Page 1 of Cross the Line

CHAPTER 1

Theo

“Why are you still in the office? Didn’t you get off ten minutes ago?”

“The better question is, why are you in my office?” Theo counters, clicking save on the report he’s nearly finished with before spinning in his chair to face his best friend—and the biggest pain in his ass.

Where Jason King’s bulk might be considered intimidating, his smile is anything but. The dimple in his chin is on full display when he flashes a smile at Theo.

“You say that as if everyone in your office doesn’t adore me.” Jason’s grin widens, leaning against the door frame. He’s just as massive as he was in high school, and even more handsome if you’re into big burly men who look like they could carry you without breaking a sweat. There was a time Theo wished Jason was his type because he’d loved him more than he’d loved anyone. Jason being straight aside, Theo never held more than brotherly affection for him, which in hindsight is for the best because it kept things easy, and more importantly, safe. “Steven was delighted to see me in the office. More than you.”

Steven, Theo’s administrative assistant, was on strict orders not to let anyone into his office today until he finished this report. Apparently there’s no one Jason can’t sweet talk.

“You brought donuts for him again, didn’t you?” Theo asks. It’s how he got into Theo's office the first time and it’s become a habit. Sometimes Theo thinks his coworkers like Jason more than they like him, but that might also be because Theo rarely talks to them despite having worked here for four years.

“Might have,” Jason answers, drawing Theo’s attention back to the present. He pushes off the door frame and pulls his other hand out from behind his back. There, wrapped in a napkin, is a single buttermilk knot. “Saved your favorite old man donut for you before the rest of your coworkers get to the box in the break room.”

“It’s not an old man donut,” Theo snorts, snatching the donut. “It's just not covered in sprinkles or frosting.”

He can tell just by looking at it that it’s from the little donut shop he loves on main street. It’s got old school red booths and kind of shitty coffee, but their donuts more than make up for it. Unfortunately, main street becomes overrun with tourists in the summer. People flock to their coastal town of Santa Leon to escape the inland heat, which means Theo hasn’t been there in what feels like months. Unlike Theo, who is an introvert with a capital “I”, Jason, whose picture is probably in the dictionary under the word ‘gregarious’, is the opposite. Even still, with summer in full swing it must’ve taken him a good hour to get across town to get these donuts, which means he probably wants something. He just has to wait for Jason to tell him what it is. Luckily, he can never keep a secret for long.

“I mean, it kind of is, but that’s okay. It matches your old man sweater.”

Theo’s mouth is too full of donut to reply, but he looks down at himself and frowns. He got this sweater last week after getting a quarterly cost of living adjustment. It’s brown with little zigzags of cream on the sleeves, which reminded him of the mountain ranges that border the edge of the city where he likes to hike. It's also thick and warm, which is nice since his office is always freezing, especially in the summers. He swallows his bite, not seeing the problem. “What’s wrong with my sweater?”

“Nothing, man.” Jason laughs, grabbing the chair that’s next to the door and spinning it around to sit on it backwards. “It’s very you. It’s great.”

“Sometimes I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or trying to lift up my confidence,” Theo says, chasing the donut with the remainder of his iced coffee from his break an hour ago. It’s kind of gross, but the afternoon slump is hitting him hard, so the sugar and caffeine combination is exactly what he needs right now.

“I have to keep you on your toes,” Jason says, leaning over the back of the chair. He makes it look like a chair for toddlers, not the full-size office chair it is. “Speaking of which, Alec is back.”

If there’s anyone who can keep someone on their toes it’s Alexander King, Jason’s baby brother. Well, baby might not be the most accurate description anymore. He’ll be twenty-one tomorrow, but sometimes it's hard to reconcile the mental image he still holds of the gawky, freckle-faced kid with braces who chased him and Jason everywhere, desperate to be included, with the confident, athletic guy he is now.

“Why is he back early? I thought he was in Mexico for another week with his best friend.” Theo frowns, positive he’d put the date down in his calendar correctly. The Kings were supposed to have a family dinner to celebrate Alec finally coming home after two months gone, doubling as a belated birthday celebration. As with all King family events Theo had been invited, and unless he got the date wrong, which is highly unlikely given his color-coded calendar app, then Alec is early.

“I don’t know what happened, actually,” Jason muses. “Mom called me and said he was coming home early, and wanted me to pick him up from the airport since they’re out of town. Alec told her he’d catch an Uber home, but mom had a heart attack about her baby being in a stranger's car, and naturally called me to ensure nothing happened to him because I’m the most trustworthy brother.”

Theo arches an eyebrow at that and Jason doesn’t hesitate to flip him off. “Fine, she called Andrew first, but he said with his job being so new he can’t take off early, and Charlie wasn’t answering the phone. Between you and me, I think he’s got the right idea about not having a phone or wifi in his studio. He tells mom and dad it helps his creative process, but I think it’s so he can’t be bothered with bullshit like this.”

Even as Jason says it, Theo knows there’s nothing bullshit about it. Jason’s a family man through and through. Theo is sometimes surprised he hasn’t settled down and started his own with how important family is to him and how good he is with other people’s kids. Then again, the not settling down thing might be because Jason has the worst luck with relationships and always ends up with people who don’t appreciate him.

“Anyways,” Jason continues, undeterred by Theo’s silence. “Since I was off today, I took the opportunity to swing by their house to get Alec's room ready.”

“What did you do?” Theo asks around a too-big bite of donut.

“I’m kind of offended you’re even asking me this. I went out of my way to make Alec’s bed and—” Theo levels him with one serious look and Jason cracks. “Fine, I covered his bedroom in blown up condoms instead of balloons and hung a birthday banner with dicks on it.”

Theo rolls his eyes. Jason might be nearly thirty but pranking his brother turns him into his mischievous, pain in the ass, teenage self. He tries to imagine Alec’s face when he finds it. Alec is always up for a laugh so he probably won’t be phased, but it still gives Theo secondhand embarrassment to imagine it.

“So what are you thinking for the party? Sunday afternoon or?—”

“Tonight,” Jason interjects.

“No way, that’s not enough time to plan.”

“Come on, Theo. It’s not every day your baby turns twenty-one,” Jason points out. At twenty years old—twenty-one at eleven fifty-nine tonight, technically—Alec is hardly a baby. What he is though, is eight years younger than Jason and Theo and more than a decade younger than his twin brothers, making him the eternal baby of the family. “I need you, man. Help me out? Please.” Jason widens his eyes and bats his long eyelashes, as if he needs to convince Theo.

“What did you need me to do?” Theo sighs, not really all that put out. He likes Alec, even if it feels like it's been forever since he saw him.

---