HIDE

EPISODE 28 - A MOMENT OF INTIMACY.

Sharing a bed with his boss was somehow the single weirdest thing Brandon had ever done, and that said a lot. The intimacy, closeness of bodies and total trust that came with that one single act.

Brandon stared at the massive chandelier that glowed on the ceiling and breathed evenly, trying to will himself to fall asleep. It didn’t work.

He was so aware of the man beside him, of his steady breaths and the heat he exuded. It was a good thing the room was not hot, a fresh cool breeze coming through the open window and air conditioner.

“You’re on fire,” Brandon complained.

Wilson made a restricted snort of sound, something between a laugh and a sigh. “Thanks,” he said, his voice extremely dry.

Brandon flushed, realizing how that had sounded. “Shut up. You’re literally burning up.”

“Yeah, I know. I become that hot when I am on clothes. I’m not used to sleeping in clothes.”

Now that was something Brandon really had no idea about. Not that he knew much about the man or anything. “And you’re wearing clothes for my sake? I didn’t know you even understood the concept of being selfless.”

“You’re right.” The Wilson sat up and pulled his t-shirt off. “I should never have bothered. It is not like you have not seen me naked.”

"Wait, what? I have not seen you naked,” Brandon said quickly, looking away, even though he could not see much in the dark. “I have seen parts of you. Naked. But not all of you!”

“You had my c**k in your mouth,” Brandon said. “Seeing the rest of me should not be a problem."

Brandon squeezed his eyes shut. He could still hear Wilson lie back in the bed with a satisfied sigh.

“Stop reminding me of it.”

“Of what?” Wilson said. “Of having my c**k in your mouth?”

“Stop saying that.” Brandon bit the inside of his cheek, trying to think to have anything else but that scene on his mind right now.

It did not work.

His thoughts kept going to Wilson’s c**k. Inches away from him. Probably half-hard at the very least, considering how horny Wilson always was. Thick and long, standing tall between Wilson’s muscular thighs, the c**k head fat and red and glistening with pre-come.

Brandon’s mouth watered.

God, he needed to distract himself, before he could do something he would regret. Something he had sworn to Britney never to do again.

Brandon searched for something to say. “Why did you leave Italy?”

“What makes you think I will tell you?” Brandon said, but his tone was mild, almost soft.

Sensing a prime opportunity to actually get some answers, Brandon opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling again. “Let us play a game. You will honestly answer my question, and then I will answer yours, and so on. If one of us does not want to answer the question, he owes the other a hundred thousand dollars.”

Giving a full belly laugh, “if you had a hundred grand, you would never have seemed for a job. You do not have a hundred thousand dollars.”

“Do not belittle me, young man. I might be a secret wealthy prince, and you might never know,” Brandon said with a smile, very pleased with himself or coming up with such an imaginative idea. Either he would finally get some answers, or he would be filthy rich by the end of the night. What a great way to earn easy money? Smartass, “I have nothing to hide, so I am not going to need it.”

After a moment, Wilson said, “Fine.”

It made Brandon a little sceptical. Was there something Wilson actually wanted to know about him? Something he would never want to answer?

“You first,” Brandon said. “Why did you leave Italy? It is obvious that you love it. There had to be a reason.”

He heard the Wilson exhale.

“Multiple unhappy moments and other stuff. It was just too elaborate to narrow it down. There were a few reasons that contributed to my decision.”

“Come on, that is not an answer.”

Wilson was silent for so long Brandon started thinking he was not going to

tell him, but finally, he broke the silence. “My mum was killed in my presence. Not that the killer knows that I know. He just thought that nobody saw him. And, someone hurt me when I was four. Did unimaginable things to me for a long time, and I didn't have a clue because I was a child. s**t ruined me, and this place just held so many bad memories. I just wanted freedom and a fresh start. There you go. Now you have your answer. Tell anyone and I 

will cut your tongue out,” he jokingly threatened. You could hear that his tone held a restricted pain more than the laughter he was faking.

Brandon frowned. He almost regretted asking the question now. He didn’t want to understand his boss or sympathize with him. He was also a little confused. Becky had told him that Wilson’s family had kicked him out. But then again, Wilson leaving the family business likely had not endeared him to his family. Maybe they were pissed off enough to want to have anything to do with him for abandoning them.

“You said there was not just one reason.”

“I gave you over five reasons just now. You should have become paparazzi,” Wilson said, a hint of amusement appearing in his voice. “Yes, there were other reasons. Less important reasons.”

“Like what?”

“It does not matter.”

“You promised an honest answer.”

“An honest answer is not the same as a full answer. Technically, I did answer your question.”

Brandon glowered at him in the dark.

The bastard laughed. “I can practically see the face you are making right now.”

Brandon turned onto his side and poked at Wilson’s ribs with his finger, hard. “Give me a full answer or that is a hundred thousand dollars you owe me and I will not answer any of your questions.”

Wilson caught his hand and forced him to stop poking at his ribs. But instead of letting go of it, he just held his hand tight, with so much emotion.

Brandon’s fingers twitched against the soft palm and warm skin. He should probably remove his hand. But… it was not doing anything. It was just holding on to someone who needed compassion right now. There was nothing weird about it, right?

“As far as I can remember, my father has always been strict on us. The strictness got so severe when it came to my mother and me.” Wilson said, his voice neutral once again. “When I was a kid, I didn’t know it wasn’t normal, and didn’t understand that there was a correlation between my father's behaviour and my mother falling asleep curled on the floor with bruises.”

He did not say anything else, but Brandon could read between the lines. An unreasonably strict father and a weak, depressed mother would make anyone want to leave such a toxic household. Coupled with whatever that happened to him at a young age that almost ruined him, and the immense pressure… Brandon felt a reluctant twitch of sympathy.

He chewed on his lip, stroking Wilson’s happy trail absentmindedly.

“Is that why you do not do relationships? Because you did not see a good example of it growing up?”

“That is two questions, not one. Shouldn't it be your turn?”

“I will answer two questions if you answer this one.” Brandon was not sure why it was suddenly so important, but he just wanted to know. He wanted to know everything about this man, what made him tick, what had shaped him into the man he was now. It was probably a little messed-up how much he liked learning things about a man he could not stand, but Brandon had come to accept it. This man had influenced him, period.

Wilson gave a soft snort. “The answer is not what you want to hear. I do not do relationships because I have never met anyone who made me want to build that fairy tale life. I doubt that woman even exists, so I have no intention of making some poor woman miserable when I inevitably cheat on her.”

“Careful, you almost sound like a nice person,” Brandon said with a smile. “All right, my turn! Ask away.”

Wilson hummed and fell silent for a while.

It made Brandon nervous. He tried to think of the worst question Wilson could possibly ask. f**k, what if he asked if Brandon liked sucking his c**k?

“Do you really hate working under me?”

Brandon’s mind immediately went to the dark. In his defence, Wilson was f*****g naked beside him; it was totally understandable that he had imagined being physically under him, which… He pushed the image away, his face uncomfortably warm. God, what the hell was wrong with him?

Brandon cleared his throat a little. He opened his mouth to say that of course, he hated it, but then he paused. That would be a lie. He could not deny that he felt a huge relief being back at work, which did not make sense, considering that there was nothing nice about the job of a PA.

“It is not exactly the job of my dreams,” Brandon said. “And you are a horrible boss. Like, you are so horrible, I sometimes vividly imagine choking you with your own tie.”

“That is not an answer.”

Of course, it had been too much to hope that Wilson would not notice that he was avoiding a straight answer.

“I do not hate working for you anymore,” Brandon said stiffly, tightening his grip. “I dislike it, either.” He cleared his throat again, and said, desperate to switch the subject, “All right, the second question. Go ahead.”

Surely, any other question would be less uncomfortable than this one. “Are you going to jerk me off or not? All this fondling is just frustrating.”

Brandon froze. Then, two things registered at the same time.

His hand was on Wilson’s hard c**k, fondling it absentmindedly.

His own c**k was hard, too.

Fuck.

Brandon snatched his hand away, his face burning. What the hell, he had no idea when he had even started groping him!

“I was distracted by the conversation,” he said, wiping his hand off on the sheets. It did nothing to erase the feel of the warm, hard c**k he had just been touching. “I am not responsible for my subconscious!”

Wilson chuckled but did not say anything. Thank goodness for the darkness, if not, Wilson would have seen his flaming face.

The embarrassment and excitement that his body was emanating were shooting lasers over the rooftop at the moment.

Brandon turned away and stared at the wall, feeling so confused and mortified. If he could not even trust himself, who could he trust?

Brandon might be in deeper than he knew. What was he going to do now? Britney would have rolled her eyes at the huge mess-up Brandon once more caused. At the moment, he was the one initiating the atmosphere. What would he do now? Deny his feelings or stick with the one that makes him come alive?

 On Wilson's path, would he give up his discipline about love and reveal his darkest secrets to the one that is slowly changing him?