"You know he's going to be okay, right?" James start as I hover over his desk in the home office.

"What?" I ask, a little lost in my own thoughts as I frown at him. "Who's going to be okay?"

"Jeremy. He's a little on the fun side, but you know he can be responsible." He reminds me and I sigh, nodding.

My brother is supposed to leave for New York tomorrow and just five minutes ago I Facetimed him, where he was almost done packing all his stuff. He sounded excited, and Joan was with him, of course. She's not leaving tomorrow; her flight is next week but both of them have been really looking forward to this part of their life.

"Yeah, I'm not worried." He offers me a look that says cut the bullshit so I put a little more weight on the desk, sighing. "He has never lived alone, he can be such a mess if he's not continuously reminded to get his shit together, I think I'm more nervous for Joan than him, because she's going to have to bear his annoying ass."

He smiles amusedly at my words, "That girl can handle him, trust me. I know how close the two of you are, but we can always visit him. New York's just a flight away."

"We'll see. I bet his ass would be down here every three months, he's a Momma's boy." I shrug and he nods at me before looking back at the file. "Your nose is always in the work, Mr. Clark. What do you do for fun?"

He chuckles, looking up as he meets my eyes, "I do you, love. Trust me, it's the best fun I've ever had in my life."

The words make blush rise to my cheeks as I roll my eyes at him. "Apart from that."

"I'm a very simple man, Lil. In high school, I was a dick, in college days, I had some fun, I remember doing pretty much everything anyone can think of. I loved to travel, I went on an entire Europe tour during a summer break, and not expensive hotel shit, but cheap motels. You should bring that up on table tonight." He smirks, clearly hiding some good part.

"That does sound like you, to discard the luxury and instead choose that for the sake of experience."

I slide his files a little more to the side, taking a seat on the desk properly as I remove my sandals and place my feet on his thighs and he arches his eyebrows.

"Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Clark?"

I move my feet up a little, more towards his groin and his emerald eyes darken a little. I shrug at him, smiling innocently as I bite on my lip to not get amused by how his body has suddenly frozen over. The best part about having sex so often is that we've gotten to know each other's bodies pretty damn well.

"Just trying to have some fun." I grin at him and his face splits into a huge grin, shaking his head.

"How do you always manage to surprise me?" He cocks his head a little to the side.

His hand moves down to hold my calfs before moving upward, underneath my dress as he grazes the back of my thighs and I move my feet over his erect member, pressing it down as a low growl leaves him.

"Some things I've learned from you, babe." I tease and his face conjures up with amusement while his eyes twinkle with desire.

"You do know you've started a game that you're going to lose, right?"

"Mmm, I think your definition of losing and mine are very different." I grin as I curl up my toes around him and he closes his eyes. "In this game, we both win."

His hands move further up my dress as one goes right to my core while other fumbles with the waistband. Just as he's about to pull it down, the doorbell rings and I groan loudly.

"Oh, fuck off." James curses loudly, and I can't help but laugh at his frustration.

I remove my feet from his lap before turning to move but his hold on me tightens, making me stare at him. "What are you doing?"

"Winning."

"That's not how it works. Sometimes we both lose, now come on, we have guests to attend to." I lean forward to give him a kiss on the forehead as he removes his hand from my body.

"Who would've thought my best friend would be such a cock-blocker." He grunts as he stands up and I do the same, stepping into the sandals. I laugh at his statement and look back at him as I move for the door. "You go out, I'll be there in a while."

I nod in understanding, not hiding my amusement one bit which earns me a glare as I move out to open the door. Hale and Alex are standing on the other side with a champagne bottle in the man's hand.

"Hey. C'mon in." I smile as they step inside and Hale gives me a hug while placing a light peck on my cheeks.

Alex follows through as we hug each other and move into the living area. She speaks up, her eyes roaming around. "Wow, this place is beautiful."

"Thanks! All credit goes to James, of course."

"Yeah, where's that fucker?" Hale looks around and I shrug.

"He's just finishing up some work." I comment as we move towards the couches and Hale turns to me, offering the champagne.

"Here, it's his favourite."

"You didn't need to, but we can open it up at dinner." I smile, moving to keep the bottle in the kitchen.

When I get back, James is already out and sitting on the couch with the two of them, looking like they're having some work discussion which makes me roll my eyes.

"Okay, tonight's rule is that there will be no work discussions." I announce as I stand by the couch and James looks up at me, smirking a little. "This is especially for you, you somehow always drag some conversation to the table."

"I absolutely agree." Alex comments and I smile at her for backing me up.

"Alright, geez." He holds up his hand in surrender and then nods. "No work discussions."

I grin at him before taking a seat by his side on the couch. It's Saturday night and the two of us didn't want to go out, so we decided to invite the new couple over for dinner. Alex and Hale officiated their relationship even at the company with HR. I think when Hale and I last talked, I seemed to have knock some sense into him, for which I'm extremely glad.

This week has been pretty uneventful with James and I trying to talk more while the media has died down drastically, which has been such a relief. There have been times where the miscommunication occurred, but at least we're not walking on eggshells around each other.

"There has to be a way to take a break from work for a week." Hale muses, giving his best friend a look which earns him a glare. "Oh, c'mon. When was the last time you didn't work for a week straight?"

"I'm sure I can think of something." James responds, looking like he's thinking about it but then he stands up. "What would you two like to drink?"

Fuck. I forgot to ask drinks. Alex looks at Hale before looking back at James. "Wine or scotch, either works."

"Scotch for me." Hale says before standing up as well. "C'mon, I'll pick out the bottle myself."

"Alex, you should come. I'll give you a tour." I pipe in, and she nods as all of us make our way down the hallway.

We go to the room with James's most precious stock of liquor and Hale's eyes immediately lit up" I almost forgot this was here. Fancy a game?" He looks at James, gesturing to the pool table.

"If you wanna lose." He shrugs before turning to Alex and I. "You guys want to play?"

I shake my head and turn to Alex who shrugs. "Sure, why the hell not."

"Are you sure you don't wanna play, Lil?" Hale asks me again and I look at them.

"I don't know how to play properly."

"Yeah, she's still learning." James smirks and I can't help the blush that erupts on my cheeks.

It has been less learning and more playing, just not the pool. The first time I told James that I didn't know how to play pool, we were in bed and it was almost midnight because we had a late dinner. He dragged me to this room to teach me the basics until both of us got extremely distracted by each other.

To avoid the embarrassment of blushing, I turn towards the wall with liquor cabinet. There are literally so many types of drinks here, more than half of which I have absolutely no idea about. There's a small storage in the living room for showcasing as well but most of the bottles are back here in this room.

I look at it to decide if I want to drink wine because scotch is usually not my go-to drink. Hale comes to stand by my side before he pulls out a bottle and turns to James and Alex, both of whom nod.

"I'll get glasses." I say as I turn to move but James shakes his head.

"It's alright, I got it."

He moves out of the room while Hale makes his way back to Alex who seems to be looking around. "You guys don't have any photographs in the apartment, do you?"

Her question makes me think about it. She's absolutely right, we really don't have any photographs anywhere. We do have some paintings in the hallway, also in upstairs rooms but none of those are photographs.

"Not really." I respond, still thinking about it.

I think it's because I'm not a fan of photographs, we barely click any. The ones from our wedding just don't feel right because of how distant we were back then. I haven't seen the drive since month after we got married and Carrack wanted everyone to look at it together. Maybe that's what James and I should do sometime, sit down to look at the photos.

James comes back with glasses, settling them on the desk by the wall and I notice that he got one for me which makes me raise my eyebrows at him as he shrugs, smirking a little. Sometimes I just want to sit him down, look into his eyes and have the superpower to read his mind.

He takes the bottle from Hale before pouring us all a drink. Hale and Alex take their glasses then he comes to stand by my side, offering me the drink and I take it from him.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr. Clark?" I look at him, my voice low and he chuckles while the couple in a conversation themselves.

"Just prolonging our fun game, Mrs. Clark." He kisses my hair before looking at our company and extending his glass. "Here, to new beginnings."

I smile at his words as I do the same and Alex blushes a little because it's her relationship we're talking about while Hale just grins, looking genuinely happy. When I take a sip, it takes me a little while to actually process the fine bittersweet taste.

"So, we were talking about a week of break from work and a game." Hale brings us back to the topic.

"A game, yes." James nods as he keeps his glass aside and sets the pool table while Alex pulls out the cues.

"C'mon, I'm sure you took a vacation for your honeymoon, I remember it." Alex pipes in and I almost choke on the drink because it's actually amusing how long ago that was.

We weren't even on first name basis back then, despite being on a honeymoon. It's pretty painful to recall it too, because there's so much time we could've spent enjoying.

"Just because he isn't physically present in his office doesn't mean he's not working." I shrug, earning a look from my husband but I just take another sip of the drink, the taste settling down on my buds.

"What the hell is wrong with you man?" Hale asks, but I know it's rhetorical as he goes on to take a shot as each one of them calls a pocket.

"This reminds me, James was talking about a Europe trip the two of you went to?" I bring it up, making James chuckles as he gives me a proud nod.

"You told her? What happened to bro-code?" Hale looks at him accusingly which perks up Alex's interest.

"What is this about?"

"Oh, c'mon. For fuck's sake." Hale whines, making me laugh but also increasing my curiosity. "Okay, so babe just remember that it happened a long back, alright? We were going from city to city, literally living in the cheap motels where I'm sure drugs were being dealt. We did have a go at it once."

"What?" I stare at James who just shrugs.

"I was twenty and excited to try new shit, but I've just tried it, that's all." He promises while Hale nods before continuing.

"Yes, so we were doing that crazy shit until the moment we went to a strip club, and it was a gender neutral one. I got high there, and James didn't, because we usually did that shit where one remained a little bit in senses in case something goes wrong."

"How mature of you the two of you." I tease, making Alex laugh and earning a look from the men. "Continue."

"Later I was in the bathroom and this guy came upto me and asked me if I was looking to score, to which I obviously said yes. So we went down these hallways that led to numerous doors, like super spooky shit they show in the movies. If I was sober, I would've ran for the hills but then I was out of my fucking mind."

"And?" Alex gestures for him to go on, her voice on the edge.

"And I kept calling him to reach him, but his phone was off. Until he came down to the motel next morning, literally crying and freaking out." James adds, looking way too damn amused for his own liking.

"Why?" I frown, trying to connect the dots but obviously missing out something.

"I woke up with three girls and that guy." Hale groans, face-palming himself. "But that wasn't what I was worried about, I couldn't remember if I put on a condom at night because trash had been cleared."

That does it, I end up laughing and Alex joins me as we look at how mortified Hale looks, his ears tinted with pink which makes James bite down on his lip to stop himself from laughing.

"So, you had an orgy without a condom?" Alex concludes until she pales. "Wait, are you clean?"

"Fuck, yes! I got tested later and it came clean." He squeaks, sounding too funny. "I was freaking out because I couldn't remember it and I was too damn afraid that I would catch something. Also, it wasn't an orgy!"

"It so was." James adds, laughing.

Hale shakes his head. "Laugh all you want now, you almost pissed your pants because you thought I was going to die of an STD."

"You couldn't stop crying." James shoots back, while Alex and I laugh at their ridiculous antics. "And it was an orgy, so shut up."

"It was consensual sex between a group of people." Hale throws his hands in the air.

"Yes, and it has a term." Alex adds, earning a horrified look from her boyfriend. "What?"

"Lil, c'mon you take my side."

I look between the three of them before shrugging. "Yeah, I'm not a part of this."

"Wow." Hale shakes his head, being his usual dramatic self as he looks at us disappointingly. "If I win this game, I want this to never come up again."

"Oh, c'mon. How will our kids know you're the cool uncle then?" James teases, my eyes shooting to him at the mention of kids, because my heart genuinely warms up because of how he's slowly wrapping his head around the fact that some day indeed, we are going to have kids.

"I have better things that make me cool than having an orgy." Hale shoots back and I can't help but laugh as he walks right into the trap. It's like he realises it before throwing my husband and I a look. "Oh, fuck off."

We all have a good laugh by teasing Hale for another while before they finish the game, and it's Alex who ends up winning. Before we move to have dinner, Hale and I play foosball, which again, he loses.

All of them help in setting up the dinner table, and I like that we get things done by ourselves unlike the mansion. James almost always helps me with little things at dinner because the man cannot cook to save his life. However, he's learning to chop vegetables at a very slow pace. It's the little things of our routine that makes the relationship fun.

At dinner table, Hale opens the bottle of champagne as we eat. "This is delicious, Lil." He compliments and I grin.

"Thanks, Mrs. George did help though."

After I came from therapy session this morning, she helped me prepare basic food material while I cooked the rest before I decided to disturb James in his office. I can feel the alcohol buzzing through my body because I usually don't indulge in hard liquor like scotch.

James's hand comes below the table as he squeezes my knee, making me shift in my seat as he continues to hold the conversation with Alex. He's pretty much succeeding at his game so far, with his touch here and there or light kisses on the nape of my neck before taking a shot at pool or while we were setting the dinner table. I think I pretty much had to control myself when he lightly squeezed my ass when we were alone in the kitchen, which earned him a glare but of course, it only amused him further.

"I've been struggling to say this all night, but the two of you make a great couple." Alex starts, looking at us. "I don't think I've ever seen you this relaxed even outside office when we've met."

"Thank you, Alex."

James gives her a grateful smile while her words warm my heart. Hale clears his throat, nodding. "Yeah, not to be the one to say I told you so, but Lil, I did tell you that you won't even realise what hit you guys. Look at you two now, I feel like a proud papa bear."

His words make all of us chuckle because that's just Hale being himself. "You did, thanks you two."

"Why was I not a part of this conversation?" James looks at me.

"You were too busy being a grumpy." I grin at him and he shakes his head at me.

All of us have dinner discussing more aspect of the trips James and Hale have been on together. Apparently James really does love travelling and has been to various countries. I wonder why did he stop, and if it's work then it's too damn sad that he has to give that up for the sake of not being able to balance his life.

"It was a lovely night, thank you so much for having us over." Alex gives me a hug and nods at James as we stand by the door.

"Yes, we should do this more often." Hale adds, "Next time, we can do it at my place?"

"Of course, we'll plan." I grin at him, moving forward to give him a tight hug because there are times I'm so grateful that he's a part of James's life.

"Goodnight." James waves at them as they approach the elevator. After they're gone, we close the door, James turns to me and grins. "So?"

"I want a drink." I announce as we move to the dining area and I notice that the champagne bottle is still out even though we cleaned the rest of the table.

"Glass?" He asks and I shake my head before taking the bottle and putting my lips on the ring as I chug on it. "Woah, slow down tiger."

He puts his hand on the bottle before taking it away and I pout at him. "James."

"I'm not asking you not to drink, I'm just asking you to slow down because otherwise you'll end up falling sick."

I process his words before nodding as I feel a little tipsy already. I have never been drunk in my life but the thought of my brother going away to a completely new state tomorrow morning makes me sadder than I thought was possible. When James comes back with two glasses, I smile at him.

"Have you ever gone through our wedding photographs?" I ask and he frowns at me as he pours me a drink after taking a seat at the chair.

"Once, when Dad forced us to look at them." He recalls and I nod. "Why?"

"I was just thinking maybe we should have a look. I'm not sure how I'll feel about it, considering the place we were in back then but it can't be that bad, right?" I gulp a few sips as I extend my legs to his chair and keep my feet on the side of it.

He takes a hold of them before pulling me closer along with dragging the chair, almost making me yelp, a laugh erupting through me. I settle down my feet on his lap as I finish my drink and he slowly starts massaging my toes, drawing a moan from me because of how good and relaxing it feels.

"We can, do you want me to get the laptop?" He asks and I focus on how alcohol is making such a sincere touch go right to my core as I shake my head before nodding and he frowns. "Yes or no."

"Yes, but later." I breathe as I push down my feet on his member, feeling it come to life under my touch as he sucks in a breath.

It's very difficult to catch James off guard during sex, but each time it happens, it make my insides erupt with heat and excitement. I pull my feet back, making him scowl before I stand up and he looks up at me, gauging my actions as I slowly take a seat on his lap, my legs going on each side of him. His expressions darken at my actions as I place my lips above his.

"Time to win, Mr. Clark." I grin as I kiss him and he kisses me back.

Both of our breaths are laced with alcohol but I don't seem to mind because with the way my body is responding to even a single touch of his, I just want to devour every part of him. Our movements are way too fast, as his tongue invades my mouth as I start moving my hips and feel him under me, the pressure on my core almost driving me crazy.

His hands are all over my body, from moving down to my waist, to squeezing my ass then up to grabbing my breast before he pulls down the strap and makes me part ways because of how intense it feels when his finger starts encircling the nub outside the bra, making my hands go down to the hem of his t-shirt and he removes it before doing the same with my dress.

My lips move down to his neck as I start kissing it, move to his shoulders as I bite it gently. His hands go back to my bra as he unhooks it while I continue to move my tongue and lips on his chest, my fingers moving down between us as I unbutton his jeans before undoing his zipper.

He lifts us a little, taking my body with his as he removes every clothing from his skin before settling down and then looks down at my underwear.

"No." I shake my head, already knowing where his head is at and he smirks before moving his lips down to my breast, taking the erect skin in his mouth as my head almost falls back from the impact.

I tighten my hold on the roots of his hair as a loud moan leaves me. Almost subconsciously, I start moving my hips, rubbing it above his erection as he continues to lick and suck, his free hand playing with the other breast, almost drawing me to my orgasm with how good he feels underneath me and his lips just adding to the madness.

He removes his hand from around my waist before doing the same with the other on my breast as he brings it down to the waistline of my underwear.

"James." I start to glare at him as he removes his lips from my skin but my voice comes out as a helpless plea because of how much I need him.

"This is the last, I promise." He mumbles before ripping apart the panties and removing the material.

There goes my fourth pair. James apparently loves, loves ripping apart clothes from my body quite literally every time things get heated up unexpectedly. So far, I've lost four pair of underwear, one of his shirts is buttonless somewhere in our closet and a tank top's strap is torn because it got stuck in my arm while removing. That I gave him permission for, but the rest, not so much. It's his new discovery of a kink.

"You've got to stop with that."

He gives me a cheeky grin. "C'mon, it's hot. You can't deny that."

As much as I like to scold him, he's right. It is fucking hot, especially right now when without moving or detaching my body from his I can feel him completely underneath me. Just to wipe off his damn smirk, I start moving my hips along his length, rubbing off my wetness and his eyes close immediately. Just to push him on the edge, I lift my hips a little before settling myself right at the tip but not moving one inch.

His head falls back from the impact, the sight making me extremely happy until he opens his eyes and stares at me in disbelief. "Don't, don't do that when you started this."

"I like to see you beg, Mr. Clark. You know it's my favourite sight." I tease him, my patience wearing thin as desire pushes through my veins. The need to have him inside me is debating with the want to be playful.

I move my hips a little and he moans, his head coming to rest against mine. "You aren't winning at this game tonight."

Before I can even comprehend what he means, he lifts his hips from the chair and slams right into me, almost making me lose my balance as my lips part from the intensity that rocks through my entire body as he fills me up, a loud moan leaving me.

"Fuck, yes." He breathes as my forehead rests on his shoulder as I realise that how quickly on the edge I feel.

As my body adjust to him, I pull back and stare at him with the need intensifying as my hands go around his neck and I start moving my hips, lowering myself down on him too slowly for both of our likings until I pick up the pace. His hands come around my waist as he holds me closer, his eyes filled with so many emotions as he places a kiss on my neck before his tongue moves along it, lowering down to the top of my breast, his teeth playing with my skin as I try to keep up with the heat overwhelming me.

His eyes meet up mine as I continue to move and he leaves a mark on my breast, but I don't protest one bit. After a point when it becomes too much for both us, he starts rocking his hips too, meeting every movement of mine with his, hitting just at the right place as I continue to chant his name, my closure building up and I can feel the same from his body as his breathing turns a little more ragged, his hold on me tightening.

When our movement quickens and then slow down as we meet our ends, I try to catch my breath and he brings his hand up to remove the strands of my hair away. His eyes linger on every part of my face as he pulls me to himself, pressing a kiss on my lips as breathes against them.

"Jesus fucking Christ, what the hell have I done to deserve you."

"Could always ask the same thing."

He smiles at me, "I love you, you know?"

"I know, Mr. Clark, and so do I."

There's not a cell in my body that would disagree to how much I'm in love with him. We stay like that for a while as he continues to shower me with kisses before cleaning ourselves and changing into more comfortable clothes that James brings out in the living room for me, which is only a pair of panties.

Afterwards, we find ourselves on the living room floor, sitting on the rug with James's back against the couch and mine against him with the laptop on my lap as we swipe through the photos. There's one photo of us dancing, him and I facing each other with what can be perceived as intensity of love, but it was just because of the loss of our freedom and blaming one another for the same.

"Do you regret it, getting married?" I ask him, looking back and he shakes his head, his hands on my thighs because the only thing I'm wearing is his t-shirt and a fresh pair of underwear.

I sigh, nodding in understanding, then feeling his gaze on me, "Do you?"

"No, I question it but I don't regret it." I tell him honestly. I never thought about it before it was handed down to me by my parents. "It's less now that I'm in love with you and all."

"And all?" He chuckles and I nod. "You miss it, don't you?"

"What?" I shift a little to the side as I gaze at him, to find him looking at me intensely.

"Not being called my wife, not carrying the name around and being your own person."

Sometimes it surprises me how well he's able to know these things without me having to speak them out aloud, articulate them, something I struggle so much with. Every word is true, I do miss it but I also love the relationship I have with him, both of the things are independent of each other.

"Wouldn't you, if you were called Mr. Vince because you married me or just be known as my husband?" I think if it wasn't for the alcohol running in my blood, I would've never questioned him. Although I do feel a little nervous as I wait for him to respond.

He thinks about it for a second before meeting my eyes again. "I don't think that I can even grasp at that thought, because it seems to surreal."

"Ah, the role of patriarchy, Mr. Clark." I remind him and he nods. "I'm happy with you, I hope you know that. The two things do not correlate."

"I know, love." He presses a kiss on my forehead.

We focus our eyes back on the laptop, both of us still a little in our thoughts before a photo and Jeremy and I appear on the screen, of us dancing as he seems to be smiling at me like the dork he is. I can't believe he's old enough to actually move out of the house. Our age difference isn't much, which is why we have always gotten along well but as I look at our photo, I see it, how he has grown up over the years.

"He's going to be good, Lil." James reminds me again and I nod, mentally preparing myself for the morning to see off my brother.