Well-Tailored (Thorne and Dash 4)

He’d make Marc pay for that. He wasn’t sure how, but it would involve something kinky and delicious.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Marc and Riley finally made it through the long line at Ivan’s. By the time they sat down, Marc was glad he’d gotten a cold sandwich so he didn’t have to wait.

Riley flopped into his chair and looked blankly at his tray. He was running himself ragged between the business and the wedding stuff.

“Did you sleep last night?” Marc asked.

Riley blinked as though just waking up. “I’m fine, just too much to think about.”

“Wedding shit?”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to talk about it,” he said as he unwrapped his sandwich.

Riley and Thorne didn’t agree on the scale of their wedding, and Riley had taken on all the planning since he was the one who wanted a big ceremony. From the look of things, that was going as poorly as Marc had suspected it would.

“How are you?” Riley asked, obviously trying to perk up.

Marc considered spilling his troubles, but Riley was worn out enough from his own issues.

Yeah, Riley’s stress is a great excuse for not admitting I’m fucking Darius and falling harder and harder for him.

Was he ever going to be ready to confess? He finished chewing a bite of sandwich before answering. “I’m…like always.”

Riley frowned. “Marc?”

“I’m fine, really. Work is going well. Even Darius admits I’m improving.”

Riley studied him, and Marc was sure Riley knew he was lying. “How’s Darius?”

“Aloof, arrogant, demanding.” Talented. Fuckable. Demonic.

“In lust with you.”

Why wouldn’t Riley let this go? “What he feels or doesn’t isn’t something I’m privy to.” That wasn’t precisely a lie. Other than lust and pride, Marc had no idea what Darius felt.

“Why don’t you just ask him out, for fuck’s sake?”

Considering how the other night at his apartment had gone, Marc didn’t think Darius would take that well. “I do actually want to keep this job, you know.”

“He’s not going to fire you. Remember how impossible he said it was to find competent help?”

Marc was damn good, and Darius knew it, but Darius was already breaking his no-fucking-employees rule. If Marc pushed for more, he couldn’t be sure how that would end. “All the more reason he’s not going to go out with me.”

“You still never told me what happened when you first got the job.”

And he wasn’t going to tell him now. “Nothing.” Except some of the best sex of my life.

Riley raised his hands in surrender. “Fine. Be that way. I’m eventually going to get it out of you.”

“Like I want Darius to get it into me.” Marc almost cringed after the words came out of his mouth. He was playing the role Riley expected of him, fun-loving flirt who wanted into his boss’s pants. Riley deserved better from him.

“I know you do. That’s why—”

Marc needed to put a stop to this. “It’s a fantasy. At least it gives me something pleasant to think about at work. Did you pick out what you’re wearing for the wedding?”

“No, Thorne was supposed to go see Darius to get his recommendations, but he left for Chicago on Saturday. Now I guess I have to do it.”

Marc balled up the wax paper that had been around his bagel. “Did you guys have a fight? You seem even more bitter about all this wedding stuff than last time we talked.”

“We’re fine.”

No, they weren’t, or at least Riley wasn’t. Could he be hiding as much from Marc as Marc was hiding from him? “Riley, I think you’re losing it. And that’s normal: planning a wedding, starting a new business, that’s a hell of a lot to do at once. Are you sure the Big Gay Wedding is what you want?”

Riley dropped his head into his hands. “I don’t know.”

“It’s one day. One fucking day that starts something amazing.”

“But I always wanted—”

“Sometimes the reality isn’t as good as the fantasy.” Marc had learned that lesson a few times, though not with Darius. Darius was everything he’d expected and more.

“You really think I should stop pestering Thorne and decide things on my own?”

“I do, and I can help you. It will probably be my only chance to plan a wedding.” The fact that a “relationship” that involved fucking and never mentioning it afterward was the best thing he’d had in a while certainly supported that.

Riley laid a hand on top of Marc’s. “Don’t give up.”

Marc hated the concern in Riley’s eyes. He did not want Riley thinking he was a charity case.

“With my track record, I’d say my chances are near zip.”

“Eventually, you’ll have your fill of sly, charming assholes and find someone more deserving.”

Darius wasn’t particularly sly. He’d made his feelings clear at the beginning. But then he’d come back for more and more and more. What did he think they were doing exactly? Marc wasn’t ready to break the spell and ask. Until he reached that point, he’d do best to keep it from Riley.