It’d been that way since the night the bassist had fucked him. While being stuffed like a turkey had been one of the weirdest sensations, it had also been strangely liberating. Chris didn’t remember feeling so light and at peace like this before. It was as if he’d been wearing a concrete suit his entire life and his friend had come and destroyed it, pummeling it to the ground in one blow.
The guitarist wasn’t used to letting others take charge, much less a man. A man that was about to fuck him. The thought of it had him trembling from head to toe with fear and excitement. But the way Marc had barked orders at him, touched him, and pounded into him, had also ripped away the unhealthy need he had to control everything. Not to mention the tenderness of his lips peppering his neck and chest later in the shower.
It was as if with the bassist he could simply exist and be happy without worrying about anything else—even though he hadn’t stayed the night because, as much as he had liked it, he needed to process it alone. With him, Chris was a ball of ecstasy that didn’t care about the ugliness in the world or inside of him. And fuck, that shit, that freedom, was better than any drug he’d ever tried.
He side-glanced at Marc, feeling that stupid flutter in his stomach all over again when he looked at him. This late puberty was hitting so hard it wasn’t even funny.
“Gunther just texted,” Angie said, bringing him back. “He’s down at The Caffeine Fix getting some croissants.”
“Is the meeting gonna be that long?” Erik asked before sipping his coffee.
“Don’t think so, but we assumed you may want to have a decent breakfast before you leave for your respective jobs.” Angie leaned on the edge of her desk, curling one hand over it as she brought the cup to her grinning mouth.
“You can’t do that, Ang!” Chris pointed at her. “Stop teasing and tell us what the fuck this is all about.”
“Nu-huh.” She shook her head. “Gunther made me promise I’d wait till he was here, too. He wants to see your faces, and after all this time, it’s the least I could do for him.”
“You said it was a good thing, right?” Leah asked.
“Yup.”
“Ugh! You can be really annoying,” Chris grumbled.
“Whatever.” She waved dismissively. “Erik, have you thought about what you mentioned before going on vacation?”
“Yeah…”
“And…?” Angie tilted her head.
“When we come back from Australia, I’ll be handing in my letter of resignation.”
“You’re kidding,” Marc snapped. “We had talked about it, but I didn’t think you’d do it. Not so soon anyway.”
Erik lifted a shoulder. “My paycheck is gonna be way tighter for a while, I know that. But Julia said I can move in with her, so I wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent, and the bills would be split.”
“You’re moving in with her?” Leah asked with a cheesy grin.
“Yeah.” The drummer tittered. “I wanna dedicate all my time to the band. Do everything I can to push us further, with the help of Angie and Gunther.”
“Of course, my boy, count me in for that.”
A cloud of sweetness flooded the space as the door of Angie’s office opened. Everyone turned around.
“Sorry I’m late,” Gunther apologized, bowing his head as he went straight to the table where the coffee machine was and opened the cabinet. “Anton got sick last night and I haven’t slept at all,” he continued while putting the best croissants in town on a plate.
“How is he doing?” Marc asked.
“We managed to reduce the fever by five this morning.” The manager sighed. “We’re letting him sleep for now, but we’re taking him to the doc before lunch, which reminds me…” He trailed off as he walked over to the door of the office. “Monica,” he called the receptionist, “can you please call the Black Rose guys and tell them I need to move my meeting with them to the afternoon?”
“Sure.”
“Okay,” he said, smoothing the nonexistent wrinkles in his clothes. He had a beard, and both arms covered in tattoos, but this dude was probably one of the most elegant people out there. “Have you told them?” He grinned at Angie as he left the plate on the small table between the couches.
“Of course not. They’re your babies. You have to be here for this.”
“Okay, he’s here already,” Chris said, growing nervous by the second. “Can you tell us what’s going on?”
“What he said.” Erik pointed at him.
