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“We have to make it quick,” I heard myself say, reaching for Larkin’s cardigan and pushing it off his shoulders.

His eyes brightened as he bounced on his toes. “Fuck yes.”

I chuckled as he pushed me back onto the bed and eagerly scrambled over me.

“Quick,” I reminded him. “And quiet.”

—

“Hey, you two.”

I was sitting on the couch in the office doing a crossword later that afternoon when Taylor poked his head in.

“Hey, T-bone,” Larkin said cheerfully from his desk. He was still in a chirpy mood thanks to the fast, intense blowjob I’d given him after he jerked me off in his room. He’d had to keep a hand clamped over his mouth the whole time to stay quiet, his trembling legs squeezing my sides.

“Holt’s in the arena talking to the bar staff, right?” Taylor asked, glancing at Holt’s office door.

“Uh-huh.”

“Okay, good.” Taylor stepped inside and shut the door. “Corey told me that Holt’s birthday is this coming weekend. This weekend. Why didn’t he tell me?”

“Oh.” Larkin shot me an uneasy look. “Um, boss man gets a little… weird about his birthday.”

“Last year he told us not to get him anything, but Lark still got him a cake. He ate the entire thing in his office,” I said flatly.

Larkin snickered. “And then he tried to convince us that we had a rat infestation. Of rats that really like birthday cake. And use a fork to eat it.”

“He got himself one of those really expensive LED phototherapy mask things, right?” I asked Larkin with a tiny smile. “The thing that looks like you’ve peeled the face off an android.”

“Oh god, yeah. Scared the shit out of me when I went in there and he was using it at his desk.”

“Right.” Taylor shifted anxiously. “So he doesn’t like the thought of getting older?”

Larkin burst out laughing. “Um, no, dude, he does not.”

“Oh. But I kind of… wanted to arrange something for him. Like a party or something.”

Larkin perked up. “A party? Oh yeah, you totally should, broseph. He’d love it.”

“Would he, though? Or would he prefer I did something really low-key? I don’t want to just ignore it.” Taylor frowned.

“If you organised him a party, he’d love it,” Larkin assured him. “But… yeah, just be prepared for him to start getting weird this week. He always does in the run-up.”

“Weird how?”

“Like buying himself things like really expensive LED phototherapy masks,” I said dryly, which made Larkin snort and grin at me. “The year before that, he came into work wearing a backwards cap and a shiny pink tracksuit.”

“What?” Larkin squawked with a gurgle of laughter. “Fuck, I can’t believe I missed that.”

I grinned and shrugged. “It suited him, to be fair. And the thick gold chain.”

Larkin snickered. “Did he look like Hogbody?”

“Yes. He got changed when Coach Boris commented on his excellent fashion sense.”

“Oh my god.” Larkin cracked up, almost sliding off his chair.

“Maybe I shouldn’t plan anything,” Taylor said anxiously.