A/N: Hello everyone! New chapter alert!

Before we get started, I would like to thank everyone that read last chapter! I would also to give a huge thank you to Guest, winterschild11, Side1ways, XxxAnimaniacxxX, and RainbowDiamonds for reviewing!

I hope you all enjoy!

James' POV

I didn't sleep after I got off the phone with Kendall.

I didn't know what it was, but I was restless. My eyes mostly refused to close and when they did, images of my parents, and Kendall and his brother, who was faceless to me, filled my head.

I only let myself slip down that rabbit hole a couple of times before I decided that sleep was overrated for the night and ended up exercising instead. It did its job in waking me up so I would look presentable when I went to work.

If anyone said anything, which they likely wouldn't since they were used to seeing me tired, I would use the reason that I usually came in half-dead with-I'd spent the night working. Which would have been true anyway if it hadn't been for Kendall's surprise phone call.

When I finished running myself ragged on the treadmill, I showered and dressed, and realized it was still early. I could always go in before eight like I often did, but when I got into my car, I went in the opposite direction of my office.

The night before with Kendall...that had been a first. Pretty much everything with him had become a first, but this was different.

He'd been scared...sad...and he'd come to me when he needed someone.

No one had ever come to me before, likely because I made it obvious I wasn't open to something like that, but Kendall had come...and I'd been okay with it.

I'd been honored he'd wanted to talk to me and in that moment, there had been nothing I wanted more than to make him feel better. Than to help. Than to show him I could be the person someone counted on for more than just my looks, or my career or the fact that I was a good fuck.

The dream had shaken him, which made sense. The thing was, I didn't think it only shook him because it was painful to relive what happened with his brother. It was entwined with me, with what happened that night, and though he obviously knew I was okay, I think he needed to hear my voice.

I hadn't realized his brother didn't die right away. With me, my parents were there one moment and gone the next, though I had my own secrets where their death was concerned. With Kendall his brother was there, then he had to live with the fact that he knew he would die. I didn't know which was worse.

Would it have helped me if I'd gotten the chance to say goodbye to my parents, even if they hadn't known I was there? I didn't know.

It was then I realized where I'd been driving. My hands shook on the steering wheel as I looked at the miles of headstones in front of me.

I hadn't been to the cemetery since the day I was there with Kendall. Before that, it had been years.

The tremble in my hands increased. I didn't know what in the hell I was doing here. Maybe all the talk of death was getting to me. Wondering if it helped Kendall or hurt him that he saw his brother broken. Thinking about my own parents' broken and bloodied bodies. Thinking about the first day here when he said sometimes he just sat and talked to his brother yet I hadn't once talked to my parents.

Did that mean Kendall loved his brother more than I loved them? I didn't think that was possible, but it did make me feel like maybe I was doing this grieving thing wrong and I sure as shit didn't like to do things the wrong way.

Kendall was fucking with my head in more ways than one-the sex, the dates, the connection. Talking about shit and listening to him when he was hurting at three in the morning. Sitting in my car outside of the cemetery like a crazy person, afraid to go inside.

I liked the changes but didn't. I really didn't feel like feeling afraid of something, so I parked the car and got out.

It was amazing how my feet led me directly to their graves.

"Um...hi…" I said, and then felt like a fucking idiot. "Goddamn you, Kendall." I mumbled. It was as if he was a magician who had worked some kind of power over me.

"So...I'm an architect." I said. I'd never even told them that. Because they're dead, James. They can't hear you.

That didn't seem to stop Kendall from talking to his brother though.

"I'm good, Dad." I said with a smile. "You'd be proud...I hope you'd be proud, at least. I guess I don't know you quite well enough to say that." I thought for a moment and then added, "You know what? I do. God, you fucking loved it. I could hear the passion in your voice every time you spoke about architecture. I think I was likely the only little kid in the world whose bedtime stories were about buildings and design."

A chuckle slipped past my lips.

"It would have been cool if we could have done it together." I mused. But we couldn't. We'd been robbed of that.

I spoke to them about what I did-awards I'd won. Running my own firm. I thought about discussing Kendall, but that quickly felt like a crazy-ass idea. Why in the hell would I tell them about a fuck who made me realize I was bi?

But the thing was, I knew my mom would like it. She'd ooh and ahh because she'd always been a dreamy-romantic and she would have liked a story like mine and Kendall's.

I didn't know what else to say...I didn't have any close friends to talk about, kids, family. I had a job and that was all. The thought suddenly burned like acid in my gut.

"Well...I guess I should go."

My eyes stung, so I pushed my sunglasses on and otherwise ignored it. It wasn't until I got back to the car that I realized how long I'd stayed. For the first time in my life, I was late to work, and I found I didn't care. It had been worth it.

When I got to my office, I pulled out my phone.

Hey. You feeling better? I typed to Kendall.

Yes...I'm sorry.

No reason to be, I replied and then added, I'm glad you called me.

And I really fucking was.

I'm glad I called you, too.

"What are you smiling at?" Lucy asked as she stepped into my office.

"Nothing." I replied, a little thrown that I'd been smiling and didn't realize it. Fucking Ninja and his voodoo magic hold on me. This was getting out of control.

Kendall's POV

Carlos and I chatted with the CEO of a start-up, a potential new client, over dinner.

The prospective client had recently acquired an app that my company saw a lot of potential with, as did a couple of other marketing firms who we were actively competing against. Since my boss really wanted the account, he sent me to Detroit to sway the CEO.

But a few days in Detroit meant a few days without the possibility of fucking around with James. It wasn't like we were seeing each other all the time or anything, especially during the busy workweek. We both had jobs we were dedicated to, but something about being on the other side of the country made James seem so far away

After I'd called him about my nightmare the week before, I felt comfortable texting him throughout the day even just to hear how his day was going. For being a guy who-at first glance-I thought was kind of full of himself, I'd learned he kind of had a reason to be. No, James Diamond didn't bluff about much. He was a pretty awesome guy...and definitely full of surprises.

When my dinner came to an end, I headed to my rental car.

I pulled out my phone and called James, almost without even thinking about it.

We'd only texted since that night we spoke on the phone, but I wasn't ashamed that I wanted to talk to him. Goddammit, I wanted to hear that voice of his again.

In some ways, I felt like I should have been throwing up all the stop signs. Been freaking out about the fact that I was in a little over my head. I'd met plenty of people through my life, had plenty of sex-enough to know the difference between what meant nothing and when there was actually something there.

I didn't know if it was just because we shared a common respect for each other on account of what we'd lost, but regardless of the reason, it was something I wanted to explore.

"How's my Straighty doing?" I asked as soon as James answered.

He groaned. "He'd be a lot better if you were at the office, sucking his dick right now. I've become addicted to that mouth of yours."

"That's like the least straight thing Straighty could have said."

"Appropriate, considering everything we've learned about Straighty these past few weeks."

I laughed. "Fair point."

"How was your big, important meeting?"

"We'll find out if the client gets back to us. Right now, he's a hot commodity, so he can choose any firm he wants. I did everything short of offering him a virgin sacrifice."

"Only because I doubt you'd have an easy time keeping your hands off a virgin."

I laughed, more than I should have as I walked through the parking garage behind the restaurant.

"Oh, you make Ninja sound so greedy."

"I like it when he's greedy, especially if it involves my dick."

"Well, once he gets back, he's going to be particularly greedy, so you might have a big problem on your hands."

"Not sure if my hands are going to be necessary."

I shook my head, grinning as I reached my rental car. I fished into my pocket and pulled out my keys.

"You're extra frisky today. You must be in a real good mood about something."

"Well, my lover finally bothered to call me during one of the most boring days of my work week, so what could put me in a better mood than that?"

I could tell by the way he said it that he was just teasing by using the word lover, but I enjoyed the name as well as the playfulness in his tone.

I got into the car and started the engine.

"So what are you up to tonight?"

"I was going to head out to a bar with Carlos."

"Oh, you're already cheating on me?"

"What? No. I'm not fucking around with anyone else." I said it quickly, defensively-surprisingly so in response to what was an obvious joke.

James chuckled, and he must've known he had the upper hand right then. "I was kidding. I assumed we were messing around with whoever."

Heat raced to my cheeks. "I...I just…"

"Is Ninja getting jealous?" He almost sang the words, like he was amused as fuck by how bothered I was.

"What? No. I mean, you can have sex with anyone. I assume it would be mainly women anyway, right?"

If he wanted to fuck around with women, that didn't seem quite as bad, but for some reason, I felt like I should be able to monopolize any gay sex he was interested in.

"You worried now that I know I have a prostate I'm going to be running around trying to get every man in town up in there?" He asked.

I growled, fucking growled like some primal urge was overtaking me.

"Oh, Kendall, I haven't seen this side of you before. I like it."

"I figured if you wanted to explore more with that, you would have come to me."

"Relax. I'm just giving you shit. And it's kind of cracking me up hearing you get all jealous because you think I'm running around town giving it up to every other guy when I haven't even done that with you."

"But you plan to?"

"Play your cards right, and you'll see." Despite his evasiveness, I could tell he was just as interested in exploring that as I was, which was enough to subdue some of the jealous feelings that were overwhelming me. "But seriously, you need to get back here...at the very least, I need a tight piece of ass to help me relax after some of the fires I've been putting out at work."

"I'll take care of those needs after I get back tomorrow afternoon." I assured him. "But you're going to have to take me out to dinner because I'm going to be real hungry."

"I'm going to be hungry, too." James said. "Though I'm not sure if it's for the same thing."

Laughter erupted from me as I sat back against the car seat, not in any rush to get out of the parking garage, just wanting to fully enjoy my conversation with him.

"Oh, shit." He said. "I'm getting a call from one of our contractors. Let me take this, and I'll talk to you later. Oh, and in case you're wondering, I may give you shit about it, but I'm not planning on fucking around with anyone while you're gone-guy or girl. I'm getting more than what I need with what we're doing, but if you gotta get rid of an itch or something tonight, feel free. I'm not the kind to do the whole jealous thing."

However, clearly I was the kind to do the whole jealous thing.

"Okay, talk to you later." I said and after we finished our chat, I found myself feeling uneasy.

It was bizarre how worked up I got over the thought of him messing around with some other guy. I shouldn't have. He had every right to, but for some reason, I felt like since I was the one who'd stirred up those feelings with him, I deserved to be the one to enjoy James' experimentation.

I went out with Carlos that night, we threw back a couple of drinks before we headed back to the hotel and passed out. The following night, James and I met up at one of my favorite restaurants, and we caught up about work stuff before he said, "I really liked the whole jealous boyfriend act yesterday, by the way. It was cute."

"That's not fair to call it that."

"That's what it was, wasn't it? I mean, aren't we a little early to be talking about being exclusive? I've never done that before. I'm not even sure how I feel about it."

"It's not that. Hell, I haven't had an exclusive talk with someone since college. But I will admit, if I find out you let someone else back there before me, I'm going to be a little pissed."

"Why?" He asked, a sly grin across his face. "What if I don't even like you that much?"

"Shut up. You can't even pretend that you don't want it with me. I'm just saying, considering I'm the one who showed you what that was all about to begin with, I kind of think you owe me."

"Oh, I owe you now?" He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. The way he looked at me, it was like he could tell that he knew he was winning since he knew exactly how he could get to me...knew my fucking weakness.

"God, it's like you peeked at my cards and now you're using it against me."

"More like you showed me your cards and are starting to regret it. And I have to say, I'm enjoying having the upper hand for a change. Definitely wasn't like this in the beginning."

"I liked things more in the beginning."

"I bet you did. Now hurry up and finish your steak salad because your jealous ass has been leaving me blue-balling." He winked.

And goddammit, as much as he was getting under my skin, the way he was doing it made me hard as fuck.

I segued the conversation into something that didn't annoy me quite as much. I told him about some of the places we went to in Detroit, and he talked about some projects he'd designed out there.

We kept on like that as we headed back to my place, where I cleaned up in the bathroom. When I headed back into the living room, he was sitting on the couch, the remote at his side.

The TV played some show on the History Channel, featuring wide shots of a camera panning through the interior of what looked like a church.

I planted down beside him.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Some documentary series I found. You ever been to Barcelona?"

"No. Why?"

"This is the Sagrada Familia-one of the architectural wonders of the world. My dad used to tell me he was going to take me there one day."

"So you've gone?"

"I haven't had a chance yet, but I plan to. Hell, I feel like I've been neglecting my responsibility as an architect by not going. Churches in general can be incredibly intricate in their design, but the Sagrada Familia takes it to a whole other level. They started building it in the 1800s and don't plan on finishing it until at least 2026. It's going to take the Spanish longer to build this church than it took the Egyptians to build the pyramids."

"Holy shit."

"Yeah. The Spanish don't fuck around. Not like today where we try to get high-rises built in...maybe two years max. But it's not just that the place is this amazing fortress of design. It's the artistry that's weaved into it so seamlessly.

There are these pillars on the inside that are designed to look like trees and one has a turtle at the base and another a tortoise. Get it? One for the sea and the other for land. Represents balance in the universe. All the artwork in the building is like that-intricate and symbolic. Sorry, this must be boring the shit out of you."

"What? No. That's actually really interesting."

And I liked hearing about the things James was interested in.

"I bet you could teach me a lot more about the Sagrada Familia than this show." I said.

"Oh, for sure. Speaking of teaching…" He turned to me, narrowing his eyes. "I think it's about time you show me some of those ninja moves you got."

"What? Why?"

"It's only fair that I should learn how to defend myself against you. You know, in case you go psycho one day and try to kick my ass." He said before pushing to his feet. "Come on. Let's go."

"Oh, you weren't kidding?"

He shook his head. "Nope."

He picked up one end of my coffee table, just making himself totally at home in my place-like it was his own place.

I took the other side and we moved it across the floor, toward the TV to give us some space to work with.

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Show me how you would take me down."

"What?"

"I want you to prove that you can own this ass...otherwise, you don't deserve it."

And there was the cocky James Diamond grin again.

"Put your hand on my shoulder." I told him.

As soon as he did, I moved quickly, grabbing his wrist with my left hand and using my right to push on his forearms as I took him down to the floor, effortlessly, which wasn't hard since he'd apparently never had someone try that move on him before.

I had his chest to the floor, his arm behind his back as my knee dug into his shoulder blade to keep him pinned down.

"Fuck that was fast." He said, chuckling.

"Say uncle." I teased.

"Shut the fuck up, Ninja."

I slide my knee off his back, onto the floor.

"That was real slick." He said before lunging toward me, wrapping his arm around me and pulling my feet out from under me.

He threw me down on my back and dropped his weight on me, crushing his lips down against mine.

I enjoyed the taste of his tongue as it slid past my lips.

My dick hardened as he started to straddle me. I took advantage of the opportunity, wrapping my arm around his thigh and rolling swiftly so that we swapped places, with me on top of him.

"That was hot." He said with a growl. His eyes sparkled in the light sneaking through the blinds behind him. He winced and checked out my face like he was trying to read my expression. "You sneaky bastard. Looks like you're just itching to top tonight."

"Well, you've already topped, so it's the thing you haven't tried yet. What were you saying about the turtle and the tortoise in that Spanish building? They represent balance in the universe?" I said with a wink.

"Are you seriously comparing topping and bottoming to the turtle and the tortoise?"

"I'm just trying to con you into bottoming, really."

"What? You don't like bottoming for me?"

"I'll take whatever I can get."

"Well, if you want something," He said, "you just need to take it."

Done! So...yeah. I'm sure you all can tell where this is heading. :P

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, as well as if you happened to have a favorite part/moment!

Again, I hope you all enjoyed! I'm glad you all enjoyed Kames bonding last chapter. There is definitely more of that to come. :) The next chapter will more than likely be up sometime this weekend, and will pick up where this one left off.

Until then!

-Epically Obsessed