10. Wolf

Lunch was amazing. The food tasted amazing and talking with Xander made me feel a lot better. At a point I had managed to block out Ryan and J flirting away across me. Was it bad I wanted Xander's hand on my thigh? I feel like the weight of it would ground me, make me stay rooted to the present and not let my mind stray.

Which to be honest, it does sometimes.

"Thank you for agreeing to lunch with me."

"It's alright. I wanted to make sure you didn't do something stupid, like hurt your knuckles or something." I said honestly, smiling up at him.

Xander took a deep breath and I wondered what exactly was up with him?

"What is wrong?"

"I didn't like hearing what I did. I swear I was going to end the call but I had this bad feeling and when I heard what he said." Xander cuts off, his jaw clenching and so were his hands which were on the table. He looked seconds away from throwing a punch.

I reached for his hand and held on. I didn't like hearing what I did but that was something I was used to. Moy had been making advances for months now and nothing could be done, not when he owned the company. I wondered how it must have sounded like to Xander.

"The fact I wasn't there to put him in his place, to beat him to the ground for disrespecting you and treating you like that." Xander said, looking over at me with green eyes that had gone dark with anger. "You shouldn't be treated that way. You deserve to be treated like the prince that you are." Xander said, his tone sincere and there was a glint in his eyes. He looked like he believed the words that were coming out of his mouth and it made my tummy flip, the butterflies going crazy.

"Xander..."

"I had to take my anger out on something, that's why I went to the gym. The fact that you've been going through this, the fact that you reported this and nothing was done irritates the hell out of me. The fact I wasn't there to punch the daylights out of him frustrated me too." Xander said and I don't know what to say.

What could I say?

"I am going to take care of it though." Xander adds and I frowned.

"What?"

"I can take care of it but I am going to need your consent." Xander said and I just keep staring at him.

"I say, you kill him and fling his body into a swarm or carnal or something dirty, just like he is." Ryan adds in, for the first time in a while, I looked away from Xander to Ryan and I just... what?

"No killing." I said, looking between the three men gathered around me.

"Anything besides killing?" Xander asked and I just can not believe we are having this conversation. But... I am tired of the advances and not being comfortable in my workplace, I am tired of not being hear or being seen as someone lowly just because of Moy. So yeah, whatever Xander wants to do, he has my blessing.

"Yeah. Anything besides that."

Xander smiled widely, briefly sharing eye contact with J who actually looked a bit scared. Oh boy. By the time, we were done with lunch, the sky had turned dark and it was raining. Ryan had gone along in J's car while Xander buckled me in before driving me back to MS Holding.

Even with the heat on, I was still shaking a bit. Once we got to a red light, Xander quickly pulled off his jacket and handed it to me.

"You can put that on."

"Wouldn't you get cold then?" I asked but I do slip on the jacket. I do not sneakily take a sniff of the jacket. I so did not. But on a totally different note, his jacket had his cologny scent. It smelt like a dream.    

"If I ask you out for dinner, would that make me seem desperate?" Xander asked and I looked over at him, still smiling. I have been smiling for close to an hour and it has been the best thing. I don't think I have smiled this much before I met Xander.

Once we got to the front of my office building, Xander tells me to wait a bit and quickly gets out of the car and went to the trunk, pulling out a black umbrella. I unbuckled the seatbelt and he pulls open the door for me.

"You didn't have to. I could have just run in." I said as we walked towards the glass doors. "Now your clothes are all wet."

"You have to work, kitten. I, on the other hand, I'm going straight home." Xander said. Once we were in the lobby, he shuts the umbrella and walked me all the way over to the elevators. "I'm going to go now."

"Lunch was awesome. You made me feel so much better." I said, still smiling.

"Anything for you, Bram." Xander said. He takes a couple steps forward and pressed a kiss to my forehead, lingering before taking a step back, looking down at me. "You didn't give me an answer about dinner."

"I want home made food." I said.

"As you wish." Xander said and I feel my cheeks grow hot. It was when he takes another step backwards that I noticed there were four other people waiting, all of them dressed in official clothing, suit, ties, pencil skirts and pants. They were watching I and Xander, curiosity clear on their face. The elevator doors pulled open and I stepped into it, turning around so I could still stare at Xander.

The four people waiting take a look at me and their eyes widened. What?

Xander gives me a nod just as the doors close. Weird. Weren't those people waiting for the elevator too?

I shrugged and don't think much on the matter. Once I got to my floor, I got out and made my way through the rows of cubicles. Everyone was staring at me though and I wondered why. I hadn't stepped into the rain, there was nothing on my face. So what?

thankfully, Ryan was in the office once I got in. He takes one look at me and sat up.

"You seriously wore that?" Ryan asked.

"What?" I asked, looking down at the jacket.

Ryan shakes his head at me and got up from his seat, he grabbed the bottom of the jacket and raised it up. I gasped and pulled off the jacket instantly. There was a wolf stitched in gold on each side of the jacket. It looked gorgeous.

"What is wrong with this?"

"Anything with a wolf stitched just like this and in this color, is a clear sign of the Lupo Mafia. How do you not know this? Everyone who is a part of that mafia or crime family has something with a wolf. J had a wolf pin on his suit and your man, has this stupidly expensive jacket." Ryan said, gesturing to the jacket that was still in my hand. "No one in this State wears anything with a wolf unless they want to get beat up. You just waltz in like this. Do you want to give everyone a heart attack?"

"Xander gave it to me. I was cold."

Ryan grinned at my words. "He marked you. If he was a dog and you were a piece of land, he'd be peeing over you to mark his territory. This jacket will just have to do though." Ryan said with a loud laugh. I narrowed my eyes and smacked him repeatedly. I placed the jacket on the chair and kept smacking him.

"I can't believe you called Xander a dog!" I said, still smacking him. "You're just rude."

"I was trying to explain the situation to you since you didn't seem to understand."

This was a big deal then. I looked back at the jacket. I couldn't hold back the smile. I hung the jacket around my chair before taking a seat.

"So you and J..." I said, winking at my friend.

"There is no me and J." Ryan said and I let out a very loud snort. Ryan looked at me with narrowed eyes and I just stick out my tongue at him. We talked a bit more as we got back to work. Work goes by slowly after lunch, I kept texting Xander and he does the same. I found myself glancing over at the clock, waiting for closing time.

It had just hit five fifteen when my phone went off and oh, it was Xander.

"Hi." He said and his voice sent a shiver down my body.

"Hey."

"I was wondering if you wanted me to pick you up from work and take you straight to mine for dinner or do you want to go home first?" Xander asked.

"I want to go home first and get out of my work clothes. You can pick me up from home."

"Home home or the bus stop?" Xander asked.

"Home home, Xan." I heard a sharp intake of breath and it made me happy to know I could pull that reaction out of him. "I'll text you my address."

"Alright then, kitten." He said and then adds. "Any allergies?"

"None."

"I'll see you at seven thirty then." Xander said.

Once the call had ended, I placed the phone back on my table. I had spent the better part of the day smiling and I felt so good. Ryan walked back into the office with a couple of files in his hand.

"Please tell me that isn't more work." I said with a groan.

"Tomorrow, Bram." He said and I cheered weakly.

Once it was six, Ryan and I let out a loud cheer, our hands up in the air. We grabbed our stuff and I quickly pulled on Xander's jacket and together we walked out. Thankfully, Ryan had ordered us an uber, so we didn't have to wait long. People were still staring and I just couldn't bother to care. I was cold and the jacket smelt like Xander. If anyone I had something to say, they should say it to my ass while I walk away.

"I forgot to tell you." I started.

"What?" Ryan asked, his hands in his pockets, bag hanging off his shoulder.

"I have dinner plans with Xander." I said smiling shyly. Ryan doesn't say anything, he just stared at me for a couple of seconds before chuckling.

"Now that I have met him and I have seen the way he treats you, he has half of my blessing." Ryan said, his words startling a laugh out of me. "Like he even called you kitten."

My cheeks heat up at his words and I didn't think Ryan had been paying any attention to us.

"He's sweet." was all I could say.

"Have dinner with him. Do the do, even."

I smacked him on the arm, glaring at him a little. "Do what do?!"

Ryan simply smirked and I pushed down the urge to smack him again. Our uber gets here and we got in. The car ride was filled with Ryan singing Bram and Xander sitting on a tree, k i s s i n g. I texted Xander my address once I got home and started getting ready.

I took a quick shower, picked out a pair of jeans, dark with rips at the knees and a red and black plaid shirt with half of the buttons done up. I pulled my hair into a bun, some tendrils of curls falling loose. I pulled on my boots and grabbed my wallet and phone before walking to the sitting room where Ryan was flipping through Netflix.

He turns when I walked into the room and lets out a loud whistle.

"When you dress up, I feel really proud to know you and call you my friend." Ryan said, giving me two thumbs up.

"So I look okay?"

"You look great." Ryan said and I smiled.

By seven thirty, my phone rang and it was Xander telling me he was outside. I bid Ryan goodbye before walking out of the house, I hurried down the stairs until I got out. Xander was leaning against the car, this time it was an Audi Spyder. He looked so good dressed down in jeans and a grey jumper with the sleeves pulled up.

He takes one look at me and smiled widely.

"Bram..."

I smiled at him and he took a couple more steps closer. He trailed a finger down my jaw and smiled at me.

"My gorgeous boy."