#enlacing

“Who do we have here?”  He was cute or whateva with his raised eyebrow. 

“Rafa, I want to introduce you to my Love. Linden Marshall, Rafael Casal.”  

“Elbow bump!”  You rubbed elbows with Rafa, laughing with him. 

“But if we’re going to be that formal Mark, you didn’t include middle names. Santiago, m’lady.”  

Rafa clicked his heels and bowed deeply, making you laugh again.  

“Marie, sir.” You curtsied, smiling prettily at him.

“This is Malcom K. Diggs.” Rafa introduced you to Daveed’s brother.

“‘Sup,” saluted Malcom, eyeing you appreciatively.  He and Daveed were definitely related.

“What does the ‘K’ stand for?”  You tried to ignore Mark as he shifted from foot to foot. 

“Not telling.” He quipped.

“I don’t think Daveed even knows. ‘Tis one of the great mysteries of our time.”  Rafa shook his head.

“Now that all formalities are dispensed with. This is how we do in the Bay Boys family. Family names.  I’m Rafa, this is Malc, you’re….”

“Lindy,” you were quick to pick it up, “And this is...Mark?” Everyone laughed.

Rafa elbowed Mark in the side and mock-whispered, “She's adorable, and funny.  Where did you find her?” 

Rafa’s natural wingman tendencies kicked in. Although he knew you and Mark were together, he also knew his bro was interested, so he was assessing the situation.

Mark looked at you, grateful that you gave him a talking point with Rafa.  “At University, Actually.  NYU. Years ago.  We’ve been through a lot together.  Thick and thin.” 

You fought the urge to wince, but instead just smiled and nodded. 

“Oh, so you’re eventually gonna tie the knot?”  Rafa was pushing.

Mark chuckled, having been asked the question a lot.

“I wish I could pin her down, but Lindy is a… free spirit.”

Linden glared at Mark a little bit, then turned to Rafa and smiled.

“That’s not always the end goal, Rafa. A piece of paper does not signify the amount of love, and respect.” You stopped and gave Mark a side eye without realizing it. “That two people have for each other.”

Rafa looked at you for a few seconds. “You speak no greater truth.” Then he turned back to Mark.

“Well, seems like you are one lucky fellow to have bagged this beautiful, intrepid soul.  Watch out before someone snatches her up.”

Mark laughed.  “Oh, she threatens, but she never actually goes anywhere. At least not for long. Isn’t that right, Love?”

You smiled tightly at Mark.  Cussing him the fuck out was not what was up. Rafa read the situation like a book.  Malcolm tapped him and he looked toward the stage where the cast was gathering.

“C’mon, Mark.  Let’s earn our keep for tonight.”

“Excuse us Lindy.” Rafa winked at you and smiled.

You gave Rafael a genuine smile. You liked him immediately.  He was cool people. You nodded as they joined the crew, not really caring if Mark came back.

You saw Rafa join Daveed at the front and then you saw him look over at you.  A chill went down your spine. You shook it off.

Rafa came up and leaned into Daveed. “Remind me to tell you what I found out about that Mark/Lindy situation.”  

Daveed was more interested than he wanted to be. His eyes immediately found you in the crowd and gave Rafa a little nod.  Then he refocused. 

LMM was up to introduce the team. He stepped up the the mic.

“So, many years ago now, Daveed and I were hanging, just spitting raps with some people in between gigs. Guys like C Jack, UTK, and Igleheart, to name a few. He found out about this crazy idea I had, and said it was the dumbest shit he’d ever heard.” 

The crowd laughed, although most had heard the story many times. 

“But, what Diggs also said that he was down for whatever with me. He and his best bro Rafa were along for the ride of a lifetime and they both have changed my life for good.” Lin was emotional, his eyes shining. 

I am so honored to be here for the beginning of their Broadway journey and continuation of years of collaboration.”  There were cheers and applause.

Lin held up a note.

“I have a note here, from President Harris.” More cheers.  Daveed hid his smile in his hands and Rafael put his hand over his heart.

It reads:

“Daveed and Rafa, please save me and the First Gentleman a seat on opening night.  Best wishes for a successful show. Love, a Bay Girl.”

Lin handed the note to Rafa and gave both of them big hugs.

There was yelling and screaming for a solid minute.  Linden looked at Daveed’s face, and he was smiling wide and brilliant.  It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen. He took the mic.

“Thank you Lin. Well, we can’t follow that.  Wow.  All I really wanna say is I’m so glad that all of our friends and family are here to celebrate the beginning of this journey.  And our new family.” Daveed motioned to the cast. “This has been a dream for us ever since we were just two Bay Boys dreamin in The Town. Rafa, watcha got?” 

He handed the mic to Rafa, who stepped up and shook his head. “So yeah, thanks Lin, you are such an inspiration. To our squad, You got us for life.  Just like Diggs is stuck with me, all of you are stuck with us. Thank you for sharing this moment with us tonight.”  Rafael gave the crowd an applause.

“I would like to introduce our Bay Boys crew. Of course we have Daveed Diggs as Collin, Myself, Rafael Casal, as Miles, our beautiful queen, Jasmine Cephas Jones Martinez, reprising her role as Ashley, introducing young Jabari Asher as Sean, Laura Mitchum as Val, Mark Monaco as Chet…” 

There was applause as Rafael introduced the cast.  “This is going to be an incredible journey, but as we have a thing we say before every performance,” Rafa made a motion with his hand and the entire cast, as well as some in the audience, said in unison,” Energy UP, Expectations DOWN.”  Big cheers.

An audio track started and Daveed stepped to the mic.  “Now get loose and...Get your ass down to the floor.”  

The crowd roared and almost everyone started dancing, including the cast.  Mark waved at you to come to the stage and pulled you up to dance. The beat of the song was hypnotic and you were into it. You didn’t think about the talk you were going to have with Mark later.  At this moment, you were glad to be along for this ride. 

------

The night was a fun whirlwind.  After drinking, dancing, and talking to all kinds of folks, you were finally formally introduced to Daveed.  Mark made a point to find him, as he always seemed to be moving away from you two.

“Daveed! Daveed!” He turned as Mark called his name.  Shit!  He was trying to avoid this, but he was caught.  He pulled a smile for you.

“I’d like to introduce you to my girl that I was telling you about earlier.  Linden Marshall.”

When you heard that Mark and Daveed had talked about you tonight, you tilted your head questioningly at Daveed. 

“Very pleased to finally meet you, Linden.” 

Daveed gave you a smile that was devastating but did not move from his spot.

You extended your hand toward him.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Diggs. Sir.” You couldn’t help but smile at him.

Daveed wanted to hear you call him ’Sir,’ again, in a different context. Perhaps when he was behind you, grasping your tied hands behind your back as you asked for permission to cum. Hot damn.

He quirked his eyebrow at you as you offered him your hand and replayed what Rafa told him earlier about your distaste for Mark. Was your relationship real? Could you really be in love with this joker? Surely, the connection he felt with you earlier wasn’t one sided.

When you looked at him, Daveed seemed shocked, or something else, but just for a moment, as he reached for you and held your hand in his, stroking your knuckles subtly with his thumb. A shiver ran up your spine.

Daveed summoned the appropriate character for the moment. His eyes connected with yours, as he used his French courtier’s bow to kiss your hand while holding your gaze.

 “Enchanté, Mademoiselle.”

It was Mark who giggled, but you both ignored him.  

A jolt went from Daveed’s lips on the back of your hand to your back, which had that vague ache. You didn’t know what could help it. Daveed’s eyes held a clue as he straightened up, still holding your hand.

“Always nice to meet a new friend.” He was sucked into your brown eyes, trying not to drown. He cleared his throat.

“Oh, I have a feeling you’re got to learn a lot about Lindy, Daveed. She’s a scene.”

“A scene, Hunh?” Daveed’s smile was lethal. “That, I’d love to learn.” 

You blushed and tugged your hand back reluctantly. You had visions of  Daveed’s lips traveling to other places in your body. Mark was oblivious.

A stranger approached. “Hello Mr. Monaco, Dean Kinderhouse, for Rolling Stone. I wonder if we could get a quote?”

“Sure, of course.” And Mark just left Linden standing there with Daveed.

You were flustered, looking back up into Daveed’s eyes and getting lost there. The height difference made you dizzy. He was a good four inches taller than you, and you had heels on. Your mouth opened to say something when all of a sudden, you fell into Daveed’s arms.

"Oh, my bad!  Sorry!" Rafa grinned at you both as he went by. You could have sworn you’d seen him give D a wink.

Daveed held you close to him for a minute, looking down at you.  You could feel the hardness of his body while looking at the softness of his eyes.

Daveed reluctantly released you. You laughed awkwardly and stood up.

"Look, I'm sorry. For earlier. I should have told you....” You just hoped that Daveed would understand.

He smiled at you. Then he dropped the smile and stared.  His lips were so sexy, you were looking at them as he replied.

"No worries, Lindy. I get it." You really liked how your name sounded from his mouth. Oh god, his mouth...

Daveed caught you looking, but only smiled and looked away around the room. He needed to decide which way to play this. He hadn’t been challenged like this in quite a while.

Diggs shook his head imperceptibly at Mark conversing animatedly with the reporter. His dumb ass left you with him. He could be dangerous. Daveed turned back to you. The buzz in him helped him made a decision.

“If Mark hadn't arrived when he did, who knows what you and I might be saying… or doing together right now?” 

Daveed turned it on full force, inching a little closer, deepening his voice, but lowering the volume so that you would need to lean in. He paused, giving you a split second of choice. You absentmindedly chewed your lip as you stared at his mouth and thought of the possibilities. 

“Yeah.  Think about it.  How hard, how fast, and how intensely we could be… debating right now.”

He saw you shiver, and watched you as you watched his lips as his mouth quirked up into a smile. Daveed fought the urge to ask where you wanted them. He knew the look on your face.

He simply leaned in close again and said, “Breathe.”

Fuck. For another split second, you were willing to risk it all.  You whimpered and released your lip, licked it, and looked up into his eyes again.

Daveed had the urge to throw you over his shoulder and take you to the hotel across the street. If you were his girl, he’d do it in a heartbeat. And then he would explore your body as he dug out any indecision. 

Then he saw the conflict on your face. 

Daveed took a deep breath and a step back. “I’m sorry.”

You were blinking up at him, trying to figure out what was happening.

“I’m crossing the line.  It’s not fair.  To you or to Mark. However I might feel about him.” Or you, he thought. Damn, that was fast.

“You need to figure some things out on your own. About you and Chet over there.” He jerked his head toward Mark. “But I can’t lie, I feel a vibe from you, but I’m not going to push it.”  

He was right. On both points.

“Mark is right, we’ve been together a long time. I love him, but…” You weren’t sure if you were still IN love with him. 

But you didn’t say that part. 

This was too fucking intense a conversation to be having with someone you’d just met.

“So let’s just roll it back and....”

You cocked your head in that way again. You were so damn cute.

“Welcome to the crew homie!” Wide smile, you loved it more and more. You relaxed and laughed as Mark returned with the reporter.

“Hey Love!  Dean is going to get me some.. I mean he’s going to get me a cover story on Rolling Stone!  Isn’t that amazing?” He looked from you to Daveed, expectantly.

“That’s great, Mark.” You tried to sound the supportive girlfriend. But you had a feeling where this was headed.  You knew Mark too well.

“So, I’ll need to go with him to finish up the interview, because it will be quite long. You’ll be okay Love?”

There was silence as both you and Daveed stared at Mark. Daveed knew the scheme, get Mark high so that he would spill all the beans. He could not believe that 1.  Mark was stupid enough to fall for it, or that much of a fiend, and 2. Mark was just going to leave his girl alone to get high, or that he was that much of a fiend.  

In that moment, you were done with Mark.

“That’s the dumbest shit I ever heard, Mark.” You were over his shenanigans.

Mark lit up. “Capital!  Daveed thought Lin’s idea was stupid too, and look how that turned out.”

Daveed put his hands up. “My name Bennet...”

“Lindy, just stay and have fun, and call the car whenever you want to leave.”

“Mark, don’t expect me to be there when you get back.”

Daveed started backing up, turned and headed to the bar. As much as he wanted to watch this, he did not need to intrude.

Mark looked anxiously towards the door, where the reporter was waiting. He was annoyed.

“What is it now, Love? Why did you make a scene in front of Daveed? I’m sure he thinks you’re the proper bitch.”

Daveed watched from the bar as your head pivoted back on your neck. Aw shit. This was gonna be good. He sipped his whiskey.

“You’re the bitch, Mark. You know what? I take back what I said.”

Mark smiled and moved closer. “That’s my Love.”

“Go. Get high and get got by that reporter. It will give me time to get my things. I’m done with your sorry ASS. I’m tired of being your fucking crutch.”

Although Daveed could not hear what was begging said, the way your neck moved left no doubt.

Mark sneered at you. “Whatever Lindy. You’ll be back. You don’t deserve to be happy and I’m the closest you’ll ever get. See you in a month or two, tops. That’s IF you decide to really leave.”

He turned in his heel and caught up with the reporter.

Daveed was now beside you, obviously worried.  This is NOT what you needed right now.

“Are you okay?”

You quickly swiped a tear away from your cheeks as Daveed’s blood pressure rose. He felt like pounding Mark’s face into the ground and then remembered that he got to do that every night on stage. Maybe Mark wouldn’t get fired first thing in the morning.  

“Do you need me to get…”

“What I need is to be alone right now, please Daveed?” You looked up at him, broken, and a renewed desire to break Mark’s nose arose in him.  Fucking asshole.

“Daveed.  We just established that we are friends.  In this case, I’d love some time alone, maybe a drink or three then I will go get my shit together.”

This side of you was hard, and you were speaking from behind a wall you’d put up. You were harsh, but it didn’t put  Daveed off. It made him want you more.

“Cool, I’ll leave you alone Lindy.  Will you find me if you need anything?  Before you go home?”

“At this point, I just need peace, or a world without men.  Either one would do nicely. So no, I probably won’t come to find you Daveed.  No offense.” You looked over and failed horribly at trying to suck it up.  “Go. You should have fun.  This is your night.”

Daveed just nodded instead of following his urge to take you in his arms. He wanted to make you feel the opposite of the pain you were feeling right now. He backed up a bit, watching you before he turned around to mingle again.

Nothing could stop the fun with his crew , but he was also sure to count how many drinks you were having out of the corner of his eyes, which he kept you in on the low.

After about five drinks, by his count, you walked a bit unsteadily to the door.  It was almost midnight.

-----

You ordered drunk after drink chasing numb. You knew Daveed was watching you. But you didn’t care. Fucking Daveed Diggs. Should you be fucking Daveed Diggs?

Anyone was better than Mark.  No.  Noone was better than Mark. No. One You needed to be with no one. By yourself. No Fucking. NO Mark. No Daveed. No Diggs.

You needed to get away from his attractivation. You were going to find somewhere else to drink.  You asked the bartender where the good places to drink were in Hell’s Kitchen, and he told you.  There was one a few doors down. Score.

-----

As he went into the lobby, Daveed paused to look around.  You were nowhere to be found.  He went to the coat check counter and asked the girl there about you.

“Hi.  Did you see a girl with hair up in a bun in a whatdoyoucallit, mauve turtle neck and white pants come out a minute ago?”

The girl looked up at Daveed and stared.  Her mouth fell open. “You’re Daveed Diggs.”

She smiled at him and literally licked her lips.

Daveed wasn’t in the mood for this at the moment.  But he smiled and responded.

“Yeah, that’s me.  Listen, did you see my friend? She was upset and I just want to be sure she’s okay.”

The clerk smiled some more and giggled.  “Yeah, she went out the front doors and headed down the street to the right.”

Shit, Daveed thought.  Didn’t seem like you were in a Bently.  “Thanks,” he said as he started out of the doors.

“Hey, if you don’t find her, I get off in an hour.”  The girl winked at him.  Daveed just smiled at her and gave her a wave, shaking his head as he went out of the door.

He looked down the street at the rows of bars and saw you go into one down the block.

“I can’t believe I’m chasing this girl,” he mumbled , as he ignored the cold and jogged down the street and into the bar.

------

You felt like you were floating down a lazy river at the waterpark, asleep in the sun. You groaned and opened your eyes to see New York City going past the window of the backseat of the car you were in.

"You know you got a filthy mouth?" You’d cussed like a sailor as he pulled you out of the bar.

The owner of the sexy ass voice that uttered that did not seem upset. You looked over at Daveed and stuck your tongue out, then closed your eyes. Then you opened them again to do a double take.

Oh, yeah. Daveed found you drinking again in the bar and had to chase you down the block some more as he settled the tab when you ran away. That was fun.

"Well, Mr. Daveed Diggs, Sir. That's because I'm fucking lit, Sir. Do you fucking mind, Sir?"

Daveed looked over again and smiled a beautiful smile at you.  You had to catch your breath.

"Nah, fucking love that mouth." He thought you couldn't hear him, but at the moment you had superhuman hearing. You were better than Mr. Invincible himself.  The prick.

He was mad turned on at all the ‘Sirs’ but he knew you were wasted. He would teach you what that word meant when you were fully functioning.

You frowned. Daveed realized that you heard him.

Daveed chucked, low and sexy. “Didn’t mean to say that so loud.”

You laughed. "You wanna see what this mouth can do?"

Diggs gave you a sideye. "Not tonight."

You got mad for no reason. "Fuck you! I'm not down to get down on my knees for you Mr. Diggs." You crossed your arms. "I was just about to make that point."

Daveed chuckled. "Ok." Another side eye.

“Although it’s interesting that you were about to make that point when no one was discussing you getting in your knees for me. Were they?”

Daveed eyebrows were raised.

“I-I thought you said that.” You we’re trying to play it off, the sudden adrenaline clearing your head a little.

He chuckled again. “Nah. Linden, if I wanted you on your knees for me, there’d be no mistaking. I’d just say, ‘Get on your knees. Now.’” 

Holy shit. The command was a deep, sexy, growl and in your current state, you could not prevent yourself from obeying. You were on your knees in the back of the SUV. 

 Daveed’s eyes got wide. So obedient for him. His cock was pleased.

“Linden...” it was a warning, but fuck you were perfect looking up at him from that position.

“Driver roll up the partition, please.” You smiled at Daveed.

“Linden...what are you doing?” The control Daveed thought he’d had in this situation was leaving fast.

You felt powerful as you saw the look on his face, and more so when you looked down. There was a thick, long rod in Daveed Diggs’ pants right now. You needed to lick your lips.

You were still looking at it when you asked. “May I touch, please. Sir?”

You looked up at him with that word on those wet lips and he fought the urge to fuck you five ways to Sunday. He opened his legs more and nudged his hips toward you.

“Yes, you may.” He barely got out the gravely whisper.

You placed your palm on his thigh, where his tip seemed to be, and pressed down. Your eyes rolled back in your head when you felt that it was, in fact, like a steel rod, and you tipped your head back, exposing your neck to Daveed. He wanted to grab it, but he kept his hands fisted at his sides on the seat as the car rolled uptown.

You could feel his cock pulse and you whimpered a little bit. “Damn Daveed. The things I would do.”

Your head came up and you arched your back, drawing Daveed’s eyes to your erect nipples through your shirt. He wanted to pinch them so that he could hear you yelp from the pain, then lift your shirt and lick and kiss the hurt away. But he just licked his own lips.

He couldn’t help the question. “What would you do?” Another whisper.

“Mmmmmm. First I would spit on it. Make sure it’s wet enough. Because we would need to match.”

He caught your meaning and grunted. This girl will be the death of me, he thought. He was tumbling down the slope.

“Then what?”

His tone was deep and dark. It made you shiver.

“I don’t know if I would want to give you a good hand job, or taste you? Maybe both? Yes. Both. Then, we would see how well you fit in my throat.”

Daveed was mesmerized.

“How big is it, Daveed. Will it fit? Can I fit your cock and all your cum in here?”

And then you opened your mouth. Wide, showing him the path past your tonsils.

“Fuuuuuuuck. Lindy.” You were so nasty. He’d need to teach you some manners.

The only thing Daveed could do was to pull you up into his lap and take control of that mouth with his own, before he took his dick out and did it that way.

Your first kiss was filthy. Lips, tongue, and teeth gnashed and Daveed put his tongue down the throat you just showed him. You sucked it, previewing the skills you’d just bragged about. Daveen tore his mouth away and grabbed the bun in your head, pulling your head back, nipping and biting your neck.

Your crotches together were magical, the layers of denim both preventing and causing spontaneous combustion. Just as Daveed decided he was going to fuck you in the back of this car, it rolled to a stop.

“Shit.” Your brain misfired as Daveed stopped moving, holding his forehead against yours, his breathing ragged.

Daveed held his finger up, trying to regain composure. You looked at it as if you were going to devour it and he quickly put it back down. He leaned back, and observed you in his lap, his eyes glowing under half closed lids.

He could feel movement from your crotch, and the thought of you clenching around nothing seemed like such a waste. Daveed could only imagine you on his lap with no clothes on and suddenly he wanted to try and find your clit.

Instead, he extended his hands toward you, put them on your hips and stopped you from squirming, which you didn’t realize you were doing. Daveed easily lifted you off him and back into your seat. You whimpered. He clenched his fists again, sighed, turned, and got out of the car.  

“Hey!?”

Daveed stood outside in the cold for a minute, cooling down. This could not happen like this. He opened the door for you.

You looked up at him as he extended his hand to you. You started at it, knowing that he’d made a decision about what would happen next, and that it was probably for the best.

"Thank you."

Daveed smiled at you, real and gorgeous as you stepped out of the car. “Look. Text me when you get in.  I want to make sure you made it safely.” 

You looked at him quizzically.

“It’s either you text me or I see you to your door.  And I think you better text me.”

You were sobered now. You nodded and put his number in your phone.

“Thank you? I’m sorry for tonight, Daveed.  Shit. this is fucked up…” You started to cry.

Daveed raised his hand and wiped your tears away with his thumb, touch soft as a feather.

“Don’t cry. C’mere.” He reached for you and pulled you to him, wrapping you up in his arms.  Your head was on his chest. The muscles in his back rippling underneath your hands. He felt so damn good, you wanted to stay there forever.

So you cried a little bit more. You sucked it up and stopped crying after about a minute or so. You pulled back. 

“You’re right to set boundaries. We don’t need to blur the lines again. Despite the lines we crossed, you’ve been a good friend tonight, Daveed. I’m glad I met you tonight.”

“What a night, yeah?” He laughed. “You deserve friendship, Lindy.” Even though he wanted so much more in the moment, Daveed’s goal became to show you what happiness the world could hold.

You couldn’t quite believe that.  Not after what you caused to happen to Dell. So you just nodded.

“Thank you Daveed.”  You started toward your door.  “G’night.”

“Good night, Lindy. Text me.”

“Will do, Daveed.” You gave him a small, wistful smile.

Lindy turned and went in, thinking of what could have been tonight with Daveed, if only there were no Mark to contend with.

Daveed watched her through the doors until she got in the elevator, and waited in the car until she texted, then opened his Notes app as the car rolled back down town.

-------

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