Chapter 5: Cracks in the Glass
The firm's summer party was supposed to be harmless—rooftop cocktails, jazz music, the partners mingling with associates under string lights and soft city wind. Elliot arrived late, of course. Crisp white shirt, tailored blazer, mask of calm.
His eyes scanned the crowd until they found Julian.
Laughing. With someone else.
Not just anyone. Ryan Brenner—another associate, tall, handsome in that bland, safe way, and far too comfortable with how close he was standing to Julian.
Julian tossed his head back at something Ryan said, and Elliot felt it—sharp, unwanted. Jealousy.
Rule #1: No feelings. Rule #2: No watching.
He broke both.
He tried to look away. He tried to talk to a partner's wife about real estate and tennis memberships, but his gaze kept drifting. Julian was touching Ryan's arm now. A laugh. A lean. That familiar smirk Elliot had seen in darker, more desperate hours.
He didn't even realize his grip on his whiskey glass had tightened until it cracked slightly in his hand.
Julian caught his eye across the terrace.
The smile vanished.
---
Later that night, Elliot was still at the office, pretending to work, sleeves rolled up, tension coiled in his shoulders.
The elevator dinged.
Julian walked in without knocking.
"Were you watching me?" Julian asked, voice too soft to be casual.
Elliot didn't look up. "You were loud."
Julian shut the door behind him. "Ryan? Seriously?"
"You looked cozy."
Julian raised a brow. "You're jealous."
"I'm annoyed."
Julian stepped closer. "That wasn't the deal, remember?"
"I remember all the rules." Elliot's voice was tight, controlled. "You just keep testing them."
Julian leaned across the desk. "Maybe I want to break one."
Silence.
Julian's hand slid across the desk and touched Elliot's.
"I think about you," he said quietly. "Outside the office. In the middle of the day. When I'm not supposed to."
Elliot looked up slowly, jaw tense.
Julian didn't back down. "You said no strings, but I know when someone looks at me like they want more."
"I don't want more," Elliot lied.
Julian's smile was sad. "Then why do you look at me like I'm already yours?"
Without thinking, Elliot stood and pulled Julian across the desk, kissing him hard—furious, desperate. The kiss wasn't about pleasure anymore. It was about possession.
They didn't even make it out of the office.
Elliot pushed everything off his desk—papers, laptop, even his nameplate crashing to the floor—before laying Julian out, breathless, beneath him. Their mouths met again, deeper, hotter, angrier. Every touch was a confession neither dared speak aloud.
They broke every rule that night.
Julian whispered "stay" afterward.
And this time, Elliot did.