Free MMF BISEXUAL ROMANCE: Phoenix Running by Nicole Stewart

On the one hand, Cee-Cee had her life worked out in her head. School would be finished in a matter of months. She had a great job already, sooner than she had expected, and her career could only soar to greater heights with the invention of the NowIn app. Dating the mayor didn’t fit into any of her well-laid plans. Besides…wasn’t he into Ashley? On the other hand, that kiss. The way he looked at her. His sincerity in the car on the way home. He understood her focus on her career, which not many people did. And he, too, was lonely and feeling some regret about what he might be missing. But wasn’t that a dangerous thing to have in common?
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    P hoenix was at home in his condo where he usually spent his nights. He rarely stayed at the official mayoral house, and after the week he’d had preparing for this campaign, he wanted to be alone for a while. He knew he should be studying up on his opponents, but he wasn’t in the mood for it. There was jazz music playing softly from Bose speakers, and he was at ease, stretched out on the orange rug in his living room, flipping through a glossy magazine.
    A calico cat, a neighborhood stray Phoenix regularly fed, arched its back and stretched on the windowsill outside before hopping down and running off. That’s when he heard the engine dying out front. Phoenix glanced at the front door and saw the shadow of feet. When the knock came, he was already up putting away the magazine. He opened the door with a smile that slowly dropped from his face when he saw who was standing there. His father swept into the condo.
    “Hello, Wallace. What do you need this time?” Phoenix muttered. He closed the door behind the man who had breezed in like this was his place. Phoenix popped his knuckles as Wallace Briton took a seat on his white suede couch without a word, helping himself to a handful of nuts from a bowl perched on a nearby end table. Bristling, Phoenix sat in a chair across from his father. “Can I help you with something?” He kept his voice cordial.
    The key with his mooching old man was to avoid arguments, give him what he wanted and get him out of his hair. Of course, there had been a time when the roles were reversed. Phoenix hadn’t been the easiest teen to raise, and he guessed he was getting payback for being a brat back when his father was truly a part of his life.
    Wallace shrugged with an easy grin. “Can’t I pay you a visit without you thinking I have ulterior motives? I hear you’re thinking about running for reelection. I’m proud of you, son. Congratulations.”
    Phoenix studied the older Briton munching on the honey-roasted cashews. Middle age was being kind to Wallace Briton. His silvering hair made him look more refined. He was stylishly dressed. At a glance, one would assume he was well off, but Phoenix knew the truth. His father only visited him when he needed money.
    “Wallace, I’m not playing twenty questions to get to the truth of why you’re here today. How about we skip the usual back-and-forth and you just tell me a dollar amount?”
    “You know I hate to have to do this.” Wallace affected a pained expression. In fact, Phoenix knew his dad got a kick out of being able to turn to him whenever he needed something. He knew Phoenix would never turn him down. Wallace had something on him that would keep Phoenix in his pocket for life.
    Phoenix grumbled as he moved over to the desk and dug out a checkbook. “Not as much as I hate it. How much this time? Five thousand? Ten?”
    “I feel like I’m depleting your savings.”
    “You are.”
    Wallace’s lips turned up in distaste. “But your mom will give it right back to you. I still can’t believe she cut me off from the company I helped create.’
    “Don’t you dare!” Phoenix pointed a shaking finger in his father’s face with the warning. No, Wallace Briton was not allowed to walk into his home and disparage his mother, especially not after everything he had done to her.
    Wallace