“We’ll meet in the lobby at six,” Brian told Susan and Garrett.

They were waiting to be checked-in at the reception desk of Hilton Oak Lawn, Chicago. Justin was impressed with the luxurious location. He had seen grander hotel lobbies with his traveling, but this one made his top ten.

The bell boy approached, ready to help them, but Brian waved him away. Justin couldn’t help but stare at Brian. There once would have been a time when Brian would have invited the bell boy to his room, but Brian had changed.

Maybe, just maybe, Justin was safe in his wishful thinking that Brian loved his freedom more than he loved Justin, so he wouldn’t fall in temptation.

When the front desk clerk handed the group two key cards, Justin rocked on the balls of his feet.

“Was there a misunderstanding? Don’t I get my own room?”

“They’re sharing, and you get to experience the suite with me,” Brian told him, grinning.

The clerk fumbled, his distress grabbing their attention. “I apologize, but the suites are unavailable at the moment. We only had the two doubles available.”

“It would have been nice to tell us beforehand,” Brian barked. “Come on, Justin.”

Justin shot the paling boy a small smile, apologizing for Brian's behavior, before rushing after Brian. He caught him at the elevator.

“Should we dress fancy?” Susan asked, once they were all in the elevator.

“Casual will do,” Brian answered.

“This is our stop,” she said, when the doors opened on the fifth floor.

“I see we’re on the top floor,” Justin commented, after the doors slid close.

“This room had better be the best one they have.”

“Can you be a bigger queen? Staying in a suite is not always important. I mean, I’d know.” Justin led the way to their allotted room. “Look, I’ve stayed at so many hotels I lost count, but the only important thing is the bed and the bathroom. I never took advantage of the various facilities the suite or even the hotel offered. I usually left early in the morning and arrived back late at night.”

“I know what you mean, but it’s nice to know you have all the available features at your disposal.”

Brian slid the card in the slot, opening the door. They walked inside, and Justin ran into Brian's back when he stopped at the end of the small entryway.

Justin could see the reason why Brian had stopped. There was only one large bed. He also noticed a spacious sofa.

“I’m calling dibs on the sofa.”

Brian shot him an incredulous look. “That bed is big enough we may get lost in it.”

“You can do better than that.”

“We’re both sleeping in the bed,” Brian said with finality in his voice.

Their eyes met, and Justin was ready to win the argument about not sleeping in the same bed. When Brian took a step closer, almost towering over Justin, his gaze penetrating, Justin blinked. It seemed to trigger a chain of actions.

Justin wasn’t sure who moved first, but they both reached out, undressing each other, as their mouths collided in a heated kiss.

Brian threw Justin’s sweater to the other side of the room, like it had personally offended him. Justin did his best to unbutton Brian's shirt without ripping it. They undid each other’s pants, letting them pool at their feet, before stepping out of them.

Justin struggled with taking his socks off at the same time with his shoes, and ended up losing his balance. Brian caught him by the elbow, bringing him close to his chest. The sound that escaped Brian's mouth was pure ecstasy.

Once they were naked, Justin found himself on the bed, his legs spread open like some wanton whore. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been so turned on.

Brian climbed on top of him, returning to kissing Justin's lips. His hands explored Justin's body, getting reacquainted with it.

Justin wrapped his legs around Brian's thighs, bringing them closer. When their erections touched, they both groaned loudly. Brian pushed against Justin's groin, breathing heavily over his face.

Their eyes met for a fraction of second, and Justin could read need, desire, and a touch of fear. They had to be very careful when they crossed the invisible line. Brian risked a lot by sleeping with Justin, but neither of them could stay away from the other.

Brian sat up on his knees, one hand on Justin's right calf. “I don’t have...”

Justin pointed to his travel bag. “But I do.” He could barely recognize his voice, which was dripping with desire.

“Did you plan to seduce me?” Brian asked, amused, walking to Justin's bag. He opened it and dug around inside, frowning when he couldn’t locate lube and condoms.

“In the side pocket,” Justin advised. “I didn’t plan for this, Brian. I know…” He cleared his throat loudly, not ready to discuss how deep Brian was into his fake marriage. “I wanted to sample the local clubs.”

Brian's head snapped up from his search in Justin's bag. Justin could read possessiveness in there, and it amused him. Brian wasn’t his anymore, and Justin was free to do whatever he wanted.

Brian returned to the bed, victorious. He placed the condom box next to Justin, uncapping the lube bottle.

“Cold,” Justin yelped, when Brian squired some over his ass.

“It will heat up,” Brian said in a rough voice.

“That’s so lame, quoting from our first night together.” Justin laughed, but his breath hitched when one of Brian's fingers circled his hole, pushing inside slowly. “Oh, God! That’s so good!”

“You’re so goddamn tight. How long since you last fucked?”

“A while,” Justin mumbled, pushing away memories of Eric. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

Brian leaned between Justin’s open legs, bringing his face close to Justin's, then he was kissing him with ardor. His fingers worked on loosening Justin's hole, while their mouths molded into each other.

“I need you,” Justin gasped out. One of his hands touched the side of Brian's face, his fingers tangling into the slightly long hair.

Brian took a condom and slipped it on his dick, lubing himself up before angling his erection toward Justin's ass.

“No regrets,” Justin whispered.

“I don’t do regrets,” Brian said, sliding home.

And it felt like they were home once again, wrapped around each other, making love.

Justin tried to remember his last time with Brian, but came up empty, because that memory had been pushed to the depths of his mind. It used to hurt too much to think of it, and he had locked it away.

When Brian looked into his eyes, Justin bit hard on his bottom lip, because unwanted words were about to slip out. He could never tell Brian he still loved him. But judging by the raw look on Brian's face, his feelings were reciprocated.

As he stared in the deep hazel eyes, the memory of their last night together hit him like a brick in the head. Soft kisses, lingering touches, hours of lovemaking, no words exchanged, laughter and tears. Justin felt overwhelmed and closed his eyes, throwing his head back. Brian could still make him feel like he was made of jelly when they were doing the horizontal dance.

After coming undone in each other’s arms, Brian allowed himself to lay on top of Justin, his arms tightly wrapped around him. He nuzzled Justin's ear, mouthing the words he wanted so much to say out loud. There had been a time when he ran away from them, but times had changed.

Justin went rigid into his arms, then turned his head to meet Brian's eyes. There were tears swirling in the deep blue eyes staring at him. “Me too,” Justin said so quietly, Brian doubted he would have heard him if he was any farther away.

The emotions were too much for Brian, and he excused himself to the bathroom under the pretext of a shower.

Justin wrapped the bed cover around his naked body, sitting up. He stared at the closed bathroom door. That was so like Brian, to run away from any hint of emotion, though he had been the one to admit he still loved Justin.

Justin had no idea if this was a one-time thing, or if there would be an encore. There was no time to contemplate the direction they were going, however, because Brian's phone started ringing.

The water had started running a moment before.

Justin was all for leaving it to ring, but the annoying ringtone got on his nerves when it wouldn’t stop. He went in search of the phone, and saw Evan’s name flashing on the screen.

Holding the phone in his hand, he went into the bathroom. “Your husband is calling,” Justin said loudly.

Brian was standing in the tub in all his naked glory, water cascading down his body. “Reject the call.”

Thankfully, the phone had stopped ringing while Brian was talking.

Justin placed it on the sink, never taking his eyes off Brian's body.

“Wanna join me?” Brian stepped back so Justin could climb in.

Justin didn’t need any further invitation. He joined Brian, and dropped to his knees instantly. He moaned loudly at tasting Brian for the first time in years. His dick was freshly washed, because there was no lingering taste of rubber or cum. With Brian's hands in Justin's hair, Justin sucked him dry.

After Brian shot down Justin's throat, he helped Justin up. He was about to offer to help with his erection, but noticed Justin had already come. Blowing Brian had always turned him on to no end.

While they toweled off, Brian's phone rang again. He wrapped the towel around his waist, picking the phone and answering.

“Hey,” he said curtly.

“Finally! I’ve tried reaching you for—”

“I got to the hotel a while ago and grabbed a shower,” Brian cut Evan off.

“I see. I sent you an email with something I think you should discuss with Brown.”

“I thought we already made a plan about what was to be talked.”

“I got another idea…” Evan insisted.

“We’ll see. Look, I have to get ready to meet Leo for dinner. I’ll keep you updated. Don’t call every hour,” Brian muttered.

It was the first time they had been separated since the whole farce had begun. Brian could envision Evan turning into a pushover, like he knew him.

Brian ended the call, returning to the room. He was greeted by Justin's hot body wearing only white underwear, as he went through his bag.

Brian tiptoed closer, then slapped Justin’s desirable ass for being so on display.

Justin yelped, touching his tender behind. “Kindly leave my abused ass alone. For a few hours, in the least.”

“Did I hurt you?” Brian asked, concerned.

“It’s been a while, like I said.” He pulled out of his bag a wrinkled shirt. “Shit.”

“Serves you right for carrying that stupid duffle bag. Shirts stay pressed neatly in the pocket of a suitcase.”

“I bet the hotel has ironing service.”

“Justin, we’re almost late to meet Susan and Garrett. Take one of my shirts.” Brian opened his suitcase, pulling out two shirts. He handed the light blue one to Justin.

There was no room to refuse, so he accepted.

To Brian's abject horror, Justin paired his Prada shirt with dark blue jeans and Nike shoes. He almost regretted offering his shirt, only to be so disgraced by Justin.

“You said casual,” Justin said defensively, noticing Brian's judging eyes on him.

“Whatever.” Brian wore dress pants and a red shirt, leaving the top two buttons undone. He stepped into his loafers, running a comb through his hair in the room’s mirror. “This is casual, Justin.”

“In your conception…”

After a touch of cologne on Brian's part, they were ready.

In the elevator, Justin won the short argument about him being the room key holder. Brian was most-likely to misplace it.

They found their colleagues waiting for them in a set of armchairs near the reception area. Garrett was the first to notice them, and jumped up. 

Justin was impressed that they didn’t comment on how late they were, but he reminded himself that Brian was their boss. Brian was his boss, too, but their relationship was definitely different, especially judging by their previous activities.

When Justin started to head for the door, he realized Brian was no longer behind him. He turned to see him talking to the front desk clerk. There was a lot of nodding and a phone call was placed, then Brian joined them.

“The car will be here shortly,” he announced.