Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 3

Morgan. "This is my boss's private line, Omar. You can't phone me at work."
    "Okay, well later then?"
    Who the hell did he think he was expecting Jesse to drop everything after a month with no word? "Come round on Wednesday. We'll talk then." Jesse hung up. He couldn't even look at Morgan; he was too embarrassed. Embarrassed as much by his excitement as anything else.
    "Boyfriend?"
    "Not really. I'm sorry about that, Morgan. I have no idea how he got hold of this number." Too much of a bloody coincidence for sure. It was as though the guy had radar. Every time Jesse came close to getting lucky, up he'd pop from nowhere like a bad penny. Jesse noted the irked look on Morgan's face. Bad Penny or saving grace, Jesse wasn't sure. But he wanted answers. Nobody had timing that good by accident.
    "It seems you aren't available for the conference after all."
    A chill reminded Jesse his shirt was undone and he started to straighten himself out. "About that."
    "No need to explain. It would have been nice but it isn't a necessary task towards your performance review."
    "I would have. You should know that."
    Morgan nodded once and Jesse left the office. Why did he tell Morgan he would have? Talk about asking for trouble in the future. A million seedy come-ons flashed beacon bright in his future that he really didn't need or want cluttering up his work life. The real issue though, was Omar and his impossible antennae.
    Jesse glanced around the open plan office. How did he know? It was creepy in a cute kind of way. Cute because the guy was always saving Jesse's virtue, maybe for himself. Hopefully, anyway. Creepy because he seemed to know where Jesse was and who he was with every second of the day.
    Every second of the day . That was a bloody laugh and completely ridiculous. The man disappeared for months at a time. Unless he was having Jesse tailed by the invisible man it had to be an uncanny knack for bad timing. Or good timing, depending on where you stood. Right now, with Jesse's balls burning blue, the timing seemed bad, bad, bad. He could have waited until after Morgan had finished the blowjob before phoning to save him from the letch. The words next time echoed through Jesse's mind. He spun round but there was nobody there. It sounded so much like Omar's voice in his head. "You are losing it, sunshine. If Omar doesn't start giving up the goods you're going to have to move along the bus and not look back. Let him find another friend to enforce celibacy on."
    ****
    Another beautiful day. The summer was whizzing by the window and Jesse knew he should be out enjoying it rather than cooped up waiting. In the times between his meetings with Omar, life seemed meaningless. At least after the last dressing down Jesse had given him Omar showed up more often. Showed up a lot, actually. Always random. Always when Jesse finally started to think about something else. Or someone else. But today was the day. It was time to lay things out. Set up some benefits before Jesse shrivelled into a sexless vegetable.
    The odd kiss on the cheek was great. Holding hands was nice, the friendly hugs, but Jesse was far more aware of the heat when their thighs accidently pressed together, the tightness of his chest when they brushed shoulders, the change in Omar's breathing when Jesse leaned past him at every opportunity to pick up things he didn't need. The tension in the air had always sparked, from the very first touch over a box of Cheerios almost a year ago, but the last few months had seen it amp up through the roof to the point you could practically hear it crackle and Jesse was out of patience. No more waiting. No more pussyfooting around in the hope Omar would see how good they'd be together. Jesse was a man with a plan. More than that, he was a horny, desperate man, and he was in love. Head-over-heels-not-another-man-in-the-world love with no promise of reciprocation. A man on the edge.
    Today was special. A rare planned outing. Cinema, something to eat, and if Jesse could wrangle it, back to his place for a little one on one. All he had to do was follow through. All Omar had to do was show up and not fight it. The odds were stacked against him but Jesse was determined to win. He had to. He couldn't go on any longer with things as they were. He just couldn't. He wouldn't.
    ****
    It was almost midnight by the time they made it back to Jesse's apartment. So far so good. The day had been low-key, not too much touchy-feely that always spooked Omar