Brian's POV

I was in the middle of trying to find the best way to promote the local gallery's shows, wanting to create the most impressing advertisement so when the time came I could help Justin, but I couldn't concentrate. Nothing seemed to work and a headache started to build up.

I refused to call Justin again to give me ideas of what galleries liked promotion-wise. I'd already bugged him enough over the past few days. Also, I was determined to figure out today what the advertisement would look like so I could enjoy the last two days I had with my son.

We'd even planned a play-date at Mikey's. After seeing Gus sulking, I confronted him last night and he admitted to missing his sister. Besides seeing her at the diner whenever Justin took him there, or at Michael's store, he wasn't used to being apart from her for so long.

Cynthia knocked on my door making me frown at her through the glass. She poked her head inside my office.

"The representative of the construction firm is here."

Fuck. I'd forgotten about them.

Looking between the pile of papers on my desk and her, I nodded. "Let them in. Who were they again?"

She shook her head amused. "Hobbs Constructions."

I nodded, turning my attention back to the files on my desk. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but I decided to worry about that later. Before the official arrived, I scribbled more ideas of what I could do for the gallery.

The door opened again and I knew my time was up. Pushing back from the table to stand, I lifted my head and froze. My mouth clamped shut as I was about to greet the official.

Hobbs—it was all clear in my head. Of course I knew the motherfucker.

He was the asshole who bashed Justin in the head at his prom. And by the look on his face, he recognized me too.

Cynthia led him to my desk, asking if he'd like anything to drink, but her eyes were on me asking silently what had me rooted in place. I finally snapped out of it, waving her away.

"You know you can leave if this is against your standards," I said snidely, slumping back in my chair.

He only shook his head, looking at me with wide eyes.

"I shouldn't even accept you. Your company was scheduled months ago for an interview and you kept rescheduling until we didn't get any word from you."

"There are problems in my family," he explained, talking at last. "My father was sick and it was over quickly. I barely had time to put everything in place. I only came across his agenda the other week and found he had an appointment at Kinnetik."

If he expected any sympathy from me regarding his father, he was seeking it in the wrong place.

"Okay, so you decided to honor his appointment without even calling ahead and seeing if we were busy or not?" I muttered, glaring at him.

"Can we act professional and forget about the past?" he asked in a small voice.

That was the last straw. His words made me stand so violently I sent half the files on my desk flying to the floor. "You want me to forget you almost killed Justin?" I thundered.

Hobbs shrunk in his chair. "I'm here to discuss the company's need for an advertisement. I guess we need it badly now that we haven't worked in months…"

"You want me to help you after acting so nonchalantly about injuring my boyfriend? You must be insane." I couldn't believe my own behavior. I had my fair share of clients I didn't like, but my differences with Hobbs had another nature.

"I think whatever was left of the past was put to rest when that lunatic, Taylor, threatened me with a gun." He stood too, regaining some confidence. "If you refuse to help based on our past, I'll sue you."

His last statement almost made me laugh, but his first sentence was news to me. I wanted to call him out on his lies, but a sudden bone-chilling thought crossed my mind.

Had Justin really threatened him with a gun? He used to hang out with that dangerous guy, and at one point he even had a gun.

I had no idea what to say to him. "We're professionals here." I sat back in my chair, taking a deep breath. "Tell me what you want for the advertisement, but keep in mind that we're overly-booked at the moment."

He pulled out a stash of papers from his briefcase and searched for a place to spread them. I pointed to the coffee table in front of the couch. If I survived this experience without punching him in the face, I had stronger will-power than I previously thought.

After a while, I got the hang of what he wanted and started treating him like any other client. I was in the middle of telling him how I wanted to do the ad when the door of my office opened with a bang.

Seriously, it was made of glass. If one more person…

Fuck. Justin was gaping at me, his eyes moving from me to Hobbs and back.

I quickly crossed the room and hugged him. "Hello, Sunshine." I kissed his cheek, trying to relax him. He was too tense in my arms.

"What's he doing here?" he hissed, pushing me away.

"Hobbs is my client." I couldn't help but notice the asshole was afraid of Justin, which reminded me of his admission from earlier. "I'm still busy, and he wasn't scheduled," I added in a defensive voice, thinking he was here to ask why I hadn't come home yet.

We were living together for a week and I missed more dinners than acceptable.

"There goes my plan of going to drown in Ohio River."

"Uh, what?" I gave him an amused look.

"Your son is driving me crazy. It makes me question my sanity on ever wanting a baby. They all grow up and turn into little bastards."

"What's Gus done?" I asked, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Give me a minute," I said back to Hobbs before leading Justin out of the office.

"For some reason he only listens to you. We were best friends when he helped me work on Rage, but now when I went to that important meeting with Mr. Wanger about the show, he's possessed."

I looked around, not seeing Gus. "Where is he? And what has he done? I did offer to keep him here today while you went to your meeting," I reminded him.

"Yeah, but that meant you had to wake the kid at six in the morning. Not cool." Justin sighed. "Anyway, I was chatting with Mr. Wanger about the theme of the show, and lost track of Gus. I made the mistake of allowing him to wander off."

"Did he destroy something?" I asked fearfully.

"Someone from the back room brought him to us asking if he was mine and saying he'd made a stack of old antiques fall. I have no idea what he was doing, probably hiding or something. Anyway, I took him to Michael's to stay with his sister for a while."

"Good. Sorry about…" I waved a hand behind me. "I didn't make the connection until I saw his face. We exchanged a few words I wouldn't repeat then got to work."

"It's old news. Fuck him. I was just surprised to see you together, talking." He shrugged.

"He mentioned something, though."

"Probably lies," Justin mumbled, not meeting my eyes.

"He said you threatened him with a gun. Is that true?" I dropped my voice, lifting his chin with one finger. "Because it's a serious accusation, Justin. If it's true, you risk…"

"He won't tell anyone. We both put his actions to rest when I went after him with Cody." He sounded agitated. "It's over. Forget it. If you want the truth, I regret it. Besides, it made me feel bad. At least I didn't go all the way as Cody wanted."

"Cody? The guy you used to hang with when you were after homophobes?"

"Yes. What's with the questions? Come on, Brian."

Maybe he was right. If he was at peace with the past, and so it seemed Hobbs was too, maybe I should give it a rest, as well.

"Let me wrap up the meeting with him. We're going to dinner."

"Alone, please," he begged, wrapping his arms around me.

"Sure, Sunshine. I'll have a talk with Gus when we pick him up later."

"Must we? He can spend the night at Michael's. We'll be alone, at last."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Sounds like a plan. Come in. You can call and give him the news while I finish off with Hobbs."

"That plan sounds fabulous. Finish off with him, baby." He teased.

"Justin!" I groaned, opening the door of my office. "Mikey's number from the store is somewhere in my phone."

"I'll find it." He pecked my cheek before walking to my desk and throwing himself in the chair. He spun a few times, before stopping and fixating Hobbs with his eyes. Justin wasn't glaring or smirking, he was simply staring blankly at my client, which distracted him.

It also got on my nerves. I had no idea who I wanted to slap—the fucker next to me or my boyfriend.

I chose to bring my client back to our discussion by snapping my fingers in front of his eyes. He jumped, looking at me startled.

Justin started chuckling, but when I turned to look at him, he immediately busied himself with the phone. He was having too much fun with the power he now held over Hobbs.

It didn't take long to finish our meeting. We had both lost the concentration after Justin interrupted us with his impromptu visit, and he was making it difficult to continue too.

While he was on the phone with Michael he talked too loudly, then he found chewing gum in my desk drawer and started munching soundly, even creating balloons. When I thought he was done with acting like a brat, he started clicking on my computer until he found a song on YouTube probably and played it loudly, even asking if we liked the song.

"I'll let my assistant call you for our next meeting," I told Hobbs before closing the door after him.

"That was very rude. If it was any other client you wouldn't have done it," I said upset, stalking to where Justin resumed spinning on my chair.

"He's boring. Besides, I thought you were busy with the gallery's ad," he said lazily.

"I am. I have more than one team. We can take more than one project at a time." I stopped the chair from spinning. "I think Gus's behavior rubbed on you."

"How so?" he asked innocently, chewing noisily.

"You're such a brat, Justin. I missed this attitude of yours."

"Good. You're gonna see it a lot more if you don't make appointments on time. We're together now, and I want you home every night for dinner. If you don't make it, you'll get bratty Justin. I might as well send you to sleep on the couch."

"Aye!" I saluted, squatting to his level and kissing him softly. He wound his hand around my tie, keeping me still and kissing me back, his tongue invading my mouth. When I tipped his head back to get better access, he pulled away coughing.

"Fuck. I swallowed it. And don't you dare laugh," he threatened me lightly.

"Well, serves you right." I ruffled his hair. "A gum won't kill you. Drink lots of fluids and you'll be fine."

"I can start with your fluids," he teased, tracing the front of my pants with a finger.

"Or, you can wait for later. We're still at work. Want to see my ideas for the gallery's ad?"

He grabbed my dick, squeezing. "I want you here."

"Justin…" I protested feebly.

My warning went unheard. Justin pulled me even closer, slowly unzipping my pants.

I looked over my shoulder, worried of what my employees would see. Thankfully, they were all otherwise occupied.

"Sit." He stood up, pushing me down into my chair, before dropping to his knees under my desk.

Jesus Christ. He is actually going to blow me.

Opening my pants, Justin pulled my hard dick out, licking his full lips. He'd always been amazing at blow jobs, a natural talent. I'd missed his mouth as much as I'd missed his person, or close enough.

"Head will be fifty, but considering the risk of getting caught, I'll take a hundred." He smiled sweetly, meeting my eyes.

I gasped, before schooling my features. He wanted to play? Good.

I was all for PDA, but not at work; at least, not in a public area like my office. The bathroom was a different and old story.

"I'll decide how much you deserve after you're done."

His eyes widened. Yes, two could play a game, Taylor.

"I usually collect up front."

"You'll make an exception this time." I placed a finger under his jaw, tugging at his chin to open his mouth.

He seemed to regain his wits. "I always swallow, Mr. Kinney."

I nearly jizzed myself like an unexperienced preteen boy…something only Justin could make me do.

"Touché," I mouthed.

He winked, wrapped his hand at the base of my dick and went for the kill. He licked around the head, sucking it into his mouth with loud, obscene sounds, until I could taste blood from biting my lip to keep from moaning.

Then, he engulfed my entire dick in his mouth. I could see his throat expanding from swallowing me. Justin peered up through half closed eyes, and hummed. My eyes crossed in pleasure.

I pressed a hand at the back of his head and guided him over my erection. Jesus, it felt so good! The sounds he was making were ripped out of a pornographic movie, but he knew exactly what I liked, how I liked it. As he reached a hand for my balls, my phone rang loudly.

We both jumped, and Justin nearly hit his head on the inside of my desk.

"Stop," I hissed, pushing against his shoulder. "It's Michael."

He pulled away with a loud pop, frowning. "So answer him. I'm just enjoying my Brian-flavored lollipop."

"Justin," I threatened him through clenched teeth, daring him to go back to sucking me. When I picked up the phone, he squeezed the base of my cock, smiling innocently.

"Mikey," I greeted my friend with a hitched breath.

"Hey. You okay?"

"Yes." I gasped when Justin gave me a long lick, flattening his tongue over the length of my dick.

"I'm headed home. Any idea when you're coming?"

"Soon." I moaned, as Justin took me back in his mouth, blowing me with renewed vigor.

There was a short pause from Mikey, before I heard a long sigh. It meant he caught on to what I was doing.

"Really, Brian? I mean, seriously. What the fuck are you doing?"

He knew me too well. I probably couldn't even roll my eyes without him knowing. "I'm at work," I breathed out, trying to lie as best as I could while being deep-throated.

Michael snorted. "Yeah, right. I hoped this time was for real—you and Justin. No more bullshit. No more fucking around."

"What the fuck are you talk… Yeesss! Fuck. Like that!" I grunted when Justin pressed a finger under my balls, slowly circling my hole. I shifted lower on the chair to give him better access.

"Brian, I'm serious!" Mikey snapped, reminding me I was on the phone with him.

"Mikey, can't talk…now…ahh." I panted as Justin doubled the effort to get me off. "Later… Call you…" I threw my head back, gritting my teeth when he ducked his head to suck on my real ball. It amazed me that he remembered which one was real.

I could hear Michael was on a roll, but I hung up. I'd deal with him later.

Besides, he really had to have more faith in me. I'd never cheat on Justin.

"Suck me." I moved Justin's head to the tip of my dick.

"Greedy, aren't we?"

"Needy. Suck me, already, or God help me, I'll take you against the desk."

His blue eyes sparkled with mischief. "Is that a promise?"

I stroked his cheek. "Maybe another time…when we're alone in here…after hours."

"It's a date!" He grinned at me, going back to work.

It didn't take long for me to explode down his throat. As promised, he swallowed every last drop. Licking his lips, Justin got up from under my desk after tucking me back in my pants and planted his hands on the armrests of my chair. He leaned over and kissed me deeply, never breaking eye-contact.

"I love you," he murmured, pecking my lips repetitively, unable to separate.

"Should I pay you more for the affection?" I joked, running my fingers through his hair.

Justin plopped on my lap, wrapping his arms around my neck. "Way to ruin the mood, asshole!"

I peppered kisses on his neck, stopping at his ear. "I love you, Justin." I caught the lobe between my lips. "Always have, always will."

"Forever." He turned his head to kiss me, smiling.

Cynthia chose that moment to unceremoniously barge into my office. She gasped, turning red when she noticed the compromising position we were in. Lucky for her, she hadn't interrupted us earlier.

"I can…come back…later?"

"I'll be gone later. What is it?" I asked, holding Justin against my chest. I wasn't ready to let him go.

"I need your signature here." She placed a paper on my desk.

After scanning the document, I signed, pushing the paper to her. "Go home. It's Friday. We're leaving, too."

"Thank you. See you on Monday. Have fun!" She winked, waving over her shoulder as she walked out of my office.

"We will!" Justin said in a singing voice, making her laugh.

OoO

We had dinner at a nice restaurant. Justin kept eyeing me with an amused expression all through our evening, but I didn't question his behavior. I had learned my lesson long ago not to question him, unless I wanted one of his babbling speeches on one thing or another.

When we walked to the car, he stopped at the flower shop in the corner of the street and brought a red rose. I waited a few feet away, watching him with interest. If he wanted a rose, he could have said.

Justin offered it to me, smiling shyly. "Be my Valentine?"

My eyes widened.

It was today. I was such an idiot. I never cared for this stupid holiday, or any other love-related event.

When I didn't answer fast enough, his smile disappeared and he dropped his hand. "Too much?" He bit his lip, not meeting my eyes.

I cleared my throat, tilting his head with one finger. "I'd love to, Justin." I plucked the rose from his hand. "I forgot about today."

"I thought so, but don't worry." I could tell he'd lost some of his excitement.

"We don't need Valentine's Day, Justin. No one does. It's just for media."

He bristled, looking hurt. "It's for people who love each other!"

"I'd rather show you all year long what you mean to me, not only one day." I took his hand, rubbing my thumb over the top of it. "I love you every day, not one day every year."

It was still new to me to admit my feelings so openly, but at the same time, it was freeing to let him know how much I loved him; and to see him smiling his special mega-watt smile.

"Oh, Brian!" Justin threw his arms around me, hugging me tightly.

Our display got the attention of passer-byers and they cheered. Justin took the advantage of that and grabbed my face in his hands, kissing me full on the mouth. I wrapped my arms around his waist and lifted him, kissing him back furiously.

I wanted nothing more than to take him home, but we had to go to Mikey's and beg them to keep Gus overnight.

The drive to Michael and Ben's was quiet, except Justin humming along to the silly romantic songs on the radio.

"How did you get to town?" I asked suddenly, realizing I'd left early and took the car, obviously.

"The Fairy Godmother," he answered seriously.

I couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I found your old car…"

"She doesn't have gas."

"I know. So when I accepted our fate to be stranded there, we got a surprise visit." He beamed at me.

"From the Fairy Godmother?" I joked.

"It was only Mom, actually. She drove us to the gallery."

We stopped at a red light and I turned to face him. "If you want the 'Vette, I can have someone look at it and buy gas." I knew how much he liked that car.

"Really? If it's not too much, I mean. I'll help you pay for it."

I rolled my eyes. "Nonsense. Consider it a house-warming gift." I winked, leaning to peck his cheek.

"I thought the housewarming gift was you fucking me in every room."

He looked mock-hurt, and it made me laugh, but I didn't correct him.

At Mikey's I wasn't planning on staying long. After talking to Justin—which meant him forgiving Gus, we'd decided to bring Gus back home with us. We'd have time to be alone once he was gone, and we'd miss him. It wasn't often when my son visited.

I hated when the little shit was right.

Justin rang the doorbell as I inspected a lit up pink, heart-shaped object on their porch. They were both insane. I truly hoped I'd never cave to anything so ridiculous if Justin happened to like it.

The door opened to reveal Hunter. I had no idea he was visiting. He was studying to become a doctor at Northwestern University.

"Hi, Hunter!" Justin said excitedly.

"Hey. Come in," he mumbled, stepping aside.

"Something wrong?" I questioned his sulky tone.

"They're acting like kids."

"They are kids," Justin reminded him.

I stifled a smile. "Hunter's talking about Ben and Michael," I explained.

"You got it." Hunter pointed at finger to me. "I'll be in my room."

We went to the living room to find their once spotless place turned upside down. They seemed to be in a game of tag seeing as everyone was running, and JR was squealing loudly.

Gus was the first to see the guests. "Dad!" he shouted, rushing to me. "Play with us!"

I shared a panicked look with Justin, who chuckled and pushed me to join the crazy people. Michael caught my eye from across the room, and frowned.

Oh, he still thought I had a trick earlier, which made me grin at him. I read somewhere that smiles confused people, and I loved keeping him confused about my personal life.

"We were wrapping up the play-time. The adults are tired," he said loudly. "Honey, why don't you go change Jenny's clothes? She's sweaty," he added to Ben.

"Sorry, buddy. Maybe tomorrow." I winked at Gus, hoping he'd forget about it. "Go, get your stuff. We're going home."

"I'll change her shirt," he offered, taking his sister's hand and walking toward the stairs.

It was just us, the adults, and I could feel the tension building up.

"Want a drink?" Ben offered, breaking the silence.

"Sure, honey. Go with Justin. We'll join you soon," Michael told him.

I nodded to Justin, knowing I had to face Michael and his questions. I had to explain what he had heard wasn't exactly what he thought.

He advanced on me the second we were alone. "Are you fucking stupid, Brian? How many people have to tell you how much that guy loves you?" he whisper-shouted, not being very credible.

It was actually quite funny how concerned he was about Justin all of a sudden.

"About as much as I love him, I suspect." I shrugged.

"Then why the fuck would you go behind his back to your old ways?"

I chuckled, patting his cheek and leaving my hand resting there. "Believe it or not, it was all Justin's doing…what you heard."

Mikey's eyebrows shot up. "You were whacking off at work thinking of him? You're falling in the other extreme—fast."

"He paid me a visit—a satisfying one." I winked.

"Christ. In your office, Brian?" He made a face. "Were you…fucking? That would be so you. Talking on the phone while getting your rocks off."

I laughed, wrapping my arm around his neck. "No. Let's just say, Justin was thirsty." I steered us to the kitchen, smiling.

"You have no shame," Michael mumbled.

"Like you haven't done that at the store with Ben." Justin offered me a glass of amber liquid when we reached them. I downed it in one gulp. "It's late. We'll have to catch up next week. Promise," I told them, ready to get home. "Gus, hurry up!" I shouted up the stairs.

"Oh, yes. We can swap stories of how was our week with the kids." Ben nodded.

"I'll tell you now—long," Justin answered.

"Which reminds me, Gus is off TV or games until he apologizes," I added, remembering what he'd done earlier to Justin.

"Don't be mean. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Sunshine, you came to me with suicidal thoughts after spending a few hours alone with Gus."

"Try spending a day with JR. You'll start searching for your coffin," Michael joked.

"Bummer. I didn't keep your present from my thirtieth birthday." I laughed

"Or less macabre," Ben added. "You'd want a one-way ticket to a far-away country."

"That bad?" Justin asked worried.

I walked to the bottom of the stairs, clearing my throat. "GUS!"

"I'm here. Chill." He descended, scowling at me.

"Good. Let's go." I placed my hand on his shoulder.

Ben bid us goodbye, before going to check on their daughter.

Michael led us to the car, and as Justin buckled Gus in the backseat, he came to my side. "Nice." He pointed to the rose sitting on the dashboard.

"Justin's other present." I grinned.

"He was always a romantic."

"I can do romance too if I want. I'll see you on Sunday when we give the kids to their mommies." I took his face in my hands. "Have a nice night, Mikey." I pecked his mouth.

"You too. As much as possible." He smirked.

"You bet."

On the way home, Gus fell asleep, making Justin paranoid. He insisted I drove slower so Gus wouldn't fall between the seats, considering he was lying on the bench.

It made me wonder of the way he'd act if we had a child of our own. But I pushed that thought away quickly. I was nearing an even scarier milestone age, and being the father of a baby wasn't on my To Do list. Though, if it was something Justin wanted, I wouldn't think twice.

When we arrived home, I carried Gus to his room while Justin went to ours, to wait for me.

It didn't take me long to wake Gus enough to change him in his pajamas, before tucking him under the blanket.

I expected Justin to be naked and all playful, ready for another round, but what I found on the bed made me snort. He was fast asleep, lying on the covers in only his boxers.

I tried pulling the covers from under him, but gave up when he wouldn't budge. I wrapped him in the cover and lay on my side of bed with the blanket. It would be funny in the morning to find Justin still wrapped in the covers, if he didn't kick it off the bed during the night.

I'd forgotten how agitated he was during the night—one of the few things I didn't miss.

The last few days I had with Gus were mostly spent at home, playing Wii games. I was getting pretty good at bowling, something I detested. Gus kept begging me to bring Justin to play with us, but I knew he was busy with figuring out what to paint and drawing Rage. He and Mikey wanted to publish the next number by the beginning of March.

Eventually, Justin joined us. The three of us had fun, and it gave me dreams of doing this more often. The downside was Gus living many miles away, which made me think again of having a family with Justin. He'd most likely think I was joking if I brought it up, but one of these days I might as well let him know my wishes.