“I’m not being possessive, but he doesn’t need someone like Mason pawing him. Besides, what would Zeb say?”
Mason scowled at him, and then, as if the gods were looking down on Ryder and wanting him to be happy, the man himself walked in. Zeb was only twenty years old, but the kid had been through a lot of shit in his young life and was more mature than many guys Ryder’s age.
“Sorry to interrupt, boss. I need you to sign these requisitions.”
Mason signaled for him to come over. Zeb was a confident young man, except around Mason when he’d get shy. Anyone with eyes knew the boy had a huge crush on his boss. Despite what Mason said, it was reciprocated.
“How’s it going, Zeb?” asked Ryder.
“Good thanks. How about you?”
“Wonderful. Have you been on any dates?”
Ryder saw Mason’s shoulders tense as he was reading and signing the forms. Ethan smirked at him but said nothing. He loved rattling the grumpy chef as much as Ryder did.
“No. I don’t really have time.”
“It’s your twenty-first next year, isn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“The same month Mason turns forty, right?”
If looks could kill, Ryder would have died a dozen times based on how Mason was glaring at him now.
“Once you get to twenty-one, I’ll take you out for a drink. I can be your wingman. Get you a nice older man to look after you. That’s what your type is, isn’t it?”
Zeb’s eyes widened, and he looked at the floor.
“I mean, you can’t wait around forever for someone to notice you, can you, Zeb?”
Mason growled, causing Zeb to jump. He passed thepapers back to Zeb, who couldn’t get out of the office quick enough. As soon as he was gone, Ryder couldn’t help but laugh.
“What the fuck are you playing at?” snapped Mason.
“That boy needs to stop pining for you, or you need to put the both of you out of your misery and fuck him.”
“He’s my employee.”
“And nineteen years younger than you,” said Ethan.
“Thank you for that reminder, Ethan. Don’t be siding with him.”
“It’s pretty obvious you have a thing for him, Mason,” said Ryder. “He worked in the kitchen and hated it, so you took him on as an assistant, which you’ve never needed before.”
“Well, I should have had one before. You know I don’t like the business side of things. It’s helpful having someone else do all the paperwork.”
“And someone with no experience was an objective business decision, was it?”
“I see what you’re doing. Deflecting again. Is it because Felix has done the unspeakable and made you feel an emotion?”
“No. He’s cute. I just want to fuck him.”
Ryder felt wrong saying that about Felix. He meant a lot more than that, but Ryder wasn’t sure if what he was feeling was genuine, or if it was just because Felix was the first person who’d been able to make him hard since his problem started. Ryder had an appointment with his doctor this afternoon. He hadn’t been able to get hard to jerk off, even when he’d thought about Felix’s pert ass wrapped around his cock. Whenever he conjured up a fantasy of what Felix would look like when he came, the look on his face when he’d stormed out of Ryder’s apartment interrupted it.
“Are you at least going toapologize to him?” asked Mason.
“I’ve already done that. I sent him flowers.”
