I had no clue if Dallas followed me home or not, nor did I really care at that point. The humiliation I’d been feeling earlier in the evening returned in full force. It was just after six, early by anyone’s standards, but the second I walked in the door, I shook my head when my mother asked if I was hungry and went straight to my bathroom. I showered long enough to clean the remnants of my cum off my body and then crawled into bed. My eyes instantly fell on the stack of bills on the nightstand.
I felt tears sting my eyes as the realization hit me.
Not only had I fucked the object of my obsession, and in the back seat of his truck no less, I’d quit my job.
I’d let my pride rule my head and now I was totally fucked. The money from my first paycheck was already gone, and I’d earmarked the money I’d be earning from my second paycheck to pay the bills that were still several months overdue.
I let the tears flow because I knew what I needed to do tomorrow.
I needed to go back to Dallas and beg him to give me my job back.
So what if he thought I was weak and incapable? My pride wasn’t going to pay the damn bills.
I was about to turn out the lights and try to lose myself in sleep when my phone buzzed. I didn’t recognize the number for the text, but I didn’t need to since the text took care of that for me.
Nolan, it’s me, Dallas. Can I talk to you?
I sat up and stared at the phone. My heart clenched as I remembered how good his mouth had felt on mine. How his hot breath had washed over my skin as he’d pounded into me. He’d held me so damn tight…like he wasn’t ever going to let me go.
I typed out a simple response. Okay.
I’m out front.
I stilled at that for all of two seconds, then jumped out of bed and went to the window overlooking the front yard. Sure enough, Dallas’s darkened pickup was sitting on the curb in front of my parents’ house.
I swallowed hard at the realization that, despite needing his phone to communicate with me, he’d still driven all the way to my house to actually do it.
Why?
Why did he need to be around me to talk to me?
I highly doubted he was interested in fucking me again, and certainly not on my parents’ quiet, suburban street.
I typed him a message that I’d be right out and then grabbed my coat and slipped on my shoes. My parents were in the living room, so it was easy to slip out of the house unnoticed, though I wasn’t sure why it mattered since I was a grown man and had the right to come and go as I pleased.
Dallas had parked his truck just short of the street lamp overhead, so it was dark in the cab. When I climbed into the vehicle, the interior lights didn’t come on. I didn’t like that I couldn’t see him, but I didn’t ask him to turn the lights on, either.
Maybe it was better that this conversation happen in the dark.
I could only think of one reason he’d come to my house to talk. He was going to make sure I knew I wasn’t welcome back at the center. It was the only thing that made sense. He was giving me the kiss-off in person because he was a decent guy and he wanted to make sure little Nolan Grainger was okay after getting his pathetic ass fired.
“Look, Dallas, you don’t have to-”
Dallas’s hand shot out to cover my arm and I immediately fell silent. His hold on me was gentle, but firm.
He needed it to be his turn to talk.
He didn’t look at me as he typed out his message. My phone buzzed in my hand a few moments later and I felt my heart pounding frantically in my throat. I reminded myself that no matter what, I wouldn’t cry in front of him.
Not again.
I turned my phone over and unlocked it.
Nolan, I’m sorry about what happened tonight. It shouldn’t have.
Before I could respond, another message came through.
I’m your boss. It was a line I never should have crossed.
There was a slight pause, then came, Did I hurt you?
He was my boss? Present tense? Did that mean…?
I was almost too afraid to consider what it meant. If he wasn’t firing me, it meant maybe I hadn’t screwed up so badly that things couldn’t be fixed.
Dallas tapped on my arm to get my attention. I couldn’t see his face, but I could tell he was looking at me, and I remembered his last question.
“No, no, you didn’t hurt me,” I said quickly. To my surprise, his body sagged a bit like he was relieved. “It was…good,” I said lamely. Dallas paused for a beat before returning his attention to his phone, but I stopped him with a tap on his arm. I waited until he was looking at me. “It was perfect, actually.”