Bitter & Sweet

11. Challenges

Phana's POV

"No!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, watching Yo look at me from under his long lashes. Those eyes, pleading. "No! Don't try to change my mind, baby. This isn't a good idea."

"But I promised Ming," he opened his eyes wide as they filled with tears.

Oh shit, there was no way I could say no to tears. I sat on the bed, trying to calm my racing heart. There was no way I was going to let him work at that company for two weeks. Forth was the kind of person who would play with my baby, tease him just to piss me off. I had to keep my baby safe. It wasn't because I didn't want the whole world to see hot pictures of the boy that was mine. It definitely wasn't because I was jealous. I just couldn't let Yo dictate everything to me every time he cried. I had to be strong. This was about my principles.

Yo sat on my lap, lower lip pouted and arms around my neck, he whispered into my ear, "Please, daddy."

Damn my principles to hell! I lifted him, grabbing his full ass cheeks to hold him over my growing erection. Turning him, and laying him down gently on the bed, I revised my plan. Tomorrow, I would drive him to work and show him how adult and trusting and non-caveman I could be, but for right now, I was going to mark every inch of his beautiful body so that everyone on that set knew he was taken.

************

I was glad that I gave the ring to Yo, but I really should have just proposed to him like I originally planned. At the time, I thought that I needed to give us more time to get to know each other. Not because I wasn't sure if I wanted him, but because I wanted him to be sure that he wanted me. I wasn't always easy to live with. I knew I had a temper. I knew I was possessive and jealous. I was distant and just the right amount of arrogant in my business dealings. Sometimes I forgot to care about other people's feelings. And I had spent so much of my life focused on building my career that I wasn't sure if I knew how to have a balance, now that I wanted a life outside of work.

None of my poor personality traits applied to how I treated Yo. I changed for him, but to most people, I was exactly the same as I had always been. After all, I don't need to make everyone happy, just my baby. He was the only exception to my bad work behaviors, because I loved to make him happy, so I couldn't be cold or arrogant with him. He brought out the best in me in that way, making me excited to live a life with him. Of course, he also brought out my worst sides when it came to jealousy and possessiveness. I had no idea I could feel so territorial about anyone or anything. But with Yo, I struggled to maintain control of my feelings when someone else paid him attention, which happened all the time.

Now we were promised, but not engaged. I wanted to be engaged. Hell, I wanted to be married to him already. Promised meant maybe 25% of the people who wanted him would back off. Engaged moved that number up to 50%. Married moved the number to 75%. And married to a husband who showed up and looked threatening jumped that number all the way to 98%. The last 2% was something everybody just had to accept. There would always be some jackass out there who didn't think marriage and the threat of bodily harm was enough to keep them away from what they wanted. They could try to take my Yo, but I would always be there to stop them. I would love him more and I would make him so happy that he'd never want anyone else.

With those numbers in mind, I walked Yo into his first day of work as a model at Forth's company. I wasn't sure what a promise ring and the threat of bodily harm would mean to keeping away other suitors, but if that threat was standing in close proximity, I was willing to bet that those numbers would be nearly as good as if he was already married.

"Thanks for coming, Yo!" a familiar, dimpled red-head said as he pulled Yo toward a make up artist and made him sit. I looked more closely and realized I was right. That was Kit!

"Kit?" I asked, surprised to see my college friend. He'd been good friends with Beam and I, then the two of them had started dating and after their relationship ended, Kit didn't spend as much time with us. We were still in contact as friends, but I didn't realize he was working for Forth!

"Pha? Is that you?" Kit said, looking frazzled and overworked. "I'm sorry, everything's been so crazy. Did I know you were going to be here today?"

"Did I know you were working for Forth?" I asked, feeling just slightly betrayed.

"I know you guys were rivals in college, but he's actually not a bad guy," Kit shrugged his shoulders, marking finished items on his clipboard. "He's not a bad boss, and he really is great at advertising."

"Sure," I said, returning my gaze to Yo to make sure everything was okay.

"Are you here with Yo?" Kit asked, bringing to mind a few other questions.

"Yo's my boyfriend," I explained, happily. "I thought he was doing this as a favor for Ming's boyfriend?"

"That's me," Kit answered, smiling at me. "I never thought you'd be dating, let alone dating a boy. You were always a new girl every night kind of guy."

"That was just having fun, Yo is something serious," I answered. "It's weird that you're dating my assistant. Small world, right?"

"Yeah, Ming told me he got a part time position at your company, but I never thought it would be with you," Kit answered, watching me strangely. "I thought you said that your company never worked with part timers? And Yo's your boyfriend but you're letting him work with Forth? None of that sounds like you. What's going on?"

"It's nothing," I said, trying to blow it off. "Yo really wanted to help Ming, so I couldn't say no."

Kit started laughing, as I realized how ludicrous I sounded. I wasn't the kind of guy to let someone tell me what to do. I wasn't the kind of guy to think more of other people's wants than my own. But with Yo, everything was different. I'd thought it before and I knew it was true now. Yo owned me.

I watched Yo being led to the set, where the photographer was cooing over him and running his fingers along Yo's arms in a flirting manner. Feeling my blood boil, I walked over, and pulled Yo to me quickly. I spoke loudly, making sure everyone could hear, "Are you going to be okay by yourself, baby? Do you want me to stay?"

Yo blushed and smiled up at me, as I stepped in close, "I'll be okay. I know you have to work."

"I'll pick you up when you're done. I love you," I said, before leaning down to kiss him lightly on his beautiful lips. When I turned to go, I made sure to glower heavily at everyone in the room, but before I walked out, I spoke to Kit once more, "Keep an eye on Yo for me? And text me when you're almost done, so I can be on time to pick him up."

"Sure, Pha," Kit said, giving me a surprised look.

Forth's POV

I stood watching from the side door as Pha made a show of his relationship with Yo, clearly warning away any predators. He wasn't willing to trust that his boyfriend would be safe. To be honest, I had to agree, if that boy was mine, I'd never let him go anywhere alone. But Pha let him come here, to my company. That was his first mistake. Then he made a point of showing everyone that Yo was his, which would make almost everyone else back off, but not me. Pha's jealously would only make it more fun. That was his second mistake.

"Hello beautiful," I stepped up close to Yo's side, saying the words gently into his ear.

His eyes grew wide for a moment and his cheeks took on a lovely pink blush, his look of surprise lighting a fire in my blood.

"Forth, we need to talk for a minute," Kit said, pulling my attention away from the person I wanted to talk to most. I winked at the boy, then went to Kit.

"Don't tease him, Forth," Kit warned me with a sharp look. "Pha wasn't playing around. This won't be a friendly rivalry anymore if you hurt his relationship with Yo. Pha's serious about him."

I ignored Kit for a moment, but when he wouldn't stop glaring at me, I finally nodded my head in understanding. When Kit walked away, my eyes were back on that boy. I had to find a way to get Yo alone.