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LINCOLN

I dug through my bag, hoping to find a rogue granola bar or hard candy, but there was nothing.

The emergency Snickers I usually kept for moments like this had been sacrificed yesterday during an exceptionally long and boring meeting, so I had absolutely nothing to snack on, and my stomach felt like it was gonna start eating itself.

Enzo was talking quietly on his phone, and I tried not to eavesdrop, but I could tell by the way he pulled at his hair and pressed his forehead against the wall that the conversation wasn’t going well.

“Everything okay? Are they coming?” The second he hung up, I was tossing questions at him as I opened up my big water bottle, hoping there was at least a little bit left, even though I was fairly sure I had emptied it a couple hours ago. As expected, it was bone dry. Great. I could feel the tears beginning to well up again, but I held them back. “How long till it’s fixed?”

Enzo heaved out a heavy breath and turned to me. “There’s a city-wide outage, and the generator isn’t kicking in the way it’s supposed to. They’ve got a maintenance team on the way, but the dispatcher told me to prepare for four to twelve hours of waiting.” He closed his eyes as if it was as painful for him to say as it was for me to hear. “I guess we’re in it for the long haul.”

“The long haul? I can’t stay here for one hour, much less twelve. Can’t we call the fire department or something? There must be some way out of here.” I looked up at the ceiling, wondering if all those action movies I’d watched were realistic enough that maybe we could pop out the ceiling tiles and climb up some sort of wall ladder.

Enzo followed my gaze and shook his head. “We’re not climbing outta here, if that’s what you’re thinking. I mean, if the building’s on fire, I guess we can try, but we’ll be okay for a few hours.” He leaned on the wall opposite me and slid down to the floor so we were at eye level and yawned after a few minutes of just staring at me. “Maybe if we try to take a nap, time will go faster.”

I nodded, definitely ready for a nap. “I guess I can try to sleep.” There was no way I was actually gonna fall asleep, but at least lying down would be more comfortable. I pushed my computer bag to the corner and lay on my back, using it as a pillow, even though it was not even remotely comfortable. I didn’t know what to do with my hands because I usually wrapped them around one of my stuffies, so I crossed them over my chest like I imagined a mummy would have been positioned and stared up at the ceiling. “Do you seriously think it’s gonna be more than a few hours?”

Enzo didn’t lie down, but he stretched out his legs and reclined against the wall. “I fucking hope not. I’m about to burst over here.”

“Oh, that’s ironic.” I chuckled. “I’ve got the opposite problem. I’m so thirsty, and I’m really beginning to regret being too lazy to refill my bottle before I left my desk. I just wanted to get home, so I rushed out.” The tears began to escape again, and I sniffled loudly. “I don’t know why I’m being so emotional. I’m not usually such a baby at work.”

Enzo scooted across the back wall so his hips were near my feet. He placed one hand on my calf and gave me a squeeze. “Don’t be sorry, Lincoln. You’re fine. Trust me, I’m in so much pain right now, I might start to cry too.”

That caught my attention. I leaned up on my elbow and looked closer at him. “Why are you in pain? What’s wrong?”

He shook his head as if he didn’t know how to answer the question, but since we were stuck together for a while, I guess he realized he’d have to fess up at some point. “I, uh, have a condition… Well, I need to empty myself on a regular basis, and I haven’t been able to do that today.”

Horror filled me as I tried to piece together his words. “Like… IBS?”

“No. God, no. Not that kind of empty.” Enzo looked at me and laughed and then took a cleansing breath. “Have you heard of men who lactate?”

My jaw dropped, but I did my best to reset my shocked expression. “Yeah, I have. I’ve even met one at a… club. Is that your condition?”

“Yep.” When I didn’t freak out, he visibly relaxed and pressed his hand over his chest. “I haven’t pumped all day, and I’m leaking and… I may have to self-express in the corner or something.” He screwed his eyes shut and tilted his head toward the roof. “I’m so fucking sorry. This is beyond embarrassing, but I don’t think I can go much longer without relief.”

Poor guy. Did he think I would be grossed out by that? “It’s no problem at all.” I reached for my bottle and handed it to him. “You can use this if it’ll help. I finished it earlier so it’s empty. I figured we may have to use it for a pee bottle, but this sounds more urgent.”

Enzo reached for the bottle, and his fingers brushed over mine. He held them there and looked me in the eye. “Thank you, Lincoln. I appreciate this. I promise to replace it unless it’s particularly sentimental. I’m sure you don’t want it back after I’ve…you know.”

I shrugged, not commenting either way. The truth was, warm milk sounded amazing, and I would be more than happy to take my bottle back after he filled it.

Suddenly, my empty tummy was the last thing on my mind, and now my dick had my full attention. It was thickening at the mere thought of watching this man express his milk.

Fuck, who knew getting stuck in an elevator could be so damn erotic?