Lars was quiet for a few moments and sipped his scotch. I gazed out the window, remembering my first time with Lars in the woods. Those woods held tons of secrets, and I wondered if perhaps there were some secrets that Lars was holding back from me. His laughter pulled my gaze from the woods to focus on him.
“I think Riley had gotten into your smut magazines more than he thought I knew.”
“Those magazines are vintage now. They’re probably worth a small fortune,” I added.
I had kept a healthy supply of magazines that could be considered niche porn while I lived here. Aunt Marlowe was mortified by them, and I thought my uncle pretended to be bothered by them, but I knew just how kinky he was. So any negativity on his behalf about the magazines was for show and for Aunt Marlowe’s benefit.
“They probably are,” he agreed with a laugh.
“I’m surprised Aunt Marlowe didn’t throw them out.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t take them with you when you left for Michigan.”
I shrugged.
“I was hoping to get into the kinky action rather than jack off in a dorm to a picture,” I explained.
“You’d be surprised how far a picture will take you.” We shared a moment of laughter before his eyes returned to the woods. “Make sure you keep up the discipline with him, Griffin. He needs it, but be advised, he arouses easily,” Lars said, his eyes still focused outside.
I narrowed my eyes at him, and the humor was suddenly gone.
“You want me to start disciplining him?” I asked, somewhat confused and bothered by his cryptic statements.
“Most assuredly, Griffin.”
“In case you have forgotten, Riley is going to Ann Arbor in a few months—”
“Thank you, Griffin. I hadn’t remembered,” Lars interrupted me with his sarcastic tone, which made me laugh.
“Look, I really can’t imagine you’re going to need to physically discipline him much this summer.”
Lars didn’t look at me, but when I saw his smile, it made me feel really strange. For one, I suddenly felt as though I wasn’t the only person Lars had been taking into the woods lately. And two, I instantly thought of Audrey’s supposed suicide. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Lars was a manipulator, but was he playing me? I chose my next words carefully.
“Lars, have you done something you shouldn’t have?”
The corners of his mouth turned up into a tight smile while he continued to stare outside. The lack of a response from him irritated the fuck out of me.
“Do I have some competition that I should be concerned about?”
“Competition? No, not at all, Griffin. You’re still my favorite. You’ll always be my favorite.”
If I was his favorite, that sounded like there was someone else. We were supposed to be exclusive. Granted, I hadn’t followed that expectation. Maybe he knew.
“Again, have you done something you shouldn’t have done?”
“Shouldn’t have?” He looked at me and waved his hand in the air as if my question were total nonsense. Lars stood, picked up his glass, and downed the rest of the golden liquor. “Everything has a purpose, Griffin.”
That nightafter Riley’s high school graduation, I began looking into video surveillance. Weeks later, I contracted a guy to outfit my uncle’s home with cameras. From the comfort of my father’s old office in the Evans Financial building, I was able to see my uncle leave the office each day. When Lars left work, I’d notify the guy that was at the house installing the surveillance that he had to leave. In all, it only took a few days before everything was done, and I had a front row seat to see if anything out of sorts was happening.
Shaking the past from my mind as I exited the elevator, I glanced at my watch again. It was 7:30, and I didn’t think Riley would be different than any other new employee starting their first day of work. I was sure he’d arrive early, and I wanted to watch him walk toward the building for his first day as an employee …myemployee.
I collected my coffee cup from my office, greeted my secretary as she arrived, and meandered to one of the meeting rooms that faced the parking lot. As Riley walked from the parking lot to the path leading to the building, I slipped my hand in my pants pocket. Feeling instantly aroused, my fingertips touched the outline of my semi-hard shaft.
“That’s it, Riley. Come to me.”
