Page 13 of Addicted

“Yes!” Marci squealed. “I was pretty sure he was going to take the job but I didn’t know he said yes until this morning. Thankfully, he texted me because of course John The Jerk didn’t tell me. Why would he tell me? It’s like he doesn’t want things to be easy in any way.”

They reached the top of the stairs and Liam was steered through the employee door. He noticed that Dylan was talking to someone in Dean’s old office but the blinds were half shut, blocking the rest of the view, and Liam couldn’t catch a glimpse of The Pointe’s newest manager.

“He wanted to meet the important people personally.” Marci squeezed Liam’s arm. “You’re next.”

Liam broke out in a sweat, gulping down some air. He liked his routine of setting up weddings, serving at them, and cleaning up. Whatever deviated from that was unwelcome, unfamiliar, and made his day even worse.

“Don’t worry, he’s super nice!” Finally letting him go, she put the back of her hand by her mouth, as if she was telling him a secret. “I actually like him better than Dean,” she stage whispered.

“Are you at least going to tell me his name so I don’t make a total ass out of myself?” Liam grumbled, clenching his hands together so that he didn’t wring them.

“I never told you his name? Really?” Marci shook her head at herself, hands on her hips. “What iswrongwith me? Anyway, his name is Owen. Owen Par-”

“Liam Gray?“ A familiar voice called out from behind him and Liam started, almost dropping to the floor.

It couldn’t be.

His mind lurched, his stomach lurched, and he dug his fingernails into his palms as he turned around.

Mr. Parker, his old neighbor and consistent crush, was standing there with the same blinding smile on his face that Liam remembered. And it made his knees weak just as it always had.

“Liam! Itisyou!“ He took two large strides and suddenly Liam was enveloped in a hug. Mr. Parker’s arms were solid, strong, and he smelled like oranges, probably from his shampoo. Eighteen-year-old Liam would’ve given a testicle to be in this situation right now but twenty-one-year-old Liam had no idea what to do. So, he froze, trying to stay upright as he was sideswiped by the collision of his current and former lives.

“Well, I guess you two know each other!” Marci declared as Dylan sneaked by them with a thumbs up, heading downstairs.

Thankfully, Mr. Parker released Liam before his head spun off, giving his shoulder a few pats as he stepped away. “I thought I saw Liam in the ballroom after my interview. Once Dylan said his name, I realized that ithadto be the same Liam Gray who grew up next door to me.”

Liam tried not to jolt as he realized thatMr. Parkerwas the person John had been interviewing, but reality didn’t stop there, it kept hitting him in the face. They’d been in the same building only a few days ago. Mr. Parker had seen him. And now the one person he couldn’t stop thinking about, the only person he wanted to see other than his parents, was his boss. Hisboss.

What the actual fuck.

“Oh my god,” Marci waved her hands around. “You were hisneighbor?I’m dying right now. What a small world!”

“...yeah,” Liam was still in shock, unable to process what all of this meant but he was sure of two things.

Marci’s gaydar was off.

And this wasverydangerous.

“It’s great to see you again, Liam.” Mr. Parker ushered them into his office, closing the door and shutting the blinds completely.

“…it is?” Shell-shocked and full of questions, Liam fell into the chair behind him with a soft thump.

Mr. Parker’s laugh filled the office. “Why wouldn’t it be? I’ve thought about you a lot over the last few years.”

“You have?” Liam wondered if he’d ever be able to string more than two words together. He was still processing everything from the hallway and now he had totalkto this man, someone who’d been naked in his mind too many times to count.

“Of course!” Mr. Parker settled down on the other side of a long desk strewn with paperwork. “But first, I should probably apologize to you.”

“For what?” Liam was three for three now so he folded his hands in his lap, laced his fingers tightly together, and tried to breathe.

“Well for…” There was a long pause. Those full kissable lips opened and closed and Mr Parker shook his head as if he’d changed his mind. “For…for hugging you? Yes. It was unprofessional of me to do that in front of everyone but, in my defense, I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Oh,” escaped Liam in a breath. “That’s okay Mr. Park-”

“Please, call me Owen. Mr. Parker always made me feel like an old man. There are twelve years between us, not thirty, and we’re all adults here.” He smiled again and Liam knew that he’d do anything to see that smile over and over.

Yes, this wasdefinitelydangerous.

---