Oliver had to admit that one was over the top, but most of his worries weren’t. Picking Bryce up at his work wasn’t insane, but how many of his clients stopped by to take him to dinner? It couldn’t be that common.
Was it Bryce’s way of trying to be more open about their relationship?
He was still rolling the possibilities around in his head when they pulled up into the parking lot. At six o’clock on a Friday, he didn’t think that many people would still be working, but there were several cars still around. When Bryce didn’t come right out, they climbed out of the truck and headed for the door.
Entering the building, they heard the chime of a bell letting people know the door had opened. Bryce leaned out of the door to his office, holding his phone up to his ear, almost being strangled by the cord on the headset. He gestured to them to come back, then ducked into his office.
Oliver shook his head, smiling, and headed back. He didn’t know why they were still using out-of-date phones. He should have had a cordless headset. Bryce moved too much to sit still, tied to a desk. As they reached his door, a woman in a long dress came around the corner, holding her purse.
“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know the door was still unlocked.” She smiled at him, but it felt like they’d done something wrong.
“Um, Bryce is expecting us.” Oliver pointed to Bryce, who was pacing around the office so much he’d tied himself in knots.
“I didn’t see a note on the calendar. I’ll mention that on Monday.”
Troy made an odd coughing sound and shook his head. “It’s personal. We’re just picking him up.”
Her gaze dropped down to Troy and Oliver’s clasped hands. “Oh.” Then she gave them a stiff smile and headed toward the front door.
Troy leaned down to whisper in his ear, “If she holds that bag any tighter it might pop.”
Oliver snorted and whispered back, “It’s protecting her from the big, bad, scary gay men.”
Oliver might have looked fairly casual, but Troy was still in a suit. He looked like a lawyer or something. Shaking his head, feeling a little bit sorry for the mousy woman, he gripped Troy’s hand tighter. “Love you.”
“Love you too, kitten. Come on. Let’s go see what has Bryce flying off the handle.”
They walked in and sat down in the comfy chairs, watching as Bryce opened and closed his mouth several times. “But…I don’t think…Surprising…Mom!”
Bryce finally raised his voice, waving his arms around like he was conducting an orchestra. “You can’t just surprise everyone like that. What if someone has plans—” He snorted and let his head fall back. “No, I don’t think anyone does. Nothing is happening behind your back.”
He sighed and tried to untangle himself enough to sit down, but didn’t do a very good job of it. By the time he was leaning back in his chair, the phone was at a precarious angle at the edge of the desk. Oliver wouldn’t consider himself OCD or anything, but it was making him crazy.
Troy was just watching the circus unfold, trying not to laugh. He was quiet, but Oliver could see his shoulders jerking and silent laughter running through his eyes.
“But, Mother.” He sat up in his chair. “I was not rude. You weren’t listening.”
Slouching back, barely catching the phone before it went crashing to the floor, Bryce sighed dramatically. “Yes, Mother.”
Setting the phone down, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Pushing away his apparent frustration, Bryce opened his eyes and gave the men a forced smile. “Hi, guys. You ready for dinner?”
Oliver let go of Troy’s hand after giving it a squeeze and went around the desk. “Come on, let’s get you untangled. How did you do this?” Bryce was twisted up in the cord so bad, Oliver wasn’t sure they’d be able to get him unstuck without taking apart the phone.
Bryce tried to shrug, but it didn’t work. Laughing, he shook his head. “I don’t know. She makes me crazy.”
“Your mother?” Troy spoke up from the other side of the desk, still trying not to show how funny he found Bryce’s predicament.
“Yes. She’s decided that she’s going to come in on Sunday to surprise everyone. She’s going nuts about everyone settling down, and I think she’s feeling left out. I’m supposed to keep her secret. She’s planning on arriving when everyone is over at the barbecue. It’s not my business, but we all think that Garrett and Wyatt are going to have some kind of announcement about their relationship. Telling everyone about their plans for a collaring ceremony or something.” He sighed and stood up, letting Oliver move him around to untangle his mess. “She’s going to take the focus off of them, but she’s refusing to see it.”
Oliver finally had him free, and he moved the phone back to its usual place. “I’m sorry she’s putting you in the middle of it.”
Bryce gave him a kiss on the forehead and sat down, pulling Oliver onto his lap. “Everyone will be happy to see her. It’s just going to mess up their plans. I’m not one hundred percent sure what they’re doing, but the announcement can’t be that far out.”
Oliver leaned over, giving Bryce another quick kiss, but jerked back when he heard a shocked gasp at the door. They all looked over to the door to see the rude receptionist, who was standing there looking ridiculously shocked.
Like his kiss was something you’d see on a porn site.
Bryce gave her a calm, questioning look. “Yes, Rebecca?”