Page 78 of Forever Not Yours

Good enough.

I held him, nuzzled into his neck, and we just lay there. Him and me.

“I love you,” he whispered.

I had no idea how much hearing those words would affect me, but I could feel them, deep in my bones.

“I love you too,” I whispered as my eyes filled with tears. Relief. Emotion. All the past months of agony suddenly releasing through my body.

I realised that I could finally breathe freely.

“Of course you do,” he whispered back.

Love. It wasn’t so difficult after all, because it was right here. Him and me.

This had happened far too fast. But also way too slow, as he reminded me. We’d been a thing for years. Many, many years. And now? We were justfiguring it all out.

I wanted to sayfor the rest of our lives, but even I was too scared to admit to that. What I wanted. Hoped for.

Those things he made me do and I liked it. Weird AF. Not only was I into cock, but I was apparently also…kinky? Nothing I would admit out loud, and especially not to Faye, who was side-eyeing me from the screen in front of me.

“Get back in the game, Bash,” she scolded me. “We still have one more account to verify.”

“I’m here,” I lied.

“No, you’re off daydreaming again. By the way, have you found me a man yet?”

“You still on about that? Nope. Nobody is good enough for my Faye.”

“Your Faye. I’m not your kid, Bash.”

“No, but you’re my intern, and as such, I feel a certain degree of responsibility for you.”

“Stop with the intern shit. I’m your colleague.”

“Still on that temporary contract. Don’t forget that.”

She stuck her tongue out at me.

“How’s Jake?” She did this. Asked about personal things to bring me back down to earth. Get me focused.

“He’s good. You know, I still find myself just staring at him, wondering how I ended up like this. I mean, I never thought I was gay. I was just, you know. Into things.”

“It’s not always about attraction, Bash. Sometimes it’s just feeling safe in your surroundings. Comfortable in your own skin around someone else. Just like with workplaces. I hated it here the first weeks. Really hated it. Went home and applied for every other internship I could find, hoping I could just stick two fingers up in the air to Juliet Delaware and move on. But then I started seeing things. And before I knew it, I felt part of this place. I felt like you and I were getting along. I felt safe. That’s what makes a difference.”

I got what she was saying.

“I still don’t feel safe around Juliet,” she continued. “I go into her office, and I freeze up because every time she opens her mouth, I think she’s going to sack me. Throw me and my stupid woke ideas out head first.”

“Your ideas are not stupid. And if Juliet thought they were stupid, she wouldn’t be implementing them. Her little speech in the morning meeting last week?”

“Yeah.” She went quiet. “Impressive. I kind of wanted to throw my fist in the air and wolf whistle when Kieron walked out. He knew exactly what she was saying.”

“Good.” Things were slowly changing. For the better. “I was thinking,” I said, and then wondered if I was going mad. If I was about to destroy everything I had built here by even suggesting this. “You should go out for a drink with Juliet. Break some of those professional barriers right down. She’s good like that, if you can just get her to relax, talk about other things. Let her get to know you, under the suit.”

“Bash!”

“Oh God, I don’t mean it like that.”

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