Chapter 5

"I'll be back sometime on Saturday," I say to my older brother, Jared, just as I finish shoving my last pair of black pants into my suitcase.

Jared leans against my doorframe and watches me with a curious expression. I haven't seen him in almost four months but he looks no different. He's still the same tall, shaggy-haired, fag boy he was the last time I saw him.

"I heard you," Jared replies smoothly.

He takes a crisp bite of his apple and chews it slowly. A nasty retort sits on the tip of my tongue, but the familiar sound of the doorbell breaks my focus. I pick up my suitcase and shoulder past my big brother.

When I reach the front door, I really don't know what I expect to see. Needless to say, having Blake stand on my porch with his hands casually stuffed into his jean pockets with a limo in the background catches me off-guard.

"Whoa, who's the hottie?" I hear Jared whisper a few feet behind me.

"Shut up," I hiss. "You're disgusting."

"Seriously – who is it?" he presses. "Callum, have you crossed over to the dark side without telling me?"

Jared gives me a pointed look before staring out the front window of the house. His eyes unabashedly study my boss from head to toe. I don't know why seeing him do this irritates the hell out of me, but it does. My nostrils flare as I open the door to greet Blake. He straightens his posture when our eyes collide and a tight-lipped smile tugs at his lips.

"Hello Callum," he says and holds out his hand. "May I help you with your luggage?"

I ignore his offer and scoff under my breath. I'm not some woe-is-me pussy with no upper body strength. He can take that offer of his and shove it up his ass. With luggage in hand, I move away from the door and nod towards the limo.

"Is that yours?" I ask.

"Hardly. I'm not keen on leaving my car at the airport though."

"So you'd rather piss away hundreds of dollars renting out a limo to take you to and from the airport?" I quip.

Blake raises a brow at me. Normally I reign in my attitude a bit more when I'm at work. Seeing him outside of work, however, makes me feel like I have the upper hand. Jared skips down the front steps. Having no qualms about interrupting our conversation, he sticks out a hand to my boss.

"Hey," my brother says with a curious grin. "I'm Jared, Callum's older brother."

Blake shakes his hand and smiles. "It's good to meet you, Jared."

"You too. Though ah..." Jared scratches at the back of his neck. "I'm still a bit unsure as to who you are. My baby brother here told me he'd be home no later than Saturday afternoon. I guess I didn't realize he already had a travel companion."

Blake's grin turns to a smirk, but he doesn't say anything.

"So can I make the assumption that you've managed to pull Callum into the world of loving dick and that you're his boyfriend?" Jared asks with hopeful eyes.

My jaw goes slack. Jared rarely comes home to visit. So why did he choose this weekend of all weekends to stop over? My fingers curl into fists at my side, and I send a piercing glare to my brother.

"I'm not fucking queer!" I spit in his direction.

"The ones who fervently deny they like dick are the ones who end up liking it the most," Jared counters.

Blake tips his head back and lets out a throaty chuckle. "I see Callum comes by his lack of a verbal filter rightfully."

"Oh...ha, sorry about that," Jared laughs. "Blame it on faulty DNA."

Blake waves him off good-naturedly and both of them turn their gazes to me.

"I'm quite familiar with this trait, as Callum displays it on a daily basis. No offense taken, Jared, I assure you. And to answer your question, I am not Callum's significant other. I'm his boss. My name is Blake – Blake Benson."

Jared's eyes widen. "The Blake Benson? As in, the guy who was on last month's cover of Forbes magazine? As in, the guy who just bought out Industrial Tech for a whopping 5.9 billion dollars?"

Blake smiles and nods his head in a modest manner. "One in the same."

"Shit. I didn't realize we had a celebrity in our midst."

I frown and my eyes bounce back between the two of them. Blake was on the cover of the prestigious Forbes magazine? For what? I knew the dude was rich, but I had no idea he was that rich. Jared's eyeing Blake like he's too good to be true. It's disgusting. It's bad enough that my brother is gay and parades his twinks around the house whenever he comes to visit.

But to actually hit on my boss?

No.

Hell no.

"Blake, we need to leave," I say with a clipped tone. "We'll miss our flight."

Blake glances back at me, and his eyes narrow to slits at the informal way I've just addressed him. My tongue practically itches for me to correct myself, to call him Mr. Benson like I know he'd prefer. To do that in front of my brother, however, is out of the question.

So instead I push things further.

"Or you can stand here and let my brother suck you off," I add with a shrug. "It looks like that's where this is headed anyway."

My comment is enough to make Jared jerk away from Blake's side. A crimson blush rises to his cheeks, indicating to me that I wasn't far off in my assessment of Jared's interest in my boss. The idea of them together is repulsive.

Blake shakes my brother's hand in a parting manner. "It was wonderful to meet you, Jared. I'm sure I'll see you again soon."

Jared nods, still flustered from my comment. "Nice to meet you too, Mr. Benson."

And then Blake says something that infuriates me to no end.

"Please," he says with a friendly smile. "Call me Blake."

~~~~

"Now boarding A1 through D1, first class."

The woman speaking on the small microphone looks down at the computer in front of her. She repeats her words twice more before setting down her microphone. Blake stands at the announcement and hands me my ticket. I stare back at him in confusion.

"A1 through D1 is first class..."

Blake nods. "Yes."

"Why are we riding first class?"

"More leg room."

I roll my eyes. My first instinct is to counter his statement with how much money it costs to fly first class as opposed to general seating, but look who I'm talking to. Blake probably has enough money to buy this plane on the spot if he wanted to.

Rich bastard.

"Whatever," I mumble under my breath. "It's on your dime."

Blake picks up his carry-on bag, and I throw my small backpack over my shoulder. The two of us weave our way to the slim line leading onto the plane. The woman takes our tickets, giving us each a once-over as she does so. She doesn't hide the fact that she's comparing our looks, and it doesn't take long before her eyes remain on me.

Ha. Score one for Callum.

I give her a grin and check her out in return. I've got to be polite, after all. The attendant blushes and takes a card from her breast pocket. She nonchalantly slips it into the side pocket of my backpack. I shoot her a wink and then follow Blake down the long hallway leading to the plane.

The last time I was on a plane was for my sophomore class trip over two years ago. About fifty students flew to New York and spent five days trying the restaurants, going to shows, and sightseeing. The plane ride didn't last any longer than two hours, but I remember both the landing and take-off were rocky.

Sweat breaks out across my palms when I step inside the plane. Despite the large seats, the whole plane feels cramped. Blake throws his small suitcase into the overhead storage and glances at me.

"Do you have a preference of window or aisle seat?"

The idea of watching how far away I am from the ground sounds awful.

"Aisle," I answer curtlly, hoping that Blake can't hear the fear in my voice.

Blake nods and moves into his plush seat with enough room to sit a second person beside him. I plop down in the large chair next to him and clutch my backpack to my chest.

"Are you alright, Callum?"

"Yea."

"Are you sure?"

My pupils dilate when I notice the attendant near the plane door closing it off completely. She tells the other flight attendant that all passengers have boarded. It'll be only minutes now before we take off.

"I'm fine. Just not a fan of flying."

Blake frowns and leans closer to me, lowering his voice to a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I never thought flying would be a part of my job description."

I try to sound as condescending as I can possibly muster, but my voice shakes at the end of my sentence. Blake waves over a flight attendant and orders two vodka martinis.

"Alcohol will loosen you up," Blake says, and his voice takes on a reassuring undertone. "You can order as much as you'd like, too. It's on me."

I simply stare ahead of me. I'm too stubborn to thank him, but I'm too terrified to counter his offer with a biting response. The flight attendants begin their safety speech, and I pale when I feel the plane begin to move. It rumbles beneath my feet, and suddenly I feel incredibly small.

The flight attendant brings our drinks to us. Before she has a chance to set it down on my tray, I take it from her fingers and guzzle it down in seconds flat.

"I'll have another," I say, wiping away the remnants from my lips using the back of my hand.

Blake chuckles. "Callum, would you like me to hold your hand for takeoff?"

The offer temporarily jolts me out of my fear. I stare at Blake with a cold stare.

"Piss off."

"It was merely an offer. It always helps my five-year-old niece."

"Well fuck your offer, and fuck your patronizing efforts to calm me down."

Blake simply shrugs, grinning when my second drink arrives and is set on my tray. His teasing expression is enough to send me into round two of our bickering session. Back and forth the two of us go – Blake saying a line to get under my skin, and I in-turn spitting out rebuttals to try and get the last word.

Before long Blake glances out the window and then settles into his chair comfortably.

"That's it?" I ask. "No come-back?"

Blake grins and closes his eyes. "You got through take-off well, Callum. We've been flying for almost twenty minutes now. I'll pick up the bickering quota when it's time to land."

Wait – what?

My mouth opens in disbelief, and my eyes widen with a new-found realization.

Blake wasn't arguing to try and irritate me.

He was arguing...to comfort me.