Page 68 of Love Language

I was happy sitting here and you needed the sleep.

That was sweet. But it still felt like Marco was… behind. Like Greg was taking care of him instead of the other way around.

Would you like me to make breakfast?

I actually ran out and got us some fresh bagels. I was just waiting for you to wake up so we could eat.

Again, adorable, caring, but not in the direction he wanted it to go. And friends bought each other bagels…

He made a resolution not to hash through every interaction. It was just going to cause him stress. And Greg had just been so sweet.

He put a big smile on his face and made it real. It wasn’t hard when he was looking at Greg’s deep brown eyes and those silvery flecks in his dark hair.

Thank you. That sounds wonderful.

And the bagels were wonderful, but after that, his day started to go downhill.

FlexTech was blowing up his phone. And while it was true that he did work on Saturdays, when he felt like it, he also didn’t feel that it was reasonable for them to expect him to work on Saturdays. That was another boundary he should have set up better in the beginning.

He apologized to Greg, but he was starting to worry that they would pull out, leaving him short the thousands of dollars that he was counting on, and he felt like he had to play referee for their imminent implosion if he wanted this income.

Greg was reading next to him on the couch, and he should have been snuggling up next to him, but he had too much energy. He stood up and began to pace.

What’s wrong? Greg asked.

It’s the same old… They just have too many people with too many different opinions, and they think that my time is free. They owe me almost five thousand dollars right now. I’m not even sure if they have it.

Greg squinted at him. What are their titles? Like, is one of them the CEO?

Maxwell’s the CEO. I honestly don’t remember what the rest of them are because, as far as I can tell, they don’t have actual jobs except for bickering about their logo. Like, their company doesn’t even really exist yet.

Do any of them have titles like creative director? Something that would give them a reason to overrule the CEO on the logo?

I don’t think so. I think they’re all friends who are going into this together, and they kind of handed out titles at random.

Got it. Give me your phone.

Marco took a moment to process the command. He’d never seen Greg like that, demanding and competent. He wasn’t being rude, necessarily, just taking charge. Obviously, he knew that Greg managed a whole team of people (unruly gremlins, he called his writers sometimes), but he’d never seen it firsthand.

It was kind of hot. Not that he wanted Greg to act like that in the bedroom, but there was something that he liked about seeing Greg so powerful and confident, knowing that he would still submit to him later.

Shrugging, he unlocked his phone, found Maxwell’s number, and handed it over. Greg couldn’t possibly make anything worse.

Does he go by Maxwell?

As far as I can tell.

He watched Greg press the call button.

After that, Greg voiced, but he turned so that Marco could speech read and enunciated clearly enough that Marco could fill in the blanks.

“Hello, Mr. Barnes. No, this isn’t Marco. He’s Deaf, which is why he communicates through email and text.” He rolled his eyes, though the shape of his mouth suggested that his tone was still all business.

“My name is Gregory Fines and I’m Mr. Steinem’s new project manager. Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Maxwell.” He rolled his eyes again.

“So, I’ve been asked to take charge of this project. I hear that Mr. Steinem is being asked for a lot of contradictory revisions. Yes. Yes, I’ve heard. And you know that you’re still being billed an hourly rate for this, and at this point you owe nearly five thousand dollars? Yes. I’m glad to hear it.

“Before we get into the details of all that, can I offer you a bit of advice, as someone who’s been a successful entrepreneur and director?” There was a long pause. Marco was curious about where this was going.