Scene 11

The first thing Jackson did when getting to the desk outside Mr. Dunn’s office was to pull the picture frame out of his purse that his sister had given him. It was one of those multi photo frames, each having photos of what appeared to be a happy couple on a date. Jackson hoped it acted as repellant to the male staff, that was the point of roping Linc into a fake relationship. With Mr. Dunn not being in yet, Jackson considered getting himself some coffee. He definitely wanted it after being woken up so early, but he also really didn’t want to walk around looking the way he did. Not only was the restrictive skirt a pain, but so were the heels, that and he really didn’t want to encounter any more employees. Speaking with Lily was fine, even if a little odd knowing she didn’t see him as a male, that was to his benefit, but still weird.

Jackson pulled out the chair from his new desk ready to sit down when a yawn came to the surface. “Coffee wins.” He said not wanting to fall asleep at his desk. He didn’t even have the luxury of cubicle walls now that he was a secretary. So he made his way to the little break room, where different girls in his same position were waiting around the coffee machine for their turn, gabbing while a few men were off sitting at one of the few tables to pretend to be talking while they watched and leered at the administrative assistants. He had started his day here doing the same thing more than once and now he still was, but from a very different perspective.

“Say your a new one. I’m Tabitha, what is your name?” He instantly smiled at Tabitha, she was a petite woman that he would imagine stood hardly over five feet tall when she wasn’t wearing the skyscraper glossy black heels. Her long blonde hair that came down almost to her waist looked like it had a natural slight curl to it and he wasn’t sure if it was because of the black rimmed glasses or despite them that his eyes were drawn to her deep blue eyes. Before he could respond to her though, a second gorgeous woman with wonderful thick curves and fiery red hair that she had held back with a bright red head band spoke up as she leaned in between himself and Tabitha.

“Oh fresh meat. Who are you working under? Or are you just in the pool?”

“I’m ahh…”

“Your Ahh?” The red head woman said, raising her thinly arched eyebrow.

“Babs don’t be rude, everyone is nervous on their first day.” Tabitha gave a small reassuring smile to Jackson. “Who you work for is a good question though. Babs here doesn’t even work on this floor.” Tabitha gave the redheaded woman a pointed look.

“Well if my department sprung for anything but the cheapest coffee I wouldn’t be up here. Never settle for cheap coffee when better is just a floor away, that is the first piece of advice I can give to you.” Jackson nodded, he didn’t even know they had different brands of coffee on other floors, he always just imagined they ordered it all from one place, but different budgets he supposed.

“I’m Jacqueline and I am going to be working under Mr. Dunn.” When Jackson mentioned who he was working for both the women gave each other a knowing look. “What?”

“You can handle this one Tab. It was nice meeting your Jacqueline, good luck and welcome to Mega Corp.” Babs said as she took her coffee and left the break room. Jackson couldn’t help himself, turning his head to watch her go, enjoying every wiggle.

“That is Babs, don’t call her Barbie or she might try to put your head on a pike. What she was getting at though is Mr. Dunn has a bit of a reputation.” Jackson nodded twice, already aware of what she was going to say considering the vacant position. “He has a thing for dark haired girls and could get a handsy, but if you can put up with it I hear he is generous with getting bonuses. He also doesn’t send anyone working under him out with clients, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Jackson swallowed hard, he hadn’t even considered how women were used like bargaining chips to make deals.

“Does your manager do that to you?” He asked concerned, this girl walked that line between cute and sexy, it made him want to protect her now that she was talking to him. Tabitha shook her head to the question. “Oh heavens no.” She held up her left hand showing off a ring on her finger with a large diamond. “I have made sure he knows I’m off the market, he sent me once, but I spent my time telling one of the clients that thought I was on the menu how much he reminded me of my boyfriend and how I couldn’t wait to marry him. And I really can’t! But back then I was just wearing a fake ring. It could be a good investment for you with Dunn, though he is married himself so I’m not sure how well it would work.”

Hearing the girl was taken was a let down for Jackson, but it wasn’t like he could really make a move on her anyways. He considered what she said about a ring, but that might send Linc running for the hills. “My boyfriend works here, I don’t think he would appreciate me announcing we are going to get married when we haven't talked about that sort of thing yet.” Though he thought it would hilarious to slip it on his finger when they were semi-alone and declare that of course she will marry him just to see his expression as people came around to congratulate the couple.

“Good for you girl, I’m guessing he got you the job here?” That was sort of true, so Jackson nodded. “You just try to be firm with Dunn then, I’m sure everything will be fine.” Jackson felt Tabitha pat the back of his hand that he had on the counter as they stood around and talked.

“I appreciate the advice, it was a pleasure to meet you Tabitha.” The pretty girl gave him a smile that made him want to take her in his arms and kiss her, but in the world would that be appropriate, he just couldn’t help the way he thought. “Any time, we will be seeing a lot of each other, so please call be Tab. Oh and before I forget, every other Wednesday some of us get together to go out and have a glass of wine together or well a double shot of bourbon when it calls for it. You should come next week.”

Walking back to his desk with coffee in hand Jackson just couldn’t believe this day. It was just a few minutes past eight in the morning, his feet were already aching from the four and a half inch heels he was wearing, his stomach was declaring it wanted real food instead of the shake his sister gave him, something he hoped the coffee would take care of. He had sort of friends with a few women at the office when he had made zero over the last year he had been here and yet all of them were still out of his reach. Unless they got real cool about a few things real fast.

“Ah, perfect timing” Jackson blinked as Mr. Dunn walked up to his desk, coming over from the elevator and took the cup of coffee from his hand. Jackson didn’t have time to tell the man that was his before his lips were already on the cup as he took a drink. Pulling the cup from his mouth Alexander tossed the still mostly full cup into the small trash bin next to Jackson’s desk.

“Terrible, go make me another. This time black with two sugars, no cream or milk or whatever it was you put in this last one. Not a good start to the day Miss Heart, do try and do better.”

“Sir I…”

“No need for excuses Miss Heart, and no need to back talk when I tell you to do something unless you don’t understand the instructions. You do understand the instructions for my coffee, correct? Or do you need to write it down?”

“No sir, but…”

“Good, get on it then.” With that Alexander gave a small swat to his new secretary's rear before turning and heading into his office to start his day. Jackson hoped forward a few inches as his eyes went wide from the unexpected and unwanted touch. He glared at the man’s’ back as he walked away. The man was wearing black pants, a black button up shirt with no tie and a cream colored jacket. What he wore wouldn’t matter to Jackson, except now when he had to contrast it with his own clothes. He dressed as a woman, and Dunn a man and the ass treated him like just one of the girls who were bimbos here.

Walking past one of the cubicle farms Jackson could feel the eyes of the men on him like it was a physical thing. It felt almost slimy that they were checking him out, while another part of him wondered if any of them could see through the dress, makeup and pumps. He had worked here for a year with these people and he knew it was better for them to ogle him than know the truth. If they knew the truth then the name Jackson Heart would be attached to him, making getting a different job all that much harder. Walking back to the break room he didn’t have any encounters, but unfortunately without the group of women huddled together for protection it didn’t take long for one of the men to follow him in. “Hey there sweetie, I don’t recognize you. So that must mean you are new, because I know I would remember gorgeous face like yours.”

Jackson turned around to look at the man addressing him, he was standing much closer than he would have liked and with him standing in the corner where the coffee machine was he felt trapped. He had seen the man around before, but wasn’t sure exactly who he was other than him not being a manager. Again Jackson could feel his eyes on him as he made no attempt to hide that he was looking the disguised man up and down from heel to his eyes. Something the man had to look a little up to do with Jackson’s height of just over six foot in the heels he didn’t feel should be appropriate for an office. “I’m Jack, I saw your name plate over at your desk said your name was Jacqueline. Feels a little like kismet, Jack and Jacqueline finding each other in a big place like this.” That was when Jackson felt the man’s hand grip his forearm lightly just below the short sleeve of his blouse. “I will meet you at your desk around noon for us to go get lunch.”

The man didn’t even bother to ask him out, just said it like he had already agreed to go out with him. Jackson put one hand on the man's arm to push it away, he couldn’t be too rough with him. Jack wasn’t a manager, but he didn’t know his connections either. “It is like so funny that we would meet like this, but I’m also dating someone already. I would really like to have lunch with you, but the love of my life and I have lunch together everyday.”

“Some lucky guy, well I will be around if you need anything at all. Even if it is just to talk, or vent, come find me.” Jackson thought it would be funny to tell the guy he only liked men who were at least six foot, something he had heard more than once, but again he didn’t know his connections here. This place could be all politics, something he had to now really pay attention to so he wasn’t let go before the initial ninety days were up. He couldn’t afford to pay back the money for the clothing allowance. “You are sweet Jack, I will do that.” Jackson then waited for the man to go away before he dared turn his back on him. When he was gone Jackson made the coffee just the way Dunn had said, though he considered adding a little spit out of spite, but decided against it.

Getting back to Mr. Dunn’s office he knocked gently before opening the door just a fraction to make sure he wasn’t on the phone before walking in with the hot beverage. Jackson gave the man an uneasy smile as he put it down on his desk. “Come over here I want to show you something.” Alexander said motioning the dark haired girl to come around to his side of the desk. He couldn’t believe this person was actually male, he wouldn’t guess it by looking at her. His libido told him how he wanted to lock his office door and bend her over his desk so he could hear her pant and moan as he put his dick inside of her. He didn’t think that made him gay, definitely not with how she looked and how she acted. It wasn’t lost on him how when he came up to her this morning she didn’t move, she was okay with him being close to her and she hadn’t said a word when he touched her tight ass. When she came around to his side of the desk he wasted no time wrapping one of his arms around her waist and pulling her down into his lap.

Jackson didn’t hesitate to walk around Mr. Dunn’s desk, his eyes looking at his monitor screen to see what was there when he felt the man pull him down. He landed squarely in the man’s lap, his legs would have flailed, but the tight pencil skirt kept them together as they now hung over the chairs armrest. “MR. DUNN!”

“Keep it down, no need to get excited darling. I wanted to show you some of the projects we are working on so you understand better who needs to talk to me and does not. Who gets to see me is a big part of your job.”

“This is.. This is not ahhh appropriate!” Jackson tried to move to get up, but was easily held in place. The most he could do was shift a little in his boss's lap.

“I’m not worried what other people think is appropriate, now this project…” Alexander tapped his screen with one hand while the other rested on his employees leg, he gave it a light squeeze as he talked, feeling her leg through her skirt. Jackson didn’t have the mental capacity to listen to what he was saying as he started to panic. He tried shifting some more, hoping to maybe slide off his lap to gain freedom, but the man moved his chair closer to his desk as he rambled on. Then he felt his other hand touching his hair, running through his almost like he was being pet.

“Ahh, Sir. Don’t, don’t you have a wife?”

“I do, but she isn’t interested in what I do when I’m not with her.” Feeling the girl shift and slide on his lap, grinding her tight behind in him, Alexander couldn’t help the fact that his dick started to grow hard. It drove him a little wild that she was asking about his wife while practically dry humping him. Jacqueline talked like this wasn’t what she wanted, but her actions spoke much louder.

“Well I umm, I have a boyfriend remember? Remember Linc?!” Alexander moved some of her hair to the side, exposing her neck. The light in his office glinted off her pretty earrings and he could smell her perfume as he leaned in giving her neck a kiss. He didn’t miss the shiver that ran through the girl at his touch, showing just how much she wanted this despite her words. Her sharp intake of breath spoke volumes.

“If you didn’t want him or anyone to see then you shouldn’t have left my office door open. Why don’t you be a good girl and go close that.” He shifted his chair back from his desk and swiveled it to the side so she could go take care of that before she took care of him. Jackson took his chance at freedom immediately, moving to the door as fast as he could in the stiletto shoes. Getting there he was slightly out of breath, he hadn’t realized he had held his breath since the man had kissed his neck. Turning to look at him, Jackson gave him a toothy smile.

“Mr. Dunn, I shouldn’t, I mean I really can’t.” Jackson shook his head feeling the earrings in his ears move along with his hair. He wasn’t sure, but it felt like his hands were shaking. “This isn’t appropriate and I told you I have a boyfriend.” Without waiting for a reply Jackson closed the door when he was on the other side of it. He let out a long breath of air feeling like he had just escaped from a lion's den. He didn’t dare move away from the door, not just yet. Too afraid the man was going to come after him, to berate him, maybe fire him or worse pull him back into his office. Jackson couldn’t see his boss through the door staring at it from the other side as he shifted his pants to be more accommodating to his hardened member and grumbling about a cock tease.

After some time of standing there Jackson was able to calm down and sat down at his new desk. He turned the monitor on, logging in with his new credentials, taking the time to look over his shoulder every now and then to make sure Dunn wasn’t standing there. Soon as he logged in the phone line was transferred to his desk from the reception pool and began to flash indicating an incoming call. Slipping on the headset he braced himself for his first call as Dunn’s secretary.

“Mr. Dunn’s office, this is Jacqueline, how can I help you today?” He did as he was instructed from the little orientation he had, to answer the phone with a smile and sound as happy and helpful as he could be. It was there he sat taking notes of who was calling and for a while like a living voicemail while looking at the emails coming in. One of the roles for his job was to decline, or accept meetings based on Dunn’s availability and preferences. The problem was he had just leaped out of the meeting where he would have learned those preferences and he didn’t dare go back. So instead he just accepted everything so long as there was space on the man’s calendar, figuring it would be just as easy to cancel once it was accepted then the other way around. He had been a paperwork bitch most of his time here and he wanted to join the sales team, monitoring a calendar and answering the phone like some bimbo wasn’t what he wanted and wasn’t nearly enough to occupy his time.

With little else to keep his mind busy Jackson had pulled out his cell phone to read the news to help pass the time. He wished he could take his shoes off, sitting was better than standing, but he didn't feel right having his foot arched the way it was, still it was a thousand times better than the seat he had in his bosses office where he was sure he felt the man’s dick pressing into his backside. Still answering the phone on his desk Jackson tried to forget what had just happened and by the time it was just a little passed eleven Mr. Dunn came out of his office. “Listen Miss Heart I would like… are you on your personal phone?” Jackson looked up to the man feeling like he was a kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar from the tone he was using.

“Miss Heart, put that away and do not let me catch you on it again at your desk. If you need something to do I can give you some files to add tabs to. Now…” Alexander looked at his watch. “I will be gone for about twenty minutes, do have another cup of coffee ready for me when I get back and try to get it right the first time.” Jackson squeezed his hand around his phone as he again glared at the man’s back after talking to him like he was some brainless girl. He opened his desk drawer putting the phone away in the purse. He sat there looking at it for nearly two minutes fuming that he was even in this situation. Sixty thousand wasn’t really worth this… but he had little choice. He could just quit, but then he owed one of the most powerful companies in the world money and they thought he was transgender. If that got out chances at a real future as himself were nonexistent and telling them the truth would be the same path.

Standing up from his desk Jackson stretched or the best he could with the corset around his waist and perched in the heels before sitting back down. He glumbly looked at the photo on his desk happy it worked on Jake and wondered how much worse it would have been without that excuse for Mr. Dunn. He picked up the frame, running his long nailed fingers over the pictures. “You stupid son of a bitch Linc, I will get you for this.” Jackson said to himself, putting it back down with no real thoughts on how exactly he was going to get payback, but when he did it was going to be big.

A few minutes later, almost as if insulting his friend out loud summoned him, the son of a bitch came walking up to his small desk. “Look who it is. I was just thinking about you baby.” Jackson said with a lilt in his voice, hoping anyone nearby would hear and reinforce the ruse.

Lincoln put both hands on the desk as he leaned forward, wanting to talk so no one else could hear. He didn’t want to drag this on, it just needed to happen. “Look, this isn’t going to work.”

“It is working so far, thank God no one knows who I really am.” Lincoln shook his head firmly as he made eye contact with his feminized roommate.

“No, I mean this.” Lincoln moved one hand from the desk, pointing between himself and his friend. “Look I know you were… are **** for a beard or whatever, I can help you find someone else, but it can’t be me.”

Jackson ground his teeth together, he wasn’t going to let Linc weasel his way out of this, it was the very least he could do. “I think you are forgetting what I said I would do if you didn’t play the role of the happy boyfriend. That and you owe me, you owe me sooo much.”

“Listen… I did the going on a date thing with you for the photos, you can keep telling guys we are dating, but if any of the girls asks you tell them it was just to remember us by. I ran into Cassidy at the coffee shop this morning, you know Cassidy.” Lincoln made a motion near his chest to indicate how well endowed the woman was he was talking about. “We kinda hit it off a little, I bought her coffee and got her number.”

Jackson bit the inside of his cheeks, steaming mad that Linc would do this literally like one day into this and he would hit on a girl who worked at the same company as them. “Are you fucking kidding me!” Jackson whispered harshly through his white teeth. “Are you trying to fuck this up for me more than you already have!?”

“Come on… you know how much I need this. It isn’t like this is real, you aren’t going to be the girlfriend I need, not like you are going to suck my dick if I buy you chocolates and flowers.”

“Yeah well I’m sure your at your budgets end with paying for one night of drinks and that coffee.” The word shit just kept repeating itself over and over in Jackson’s head. If Linc was seen walking around just holding that girl's hand people were going to take notice and that would mean people like Jake and Dunn would see him as much more available. “Is that it? You just want your dick sucked?” Lincoln didn’t think that was fair, he would love to start dating Cassidy and really hit it off, the idea of marrying her if they fell in love wasn’t exactly at the forefront of his mind, but it wasn’t out of the question once he got stable in his career. And for now… yeah having a sexy thing like her on her knees was more than appealing. He pushed any thoughts of jerking off to his dolled up roommate the other night away, that wasn’t something he was ever going to admit he had done. “No, but also kind of yes.”

Acting on impulse Jackson stood up from his desk quickly, almost falling back down, him not used to his center of gravity the way he was dressed. He grabbed Linc by the wrist and started to march toward’s a supply closet that was more of a small supply room. His stomach started to do cartwheels at the thought of what he was about to do, but he needed to do something when the threat of saying mean things or a sense of duty wasn’t enough to keep Linc from ruining his plans. Even his mind recoiled at the thought of giving his friend a hand job, but if the asshole just needed to get off then he would get him off. Maybe then he could even use that as a threat of if he is exposed Linc would go down with him. “Where are we going?”

“To end your dry spell.” Jackson snapped back, getting just a confused look in return. Getting to the room Jackson threw the door open and shoved his friend in. The lights were off and with the motion sensors they clicked on as Linc moved into the room, meaning no one else was in here. Clicking the lock as the door closed Jackson moved up to Linc, shoving him against a file cabinet.

“Hey what are you doing, are you really going to try fighting me because I wont play house with you?”

“Just shut up.” Jackson said as he squatted down, having one hand out to the side to make sure he kept his balance.

“What are you doing!?” Lincoln’s mind was racing seeing the sexy girl that was his best friend, his male best friend squatting down in front of him and then reaching up to take his zipper between two fingers.

“I said shut up.” Lincoln felt his lip quivering as his zipper was pulled down and Jacqueline’s hand reached into his pants… no Jackson’s hand. The sight was more than enough to jump start him, he was at half mast as he felt the hand take hold of his dick. Lincoln grabbed his friend’s wrist while the hand was still in his pants.

“Are you really about to do this?” Jackson really wished he would just shut up so he could get this over with. Every passing second he was second guessing himself, this was a horrible, stupid, no good idea, but he had no others.

“All that talk of wanting a blow job I thought you would jump at the chance to get off.” Lincoln let go of the wrist in his grip. His mind told him just how wrong this was, but looking down at Jacqueline’s lips colored with the creamy pink lipstick he knew he really needed this.

Pulling his friend’s dick out of his pants was a new experience for Jackson, he had seen another man’s equipment at the gym or even in the showers when he was in school, but this was the first time he had his hand touching another man’s junk, let alone hand his hand wrapped around it. The dick in his hand wasn’t even fully erect but it was already a little bigger than his own when he was at full mast. Biting in the inside of his cheek a few times Jackson started to stroke his hand up and down its length, not realizing that moving his mouth that way was giving his friend more than a few ideas and the impression Jacqueline wanted this.

With almost every other pump of his hand the dick in it got harder and harder till it went from pointing at the ground to pointing at his face and in the way he was squatting he couldn’t really move backwards. Sliding his hand down the base of his friends massive dick Jackson rocked forward to get on his knees. The move brought him much closer, but it would allow him to scoot back. What he wasn’t counting on was his partner in this to interpret the movement as him moving closer to start a blow job. “Oh God, I can’t beleave we are doing this.”

Jackson’s eyes flicked up to his friend, his mind completely agreeing to the statement, but he was unprepared for Linc to help with the experience by putting his hand on the back of his head pulling Jackson closer to the monster in front of him. The distance was so small it only took a little pull with his hand for the tip of his dick to slide across those creamy pink lips and past them into the warm wet mouth. Lincoln’s eyes rolled back in his head as he thrust his hips more forward, pulling the sexy creature down deeper on to him.

“MMMMNNNNN!”

“Oh yeah, moan for me, moan for me.” Lincoln closed his eyes, letting up with the pull with his hand, giving Jacqueline a chance to slide up off his dick before he pulled her back on. He could feel her pushing her tongue against his cock and the way she was moaning was turning him on more and more. Any thoughts of this being wrong fled his mind as he thrust his dick into her mouth, he pulled her further and further down on himself it wasn’t just her moaning, but she had wrapped her hands around both his wrists, her nails biting into his skin as he rocked her back and forth, she was just as excited about this as he was.

A small part of his mind told him she would need to breathe so he let go of her head, his fingers running through her long hair as she knelt there in front of him panting to catch her breath. Jackson couldn’t believe what had just happened, he was just going to give him a hand job, but ended up with that thick dick in his mouth. It felt like whatever was left of the breakfast shake was going to come spewing out as he tried to catch his breath, happy the invasion was over.

“If I knew you wanted to blow me we could have worked something out, but damn an angry blowjob from one's girlfriend is still a blow job. Jackson was ready to tell him to fuck right off, he had almost caught his breath when the dick slippepd right back into his mouth, his eyes going wide. With it in there Jackson tried to get up from his kneeling position and step backwards when his friends hands where on him again, one on his shoulder and one on the back of his head, pushing him back down deeper on the dick, making it slide across his tongue. He didn’t know why he tried to fight it back with his tongue, it wasn’t helping at all. He could feel every vain on the dick as it invaded his mouth he tried screaming, yelling pushing on Linc with his hands but still the dick moved in and out of his mouth. He was ready to bite down when he felt something warm and salty in his mouth, he was tasting his friend’s precum.

“MMMMMMOMOM!” Something snapped in Jackson’s mind as his face was literally being fucked. It wasn’t a snap that left him beside himself or numb, it was a clarity. A clarity that told him this was already happening, this was the cost of keeping every other creep in the building at bay, this was the cost to keep from being sent off with clients that would run their hands up his legs or want him to blow them under the table like in some of the porn he had watched and enjoyed. He wasn’t going to be that female in porn, this was a sacrifice, a one time sacrifice to keep Linc from running off with that bimbo. He was jealous of Linc for even having a chance with her, he couldn't have a chance with anyone right now and hadn’t really before. He just had to get through this to secure his future.

Sucking in his cheeks as he sucked on the cock in his mouth for the first time Jackson moved his hand back around the base of the dick wanting to use the leverage to pull himself off to catch his breath again, but it seemed Linc was already picking up speed as he pulled him deep enough that he started to gag on the fleshy thing in his mouth.

“Gulg, gulg, gulg, gulg.” Were the sounds coming out as Jackson ended up deep throating the cock, he could feel it pressing down into his throat with some of the pushes. The world started to grow dimmer from the lack of air as Linc keep his mouth buried deep on him doing micro thrusts before he blew his load almost completely down his throat. When the invader was free from his mouth Jackson fell to his hands as Linc stepped away. The thick goopyness that he couldn’t see, but only feel and taste, the cum of his friend moved down his throat and to his stomach. Jackson’s stomach tried to heave and he looked around for a trash can, but seeing none he quickly pulled himself to his feet, using the cabinet as leverage. He need to run to the bathroom to get this out of him, but as he got to his heeled feet he felt hands wrap around him from behind, holding him tightly. The squeeze causing what was left in his mouth to be swallowed.

“I just didn’t know and wow… Jacqueline, seriously. Wow!” Lincoln felt amazing, he didn’t think his friend went this way, or would ever do something like that, but he did agree to work as a woman and even went all out to just come to work for one day for a contest that didn’t exist. He also never thought he would be interested in a transgender girl, but he had no regrets after getting that blow job.

“Yeah… yeah…” Now Jackson started to feel numb as the cum settled in his stomach and he was held in the strong arms that might have been the only real thing keeping him up now. “So no more Cassidy?”

“Who needs Cassidy when I have Jacqueline.” Lincoln said, giving his friend a little squeeze. Jackson needed to tell him this was a one time deal, but he also needed him to tell the girl he was off the market so he would ruin his chances with her. That and he really just wanted to close his eyes and rest his jaw, it was nearly as sore as his aching feet and calves.