7. Devin

Chapter 7

Devin

Zach could grill a steak. The meat was done to the perfect temperature, seared on the outside and pink on the inside. Not quite mooing, but just past that. We sat on his back patio and ate corn on the cob dripping with butter, the best steak I'd ever tasted, and each had a beer while we watched the sunset.

For a casual cookout with someone I'd just met, it was the most romantic meal I'd ever eaten. And then we went out to the couch and looked at the movie options.

My favorite movies were action flicks, so after scrolling through the options for five minutes, I finally settled on one about giant AI soldiers trying to destroy the planet. It was really good and exciting, but after all the walking and the sun exposure, I was exhausted. My eyes started drifting shut by the time the main character found a space plant, and I was asleep before I could find out if the planet exploded.

What I did find out was that Zach was the most thoughtful guy I'd ever met.

Instead of throwing a blanket over me and leaving me on the couch overnight, he continued to take care of me.

"Devin." I felt his fingertips brush across my forehead. "Let's get you into bed. Your back is gonna hurt if you stay out here."

"Hmm?" I was pretty comfy and didn't want to move at all, but I really liked the way his hand cupped my cheek. "I'm okay."

"No, baby. It's time for bed." He slipped his arm behind my back and pulled me to my feet.

I wasn't asleep anymore, but I liked letting him manhandle me, so I leaned heavily on his side as he propped me up and started walking toward my room. "Thanks, Zach."

"Oh, good." He walked me to the side of the bed that I made up earlier and pulled back the sheet. "I wasn't sure if we needed to get this set up or not."

"Knew I'd be tired..." My eyes were barely cracked open as Zach guided me onto the mattress and then tucked in the sheet and comforter around me.

"Good night, Devin. If there's anything you need, let me know. I'll hear you if you call."

"Good night, Zach." I sighed and tucked my hands under the pillow as I got comfortable on my side. "And can you leave the door open?"

I woke up the next morning feeling better than I had in a long time. Even when I'd had my own place and a regular bed, it wasn't nearly as comfortable and quiet and safe as being in Zach's guestroom.

The temperature was perfect, a dim glow came from the blinds over the window, and I wasn't hungry. It was hard to believe how dramatically my life had changed in just twenty-four hours.

It was almost ten in the morning when I finally got out of bed and went into the bathroom. When I came back out, I went looking for Zach.

There was a swooshing sound coming from the kitchen, so I wandered in there.

Zach was leaning toward the counter with his bare back toward me. He had a few freckles sprinkled across his shoulders, but otherwise, his skin was flawless. The kind of flawless that I wanted to drag my tongue across.

"Good morning." Feeling a bit like an intruder, I made a show of stretching so it didn't seem like I'd been staring at him, even though I totally was.

"Morning." He seemed to stiffen up before looking at me over his shoulder. "I'm almost done here and then I'll make breakfast."

"What are you doing?" I scooted closer, peeking around his body. My eyes bugged out when I realized he was using some crazy contraption to suck the milk out of his chest and into little bottles. "Oh, wow."

Zach turned off the machine and the suction immediately stopped. "Yeah, I usually do this in the morning so I don't feel full all day."

His nipples looked red and a little raw, and I wanted to swipe my tongue across the top and get another taste of him. But since he hadn't offered it to me, it didn't seem like something he was comfortable with outside of emergency situations. "Does that hurt?"

"Not really." He poured the milk he'd collected into a clear bag and put it in the freezer. "I mean, it doesn't feel good like it does with a mouth, but it's fine. Better than feeling like I'm gonna erupt throughout the day."

I couldn't take my eyes off his chest, and I was pretty sure I was making him uncomfortable. "So you like it when someone sucks on you?"

Zach's breath hitched, and he reached for his shirt. "Um, yeah. It's nice." He slipped his T-shirt on, and it hid some of his most interesting parts. "Would you rather have an omelet or French toast or both?"

"French toast?" My empty belly was easily distracted. "I haven't had that in ages."

I offered to help him cook, but Zach seemed to have a system in place. He handed me a cup of coffee and told me to sit in one of the stools at his peninsula.

I couldn't remember the last time somebody cooked me a meal just to be nice. But with Zach, it was more than just the act of making food, it was that he genuinely seemed to like doing things for me.

By the time he plated both of our French toast and sat down in the seat beside me, my dick was hard, and I knew I'd have to go hop in the shower before he accidentally saw it.

We each took a few bites before he turned to catch my attention. "Today, we'll need to fill out some paperwork online, so you can start working tomorrow. Nothing complicated…" He bit his lip as if he had to say something he didn't want to say. "But we do have to run a background check."

I grinned at that, even though it was more pathetic than funny. "As long as my credit score doesn't matter, that should be fine. I haven't actually been in any trouble or anything."

His shoulders drooped as he visibly relaxed. "That's good. And for your job, credit score shouldn't matter. You won't be handling money or anything, so they just wanna know you don't have a criminal record or are on any kind of predator list."

I nodded as I took another bite. "Are you sure I'm gonna be able to do this job?" I couldn't meet his gaze as I focused fully on the food in front of me. "I don't have a lot of office experience."

"It's pretty easy stuff. Since you wanted to go into programming, you should be fine. Pam will show you everything you need to know, and you'll learn the rest as you go."

"Who's Pam?" I turned and looked at him, glad to learn about the people in his office and take the attention away from me.

"She's the receptionist. She's mostly tied to the front desk, so she knows everything that needs to get done and how to do it but doesn't really have the time to do it all. So you and her will work together. She's great and knows everything about everyone." Zach chuckled. "She's a bit of a gossip, so watch what you say around her. Nothing will be a secret no matter what she says, so choose your words carefully." He cleared his throat and looked away from me. "Which means be careful with what you say about anything between us."

I took my opportunity to flirt. "There isn't much going on between us." I waggled an eyebrow. "I keep hinting, and you keep shutting me down."

He closed his eyes and held them shut for a moment as he took a deep breath. "I'm definitely not shutting you down, Devin. I'm trying to be polite and respectful. I don't want you to think you owe me anything, and I don't want to take advantage of you when you're in a vulnerable situation."

I turned back to my food and nodded. Yep. Of course, he was a nice guy who had morals and shit. "Yeah, I get it. I'd keep my distance from me too." I choked out a laugh, even though it wasn't a joke, and shoved the last bite of French toast into my mouth.

Before he could say anything else, I stood up and took my dishes to the sink and began washing them, leaving the water running at full blast to drown out any opportunity for him to chitchat. While I was standing there, I washed the rest of the dishes from this morning, including the milk bottle things that he was using earlier.

His hand landed on my lower back as he leaned close to me. "You can leave those. I'll wash them later."

"How often do you have to empty out or whatever?"

Zach laughed at my terminology. "Well, usually once a day is enough. I'm lucky in that I don't leak through the day, so as long as I'm not super full, it's fine."

It was on the tip of my tongue to offer to help. To tell him I'd empty him out any time he wanted. But that fell under the inappropriate bucket that he kept warning me about, so I just dried my hands and stepped back. "Let me know when you want to do that paperwork."