a little—he didn’t know. Regardless, he’d never meant to hurt Brandon.
The idea to show off his modeling shots hadn’t come to him until the day before when Gwen had seen his work on Tony’s desk and had expressed real interest in Brandon. She was a modeling agent he’d used for years for himself and they were comfortable enough to point out talent to each other. Tony had a feeling if he offered Gwen a chance at his contract, she’d snatch him up. Tony also trusted her not to abuse an innocent to modeling. He knew it would always be a secondary job for Brandon, his real heart in his numbers. She would respect that and not force him to change it. Some weren’t that considerate.
If he didn’t have personal investment in Brandon’s contract, then there would be no conflict of interest to see where this could go between them. He did believe in the no-fraternizing rule, though he wasn’t strict on it. But he didn’t want to risk Brandon either. He wanted to be fair.
Tony had been dissecting everything that had happened the previous weekend to try to uncover what had created the rift between them. Even their friendship had lost traction, which made no sense. He hadn’t felt more bereft in the last two years than when he walked out of the coffee shop on Monday morning after their short conversation and being made to leave with no answers.
Tony broke the kiss, gently sipping at Brandon’s lips as he released them. Brandon was panting shallowly, his length leaning into Tony’s taller frame. “I don’t know what you did to me, but I missed that.”
Brandon rolled his forehead in denial against Tony’s chest. “I thought we did that all weekend,” he teased.
Tony swept his hands up and down Brandon’s spine. “We did, but there was a limitation to it.” He urged Brandon to look at him. “I don’t want the make-believe, Brandon. And if I say that, then realistically, I cannot have you work for me.”
“So….” His brow tightened. “I’m being fired?”
“No. I wouldn’t do that.” He slid his hand to Brandon’s nape. “But I do want to do right by you and make sure you aren’t losing a good chance at the same time.” He brushed a kiss to Brandon’s forehead. “Sit and let me explain.”
Brandon sat and Tony put a hand on his thigh. “This came to me last night. A friend of mine, Gwen Stienmann, is a real modeling agency agent. She was in yesterday to say hi and bug me and spotted the proofs of that pool shoot on my desk. She was very interested in you. Now before you say no, let me say, she’s very considerate of her models and works with what you present her, without any drug or surgical enhancements. She will expect a healthy Brandon, but other than that? She’s really a sweet dream in the industry. I also know you will make bank faster with her than with me, and she won’t obstruct your education to do it.”
“But I’m making enough with you,” Brandon pointed out.
“I hope you are. I don’t want you losing your home or car or not being able to meet basic needs. But if you have a steadier income, your final year of school will be a lot less stressful.”
Brandon glanced down, his expression growing thoughtful. “That’s true. So I can treat it as temporary and she won’t go ballistic?”
“If you want, I can be there when you begin discussing this with her so there’s no confusion. I’ll be honest with you, Brandon. I want you to be happy and not burning the candle at both ends.”
Brandon gazed at him, his eyes warm when he placed a hand over where Tony’s rested on his thigh. “I trust you.”
That gave Tony a very warm nudge on the inside. “I should tell you, my motive isn’t a secret.”
Brandon raised a single eyebrow.
“You’re the first in the two years since losing Devyn to make me feel life is worth living again.” Like maybe I can love again.
“Really?” Brandon perked up. A sweet smile full of hope began to curve his mouth.
“Yes, my beautiful boy.” Tony leaned in and Brandon met him halfway. A lightness grew, making him feel vibrant and invincible. And it was because of the sweet man kissing him back.