Page 25 of The Swap After Hours

Trevor turned to face me, flinching when he heard me lock the door. My arms crossed over my chest as I glowered at him. He was visibly shaking as I fired off a round of questions. “What the hell are you doing here? How did you even get in here? Did you follow me?”

“No! It wasn’t anything like that. I came here to help my friend. Remember me telling you about him? He’s the one that made the muffins I brought in to work. And the triple chocolate brownies, and the gooey caramel cookies.”

“I remember. What does he have to do with any of this?” I snapped.

Trevor’s throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously. “He…uh…he was working here tonight, and I offered to help him out. He just got hired to cater all of Ms. Rathchild’s parties.”

I took a step back, rubbing a hand over the back of my neck as I tried to make sense out of what he was telling me. My eyes narrowed. “Fine. Let’s assume for a minute that this all really was some weird coincidence and you and I just happened to end up at the same party. That still doesn’t explain why you’re here. Helen never starts the after party until the staff are gone, for obvious reasons. So, why didn’t you go home with your friend?”

“There was an accident in the kitchen and Doug needed to help one of his employees, so I told him I’d finish up for him, and then…”

“Then?” I demanded.

Trevor’s face paled, and he glanced around the room, avoiding my eyes. “I knew you’d be here,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “I saw you at the last party. You didn’t see me, but I saw you.”

“You knew I’d be here?” I repeated, incredulous. “And you decided to what? Spy on me? To what end? Were you hoping to sell photos or a story or something? Do I not pay you enough? Had to go for the bigger money by stabbing me in the back?”

I knew I probably sounded like an ass, but I couldn’t help it. All I could focus on was the betrayal standing right in front of me. A part of me had begun to trust the younger man, but now I wasn’t so sure, and that hurt more than I was willing to admit.

“I wasn’t trying to spy on you, I swear. I just...I needed to see,” Trevor said, his voice shaking.

“See what?” I echoed, my voice rising. “Do you have any idea how inappropriate this is?” I hissed, keeping my voice low but fierce. “I keep my work life and personal life separate for a reason. I don’t need my assistant lurking around, invading my privacy.”

He looked up, his eyes wide and desperate. “Mr. Marshall, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy. I just...I saw you at the last party, with that man, and it...it confused me.”

My anger faltered for a moment, replaced by surprise. “You saw that?” I asked, my voice softer.

He nodded, his face flushed. “Yeah, I did. And it made me realize some things about myself. Things I’m not sure about.”

“What kind of things?”

I watched as color bloomed across his cheeks, turning them pink. “Things like…I might not be as…straight…as I thought I was. I thought coming back here might help me make sense of things.”

I took a step back, my anger dissipating as I processed his words. It sounded almost as if…he’d liked what he saw. My pulse leaped with excitement as I thought back to that night, wondering how much of it he had seen.

Had he watched the other man on his knees, his lips shiny with spit as they stretched around my cock? Had he seen my hands tangled in the other man’s hair, urging him to take me deeper into his throat? What would he think if he knew I’d wished that man had been him, that I’d imagined it was him on his knees instead, that I’d only gone to that party to try and exorcise my growing desire for him?

“So, you came here tonight to what? To figure things out by…watching men fucking each other?”

His eyes shifted away, like he suddenly found it hard to look directly at me. “Um…yeah. Sort of. I didn’t mean any harm, Mr. Marshall. I just...I needed to see y…to try and understand what I’m feeling. I’m sorry.”

The urge to lean forward, to taste those succulent lips was overwhelming, but I knew I couldn’t. Not only because I was his boss, but also because of what he’d told me. He was confused. Everything he’d thought he’d known about himself had just been turned upside down.

I had known from an early age that I was gay, so I could only imagine how unsettling it must be for him to discover that who he’d thought he was, sexually, for all these years, could be wrong. He needed time. Time to figure things out for himself. Any move I might want to make would only confuse him more and put our professional relationship in jeopardy. I couldn’t risk that.

I took another step back, needing the extra space between us to keep me from doing something stupid. “I’m sorry that what you saw confused you, but you never should have seen it to begin with. I know it wasn’t intentional the first time, but coming back here was highly inappropriate.”

Trevor’s face was red as he lowered his head, staring down at his shoes. “I’m sorry.”

“Yes, well. I think it would be best if you left now,” I replied gruffly.

His eyes darted up to mine before skittering away just as fast. “Am I…should I still come to work on Monday?” he asked quietly.

“Of course. You’re too much of an asset for me to let you go. Besides, nothing happened. On Monday, we’ll just pretend none of this ever happened.”

I wasn’t sure if I was talking to him or to myself, but he looked marginally relieved as he nodded. “Thank you, sir. I guess I’ll see you Monday then. And again, I’m sorry.”

He looked so vulnerable and surprisingly, I found myself wanting to comfort him, to take him in my arms and tell him that everything would be okay, but it wasn’t my place. Instead, I stood there rigidly as he opened the door and slipped out.

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