Free Read: Circles, Circles, and Triangles

Another snippet about Oscar and Phillip!

Title: Circles, Circles, and Triangles
Genre: m/m romance

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Oscar squeezed his eyes shut until spots danced behind his eyes, and then opened them, but the lethargy remained. He was dangerously close to falling asleep in this training session and if he didn't get himself energized soon, he would probably tip over in his chair.

The presenter, a woman hired in from a highly renowned firm, in the front of the room droned on as she switched slides. This diagram had overlapping circles. The next slide showed the same information, but contained arrows between the circles. The third slide turned all the circles into triangles. In her monotone voice, she made some glib remark and laughed at herself. No one else in the room even snickered.

Oscar picked up his coffee mug, but it felt distressingly light and when he peered down he could see it was empty. He scrounged in his pockets, but only came up with empty wrappers. The last of his mints had been devoured over the previous hour.

Another wave of sleepiness washed over him, threatening to take him down. He ran a finger around the edge of his collar and loosened the knot of his tie. The room felt uncomfortably warm and stuffy. It smelled of too many people breathing in a small space for too long.

The facilitator in front laughed again at another of her own jokes. Oscar shifted in his chair. His back ached from sitting for too long. He stared down at the notes he'd taken earlier in the session and picked up his pen with the intention to write down something, anything, that might help him stay awake. The slide on view for the moment showed a graph, but the print was too small to read. He doodled a few circles in the top corner of the paper, but the movement only soothed him more.

In his pocket, his phone buzzed. As discreetly as possible, he slid it out and held it low in his lap. Phillip had texted him: Picked up dinner. Steaks on sale! Also wine.

A grateful feeling swelled in Oscar's heart. It was nice to know he could just go home at the end of the day and not need to worry about figuring out what to make for dinner. On top of that, Phillip cooked magnificently. Oscar counted himself doubly lucky to have fallen for a man with so many talents, and who was damn sexy, too.

Another text message from Phillip buzzed in: Also bought chocolate and whip cream. Guess what's for dessert.

A different part of Oscar's anatomy swelled at the insinuation. He glanced at the time at the top edge of the phone screen. Thirty minutes left to this presentation. Then, a quick trip back to the office to deal with a handful of issues, and he could be home in a little over an hour.

The presenter brayed at another of her own jokes, and this time Oscar let it gloss right by him. Whip cream, he thought, and Phillip. A tinge of adrenaline spiked his system, anticipation growing. He certainly wasn't sleepy anymore.