Loving The Corporate Prince Ch. 04-05

Copyright © 2021 by M.J. Moréo

All rights reserved. This book or any portion of, may not be reproduced, used, or distributed in any manner without prior written permission of the publisher or author, except in the case of brief quotations for critical reviews and other non-commercial uses.

Trigger Warning:

This book contains scenes that may trigger dysphoria including transphobia and penetrative intercourse (not at the same time). This book contains kink scenes including limb restriction and more. If these are themes you are not prepared to handle, please do not continue. Always read and play responsibly!

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⟡ CHAPTER FOUR ⟡

The sky's gray hue grew more intense as the day dragged on. It wasn't awful, because the backdrop made the reds and oranges of the autumn leaves that much more vibrant. It was rare for Dustin to see, not because he was from a city without seasons - because he wasn't - but because he was from a city.

He was so used to everything looking gray when the season turned, and really, everything looking gray all year round. Dustin was almost constantly surrounded by skyscrapers, crowds, and congested city streets. He wasn't used to the freedom he felt out in this middle-of-nowhere town called Lake Stanfield. He wasn't used to nature or the peace.

A small smile passed on his lips as he stared out of the large class window of his classroom while the professor's voice buzzed in the background.

'I need to be careful about my stupid daydreams,' Dustin thought as his gaze continued to burn into the autumnal leaves. 'I almost walked out of my last class with a full-on erection. God, that's so embarrassing! It's like I'm a teenager again.'

Just as Dustin's thoughts began to snap back into what his professor was saying, he caught his assignment for the night, and the class was dismissed. As he packed his bags and headed into the hall, he saw Stephanie's long, platinum hair swaying around the corner. She was laughing with someone, who looked like it might have been the cashier from the school store, but this didn't stop Dustin from practically sprinting to her.

"Stephanie! Hey!"

Stephanie turned to meet Dustin, her smile grew in size and her pure happiness to see him made Dustin feel like he had made a real friend. Gil on the other hand, turned cold as ice, and promptly left.

"Dustin! Hey! I'm so glad we crossed paths!" Stephanie smiled and turned to speak with Gil, but rolled her eyes, realizing that he had left. "Sorry about Gil. He's a good guy, I swear, he's just very protective of... Well everything, I guess. Anyway, I realized I didn't give you my address or number or anything so you could get to the partyyy!"

Steph's squeals created a giggle inside Dustin that bubbled to the surface and his insides melted with relief as she dug scrap paper out of her bag and scribbled her address on it.

"Thanks, Stephanie. So, what kind of party is this exactly?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like a small... Get-together? Big? A... Birthday party? What should I wear? Also, do you need me to bring anything like food? Drinks? Or come early and help set up?"

The expression on Stephanie's face read like pity.

"Um... Well it's more of a... People show up and just hang out and drink, kind of party. But we'll have a fire because it's probably going to be pretty chilly. What you're wearing right now is perfect but I'd bring a coat or blanket, and bring your own drinks, but if I'm being totally honest, lots of people will be willing to share too."

Dustin's face burned and Stephanie could tell he was already feeling like he was in over his head. She gently rested her hand on his arm.

"Hey, don't worry. Not everyone around here is as aloof as River and Gil."

"Are they... Y'know... Like a couple?"

"River and Gil!? God, no!" Stephanie's face contorted as she shivered. "No. Ew. No. They're roommates but River's like Gil's little brother. In fact, Gil's kind of like everyone's older brother. He's straight, at least last time I knew, and River? Well, you know, River keeps to himself most of the time."

The two blondes began walking out of the building together.

"So how do you know them?"

"Well, my older brother, Ronnie, was in their class in high school and we were always around each other, then I got my first job at Max's and River worked there with Gil's sister who is, like, two years younger than them and I was closer with Gil's sister because she was more my age but eventually River and I got closer and..." Dustin's eyes widened, trying to keep up with the deeply woven relationships of the town.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. We've all basically grown up together."

Finally, it was Dustin's turn to watch someone else be embarrassed.

"No, no! Don't apologize! I love how close everyone around here is. I'm not usually this anti-social but I feel like everyone I've tried talking to... I don't know. I just keep screwing it up. It's like, walking into a tight group of friends, only the whole town is that group of friends."

"You're totally not wrong to be intimidated, Dustin. Anyone in your shoes would be. Heck, I would be! The thing about Ellis is that there's not much to do around here. So, whether we like each other or not, we all know way too much about each other and we're all a bit protective, but it's not out of actual hatred or anything. I guess what I'm trying to say is that," Stephanie exhaled loudly.

"Everyone in town already knows you're here. We are all aware of the hot, rich guy from New York that's going to LSCC. Some people around here have already made up their mind about you, whether they've met you or not. Some may have good opinions, some may have bad opinions, but trust me, the bad ones? You don't need to waste your time trying to impress them."

"I really appreciate the pep-talk, Steph." Dustin smiled.

"What can I say? I'm the town golden child slash moderator." Stephanie smiled as she reached her car and opened the door when Dustin's next question caught her off guard.

"Wait, how did you know I'm from New York? Did River tell you?"

"Huh? No, no. River's not like that, he hates gossip. Pro-tip, that's actually a very fast way to get him to push him away from you. Ben on the other hand... I think he overheard you and well, he's got a big mouth."

"Got it... So... What's your opinion of me?"

"Oh, I have a lot of opinions about you."

"Go on,"

"You seem like a good guy, Dustin. A little lost, but that's OK. We've all been a little lost before." Stephanie's smile said to Dustin that their friendship was official. He had finally made his first friend in Lake Stanfield, even if she was a decade younger than him and somehow five decades wiser. "Oh, and you've got a big fat crush on River."

"What? Pfft. I-I don't even know him, I-I..."

"You know what I like about you?" Stephanie smiled behind the wheel of her car as she rolled the windows down. "You're an awful liar! See ya at the party! Text me if you need anything!"

Stephanie's voice faded with her distance, leaving Dustin in the parking lot of LSCC, smiling, but with a flurry of emotions twisting inside him.

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Stephanie:

Hey! I hpoe your'e still coming today!!

Park in t he field next to the houuse when you get here <3

Dustin:

Will do!

See ya soon

'Oh my God, she's drunk already,'

Dustin's heart thumped when he drove down the dirt road. His mind was lost between thoughts of worry about the party and worry about his car being damaged from the path he took. The more he thought about it, the further and further he drove to the middle of nowhere. Suddenly, his red flags went off.

'God, I hope this isn't some sort of creepy lure-me-out-to-the-woods-to-kick-my-ass kind of set-up.' Dustin thought.

The longer it took to get there, the worse his thoughts became of all the fates of others who had been lured to the woods. Dustin instantly felt incredibly stupid for falling for their plot. He really thought he could trust Stephanie but most of all, River. Dustin realized that maybe, his assumptions of River being a great guy, were wrong.

'I wonder if that's why his face got all red when she started talking about this party.'

The trees curling above the dirt road became sparse and opened up, stopping Dustin's worried thoughts in their tracks as an incredibly large field came into view. The field had at least 15 cars parked in it with a big, brown, abandoned-looking barn in the way back of the field. Next to the cars was a sky blue, double-wide with a large garden surrounding the white wood porch.

Your destination is on the left.

"Thanks, Siri... I can tell."

Breathing a sigh of relief, Dustin pulled his car into the field with the many others. He sat in his place for a moment, recovering from the anxiety he felt pumping through his veins. His hands sat on the wheel as he allowed his breath to enter his body, deeply, exhaling his jitters. A loud, obnoxious engine rumbled through Dustin's skin, causing his eyes to refocus on the field in front of him.

Rumbling through the field past his own vehicle, and parked a bright red, rusted, lifted truck. It took everything in Dustin not to roll his eyes. He was trying to be positive and not judge anyone here before he knew them but -

The doors of the truck opened and out jumped Gil and River.

'River!'

River was dressed in almost all black. Black, torn-up jeans decorated his slender legs, a skin-tight, long sleeve grey shirt and a faux leather jacket hugged his torso. His eyes appeared darker than usual, and Dustin could tell he was wearing a bit of eyeshadow around his waterline.

'God, that man is sexy.'

Dustin could hardly tear his eyes away from him when he bent over the passenger side and pulled out a 24-pack of beer and entered the house.

To Dustin, River moved in slow motion. His mind captured every movement of the man's body, hoping that somehow, he could be the sole receiver of his attention. Dustin's infatuation with the man only grew and grew with each encounter. He'd never met someone who he craved so much in his life. He's also never met a group of people who he had continually made an ass of himself in front of before. At least, not to his knowledge.

'OK, Dusty. You've got this. Stephanie's gonna be there and you know she's got your back. You'll be fine. In fact, you'll be better than fine. You're gonna make lots of friends and this rough patch will be a thing of the past.'

Dustin finally gathered the courage to enter the party. Once inside, he encountered a mix of aromas from nicotine to weed to liquor to chili dogs.

"DUSTIIIIIN!"

The high-pitched squeal came from the kitchen as he saw Stephanie's bright smile and arms stretched out wide. Dustin couldn't help but let her brightness infect him as they embraced in a warm hug.

"Oh my God, I'm soooooo glad you came. Before you ask, no I'm not drunk. Yes, I am a little tipsy. No, drunk. Yes, tipsy and youuuuu need to catch up, Mister. But before we do that let me give you a quick tour." Stephanie grabbed Dustin's hand and dragged him through the living room where a few people sat smoking weed and talking about some work drama.

"Mmkay, livingroom, kitchen, dining room," Stephanie began, pointing back down the hall to where they were previously standing. "This is bathroom number one, the door at the end of the hall is off-limits, that's a bedroom and then down the other hall, is another bathroom in my parents' room but that's really only for emergencies. Yadda yadda yadda, how are you feeling? Are you nervous?"

"Nervous about what?"

The voice came from the end of the hall as Gil emerged. He quickly wrapped his arms around Stephanie's shoulders in a big, drunken hug, only for her to roll her eyes in response.

"Gil, go away." said Stephanie.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize to Dustin. I know I wasn't being very cool the last few times we met and, y'know, new things freak me out. Not that that's a good excuse but, it is what it is. I really didn't mean to put you off and I'm sorry for it."

"Hey, no worries. I appreciate the apology."

'Maybe I'm just insecure but for some reason I still don't fully trust him.' Dustin thought.

An awkward pause fell between the three.

"Anyway, what is there to be nervous about?"

"Yeah, Steph. What would I be nervous about?" Dustin asked.

"Um..." Stephanie's eyes went wide. "Dustin is just around so many new people! Anyone would be nervous about that right?"

"Right, and the fact that you think I like that River guy has nothing to do with it?"

"Oh," Gil began. Surprise flashed through his expression. "I didn't realize you... Y'know... Swing that way because you seem so..."

Gil's throat-clear couldn't clear the awkwardness of their conversation.

"You should go for it," said Gil.

Even Stephanie was surprised by Gil's sudden acceptance of Dustin.

"Look, you know River's like my kid brother. The guy works so damn hard and now that he's in school too -"

"I appreciate your guys' approval but I don't think he even likes me as a person-"

"He who?"

The group jumped simultaneously at the sight of River leaning against the wall at the end of the hall.

"Uhh, the, uh-" Gil began.

"That guy you work with!"

"Ben? Why do you care what Ben thinks about you?"

"Well if you must know," Dustin paused, looking between Stephanie and Gil, desperate for help. Stephanie, ever the golden-hearted savior, jumped in. "Dustin was looking for a job and asked me if the gas station was hiring so I told him to check with Ben."

"You know what? Even though I smell bullshit I'm gonna let it go."

River's hands were firmly planted on his slender hips. His black faux-leather jacket hung off him loosely and Dustin couldn't help but grow aroused, just looking at the domineering, punk.

"Are we gonna get this party started?" River asked. In a daze, Dustin wondered how it was possible that he could find a man's hands so irresistibly attractive.

"OK! Yes, of course. I'm glad we got that out of the way, because now I'm sober again." Stephanie began. "Dustin, I know this is like, very beneath you but no number two's outside, OK?"

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⟡ CHAPTER FIVE ⟡

RIVER

'Of course, the one time I show up to one of these shindigs, everyone abandons me to have a weird secret meeting in the hall with the new guy. Even Gil was muttering around with them, and I was pretty certain Gil didn't have a great opinion of Dustin. Things can change, I guess because they seem fine now.'

The smell of booze filled my nose as I watched Gil and Dustin clank their beer bottles together while Stephanie reached in the drawer and pulled out a deck of cards.

"Dustin," Stephanie's voice, and whole demeanor, became extremely sly. "Have you ever played Waterfall?"

"No, I don't believe I've ever heard of it." Dustin blushed.

'God, he's fucking handsome and adorable.'

"Well, one of the sole purposes of this game is to get extremely wasted but also have a little bit of fun. It's a great icebreaker too if you're around new people. So," Stephanie yelled. "Who's in!?"

A small group including Stephanie, Dustin, Gil and a couple named Ethan and Kristina joined.

"Riverrrr!" Stephanie whined while she poured a shot of tequila, set it in the middle of the table, and began shuffling cards.

"No, no. I'm Gil's DD."

"Oh, sorry Riv. I forgot to tell ya, I'm staying with Steph and Ronnie tonight."

"Hey, that's OK, Riv." Ethan chimed in as his lanky body joined the table with a red solo cup in hand. "If you don't wanna drink, I'm DD-ing too. I've just got water in here so we can do some serious hydrating tonight."

Ethan clanked his red plastic cup against mine as we laughed and shrugged. Ethan sat next to me at the table and I couldn't tell if I was thankful or not, for not sitting next to Dustin. The muscular blonde sat across the table from me, so instead of his intoxicating presence looming next to me, I got to stare at his raw beauty.

'I wonder what he thinks of me.'

"Who's going first? Dustin?" Stephanie nudged Dustin before a look of panic crossed his face.

"Wait, I don't know how to play."

"It's very easy, don't worry. You just pull a card from the top of the deck and then set it on top of the shot. Each card is, kind of, like a mini game or designated action. For instance, if someone pulls a 6, all the guys in the room have to take a drink. Then, it's the next person's turn. See, easy?"

"OK, but why do we put the cards on the shot?"

"Because," Gil chimed in. "Whoever knocks the tower of cards over on the shot, kind of like jenga, has to drink it."

'Why the hell does Gil suddenly care about making Dustin feel so welcome?'

I wasn't the only one to notice Gil's odd behavior. Stephanie and the other's all exchanged glances, but because Gil had already had a significant amount of booze in him at that time, he didn't notice. Stephanie ushered Dustin to pull a card, and when he did, the table cooed at what he pulled.

Ace of Hearts.

"Waterfall right off the bat! This is gonna be a good night." Stephanie laughed. "So Dustin, the waterfall is basically a chugging competition. You start drinking, then I follow, then Gil, and we go around the table, like a waterfall. You get to determine how long or short the chug is and we have to keep up. Whoever quits first-"

"Like a little bitch!" Gil drunkenly yelled. "I'm sorry that was fuckin' aggressive."

"Gil, what the hell?" I whispered to him as Stephanie continued explaining the rules.

"Sorry, I'm in a weird ass mood tonight." Gil whispered back.

"Ok... Anyway whoever quits drinking first also has to take a shot. We added that rule."

"Ah, chugging? That I can do," Dustin laughed, immediately chugging his beer. The room laughed and one by one, we followed.

I couldn't help but let my eyes fixate on Dustin's chiseled jaw tilted back as his Adam's apple bobbed with each, delicious swallow. His face was dusted with stubble and his sharp cheekbones glistened. His expression was blissful with his eyes closed.

I was overwhelmed with the urge to run my tongue along his slender neck and feel the corners of his jaw on my mouth.

'I bet that's what he looks like when he's -'

The gasps and laughs of everyone finishing their chugs, including Dustin, tore me away from my thoughts.

"Woo!" Stephanie and Kristen yelled as everyone cheered and clapped. The game continued around the table and I had to admit that even without drinking, it was pretty fun. It also helped that there was someone else who was stone cold sober doing aqua shots with me.

Finally, Ethan pulled a Queen card and everyone cooed.

"Okokokok, wha's s-ah Queen mean?" Dustin slurred, in the cutest possible way.

"Mmmmmm have you ever played Never Have I Ever?" Kristen, also slurred.

"Yez, of courze," said Dustin.

"It's that budt we only dzo five fingers cause ten's just s'too long. S'too long, Duztin. Iss. Too. Long."

"Is it too long?" I asked.

"Iss too long, River. Mmkay, I go first! Hmmm,"

A long pause fell over the group and I'm pretty sure Gil fell asleep with his eyes open waiting for her.

"This might take a while," Ethan laughed.

Being one of the only sober ones had its benefits. Watching everyone's eyes droop and glaze over waiting for Kristen was hilarious, but I got the chance to glance at Dustin's gorgeous face.

'I wonder if someone like him could ever like someone like me,'

I mentally lashed myself for even entertaining the idea that that could happen, but I wanted his attention more than I've wanted anything in a while. Dustin's gaze shifted from Kristen...

... To me.

I was caught, fully, but I couldn't look away. Instead, I smiled at him and my heart grew watching his face burn and smile back.