Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 7

He sounded stressed and annoyed.
    "It's not that complicated. You either like women or you like men. Do you like men, Mikhos? 'Cause it sure looks like you do." She was furious, it seemed. Her voice sounded shrill and defensive.
    "Why does it have to be one or the other?"
    "Because the people who say they like both are just after all they can get, that's all. They're sex-crazed and indecisive."
    Her comment made me angry and somewhat surprised. Were there still people who believed that, in this day and age?
    "Is that really what you think?"
    "Mikhos. Do you like men?"
    "I like Tyson. And, yeah, he's a man."
    "Very loose definition, but okay. So, where does that leave us?"
    "I don't know." he said, his voice tired and resigned.
    "Well, I do. You can't have it both ways. If you want him, you can't have me."
    More silence, while I tried not to hyperventilate too loudly in the hall.
    "Mikhos?" she said, in a demanding tone.
    "Goodbye, Claire."
    And suddenly Mikhos came into the hallway. He glanced at me, hesitated for a brief moment, then pushed past me, striding furiously down the hallway.
    After a few moments, Claire exited the office. When she saw me, she laughed. "There goes your man, Loverboy. Just watch out. He doesn't seem to know what he wants."
    She walked haughtily by me. I stood there, stunned, trying to process everything I'd heard.
    She was obviously jumping to conclusions. Yes, it had been a scorching, powerful kiss, but I still believed that Mikhos had done it as part of a plan to avert the protest. She cornered him, he confessed to liking me, and she took that as a threat to their relationship. Women were like that. They'd take the tiniest thing and blow it up out of all proportion. I knew he didn't like me in a sexual way. We'd been friends for too long for that to be the case.
    ****
    The next day, I got to the office a bit early. Ian and Jonah were pleased to see me and I told them to take off since I knew Mikhos would arrive shortly.
    "Any action overnight?" I asked.
    Jonah shook his head. "Just a couple of girls who wanted escorts to the parking lot. That's it."
    "Cool."
    Ian seemed to want to say something, but he looked at Jonah and Jonah shook his head quickly.
    "What?" I asked.
    "Um...we heard there was a little action at the protest yesterday." Ian mumbled.
    I blushed. I knew what he meant.
    "Ha ha." I said. "Well Mikhos' little stunt worked. It defused the situation. So we can all forget about it now."
    "Mikhos is really devoted to his job, I'll give him that." Jonah said, laughing.
    "Let's hope you can forget about it." Ian teased gently. "From what I heard it was quite the kiss."
    I rolled my eyes. "Get out of here."
    After they left I sat at my desk and started working on some overdue paperwork. The Security office was small, dark and dingy. There were desk lamps and a couple of dim overhead lights. Half the time I felt like I was in an interrogation room. My mind wandered as I worked on the brainless task. What if Mikhos really did have physical feelings for me? The kiss had been intense and seemed sincere. What if he actually found me attractive?
    Not the most muscular guy on the planet, I had a slim swimmers' physique that a lot of guys seemed to like. The dirty-blond hair that I kept in a shaggy, deliberately unkempt style, was arguably my best feature, although my blue eyes had gotten many compliments as well. One guy had compared me to Justin on the American 'Queer as Folk' TV series, but I don't know if I'd go that far. I was moderately attractive, to some gay men. Whether I was even remotely attractive to one particular, seemingly straight man, I had no idea. But I needed to find out.
    I'd gotten a good start on the files by the time Mikhos arrived.
    "Hey," he said shortly.
    "Hi." I said, gazing at him with barely concealed curiosity. "How are you?"
    "Fine." he muttered.
    He stashed his messenger bag by the other desk and took off his jacket. After he hung it up he came slowly over to my desk.
    "Look, Tyson, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have done that. I know I stepped over a line."
    I laughed nervously, but I was a little disappointed. He already regretted it. "It's okay. It wasn't so bad."
    His eyes met mine finally. Something passed between us, but he looked away too soon. He cleared his throat. "So...what's on our agenda for today?"
    "Blowjob?" I said before I could think it through. God, I'm an idiot! I laughed awkwardly. "Sorry. I make bad jokes when I'm nervous."
    He