Page 61 of Whirlwind

Chapter 1

Ben

Ben shook his client’s hand as they walked to the doorway. “I know this is a difficult time for you, but we’ll do what we can to handle everything out of court. It sounds like you’re both willing to compromise, which is important. I’ll see you in two weeks.”

“Thank you, Mr. Williams.” Exhaustion haunted her eyes. “I’m not looking forward to it, but I appreciate you helping us out.”

“I’m happy to help. Have a good evening.”

The woman shut the door, and Ben took a moment to tidy his temporary desk. He hated divorce cases. Somehow, when gay marriage became legal, he’d thought that he’d been defending couple’s rights to celebrate their love, not helping them untangle custody battles and divide their assets.

But he was here to help in any way that he could. He’d heard more than enough stories about queer couples getting screwed over in divorce court with bullshit assumptions like the femme one couldn’t possibly be abusive, or gays can’t raise children.

Not to mention the insidious comments like I thought all of you queers were white or maybe you should try a straight relationship next time. Well, not on his watch.

He packed away the four files he was working on: a transgender name change, the divorce, a lawsuit for wrongful termination based on discrimination, and an adoption.

It was a huge range to cover, but it kept him on his toes and made a nice change from the corporate law that filled the rest of his week. He felt like he was giving back, and it kept his life in balance.

Of course, there was another perk to volunteering at the LGBTQ legal clinic…

Ben had a smile on his face as he shut the door to his temporary office and wandered down the hall. It was just after 6 PM, so hopefully…

Parker gave a cheerful wave from his desk in the corner office. The glass wall muffled most of his words, but his voice was completely serious as he talked through what was probably some complex negotiation. All the while, his face shone with delight at Ben’s presence.

As usual, his appearance was at complete odds to his legal prowess and his impressive position as the director of the legal clinic.

His dirty blond hair was artfully disarrayed, as if someone had just grabbed it and dragged their fingers through it. Somehow, that drew attention to his sparkling green eyes, just as his neatly trimmed goatee accented his full, pink lips.

Parker was a white guy, and Ben always told himself that he wasn’t dating white guys any more. They were usually entitled assholes. Yeah, even the subs.

But he’d spent enough time around Parker to see that he was aware of his privilege and actively worked to make things better. Parker saw how systemic oppression manifested vividly in applications of the law, and he wasn’t afraid of calling it out when he saw it.

Of course, Ben had plenty of privilege on his own, and untangling that in his head was its own mess.

But Parker felt like his people.

So, he stood outside his glass-walled office and allowed his eyes to eat up that translucent-pink skin. He knew Parker would notice his lascivious scrutiny, and he smirked.

Parker raised one eyebrow, flirtatiously. His feet were crossed on the desk, showing off his black Chucks with rainbow laces.

As usual, he rocked back on his chair at an angle that always made Ben’s heart leap into his throat. It was cocky and dangerous, and all the more intoxicating because of it.

Parker’s striped green shirt was unbuttoned down to the second or third button, leaving tantalizing glimpses of the strong neck and hairy chest beneath.

If Ben hadn’t known that Parker was trans, he never would have believed it. It wasn’t just his muscular arms and deep voice, though. His body language communicated clearly that he was all man and ready to take charge.

That was the funny thing for Ben. Back in college, it had taken him awhile to figure out what he was interested in. But once he’d had the chance to explore a bit and see what worked, he was pretty sure that he had a type: bratty subs.

When he met Parker, who flirted outrageously and knowingly pushed his buttons, he thought that he’d found exactly that.

He couldn’t have been more surprised when he saw Parker in the club a few weeks later, competently yielding a whip on a very blissed out sub. He’d checked around discreetly and found that, no, Parker was not a switch.

That should have been the end of things for Ben. But there was just something about Parker that he couldn’t let go.

Ben volunteered with Parker, and they saw each other at the club, at first they just gave each other the classic nod, one Dom to another. Then they’d fallen into a group of friends, and even checked out guys together.

It had become a bit of a competition sometimes, seeing who would score first each evening, or perhaps who could entice a sub that they both had their eyes on.