Chapter Seven - Ev

Ev was fighting to keep his eyes open at the ass-crack of not-even-dawn when the driver pulled to a stop in front of his apartment building. Four a.m. was only okay when it was at the end of the day. Seeing it at the beginning was total bullshit. He hauled his suitcase off the curb with a groan as the driver hopped out and hurried around to the trunk to help him. Ev let him have the larger bag and carry-on but kept his laptop as he yawned his way to the back seat. He was halfway in when he realized he wasn't alone. "Holy shitballs," he yelped, nearly falling into the wheel well.

Gabe was fast enough to steady him, and he kept hold until Ev parked his ass on the seat. The driver shut the door.

Ev blinked a few times, trying to get his brain to move past the phantom grip on his bicep. "What are you doing here?" he managed. Ev was sure the plan had been for them to meet at the airport. Because he'd been the one to make the plan.

"Making sure you don't injure yourself before we even make it off the tarmac, apparently." Gabe raised a to-go cup to his lips and took a sip. Ev stared, his mouth watering. He'd barely gotten out of the apartment. He'd had no time for breakfast or coffee. The want in his belly was all about the coffee and had nothing to do with the way Gabe's throat bobbed as he swallowed.

Gabe caught him staring—because of course he did. "See something you like?"

Ev scoffed, hoping the darkness hid the heat in his cheeks. "You know, it's rude not to bring some for everyone," he pointed out, annoyance pushing away the ache. Why did Gabe have to be such an asshole and so fucking off-limits?

Gabe just looked amused, then nodded toward the cupholder built into the seat between them. Ev glared at the second to-go cup. "Good thing I'm not completely lacking in manners."

Ev snatched up the cup with a huff, then sighed as chocolate and raspberry hit his tongue. So good. Ev tried to hold on to his annoyance, but it dissolved more with each sip. Gabe had remembered his favorite. "Thank you," he said eventually, relaxing against the cushy leather seats and watching as the city lights swooshed by, lighting up the inside of the car in flashes of color. It was soothing, and he could feel his eyelids getting heavy again, despite the caffeine.

He startled awake as the empty paper cup was taken from his hand.

"Wha—"

"Shh," Daddy soothed, tucking his wool coat between Ev's face and the cold glass window. "Sleep a little more. We're still fifteen minutes away."

Ev hummed and snuggled into the warm fabric that smelled of Daddy. Crap. Not Daddy. Gabe.

Well, that woke him up. He stayed still as he listened to Gabe settle back in his seat. Carefully, he cracked his eyes open. Gabe wasn't looking at him. He was focused on his phone, his face cast into light and shadow by the soft glow of the screen. Ev kind of wanted to crawl into his lap and cuddle.

Ugh. This felt like a trap. He should have taken the subway like he planned. The last thing he needed was to be in an enclosed space with Gabe for longer than necessary. After the last week, he'd learned that too long in the same room and he either wanted to wrap himself around Daddy like Owen with one of his stuffies or smack the cocky little smirk off Gabe's face. There was no in-between.

Keeping things professional was the worst idea he'd ever had, but he couldn't deny it was the right thing to do. Gabe may have apologized for stepping out of line about Remy, but it had just reaffirmed Ev's decision. A relationship with his boss—no matter how good it felt in the moment—wasn't worth the risk.

If only he could stop the second thoughts.

He was horny and hard up—that was all. He'd gotten a taste of having a Daddy again and then called it off. On top of that, he was pretty sure Gabe was intentionally making everything harder. Like, who gave him the right to sit in chairs like that? Or drink coffee? Or wear those pants? Everything about him should be illegal.

Ev just needed to be strong. Get some space. Date people he didn't work for. Separate "Daddy" from "Gabe" until they stopped meshing in his head and sending him spiraling.

It was amazing how much less flying sucked with TSA PreCheck and priority boarding. They breezed through and were settled in their first-class seats in record time.

"May I take your coats?" a flight attendant asked, startling Ev out of his exploration of the seat buttons. Oh. That was nice. He handed his over after retrieving his phone, earbuds, wallet, and charger from the pockets. He caught Gabe watching him and rolled his eyes.

"What?" He tucked everything except his phone into the backpack between his feet, then stretched and settled back. Wow, this was a shocking amount of space. The seat was wide and cushy, and he couldn't touch the one in front of him, even when he stretched his legs all the way out. They were in the center of the plane, where the seats were just two across, with a large console between him and Gabe. Ev pressed a weird-looking button, then squeaked in surprise when a divider started to rise out of the console. He lowered it again with a mumbled "Sorry" when Gabe shot him a glance. A moment later, the flight attendant was back and offered Ev a flute of champagne, which he accepted after seeing Gabe had as well.

"If you were any more wide-eyed, I could start calling you Bambi," Gabe told him, amusement coloring his tone. "Have you not flown with Finn and Xavier? His jet is much more impressive than this."

Ev took a sip of his champagne, then rubbed his nose vigorously when bubbles went straight up it. "No. They offered to fly me down for New Year's, but I had plans already." He avoided looking at Gabe by grabbing a cardstock labeled "Menu" and scanning it. They both knew how those plans had turned out.

Wow, there were a lot of options. It was practically a whole restaurant up here. He put the menu back, then busied himself exploring the rest of his little area until they were taxiing toward the runway and he needed to pay attention to the safety instructions. Gabe didn't seem to be on board with the rules. He'd finished his drink and had his eyes closed. Ev reached over and poked him. "Shouldn't you be listening?"

Gabe caught his wrist without opening his eyes, his big hands making Ev's bones look fragile. "I could probably give the speech myself by now. It's not my first rodeo."

"Clearly," Ev grumbled as he tried to pull his arm back. Gabe held him captive for long enough that Ev started to wonder what he was planning. Then Gabe released him with a sigh. Ev made sure he was fully on his side of the divider, then grabbed his champagne and took a gulp, hoping the fizzy bubbles would distract him from the phantom warmth of Gabe's touch.

It wasn't long before they were in the air. The flight attendant took their food orders and offered blankets and pillows if they wanted to sleep. Ev distracted himself a while longer by getting his space set up, but he was restless. None of the movies caught his interest, and he felt weird about pulling out his Switch in front of the other first-class flyers. The guy across from him was wearing a full three-piece suit first thing in the morning while he typed furiously on his laptop, and the lady a row up looked like she'd stepped out of a salon or something. Normally, he wouldn't care what any of those people thought, but he did care what Gabe thought, and he didn't want people to give his boss weird looks if Ev got too into his game.

"Everett, stop."

Ev blinked at his name and glanced at Gabe, only to find that he was watching Ev's mouth. Ev looked down and found that he was biting his cuticles, while his knee bounced a mile a minute. He forced himself to stop both things. "Sorry. I'm not great at sitting still for this long. Or being bored." He shrugged and pushed his hands under his thighs to hopefully keep them out of his mouth.

"Did you not bring anything to do?" Gabe asked, gesturing to his own laptop balanced on his extra-wide tray table.

Ev shrugged again, which was awkward when he couldn't move his hands. "I have my Switch, but…" He trailed off and bit the inside of his lip.

"Why aren't you using it?" Gabe said, giving Ev a curious look.

Ev made a face, then glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. "I can get kind of…enthusiastic about video games."

Gabe's lips twitched with amusement. "I see. Well, how about I keep an eye on things? And if I think you're disturbing anyone, I'll let you know."

Ev was still unsure, but the temptation was too strong. He grabbed his Switch from his bag and powered it on. He shimmied in his seat as his game loaded, flashing Gabe a grateful grin that Gabe returned. This was so much better. Video games were about the only thing that made time fly by. Fly by. Hah! Well, the piano did too, but he didn't have one of those at 30,000 feet.

He lost time until their food was suddenly being delivered. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "It's so fancy." He flicked a nail against the fork, surprised to find that it was actual metal. The food was equally nice, with some kind of omelet, potato wedges, a pastry, fruit, yogurt, and juice. Ev went for the pastry first, but his hand froze when he heard a throat clear. He looked over at Gabe, who was holding a washcloth.

"For your hands," Gabe said, his tone no-nonsense. Ev took it. It was warm. When he was done cleaning his hands, he went for the pastry again, but again, Gabe stopped him. "You've had a sugar bomb in coffee form and champagne so far today. Eat your omelet first."

"Yes, Da—Sir," Ev said, wincing when he barely caught himself, then winced again at the automatic "Sir." What the fuck was wrong with him this morning? He picked up his fork and dug into the eggs. They were good. He cleared that, his potato wedges, and the fruit before glancing back at Gabe in question. He got a nod that made him grin, then dove for his pastry. He groaned at the buttery, flaky dough and the warm chocolate filling. So fucking good. He licked his lips and caught Gabe watching. Ev's pulse sped up at the heat and hunger in Gabe's eyes. He took a shaky breath and forced himself to turn away. No. Be good, Ev. We've discussed this.

But crap, he was bad at boundaries when he was feeling little. It was just too easy to do what Daddy—Gabe told him. Gabe wasn't helping either, with his bedroom eyes and his Dom voice invading Ev's brain.

Someone get him off this plane.

The lobby was pure chaos, like everyone who was even tangentially involved in the entertainment industry was in town and they'd all picked this same hotel. Gabe was stopped just inside the doors by a group he knew, so Ev continued ahead to get them checked in. After waiting in a never-ending line, he made it up to the counter and handed over the corporate card for the rooms.

"I'm sorry, sir," the front desk clerk said, not sounding sorry at all. "I'm only seeing one room under this number." He pursed his lips and slid the card back across the counter. "Could it be under a different card?"

That couldn't be right. Ev had reserved the rooms himself. And he'd used the corporate card for both. "Can you check under my name? Everett Bailey? Or my boss, Gabriel Diaz?" His stomach twisted anxiously while the man searched. He hoped he hadn't messed something up. He hated making mistakes.

"I'm not seeing anything." The desk clerk looked at where Ev was drumming his fingers on the counter with a slight frown.

Ev stuck his hand into his pocket and heaved a sigh. "Any chance you have an extra room available?"

The desk clerk was already shaking his head. "We're fully booked. I could check some of the other hotels in the area if you'd like?" From the way he was eyeing the line behind Ev, he definitely didn't want to do that.

Ev risked it and asked him to anyway, getting pursed lips and a nod in return. Finding another room somewhere else was the only solution. It would be inconvenient, but there was no way Ev would survive sharing a room with Gabe for the next three days. The six-hour flight with adjoining seats had been bad enough.

"Is there a problem?" Gabe asked, his hand landing on Ev's shoulder.

Ev fought not to jerk away. "They can't find the second reservation. And the hotel is sold out."

"I'm searching other hotels in the area for you now, sir, but I'm not seeing anything," the front desk clerk said, sounding much more sincere now that he was talking to Gabe in his nice suit rather than Ev in his sweats, messy hair, and leather jacket. He looked like a disaster, but fashion hadn't been a priority at fuck-o'clock. A little understanding would be nice.

Gabe gave the desk clerk a dismissive wave. "It's no problem. We can share the room."

Ev tensed. "But—"

"Having you across town would be much more inconvenient than having to share a bathroom for three days." He took the pen the desk clerk handed him and signed the paperwork, then pocketed the room keys, his hand never leaving Ev's shoulder.

"Apologies for the mix-up, sir," the desk clerk said, then leaned toward Gabe conspiratorially. "I'll put a voucher for the hotel restaurant on your account. Please make use of the bar if you have the time, and let me know if you need anything else while you're in town." He handed Gabe a business card and seemed to make an effort to brush their fingers together in the process. Ev narrowed his eyes. The guy might as well have said "please make use of me while you're in town." Gross.

Gabe thanked him with a smirk that looked a little too friendly for Ev's taste, then steered Ev to the elevators.

Ev liked the hand on his shoulder too much, but he couldn't figure out a good way to dislodge it without drawing attention to that fact. "I could swear I reserved two rooms," he grumbled.

"It's not a problem," Gabe said. "Besides, we have more important things to focus on this weekend."

Ev kept his sigh to himself. Sure, not a problem for Gabe. Ev was the one struggling to keep his thoughts out of the gutter. How much worse was it going to be if he didn't even have a room to escape to at the end of the night?

They stepped off the elevator, and Ev followed Gabe to their door. He was so lost in "what-if" scenarios that at first he didn't register what he was looking at when he stepped into the room. When he did, he nearly marched back downstairs to demand a different hotel after all.

The room was moderately sized, clean, modern—and held only one bed. Ev checked twice, but a second bed, or even a pullout, refused to materialize. "Oh, fuck me," Ev groaned, shutting his eyes and opening them again. Nope. Still not hallucinating. "Is this a joke?"

Gabe crossed the room with his suitcase and lifted it onto a wooden rack. "It doesn't appear to be. Unless you're the one making it."

"Me?" Ev squawked. Anger rushed through him but got interrupted when he sucked in a breath to yell and his spit tried to kill him. "I had nothing to do with this," he choked out when he managed to stop coughing.

Gabe just hummed. He was already unpacking his clothes into the dresser, while Ev stood frozen in the doorway. "Come in and unpack your things, Everett. You don't want wrinkles to set in."

Ev grumbled all the way over but dropped his suitcase on its back and started to free the hanging bag folded inside. How was this his life? If it were anyone else, he would have shrugged and warned them that he was an…acrobatic sleeper and they'd better be ready for some aggressive cuddling. But no. He was stuck sharing a room—and now a bed—with the one person he was determined to stay away from.

With his formal stuff hanging safely in the closet, Ev pulled a change of clothes and his toiletries from his suitcase, then closed it and shoved it into the corner. Unlike Gabe, he didn't see the point in unpacking everything for just a couple of days. "I'm gonna shower and get changed. Unless you need the bathroom first," he called, already heading in that direction. They had a bunch of people to meet up with today to make sure everything was on track for the rest of the weekend.

"Wear something you'll be comfortable in for dinner as well," Gabe replied. "We won't have time to stop back in between."

Ev rolled his eyes. He knew that already. Gabe didn't need to remind him. He bit his tongue to keep from responding with a sarcastic, "Yes, Daddy." After a quick shower to wash off the stale airplane air, he took the time to blow-dry and style his hair. He was just finishing up when there was a knock on the door. "Yeah?"

Gabe opened the door.

"Hey!" Ev exclaimed. "I didn't say you could come in here." He tested the knot holding his towel in place around his waist.

"My mistake." Gabe gave him a once-over that made Ev's skin go warm and tingly, then set a folded pile of clothes on the counter.

Ev frowned. The clothes were his, but not what he'd been planning to wear. "I promise I can choose my own clothes. I'm a big boy after all," he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"The jury's still out on that," Gabe said in a tone that made Ev's hackles go up, then he left the bathroom with the clothes Ev had originally brought in, shutting the door behind him.

Jeez. Could he be any more of a condescending prick? Ev pulled on the fitted slacks and olive-green button-down anyway. It was faster than arguing, and they had a meeting to get to. He stepped back into the room, and Gabe gave him an approving nod before taking his place in the bathroom. That nod didn't cause the butterflies in Ev's stomach to start fluttering. Not at all.

He was sitting on the end of the bed, trying and failing to find the room reservations on his phone, with classic Scooby-Doo on the TV for background noise, when Gabe reemerged from the bathroom.

Ev glanced over, stalled, then hauled his eyes back to the screen. Craaaaap. What had he done to deserve this? Gabe crossed the room, and Ev did his absolute best to ignore him and his bare freaking chest as Gabe passed between the bed and the TV. That photo from the gym hadn't done him justice. Ev couldn't keep his gaze from drifting while Gabe retrieved his clothes. His back was a work of art. Ev could use him to teach an anatomy lesson—well, okay, he'd gotten a C in anatomy, but he would have been a much better student if his teacher had used Gabe for reference. Gabe shrugged on a crisp white button-down, and it was like freaking porn in reverse. Why hadn't Ev insisted on undressing the man when they were still fucking? He'd squandered the opportunity to get his hands all over that, and now he'd have to live with the regret forever.

"I'd offer to let you take a picture, but that's probably against the rules."

Ev's eyes snapped up to find Gabe smirking at him as he did up the buttons on his shirt. "Shut up. I wasn't looking," he grumbled. "I didn't even see you there." He ignored the heat rushing to his cheeks. "I was—I was just going over the schedule for this afternoon in my head. We have a busy day, and I don't want to forget anything."

"Of course," Gabe said, his eyes dipping to where Ev's pants had become uncomfortably tight.

Ev gritted his teeth, seething and not sure if he was more upset with Gabe for calling him out or himself for being so affected. This was going to be the longest three days of his life.

"Finny!" Ev flew across the lobby and crashed into his best friend, wrapping his arms around him in an enthusiastic hug. "Oh my god! I thought you weren't getting here till tomorrow."

Finn laughed and hugged him back. "Surprise," he said, squeezing him tight.

Ev gave him a little shake, his excitement bubbling over. "This is so awesome. Please tell me this means you have time to hang out."

Finn grinned and ran a hand though his hair. Ev still wasn't used to the new, shorter cut, but it suited Finn and showed off the cool, mismatched eyes he used to try to hide. "That's the plan. Xavi made us all dinner reservations in the hotel restaurant."

Ev turned to Gabe, who had finally caught up, and leveled him with a glare. "Did you change the schedule without telling me?"

Gabe raised his hands in mock surrender. "Don't blame me. This was all Finn."

Ev turned back to Finn with a wide grin. "So awesome." He took Finn's arm, linking their elbows together. "Tell me all about everything. I missed you," he said, leading the way to the restaurant.

Finn laughed. "You saw me a few weeks ago, and we talk on the phone all the time."

Ev shook his head. It wasn't the same. "But so much has changed. You have a whole new business, and I have—" He stumbled to a stop.

No way.

Ev turned wide eyes on Finn, who giggled. No freaking way. Ev turned slowly back to the man leaning against the wall near the host stand.

Remy freaking Dalton.

Holy shitballs. Somebody pinch him. Remy Dalton, A-list actor and newly out gay icon, was standing ten feet away from Ev in all his silver-fox glory. Ev's thirteen-year-old self was melting into a puddle of hormones right now. The man in front of him had been his big awakening, and Ev had had so many fantasies about meeting him. And now, Ev was looking at him. In real life. He might pass out.

"Hey, Remy," Finny said, releasing Ev and stepping forward for a hug. His shy, can't-talk-around-hot-guys best friend was touching Remy Dalton. Hugging him. And getting cheek kisses. Cheek kisses. Ev knew the two of them had somehow become friends, but seeing it in person was wild.

"Hey, pet," Remy said, holding Finn by the shoulders and giving him a once-over. "Looking good."

Finn grinned and blushed while Xavier greeted Remy as well. The two were clearly old friends. Then Remy turned back to Ev and his boss.

"Gabe," Remy said, clapping him on the shoulder and pulling him into something that was half hug, half handshake. "It's been a while."

Gabe returned the gesture. "Not long enough," he joked, then stepped back. "I hear things have been going well."

Remy threw back his head and laughed, drawing appreciative looks from the people nearby, including Ev. "I'm glad that's the rumor. It means Xavier is still doing his job."

Gabe chuckled. "It seems his relocating to the mountains has been a win all around."

Xavier rolled his eyes at them. "Thank you both for your support." He wrapped an arm around Finn's shoulders and tugged him close.

Ev was just starting to feel a little left out when Remy's eyes landed on him, and all the air left his lungs.

"And who is this?" Remy asked, smiling warmly. "Wait, don't tell me. You're Ev." He glanced to Finn for confirmation.

Remy Dalton knew his name.

Ev should probably react somehow, but his brain was nothing but static.

Finn laughed and stepped forward to save him. "Yep. Remy, this is my best friend, Ev. Ev, this is Remy." He nudged Ev with his elbow and murmured, "Say hello," in his ear.

"Hi," Ev finally said, snapping out of his shock. "Yeah. Hi. I'm Ev. It's great to meet you."

There. That sounded normal, right? Ev's insides were vibrating, so he couldn't be sure.

Remy was suddenly closer, and oh god, he smelled really good. "It's wonderful to finally meet you too," he said, sounding sincere as he hugged Ev and gave him the same cheek kisses he'd given Finn and Xavier. "Finn talks about you all the time. He's such a sweetheart."

"He's the best," Ev agreed, trapped by Remy's warm eyes and warm hands. Cheek kisses!

Remy gave him a wink and then stepped back enough for Ev to start breathing again. "So, are we ready for dinner or what?"

"Just waiting on Asher," Xavier confirmed. Finn nudged Ev, excitement shining in his eyes.

Oh fuck. Remy Dalton was having dinner with them.

Ev ushered Finn into the restaurant bathroom and shut and locked the door behind them. Anyone else who needed to go was going to have to wait because this was an emergency.

"What the fuck, Finny. Why didn't you warn me that Remy Dalton was going to be here?" Ev whined, pacing between the urinals and the sinks, the wet fabric of his pants sticking to his thigh. "He probably thinks I'm a mess. I barely managed to introduce myself, and now this." He waved at the huge stain.

"He at least thinks you're a hot mess," Finny, the traitor, said with a laugh. "But why does it matter what Remy thinks? I thought you and Gabe were…you know." He tried to cut off Ev's pacing, but Ev just dodged around him.

"Gabe and I aren't anything," Ev replied, his brain still tripping over the way he'd spilled his entire glass of wine across the table and into his lap when Remy had asked if he had a boyfriend. "I broke it off."

"What? Why?" Finny asked, sounding dismayed.

"Because," Ev said with a groan, planting his back against an empty section of wall and sliding down to sit on his heels. "I said I'm not dating my boss again, and I meant it."

Finn bit his lip and twisted his fingers together, coming over to crouch down in front of Ev. "Gabe isn't like your old boss, though. He wouldn't fire you if it didn't work out."

Ev groaned and pressed the heels of his hands to his eye sockets. "I know. I know. But I can't stop the ‘what-ifs.' And it's not like Chicago was the only time. I'm a fucking mess, and not the hot kind, when it comes to choosing a Daddy."

Finny took his hands and pulled them away from his face. "What that producer did to you was bullshit. I wish you would have reported him."

"For what?" Ev asked. "I was eighteen. And pretending you're single when you're married with three kids at home isn't a crime. I was the idiot who believed him. Besides, he lost everything in the divorce. That's all I needed."

Finny heaved a sigh. "You weren't an idiot. Just young and trusting."

Ev waved him off. "It doesn't matter. We aren't in here to talk about Gabe or any of my other Daddy-fails. We're talking about Remy and the fact that we're having dinner with my teenage wet dream and I'm making a total fool of myself. You need to save me, Finny."

Finn gave him a reluctant smile. "You aren't making a fool of yourself. The wine thing could have happened to anyone."

"But it happened to me. And it was really expensive wine."

Finn's expression was a mixture of concern and amusement. "I think if you wanted someone to tell you not to worry and that everything was going to be fine, you should have dragged Xavi in here. I'm supposed to be the anxious one in our friendship."

That made Ev crack a grin. "Okay, that's valid. Will you go get him for me?"

Finn smacked his shoulder with a laugh. "Get up. We're going back out there and actually talking to Remy. You'll see he's just a normal guy—okay, he's kind of a brat and he loves to tease me, but other than that, he's normal. There's nothing to worry about."

Ev reluctantly agreed and let Finn steer him back out of the bathroom—and straight into Remy's chest.

Remy caught him by the shoulders to steady him, chuckling. "I was just about to break the lock and make sure you two were okay in there. Did you get the wine out?" He held up a plastic bottle. "White vinegar works magic, according to Bella."

Ev blinked at him. "Bella is…Isabella Brantford?"

Remy gave him a boyish, lopsided grin. "She's knocked over more than one wineglass in her day. She carries a little bottle of the stuff in her purse. I got this one from the kitchen staff."

Ev's face went warm at the same time his belly did. "Thanks. You didn't need to do that."

Remy gave his shoulder a squeeze and pressed the bottle into his hands. "Would you believe I'm trying to get on your good side?"

Ev cracked a grin. "I didn't know you were on my bad side."

Remy took a step closer, and Ev had to tilt his head back to maintain eye contact. Which, ugh, hot. "In that case, what do you say to me buying you another drink?"

Ev's mouth went dry, and his heart started to race. "I—"

"The others are waiting for us at the bar," Remy continued. "Do you need help with your pants, or—"

"We've got it," Finn cut in, tugging Ev back toward the bathroom. "Thanks for the vinegar, Remy."

"No worries," Remy said with a jaunty, two-fingered wave. "I'll see you out there."

Ev gaped at his back until the bathroom door swung shut and blocked his view.

Was Remy about to imply what Ev thought he was implying? He grabbed the vinegar from Finn and hurried to the sink. No way was he hiding in here and missing his chance to find out.