Two Hours Later: Radisson Hotel Philadelphia
"Wow, Cynthia wasn't kidding when she said the hotel was going to be busy this weekend," Brian commented as he and Andrea walked into the lobby carrying their luggage and he observed the large crowd gathered there; the expansive area was full of visitors either sitting in the bar nearby, lounging in the seating areas speaking on cell phones or working with computers, or walking to or from the building's entrance. Several people, mainly men in business suits, stood at the check-in area, waiting to check in and receive their key cards. Between the sound of conversation, liquor glasses clinking in the bar, and the light jazz music floating overhead, the din was quite loud for a hotel lobby.
A young, dark-haired woman wearing the maroon-colored uniform of the hotel smiled appreciatively at the two handsome people approaching the front desk; her eyes couldn't help sweeping over the two men – both tall; one with dark brown hair with golden-colored skin, and the other one black-headed with piercing green eyes and more of an olive complexion. As they walked toward her with matching, elegant strides, they definitely made a very striking picture. "May I help you?" she asked politely, her voice coming out just a bit high-pitched from being in such close proximity to two such handsome men.
Brian smiled at her as he nodded, used to receiving that sort of reaction from both sexes. "Yes, I have two rooms reserved under the name of Kinney…..Brian Kinney," he told her efficiently as he set his small suitcase down next to Andrea's on the highly-polished, marbled floor. He watched while the woman nodded as she began to punch in some information into her computer terminal. He watched as a slight frown flickered across her face a few seconds later, though, before she raised her eyes to peer back at the two men rather apologetically. "You said two rooms?" she asked.
"Yes," Brian verified. "Is there some type of problem?"
Andrea held his breath; he felt this would be the trickiest part of the entire process. If he could get past this hotel employee without his subterfuge being discovered, the rest should be relatively easy. All he had to do was get his sexy boss upstairs for a little demonstration of his other talents in addition to his art and the two of them would be spending the rest of the night fucking each other's brains out; while he was normally a top in his sexual encounters, for this glorious-looking man, he would be more than willing to take turns.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Kinney," the woman said, peering back at him in confusion. "I only show one room reserved for your stay; just for tonight, right?"
Brian sighed in aggravation; couldn't the hotel get just one fucking reservation correct? He was convinced Cynthia hadn't messed up; she was always accurate as hell whenever she made travel arrangements for him. "Yes, it's only for tonight, but I had my assistant reserve two rooms, not one. I need both rooms," he repeated firmly; there was no way, especially with Justin's reaction earlier, that he was sharing a room with Ferrari.
The woman stared at Brian a little uncomfortably. "I'm sorry, Mr. Kinney, but the hotel is completely booked all the way through to Sunday evening," she informed him. There is a major political convention being held here this weekend," she explained. "The one room is all we have available. I could call one of the other hotels to see about availability there," she suggested.
Brian sighed heavily; this was the normal hotel he stayed out whenever he had business in Philadelphia and he preferred this one; but he also preferred to keep his partner happy, and he knew what would happen if Justin got the wrong idea about their unfortunate arrangements. "Yeah….I'd like you to do that," he decided. "But I'd like at least a 4-star hotel." Even he had his standards, he decided. He detested sleeping on lumpy, hard, foam-rubber mattresses.
The woman nodded. "Of course. If you and your associate would like to wait over there, I'll have someone summon you as soon as I can arrange something else for you; it should only take a few minutes."
Brian nodded a little sourly, still irritated that such a prestigious hotel had managed to mess up a simple room reservation. "Come on, Andrea," he said, picking up his luggage as the other man mimicked his action. "Can you fucking believe this?" he muttered to him as they walked over together to a nearby beige-colored leather couch and plopped down, resting their luggage at their feet. "One stinking night, and they fuck up the room arrangements."
"Yeah," Andrea agreed. "You'd think a 5-star hotel could manage to keep their records straight," he commiserated, silently crossing his fingers that the downtown area was as packed with convention goers as he had been led to believe. He hadn't counted on Brian being willing to move to another hotel; this was the closest one to their client's meeting place tomorrow, so he had just assumed he could convince Brian to share a room. Unfortunately he hadn't the chance to even suggest it before Brian was asked if he was willing to go to a different establishment. Well, he thought, if this doesn't work out I'm not giving up…..
He watched as his boss reached into his suit pocket to retrieve his cell phone and press a single digit number. He seethed inside, knowing instinctively who his boss was calling. Sure enough, he watched as Brian's face broke out into what could only be termed a tender smile and heard the handsome man's voice soften as he uttered into the phone, "Hey."
"Hey yourself," Justin replied, smiling at the sound of his partner's fluid, sexy voice; he had just walked into the loft and grabbed a bottled water from the fridge before he heard the sound of his cell phone ringing. "I hate to disappoint you, Mr. Kinney, but I didn't expect your call so soon. My ass just walked in the door, so it's not quite 'lubed and ready' for you as you so poetically put it earlier."
Brian chuckled softly as he lowered his voice. "Well, I'm not quite ready yet, either," he admitted. "Although, I could be in pretty short order – if I was in a less-public place."
"Where are you?" Justin asked, walking over to sit down on the couch; he idly picked up a dark-blue pillow lying there and hugged it to his chest, inhaling the familiar scent of his lover still emanating from it. He indulged in the fragrance of Brian's aftershave and cologne on the fabric and bit back the feeling of longing that suddenly arose in his heart in response. Brian had only been gone a few hours and he already missed him terribly. He knew he would miss him even more tonight when he finally tried to get some sleep. His partner had finally become accustomed to spooning together when they slept and it always helped Justin drift quickly off to sleep – that and a vigorous round of fucking ; that never hurt, either.
"Andrea and I are in the hotel lobby, waiting to check in," Brian informed him. He intentionally didn't mention to Justin that the Radisson had screwed up their hotel room reservations; he saw no reason to get his partner upset over something that was going to be rectified shortly. Brian turned his head away from his business associate to whisper into the phone, "I just wanted to call and hear your voice, that's all."
He could hear Justin breathe out a smile of delight into the phone before he said simply, "I'm glad." Brian heard a sharper tone arise in his lover's voice as he asked, "How's Andy?"
Brian smirked, not missing the obvious tinge of jealousy that crept into Justin's voice. "He's fine," he told him. "Sitting here with me – in the lobby. Remember what I said, okay?"
"Lubed and ready – got it."
Brian snorted. "That's not what I meant, Justin, and you know it."
"Yeah, I know what you meant," Justin whispered back. He paused for a second before he asked, "Just hurry up and work your magic tomorrow so you can come home quickly, okay?"
Brian smiled. "I always wow the client, you know that," he bragged. "I'll be home before you know it," he reassured him. "And don't forget the other thing I told you – I'll call you later tonight, okay?"
"Okay," Justin said; he was about to utter their traditional, nonchalant closing when he decided to vary their normal tradition just a bit. "I love you – later," he whispered later.
One side of Brian's mouth rose in affectionate reaction. "Yeah…..me too," he breathed out; he was a little surprised how easily the backhanded expression of love had slipped out. "Later," he added softly before he thought fully flipped the phone shut and smiled at the anticipation of seeing a very naked and horny Justin later on his webcam; technology was definitely a wonderful thing, and it would do for one night, but he would never replace the real thing. He forced himself to shift his attention to his critical presentation tomorrow morning; now was not a very prudent time to be sporting an impressive woody, and just the thought of what he and his partner would be talking about later – and doing – threatened to create a set of circumstances he would rather not have to explain.
From his seat next to Brian, Andrea had sat there fuming as he overheard every bit of his boss's conversation with the man he had subsequently replaced – at least at Kinnetik. Couldn't this man see that Taylor was no match for his intelligence, business acumen and passion? HE was a much more compatible match, both mentally and physically. Apparently, though, from the almost loving tone in Brian's voice, his boss was totally bamboozled by the blond upstart. The young artist must be a great lay; that was the only explanation as to why Brian would be even remotely hooked up with him. Well, it would just be up to him to prove that he was a far superior choice for a partner to his boss tonight – if things worked the way he wanted them to, that is….. He looked up in anxious anticipation as he noticed the same, dark-haired employee walking over to them. "Brian," he said, grabbing his boss's sleeve to get his attention.
Brian looked up expectantly as the woman approached, but his brow creased in consternation at the woman's look of regret as he stood up to greet her.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Kinney," she informed him. "I have called every 4-star or greater hotel within a 15-mile radius and every hotel is solidly booked due to the convention taking place. The best I could do is an Embassy Suites in Chester – that's about 16 miles from here."
Brian sighed in aggravation. "No, I am NOT staying that far away," he told her adamantly. "I have a business meeting at 8:00 tomorrow morning." He huffed in anger. "How the fuck did my reservation get screwed up anyway?"
"I'm sorry; I don't know the answer to that question. Normally we can track the initial reservation and any change requests, but our system crashed a few minutes ago. We're having to process check-ins manually right now." She stood there, feeling somewhat helpless. "Again, I apologize, but there's just no hotel rooms available matching your criteria nearby."
Brian shook his head in frustration as Andrea gloated internally; this was perfect, just perfect. Now all he had to do was play his role convincingly enough…... "Uh, Brian?" he began, standing up to join his boss.
Brian glanced over at him, still perturbed, and spat out a curt, "Yes?"
Ferrari placed his most practical, business-looking expression on his face as he said, "Look…it's just for the one night, and the room is a suite; it's got a separate bedroom and a pull-out couch, right?" he asked, looking over at the young woman who nodded in confirmation. "We're both adults; we can handle one night like that, can't we?" he asked reasonably, casually placing his hands on his hips as he stared into Brian's face; he hoped the look in his eyes was one of nonchalant, common sense, and did not betray the lust threatening to invade every pore of his body as his looked at his glorious specimen of a boss. Just the thought of having this man all to himself in the hotel room's king-sized bed and bathroom Jacuzzi, and what he could do with him was making him horny as hell. He knew, though, that he had to play this one low-key if he was going to get what he wanted…..
Brian brushed one hand through his hair restlessly; this was NOT working out at all the way he had anticipated. And despite the rather sensible solution his employee was suggesting, he knew what would happen if Justin found out before he got home; he would be furious and immediately jump to conclusions. He did know one thing, though, if he had to go through with this unfortunate arrangement; he would have to come clean to his partner upon his return or he knew that somehow it would blow up in his face. He only hoped Justin would believe him and understand that it was not his fault and he had had no choice. He supposed in the long run, then, that it was the best solution.
"I guess you're right," he reluctantly agreed at last as he turned to face the young woman. "Okay. We'll take the one room; but I'd still like you to get to the bottom of how this happened. I've spent a lot of in the past patronizing this hotel, and needless to say, I'm feeling really pissed off right now."
She nodded, relieved that a potential disagreeable encounter had apparently been avoided. "Of course," she told him. "I'll let you know as soon as I find out what happened. If you'll come back over with me to the front desk, I'll get your reservation processed right away."
Brian nodded as he and Andrea followed the woman back over to the front desk, the brunet still silently fuming while his associate prayed that the technical glitch would be a long and extended one; if Brian found out that he had been the one to change the reservation, he would be angry as hell and probably fire his ass. But if he could somehow pull this off, even if Brian did find out afterward, he was convinced it wouldn't matter; by then, his boss would realize they were meant to be together, both on the job and in bed; Justin Taylor would simply be a faint memory by then.
As they stood face to face a few minutes later in the elevator car that was taking them up to the fourth floor, Brian was still bristling over what he perceived as the hotel's incompetency. Not only was he angry that they had messed up their room reservations, he was probably more upset that his plans for him and Justin might have been compromised now; he had not expected to engage in phone sex with Justin while the man that his partner resented was presiding nearby in the suite's other room. Well, he decided, that was too damned bad; he wasn't going to give up being with his partner – at least via long distance – just because some potential voyeur was in the other room. To hell with it.
"I can't believe a hotel like this one could screw up a simple room reservation," Andrea told his boss sympathetically, trying hard to sound regretful but celebrating his good fortune inside. "At least they knocked 50% off the room rate."
Brian snorted as the floor levels slowly ticked off. "That's the least they could fucking do," he growled. "I'm going to remind Cynthia to never again book me a room here; this is damn ridiculous!" He thought for a few seconds. "I should call her and verify that she did reserve the two rooms," he mused as Andrea licked his lips nervously. He realized, though, that even if he did call his assistant, she would have no way of knowing that he had changed the reservations afterward himself. His sighed internally in relief anyway, though, as Brian added, "Hell with it – I know she didn't fuck it up; she's too efficient. It had to be some asshole idiot here at the hotel or wherever their reservation headquarters are." He sighed in resignation. "I guess I can deal with it for one night," he decided. "Then we'll be out of here tomorrow as soon as we meet with our client."
Andrea nodded. "Yeah, it'll be fine," he assured him. MORE than fine, he thought as he glanced over appreciatively at his boss, whose eyes were staring at the floor numbers overhead. God, Kinney was beautiful, he couldn't help thinking as he stared at him unabashedly; the car soon came to a halt and the bell signaled the door was about to open as he quickly averted his eyes from the other man.
Several seconds later, they arrived at their hotel room and Brian pushed the key card into the door's slot to swing the door open for both of them to enter; as he surveyed their temporary home-away-home, he noticed it was the same standard, two-room suite he had been used to sharing alone normally. Tonight, though, he would have to endure sharing it with a man he really didn't know that much about. Of course, being with a virtual stranger overnight hadn't normally been an issue before; he had certainly done it enough times in the past. But now it was different; now there was Justin, and for some inexplicable reason just the thought of sleeping in the same hotel room with another man – especially one that Justin intensely disliked – made him feel oddly like he was cheating on him. He sighed; he felt like shit at the moment, both physically and mentally.
"I'm going to go unpack a few things," he indicated as he placed his key card and cell phone down on the nearby coffee table and Andrea nodded in acknowledgment as he sat down on the couch, seemingly indifferent. "And I think I'm going to go take a shower." Between the rather bumpy flight they had had on the way here and the crowd of people pressing around them in the lobby, all he wanted to do at the moment was go indulge under some hot, steaming water as he fantasized about doing something else hot and steamy with a certain blond later….
He walked over to the open doorway of the bedroom with his luggage and softly closed the door behind him, finding to his consternation that there was no internal lock on the door; obviously, under normal circumstances there would be no need for a lock inside a hotel suite, but this wasn't just some ordinary circumstance. He was being forced to share a room for the night with a man that Justin was extremely jealous of. As he placed his suitcase down on the stand, however, and pulled out a fresh change of clothes, he shook his head, realizing how silly that sounded. He and Ferrari were merely co-workers; the man had never given him any reason to feel he wanted anything more than that, and they were here to do business. For fuck's sake, he chided himself, don't be so melodramatic.
He peeled off his suit jacket and shirt, hanging them up in the closet nearby, before gathering up his other clothing and opening the door to emerge out into the main room. He nodded coolly at his co-worker before turning to walk into the nearby bathroom and closing the door to lock it behind him.
Ferrari tried to keep the outright lust from dripping out of every pore of his body as he got his first look at Brian Kinney unclothed from the waist up; his bronze skin was firm and taut, just as he had thought it would be. He couldn't wait to see the rest of what his boss was hiding underneath his expensive linen pants, although he could certainly surmise it was pretty damn impressive from what he could tell already. He sighed in extreme disappointment as he heard the lock being engaged on the other side of the shower door a few seconds later. Brian certainly did not come across as somehow who was bashful or afraid to show off his body; he must have done that out of his some misguided sense of honor toward his partner. Well, he was still undeterred; it may take a while tonight to get into Brian Kinney's pants, but it would happen….He heard the water being turned on, thinking that wasn't the only 'thing' that was turned on….He had to have this man before the night was over, and he would.
A few minutes later in the shower, Brian had temporarily forgotten all the issues swirling around in his head as he stood inside the marble stall that held a wonderfully powerful, multi-head shower and tried to concentrate on the soothing feeling of the water streaming over his body. He began to imagine Justin was in there with him, standing with his back to him with his perky, little tight ass exposed, the pale flesh practically glowing under the overhead track lighting of the bathroom as he slowly soaped his partner's back and shoulders. He berated himself as he reached down to jack off; he forced himself to push his hand away, deciding he was willing to wait – but just for a short while – to pleasure himself in front of his partner instead. God, Justin….I miss you so fucking much.
Same Time – Pittsburgh – Brian's Loft
Justin had quickly finished his homework assignment – a short essay on modern art and its most influential artists of the 20th century – about thirty minutes ago and had already polished off the leftovers of his Pasta Alfredo from last night. Now, as he sat there on the couch trying to watch some documentary on film animation, he normally would have been engrossed in such a topic. But the quietness invading the spacious loft space because of his partner being gone merely filled him with loneliness.
He had thought about calling Daphne to come over and watch a movie with him, and had even gone so far as to pick up his phone to do so; however, at the last minute, he had recalled she was going out of town yesterday to visit some relative until this coming Sunday. He had even thought of calling Emmett to see if he wanted to go to Woody's, but for some reason, his heart just wasn't in it.
Now, as he sat there, his eyes glassy and fixed and not staring at anything in particular, he realized why his heart wasn't in it – his heart was currently residing several hundred miles away in the City of Brotherly Love. He sighed; when did he become such a sniveling, sentimental, lovesick idiot? Oh, yeah….about the time he met Brian and the man took him home to fuck him and he never left. He smiled, though – at least things had changed radically from the time Brian had accused him of being a stalker; considering the initial title Brian had given, he had come a long, long way. He was more of an equal with him now, and it made him feel so good.
He glanced over at the clock, noticing it was now 6:30 p.m. He knew it was early and Brian had promised to call him, but he just couldn't wait any longer; he had to talk to his partner and hear his sexy voice. Besides, on the rare occasions when they were apart and had to resort to the webcam to get each other off, it wasn't unusual for them to wind up literally spending hours in view of their laptops, lying in bed fucking themselves as they fantasized it was each other doing it, peppered in between with sensual, sexy rounds of dirty talk. Just the thought right now made Justin's heart begin to beat faster in anticipation. It would never be the same as being with Brian personally, he knew, but it was better than nothing and it gave him something to look forward to when his partner returned.
Smiling to himself since he knew Brian wouldn't mind in the least if he started things off a little early, he leaned over to retrieve his cell phone lying on the glass coffee table and flipped it open to dial Brian's number. The phone rang four times before, to Justin's immense disappointment, he heard his partner's familiar voicemail greeting. He didn't want to leave a message for Brian, though; he wanted to talk to him. "Brian, where are you, you asshole?" he chided him into the phone before hanging up. He sat there pensively for a few seconds before he stood up and walked over to Brian's desk near the door, ruffling through the narrow desk drawer in the middle until he located his partner's thin, black leather address book. Leafing through the pages, he located the number for the Radisson Hotel he knew Brian normally stayed at. Smiling, he punched in the number and waited for it to ring.
"Radisson Hotel Philadelphia, this is Will speaking. How may I help you?"
"Could you please ring the room for Brian Kinney, please?" Justin asked.
"One moment, Sir," was the reply. Justin's heart sped up just a little at the thought of hearing his lover's velvety voice as he began to walk over toward his laptop, already set up on the bed's night table and booted up, ready for a little one-on-one, long-distance fucking action. Come on, Brian….pick up the phone, he pleaded as he waited impatiently. Finally, he heard the phone connect and a voice answering, only it wasn't the voice he was hoping to hear.
"Hello?"
Justin frowned. "Is this Brian Kinney's room?" he asked hesitantly.
Ferrari recognized the caller's voice instantly and smiled; this was too good to be true…..It couldn't have worked out better if he had tried. "Yeah, it's Brian's room," he said casually as if it were the most natural thing in the world; he made sure to sound like he was struggling to breathe a little as he answered.
"Who IS this?" Justin demanded, although his heart sank with dread as he realized who the man with the distinctive accent had to be.
"Taylor? Is that you?" Andrea said, enjoying the conversation immensely. He let out an exhale of breath as if he were calming his respiration down after some type of exertion.
"Yeah, that's right…..Andy," Justin retorted. "What the fuck are you doing answering the phone in Brian's room? Where is he?"
"Brian's room?" Andrea responded, smiling to himself; he made sure, however, to keep any hint of amusement or surprise out of his voice as he added, "This is our room; we're sharing it." Well….it WAS the truth, he told himself. "He's indisposed at the moment," the arrogant man explained vaguely as Justin fumed. "You really don't want to know why, though, trust me," he said with a little laugh. "Oh, wait, though….you two have an open relationship, don't you? Maybe it wouldn't matter then."
"Put him on the phone, Ferrari!" Justin snarled. "NOW!" What the fuck was this man trying to pull? He thought. He had to talk to Brian.
"Sorry," the other man told him with a laugh. "We just got out of the shower and he's not out just yet. Sex between men can be so messy, can't it?" he said with a chuckle.
Justin blood began to boil at simply the idea of Brian with this arrogant, haughty man; he knew it wasn't possible, was it? Brian had promised him, hadn't he? But he still couldn't help the tendrils of doubt from emerging in his mind. "I want to talk to Brian," he enunciated slowly. "Put him on the fucking phone NOW, Ferrari, or I will make sure he fires your ass!"
"Sorry, Taylor, no can do. I told you – he's in the bathroom cleaning up before our next round; he does have quite the stamina, doesn't he? He almost wore me out! And that cock and those lips – holy shit!"
Justin seethed as his face reddened in anger; he couldn't believe the nerve of this man. Once he found out about his lies Brian would have his ass out on the street so fast, the man wouldn't even have time to catch the door as it hit him on the way out. "I don't know what game you think you're playing, Andy, but I'm not buying it. Do you really think I won't be able to reach Brian and tell him what you're up to? Because I know you're lying through your fucking teeth!"
"No, I'm not," Ferrari reassured him smugly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think we're going to check out the Jacuzzi before bedtime; it's Brian's turn to top now." He laughed and hurriedly slammed the phone down before Justin had a chance to respond; that was all too easy….. Before he forgot, though, he had some issues to take care of. Listening to make sure his boss was still in the shower, he quickly dialed the number for the front desk.
"Uh, yes, this is Brian Kinney in Room 405. Could you please hold all my calls until further notice? I'm going to catch some shut eye and do not want to be disturbed… Thank you." He nodded in satisfaction as he walked over to the door to locate the "Do Not Disturb" hanger and opened the door to place it on the outside; he wanted to ensure that no one would interrupt them.
Plodding back over to the coffee table, he picked up Brian's cell phone and turned it over, locating the small latch to open up the back. Retrieving the square oxide battery, he glanced over nervously toward the bathroom door to make sure Brian was still taking his shower before he hastily closed the back of the phone and returned it to its original location on the coffee table. Walking over to the balcony, he swung the sliding glass door and quickly flung the battery over the railing before shutting the door back as if nothing was remiss. He smiled; mission accomplished. Now all he had to do was wait until Brian came back out from the shower. He reached down to squeeze his quickly-hardening cock and groaned at the thought of the two of them together; it was going to be quite an enjoyable night.
Justin snapped his phone down in fury; he had called right back to ask for Brian's room again, only to be told he had left instructions that he was not receiving calls until further notice. He almost threw his cell phone across the loft in frustration, but he knew that wouldn't help matters any. What could he do now? There was no fucking way he was going to let that asshole get away with his lies; he knew the man had to be making all that bullshit up about the two of them sharing a room. Brian had assured him he had reserved two rooms, and he had no reason to doubt him – did he? Just what the hell was going on?
He flipped his phone back open, dialing the hotel's number once more. This time he received a different employee. "Good Evening, Hotel Radisson Philadelphia, Suzanne speaking. How may I help you?"
Yes…could you ring the room for Andrea Ferrari?"
"Ferrari?
"Yes….F-E-R-R-A-R-I." F…..as in fucker….
"One moment, please." Justin waited several pregnant seconds before he heard the same woman come back on the phone. "I'm sorry, Sir. Let me repeat the name again. You said F-E-R-R-A-R-I?"
"Yes," Justin said somewhat impatiently, his heart beginning to beat just a little faster.
"I'm sorry, Sir. I don't show anyone registered by that name at the hotel."
"Oh," he answered, crestfallen before a sudden thought occurred to him. "Wait! Could you tell me if another guest has two rooms booked? Maybe he's booked under his co-worker's name."
"Well, I guess I could check on that. What's the other name?"
"Kinney. Brian Kinney. K-I-N-N-E-Y."
"Just a moment," the woman told him politely. About a minute later, she came back onto the line. "I'm sorry it's taking so long to answer your questions, Sir," she explained. "We're having some technical problems at the moment and I'm having to find the information manually. I do show one room registered under that second name, but only one. And I'm afraid he's given the front desk instructions not to be disturbed. I'm sorry, but I can't help you. Is there anything else I can do for you?" she asked.
Justin closed his eyes. No, I won't go there…..I REFUSE to go there, his head was telling him. His heart, however, was another matter. "No," he whispered. "Nothing else," he managed to add before he closed his phone shut and sat down heavily on the couch. Brian….what's going on? Tell me you didn't lie to me….
There was one more thing he could do – standing up, he walked over to the bedroom and sat down on the side of the bed, tapping a key on the laptop to boot it back up from sleep mode. He quickly accessed his e-mail account, hoping anxiously that Brian had tried to contact him, but there was nothing there. He rubbed one hand behind his neck restlessly as he jiggled his knees. He trusted Brian, didn't he? If he didn't, there wasn't even any point in trying to make their relationship work, because that was what they were so fervently trying to build it on. If they didn't have that foundation, it was all for naught. But Ferrari was another matter – he didn't trust him any farther than the end of his finger. He had Kip Thomas written all over him, and if Brian wasn't careful, this man could make trouble for him, too.
He brushed his now sweaty palms rapidly across his denim-clad thighs a few times before, his mind made up, he made a snap decision. Bounding up from his seated position, he rushed over to the counter and, grabbing his keys, practically ran over to the loft door and swung it open. Activating the security alarm, he hurried down the steps and out the back door to the parking garage.
Two minutes later, he had Brian's old Jeep pulled out of its parking spot and out onto the main street, heading toward Philadelphia.