"Can it be I stayed away too long
Did I leave your mind when I was gone
Well, it's not my thing trying to get back
But this time let me tell you where I'm at

I want to, want to be where you are
Anywhere you are
I want to, want to be where you are
Everywhere you are…"

Michael Jackson—"I Wanna Be Where You Are"

Pussy was Erik's kryptonite post-Naval Academy.

Busting a good nut had him off-kilter, so when Erik stood up to face Devika's unwanted visitor, his natural fighting instincts didn't kick in until the giant man had Erik pinned against a wall with his throat gripped in both of the man's powerful hands.

"Austin let him go!" Devika shrieked.

He couldn't breathe.

Oxygen was squeezed away from his brain cells and Erik felt faint before he felt the angry hard punch from a fist knocking the breath from his body. He fell to his knees and tried to protect his genitals as the man kicked at his balls.

Gasping for air, Erik punched up with his fists hoping to strike anything on the man's body but Austin was built like a brick wall and Erik's punches were like a toddler smacking a Pro wrestler. He lifted Erik up by his waist and slammed him on his knee making Erik holler in pain as he was tossed to the floor. A kick to Erik's right eye made the socket swell up tight crippling his vision.

"Fuck!" Erik yelled scrambling back on his legs while still trying to protect his dick from more injury.

Devika threw books from her bookshelf at Austin who deflected them and charged Erik once more.

"Shit!" Erik yelped hooking his fingers and immediately leaping to his feet and giving Austin a taste of Wakanda with his hands. It was hard for Erik to gage his accuracy because his eye was stinging like hell, but the grunts from Austin let him know the man was getting that work.

Keeping his body low, Erik knew he couldn't use his legs and feet too much because his dangly bits were flopping around dangerously exposed and throbbing with pain. His balls felt like they had swelled up to twice their size.

Devika got in his way trying to be helpful and he had to shove her aside to get at Austin. It took a head butt and a blur of fast fists into the man's stomach and sides to get him to back off. Erik swept his legs in a capoeira slice that would make his mother proud and Austin fell like a chopped tree onto the living room floor with a loud thud. The man groaned and grabbed for his ribs on the left side of his body. Erik felt like he had fractured a few. He held back from the full force of his blows. He didn't need any bones puncturing the man's lungs. Erik wasn't about to catch a murder rap over some pussy.

Erik crawled over to Devika's couch and rested his head on the cushion. He couldn't see anything out of his injured eye. Rolling over he rested his neck on the couch and stared at Austin who climbed to his feet with Devika's help.

"I can't believe you!" Devika shrieked striking Austin in his chest.

She grabbed her cell from her coffee table and stomped over to her front door flinging it open. She snatched a key from the outside keyhole.

"Don't come to my house again!"

"Devika—"

"Leave Austin."

"You are so wrong for this—"

"No one asked you to come here. I asked you for space and you disregard my privacy."

"Give me a chance—"

"Give you a chance, Austin?! Fuck! Just go! Don't make me call the cops."

Austin's eyes widened with surprise and his eyes swept over to Erik who peeped him with his one good eye.

"I might have some broken ribs—"

"Well, that's your goddamned fault."

Devika looked fierce standing naked with just her stilettos on with her hair bunched wildly around her face. If he wasn't in so much pain with a nut sack injury, Erik would be obliged to fuck her against the door just on general principle.

Shit. Looking that beautiful, he'd be open to another beat down just to see her like that again another time. She put that pussy on him like a G and he wasn't mad at Austin for going off on him because they both knew that bitch had that good-good poppin'.

Austin limped out of the condo and Devika slammed the door locking the bolts again. She bent down and picked up the food and wine Austin brought and put them on the coffee table. Kneeling down in front of him, she checked Erik's injuries. He hissed when she touched his privates. He didn't want to look down there to see how much damage there was. The good thing was, he didn't want any kids, so as long as his dick still worked, he could live without a ball or two.

Devika hastened over into her kitchen. She opened and closed her fridge and returned with saran wrap covering chunks of ice in both hands.

"Fuck!" he yelped as she placed the ice over his genitals. He held the ice in place as she put the other pack on his injured eye.

"Erik…I'm sorry…"

"Boyfriend?"

"Fiance."

"Damn. Got me in a serious triangle."

"We aren't together right now."

"Coulda fooled me."

"He used my spare key to come in here. I have it now, so he can't get inside again."

She touched his bruised waist and he ground his teeth huffing out air between his teeth.

"You feel like anything is broken?"

"Nah. My eye is fucked up and my balls hurt like shit."

"There's some swelling down there," she said looking under the pack he held on his nuts,

"Dick looks okay though."

He laughed and she started tittering herself.

"Oh shit...the look on his face when he came in. I didn't know what the fuck was happening," he said.

Devika laughed softly, but then her face grew serious.

"How are you going to go to work tomorrow?" she asked.

"I'll call in sick for a few more days."

"But you'll still have bruises healing on your face."

"Don't worry about."

He leaned forward and kissed her lips even with the pain he felt on his mouth.

"I'm sorry," she whispered caressing his face.

"Not your fault, Ma. It won't stop me from being around you. You still plan on marrying him?"

"We are on break for a reason—"

"On break ain't the same as broken up—"

"No. I don't want to be with him."

"Good, cuz when I heal up, I'm coming for you again."

"You are so reckless."

"But you like it."

"I do. I like you."

"Finally. I get my ass beat just to get the truth outcha mouth. I knew you were feeling me. Been frontin' all this time."

His eyes dragged over body.

"You so fuckin' sexy right now."

She helped him sit on her couch and he grunted when his balls shifted.

"If the swelling doesn't go down soon, I'll take you to urgent care," she said.

She opened the food that Austin brought.

"Chicken Alfredo. Hungry?"

They ate Austin's food and opened the expensive wine. Erik's scrotum didn't enlarge and the pain subsided. He kept icing his eye.

"You can stay here while you call out," she said.

He smiled. She wanted him with her.

Naked on the couch together, Devika stroked his scalp and when the last of the wine was sipped, Erik fingered her pussy until she came all over his hand.

###

Tony Stark stared at Erik's face in his office.

Erik fidgeted in his seat but kept direct eye contact.

Reaching into his desk drawer, Tony pulled out Devika's thong and placed it in front of Erik.

Fuck.

He thought he had shoved it deep into his own pocket safely when they left the office five days previous.

"Two things, Stevens. Devika is off-limits. Period."

Erik felt his lips press together tight. He flexed his fingers.

"Your focus needs to be on finishing this internship. Your other extracurricular activities are stirring up a little bit of dissension among your work peers. That is a no-no. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not going to ask about the shiner."

"Okay. You won't fire Devika, right?"

"She doesn't know I found these, and I will not mention to her that I know what went on in my office."

"Thanks."

"You can throw those away. No need to embarrass her. She's a good girl, Stevens. Impeccable. Let's keep it that way."

Good girl?

Erik didn't like the sound of that. It was too intimate and it was what Erik wanted her to be for him. He regarded Tony's face and thought of what Devika told him at the Expo about mixing business and pleasure. The two of them had something in the past. Was T blocking?

Tony glanced at his watch.

"Time for the intern meet up. Are you ready to discuss final schedules?"

"Can someone else do it?"

Erik's hand went up and touched his eye lightly.

"No. If you're worried about how your face looks, then you should've made better choices while you were out."

Erik cut his eyes away.

Tony stood and slipped on his suit jacket and buttoned it.

"Let's go."

Erik stood up and stuffed Devika's panties deep inside his pants pocket and zipped it up. They strode out of the office together and Erik let his eyes flicker over to Devika who was on the landline talking and swiping her laptop screen.

"Tony, Pepper needs you to give her access to the Rylex app."

"Will do."

Devika glanced at Erik and he was already wanting to stay behind and have lunch with her and shoot the shit just to be up in her face. He turned his head and followed Tony out.

"Please don't give Devika puppy dog eyes every time you see her," Tony whispered.

Erik rolled his eyes.

Six minutes later they entered the same cavernous hall that Erik sat in on his first day of the internship. He caught eyes taking notice of his face. Walking with Tony always made him stand out and he gave up being incognegro months ago. Stepping onto the stage with Tony and three other interns, Tony took in the room filled with eager faces. Many were still jealous of him and the favoritism they thought Tony gave him still.

"Good to see everyone. Thank you for being on time and ready to hear some important announcements as we start to wind down this year's group of interns. You've all worked very hard, made some outstanding contributions to your departments and Stark Industries as a whole. Today I'm going to have a few of your peers address you and then I will be introducing Mr. Sebastion Summerville who will give details about some other internships affiliated with my companies and also opportunities to find employment after you leave us. First up, Erik Stevens with some exciting updates in Biometrics."

Tony stepped aside and Erik approached a raised podium and adjusted the mic on it.

"Good morning, I will be taking a few questions at the end, so please wait until then before raising your hands…"

His eyes swept the room and he saw Giselle watching him from the left side and Athena hawking him from the right. They both looked pissy and Athena had her arms folded across her chest. He would have to tread carefully now that Tony was aware of his dalliances. How many more knew? There was only that one romp clubbing where he even showed Athena affection on the subway in New York, but the others in their entourage were far away from him when they kissed. Maria had no clue he had fucked Athena in the hotel while they watched tv, and even if she knew, she wouldn't blab to anyone because he was her homeboy. At least that's how she rolled with him. He searched his brain trying to think where he could've slipped up. He wasn't the type to brag to other dudes, so Curtis had no idea he was fucking other interns.

Erik finished speaking and turned off the images floating above him. He stepped aside to allow another intern to come forward and share data.

He sat down on the dais and kept his eyes on the podium.

He saw Devika slip into the room and stand by one of the exit doors with a leather-bound file folder in her hand. He swept his eyes away from her and wondered how he could keep away from her. He really and truly liked her. Liked talking with her all night long. Liked cooking food with her and listening to her talk about trifling Black men in Los Angeles and the pick me's so desperate to snag mediocre boyfriends. He liked laying next to her, listening to her breathe when she slept. He liked waking up to her and watching her brush her hair. She treated him like a man and not just a jump-off. He felt like he was adulting with her. Athena and Giselle were cool and fun, but they often made comments that referenced his age or made it seem like his being younger made him less aware or less experienced than them. They had no idea how many lifetimes he had to live just to make it to where he was now.

Ninety minutes after entering the room, they were all dismissed for lunch and Erik walked toward the exit. Devika walked his way.

"Nice work," she said tapping his shoulder with the folder.

Erik glanced back at Tony and his sharp eyes were already watching them.

"Thanks."

His voice held very little enthusiasm, and Devika picked up on it, her mouth frowning slightly.

He just wanted to be in her condo again, enjoying the feel of her hair splayed out on his thighs as he stroked her back while she laid on him watching tv from her couch. The quirk of her lips sparked desire in him again.

"I gotta go," he said abruptly and brushed past her without another word. When he reached the exit and looked back at her, she was still standing there watching him, a look of doubt on her face.

And Tony was watching her…still.

###

There was no sense avoiding them.

Erik caught up with Athena and Giselle as they all stood waiting for an elevator. Crowded around the other interns made him comfortable approaching them.

"'sup," he said.

They both looked at him. Giselle rolled her eyes, but Athena just gave him a passive stare.

"Been sick," he offered.

Athena looked at his still discolored eye.

"Fighting too?" she said.

"Can we all go get tacos later? My treat? We gotta talk."

"We?" Giselle interjected with some salt in her voice.

Erik checked to see if any others were listening but they were ignored because of the rush of bodies boarding the elevator. The doors closed and the three of them stepped aside for the next rush waiting on the next lifts.

Erik kept his voice confidential.

"I need to talk with ya'll. Serious shit, okay? I've had a rough two weeks and I need to vent some things."

Giselle's eyes softened and she lowered her left hand from her hip.

"Janine is driving me crazy...Stark is up my ass, and I need some advice."

The big sister angle.

Placing the onus on Janine and Boss Man would allow them to coddle him, deflecting his lack of attention on outside forces. He lowered his head and really gave them the full game.

"Poor thing," Athena said rubbing his arm, "why didn't you call us or say anything?"

"I'm trying to handle it on my own."

"How about we meet at Pacheco's after work? It's just around the corner." Giselle suggested.

"Cool. You down, Athena?"

"Yeah, I can do that."

"I just want to bounce ideas off of you and see how I can handle those two. I just want to make it out alive these last few weeks."

Hook. Line. Bagged.

He separated from them and thought about kicking himself for not using Tony and Janine as a crutch to get out of the responsibility for dodging them.

Maybe he wasn't as mature as he thought.

He felt tense and used his intern key card to dip into one of the executive restrooms. No one was around so he locked himself inside one of the fancy fully enclosed stalls and pulled out Devika's panties. He sniffed them and could smell the lemongrass lotion from her thighs and the aroma of her folds. He wanted her.

Unzipping the fly on his pants he fished out his penis and pulled it through the opening. Fisting himself, he smelled her underwear again then imagined being between her legs and looking down at her face.

"Shiitttt, Devika," he gasped.

He circled the head of his dick smearing some of his pre-cum on her panties. But then the image of her naked in stilettos yelling at her fiancé yoked him up and thick semen shot out all over her underwear.

Cleaning off his fingers with toilet paper, he snatched out his cell and swiped the screen.

Fuck Tony.

"I gotta see you tonight," he whispered into his phone.

He couldn't prove it, but he felt like she was smiling on the other end.