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I had always known I was gay, but I hadn’t started developing feelings for Oliver until I drove for him. We had been friends as children, and it had been easy since we were the same age, though we always went to different schools. Daphne was a few years older, but we had always gotten along. I wouldn’t have called us best friends, but we would play on the grounds or in their house some days. We had been too young to see a difference between our lives, and our parents were happy for us to play together.
A distance had grown when we started high school. Oliver had gone to a private, elite school, while I went to a public school. William and Violet had offered to send me to the same school as their kids, but I had never had much interest in academics, and my parents hadn’t pushed it.
We would still see each other at times, but I noticed him pull away during senior year. He had been focused on school and joining his father’s company, so I hadn’t put much stock in it. We had gone to different colleges, where he graduated early with a business degree, and I graduated on time with an English degree. By that point, I had realized there was nothing I particularly wanted to do, but I had always loved working on cars with my dad, and William was happy to hire me as his son’s driver.
I hadn’t expected Oliver to be over the moon when he found out, but he had been indifferent. Since then, we had practically been strangers, and five years had gone by without much progress.
I don’t know why I started to fall for him. At first, it might just have been that I like men in suits. But he was a good worker. He wanted to do his best, and he was respected for his ideas. And he was cute when he smiled.
Then, one-night last year, he brought a girl home from a club and met my eye in the mirror. It changed something in me. The feelings started to grow into something more, something dangerous, and I wasn’t sure I could stop them.
I had spent most of the morning in a haze, but by lunchtime I managed to shake myself out of it enough to make it to Oliver’s office. He and his sister each had their own office, but they shared a waiting room.
Daphne was leaning over her secretary’s shoulder, reading something off the computer - but I knew for a fact the secretary didn’t mind.
“Hey Ben.” Oliver’s sister was destined to be the CEO after her father, and for good reason. She was brilliant and was the force behind most of the company’s best campaigns.
And her secretary was in love with her.
Marina glanced up as I approached, and her face lit up with a smile. “Lunch?”
I nodded, raising my brow just a hair at the way Daphne was hanging over her. She gave a littlewhat-can-you-doshrug.
Marina had started working for Daphne about a year after I started driving Oliver. We had been cordial at first, until one team dinner where she had cornered me, drunk, and asked if I was gay. Before I had had a chance to answer, she had informed me she was a lesbian and that we should be friends. She then passed out, and I took her home where she stole my bed and spent the night waking me up to tell me about how she had fallen for Daphne.
She was probably my best friend.
Daphne glanced at the second desk a few feet away, giving Oliver’s secretary a look. Richard glanced down at his watch. “He should be done by now.”
Daphne leaned against Marina’s desk and crossed her arms. “I don’t want to go to this meeting either, but you don’t see me hiding in my office.”
Marina hid a smile behind her hand. “I’m sure he’ll be out in a minute.”
Luckily for everyone involved, she was right. Oliver slunk out of his office with a scowl on his face, but that was good enough.
He glanced at me, a question in his eyes. “I’m staying in the office today.”
I used my thumb to point at Marina. “I’m here for her.”
His mouth seemed to tighten, but only for a moment. “Let’s just get this over with, Daph.”
“At leasttryto look like you’re happy to see the shareholders.”
He quirked up the corner of his lip but only succeeded in looking more miserable. Daphne shook her head. She headed out the door without checking to make sure he was following - since we all knew he was.
Oliver didn’t look at me again as he left, but maybe that was for the best. I was still reeling from the thought that William wanted to set him up, and I wasn’t sure I could hide it on my face.
Marina shut off the computer and rose to join me. She looped her arm through mine. “Hungry?”
“Starved.”
Chapter Three
Different Friday, same routine. Oliver settled into the back seat as I picked him up from work.
“Dinner plans?”
He nodded, absently. “Logan has a table at Nobu.”
