Free Hearsay by Taylor V. Donovan

sight of the irrefutable signs of the other man's interest and arousal, and he went from nervous to fuming in the blink of an eye. Not even twenty minutes ago he would have jumped at the opportunity of being with Roman. Now he only wanted to strangle the man.
    "Why?" he barked.
    The question was out of his mouth before he could process it. It didn't matter. The incongruity of Roman's past actions and his body language had changed everything. Now that Derrick knew it wasn't lack of interest that kept Roman away, he wanted a fucking explanation, and he wanted it immediately.
    Roman shook his head, threaded his fingers through his short, silver-sprinkled hair, and put his glasses back on before looking at Derrick with studied indifference.
    "I didn't call you here to talk about personal matters," he announced, acknowledging the question but looking like he didn't have any intention of providing an answer.
    Derrick wouldn't have any of that.
    He had accepted Roman's decision of staying away and lived with the continuous dull pain caused by what he thought was his unreciprocated interest, but he wasn't an idiot. If there was a speck of a chance for him to get the man he wanted, he would damn well take advantage of any opportunity presented.  
    "I heard you started seeing some Broadway guy almost immediately."
    Derrick didn't provide a time line. He didn't clarify what event the word "immediately" referred to. He would have bet his prized Judy Garland autographed poster he didn't need to. Roman knew damn well what event Derrick was talking about.
    "You shouldn't believe everything you hear," Roman said under his breath, then added more firmly, "Not that it is any of your business."
    "Does that mean you didn't travel around the world together for months either?"
    Roman's only answer was to lean back in his chair, open the yellow folder, and position his pen on top of his notepad, as if he was getting ready to write in it.
    "Did you or did you not?" Derrick demanded through gritted teeth.
    When the silence grew as heavy as his boss's breathing, Derrick got up and leaned over Roman. He stood so close to his boss, he could smell the two-hundred-dollar-a-pound gourmet coffee the guy was addicted to on his breath.  
    A pang of melancholy hit him. Roman was a snob when it came to his coffee. That was one of the many things Derrick had learned about him during those eight wonderful, extended lunch breaks they spent together.
    "Sit down, Derrick."  
    Roman's voice was firm and no-nonsense, but his eyes spoke a different story. Even though he was pushing Derrick away, he looked as if he would much rather pull him into his lap and kiss him silly. Or maybe that was mere projection on Derrick's part.  
    Either way, he'd be disobeying a direct order if he didn't do as he'd been told. He was desperate to discover and understand what in the world was going through Roman's mind, but he wasn't willing to risk his job at ABC over it.
    Derrick looked outside the window and focused on the building directly across the street, then took several deep breaths until he was able to find his center. The past five minutes had been a revelation. He'd stopped himself from approaching Roman before but from now on things would be different. He was done keeping his distance, but he needed to be smart about it. Getting himself fired would only undermine his plan.  
    He glanced at Roman on his way back to his chair, but the man's attention was fixed on the folder he kept pushing back and forth. The yellow folder he kept pushing back and forth. Derrick's attention was suddenly transfixed by that folder, and instead of growling in frustration at Roman's stubbornness, he sat down slowly and put his hands on the table.  
    Yellow folders were only used for Pro Bono cases, and all of them had to be approved by the senior partners before the firm's resources could be used. He couldn't believe the reason for Roman's presence hadn't dawned on him sooner.
    "Are you going