He stays for breakfast the next morning, looking rested and younger, and we laugh and joke as usual, but when he’s gone, the silence filling the suite seems bigger somehow than just an empty room. I rub my chest and redirect my thoughts. Time to go to work.

But somehow, that feeling of warmth stays with me all day, allowing me to greet my loss in court with equanimity and an ease that’s completely alien to my competitive nature.

Chapter Fourteen

Mags

It’s a gorgeous summer evening when I get home, the sun lying low in the sky and gilding even the most mundane objects. I climb out of the taxi, looking up at my building with happiness. Laurie and home await me. Record scratch. I mean home. Home is waiting for me.

Still, I race through my shower, throw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and arrive outside his door in record time. I knock on the door, and Endof whines softly. He seems to know where he is already.

“You are a clever dog, Endof,” I inform him. “Which is as it should be.” He rolls his eyes and starts to chew on his lead, and I give up.

The door opens, and I look up and smile at the sight of Laurie. He’s dressed in denim cut-offs and a pink T-shirt covered in paint. His hair is dishevelled, and he looks warm and so familiar to me. I frown at the sight of the purple shadows that lie under his bloodshot eyes again. The welcoming grin he greeted me with slips.

“Ooh,” he breaths. “You look rather fierce.”

I smooth my expression. “Just wondering at the condition of your hair. Has anyone ever explained the use of a comb to you, Laurie?”

He chuckles, the sound warm and lilting. “Well, if I have to receive a lecture on the topic, I couldn’t have picked a better person to deliver it. You seem to live to tell people what to do.” He puts a finger to his lips. “Oops! I meant to say how wise you are.”

“No, you didn’t.” I push him into the flat, closing the door behind us and pushing him against it. The sudden move makes him gasp, but I’m gratified to see his eyes darken.

“Mmm,” he says, and I feel the throaty sound in my dick. It makes my cock hard, and I lean in and kiss him furiously, licking into his mouth and sucking on his tongue.

When I pull back, his face is flushed. I clear my throat. “I didn’t come for that.”

He blinks. “You didn’t?”

I straighten up and click my fingers at Endof, who is nosing around the kitchen bin. “No. We came to take you out.”

“And is that we—you and Endof?”

“Who else?”

“I don’t know. You might be setting me up for a threesome with one of your other men.”