All Chapters of Inappropriate Conduct : Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Chapter Forty-One — JamieThe office felt colder this week.Not the AC. Not the draft from the vents.Just... colder.Jamie noticed it the moment he walked in Monday morning. Julian's door was closed. No casual glance through the glass wall as Jamie passed. No lingering in the break room with that too-close lean Julian used to pretend wasn't deliberate.Nothing.Just silence.Jamie told himself it was the merger stress. Everyone was buried—late nights, endless calls, revised decks flashing across screens like warning lights. Julian had been the first to say it in the all-hands: "Heads down. No distractions." His voice had been flat. Professional. Like he was reading from a script he'd written for someone else.Jamie had nodded along with the rest of the team. Smiled when appropriate. Pretended the words didn't land like ice in his stomach.But they did.Because Julian hadn't looked at him once during the entire presentation.Not once.Jamie sat at his desk now, staring at the same mot

Chapter Forty-Three — JamieThe retreat was supposed to be “team-building.”What it felt like was torture designed by someone who knew exactly where to press.A rented lodge two hours outside the city. Floor-to-ceiling windows looking out on pines and fog. A massive open-plan living room with long communal tables, a roaring fireplace, and enough whiskey to make bad decisions feel inevitable.Jamie had arrived late on purpose. Slipped in during the welcome drinks when everyone was already loose and laughing. He’d grabbed a glass of something amber, found a corner near the windows, and tried to disappear into the glass.It almost worked.Until Julian walked in.Charcoal sweater instead of suit jacket. Sleeves pushed to the elbows. That scar on his wrist catching the firelight like it was daring someone to ask about it.Jamie’s grip tightened on the glass.Julian didn’t look his way.Not once.He moved through the room like he owned it—shaking hands, nodding at the right moments, voice l

Chapter Forty-Five — JamieThe airport shuttle dropped Jamie off at his parents’ house just after dusk.The porch light was already on warm yellow spilling across the cracked concrete steps, the same way it had every time he came home since he was eighteen. He stood there for a second with his duffel slung over one shoulder, breathing in the smell of cut grass and distant barbecue smoke, trying to feel like the version of himself who still belonged here.He didn’t.Not tonight.The front door opened before he could knock.His mother appeared in the doorway, apron dusted with flour, hair escaping its bun, eyes narrowing the second she saw his face.“Jamie Reyes, you look like someone stole your dog and then ran over it.”He managed a half-smile. “Hey, Ma.”She pulled him into a hug that smelled like cinnamon and home. Held him longer than usual. When she let go, she studied him like he was one of her recipes that wasn’t rising right.“Inside. Now. Your sister’s already here and she’s b

Chapter Forty-Seven — Jamie**Jamie left Julian’s office with the taste of surrender still on his lips.The kiss had been different this time—slow, deliberate, almost careful. Like Julian was afraid of breaking something fragile between them. Like he finally understood that pulling away hurt more than staying close ever could.Jamie walked back to his desk on autopilot. Legs steady. Heart not.He sat. Stared at his screen. The merger animation was still paused on frame 47—mid-transition, frozen in perfect motion. He didn’t touch the mouse. Didn’t need to. The piece was done. Better than done. It sang.And Julian had just told him to stay.Not in so many words.But in the way his fingers had tightened at the nape of Jamie’s neck. In the way his voice had cracked on “Then don’t” when Jamie said he didn’t want to wonder. In the way he’d held on like Jamie leaving would be the real mistake.Jamie’s phone buzzed once. Avery.Avery 🐍🐍🐍: Update??? You alive or did the ice king finally m

Chapter Forty-Nine — Jamie**The Monday after the weekend at Julian’s apartment felt surreal.Jamie walked into the office like he was stepping onto a stage he’d rehearsed for but never believed he’d actually perform on. Everything looked the same—the glass conference room walls, the low hum of monitors, the faint smell of fresh coffee from the break room—but nothing felt the same.Because last night Julian had held him after. Not just held him—curled around him like a shield, breath steady against the back of Jamie’s neck, one arm draped possessively over his waist. No rush to leave. No muttered excuse about early meetings. Just quiet breathing and the slow rise and fall of Julian’s chest until Jamie finally drifted off.He woke up to Julian already in the kitchen, sleeves rolled, making coffee like it was the most ordinary thing in the world. They hadn’t spoken much. Just soft kisses over mugs. A murmured “See you at work” that felt more like a promise than a dismissal.Now Jamie wa