by Cari Z
“I’ll hold you to it,” Max replied.
Phee hid her smile behind a napkin.
“Bye, Uncle Nicky!” Marnie called out, thankfully still young enough to be immune to subtext.
Lauren didn’t say anything as we got back onto the road.
I drove for five full minutes before finally giving in. “So?”
She didn’t pretend to misunderstand me, at least. “So.” She glanced my way slyly. “I guess I can see why you haven’t dated at all before this, if he’s an indicator of your taste.”
“Right, because Edgewood has such a teeming population of available guys,” I said, secretly relieved she seemed to like him.
“More than it looks like at first blush. I can’t think of a single one that quite got Maxfield’s blend of looks, smarts, and presence, though.” She sighed. “He’s definitely like his dad that way.”
“Yeah.” That was true, but… “Not in all ways, though.”
“No,” Lauren agreed. “Not in all ways. I’m glad he’s sticking around a bit longer.”
I couldn’t quite stop the thrill that started in my chest and expanded up into a grin. “Me, too.”
…
The rest of the shift crawled by in a series of minor complaints around town and the growing threat of frostbite, and I was more than ready to clock out and head to Hal’s when five p.m. rolled around. I texted him to let him know I was coming, only to get back, Finally. Bring a gallon of milk.
A second later, I got, Toilet paper, too. And tissues.
I rolled my eyes. Anything else?
Gruyere.
Gruyere? Since when did Hal make anything with that kind of semi-fancy cheese? Why?
Max needs it for special mac and cheese. Bitch to him.
Mm, special mac and cheese. I could buy gruyere for that.
As always, it felt like eyes followed me around the grocery store. There was very little one could do unnoticed in a small town, but the gazes held an intensity today that made me wary. It had to be because of Max. Even when I’d just come back from the army, I hadn’t merited this level of curiosity.
I hurried to the cheese display. They actually had pre-packaged gruyere there, go figure. Maybe it was a holiday thing. I grabbed a pound of it then avoided people as best I could on my way to the checkout, choosing the self-checkout line near the door so none of the cashiers could start up a conversation I didn’t have the energy for.
Six months ago, I’d have given myself shit about that—I was supposed to be making an effort to become an active part of my community again, after all—but tonight I didn’t give a damn. I was hungry, and more than that, I felt like I’d shared Max enough for one day.
He’s not yours, I reminded myself as I drove to Hal’s. He came for Hal and the girls. He hadn’t even intended to stay past this morning. It was a sobering reminder, and by the time I parked and got the groceries out, I wanted to make my excuses and head back home early tonight. I could get some more work done on my house, which—I couldn’t believe I’d taken him there. It was a wreck. Not that he’d seemed to mind all that much, but…
Whatever. I needed to stop focusing on the negative, as my counselor would say. At the very least, I needed to get the groceries into the house. I got out of my warm Jeep and walked up the frosty sidewalk to Hal’s front door. I reached for the handle, but it opened before I could grab it.
Max grabbed my wrist and reeled me inside, relieving me of one of the bags while he did. “You have perfect timing,” he said, sincere and pleased. “The mac and cheese can go into the oven as soon as we grate the gruyere and stir it into the mix.”
I looked past Max to where Hal was working on a coloring book with the girls. He glanced at me. “You read what I wrote.”
“You’re a philistine, and your opinions definitely don’t count when it comes to my cooking,” Max snapped before I could reply. “This is going to be fu…fudging delicious, I’m telling you.” He led me to the kitchen and glanced in the bag. “Oops—no cheese in here, just paper products.”
“Tissues!” Marnie looked up, and—yeah, she was in definite need of a wipe. “I’ll take them! What color boxes did you get, Uncle Nicky?”
“Um…regular boxes?”
“Noooo!” She howled in despair. “You have to at least get the ones with the flowers on them! There are even ones with princesses—”
“How many empty boxes of princess tissues do you need?” Hal asked her. “Stop whining at your uncle and grab the box.”
Five minutes later, noses were clean, the mac and cheese was in the oven, and we were all sitting down to watch Brave together on the couch. There wasn’t quite enough room for three grown men and two little girls, though, so Max grabbed a cushion and sat on the floor in front of me.
The bustle, the briskness, and the warmth of his body leaning against my shins made me wonder what I’d been so worried about. Max might not have come here for me, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t make something of it. We already had; we were…hopefully, we’d continue to. He hadn’t come for me, but I was going to enjoy the hell out of his presence anyway.
The mac and cheese was delicious, the rest of the movie was accompanied by milk and some of yesterday’s cookies, and then it was bedtime for the girls. I’d been resting one of my hands in Max’s hair for most of the evening, and from the small smile on his face, he didn’t seem to mind it. Hal took one look at us and said, “See you in the morning then, Max?”
“Yeah,” Max replied, sitting up and stretching languorously as he turned back to look at me. “If that’s okay with you.”
Was it okay…if he came home with me again…so we could…
“I don’t have to.” He spoke quietly, looking far from offended. “I get needing your space. I’d like to come over again at some point, though.” He grinned a little crookedly. “You might need backup if the raccoons seek revenge. And there’s still half your front room to insulate, after all.”
“Come with me,” I said before he could possibly mistake my surprise for unwillingness again. “I’d love it if you’d come with me.”
“Okay, great.” He got up and headed for the stairs. “I’ll bring some clothes with me this time, though, so you don’t have to wear my dirties.”
Oh right, I had his shirt on. “I liked it.”
His eyes darkened a little. “I like seeing it.”
“Get! A! Room!” Hal shouted from upstairs over the sound of the shower running.
“Mind! Your own! Business!” Max shouted back, and Steph, in the process of running down the hall wearing nothing but her birthday suit, giggled.
…
The drive was nothing, a blur of streetlamps and snow and little conversation. I was hard the whole way home, and I was pretty sure Max was, too, if the way he kept shifting in his seat was any indication. As soon as we got to my place and were inside—and whoa, it was actually a little warmer; the work we’d done yesterday was proving useful—I was in his arms and backed up against the door. Max kissed me like he might never get another chance.
I wanted to tell him that he would, that we could any time, but I was too busy kissing him back, already desperate for more. God, I wanted to go down on him this time; I wanted to get a chance to taste him. I ached for it. I ached for something else, too, something I wasn’t sure he liked to do, but…
“Fuck me tonight,” I mumbled against his lips.
Max pulled back, but only with his head. The rest of his body ground against mine, pinning me hard, letting me feel our lengths pressed together. “Yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah. After I get my mouth on you.”
“You have the best ideas,” he said fervently then turned and pulled me back toward the bedroom.
It was easier to begin this time around, easier to get the room warm and get ourselves naked, easier for me to reach
out and grab lube and condoms with an air of expectation instead of suggestion. Spreading Max out on my bed was almost enough to make me doubt reality. Was he really here, being mine? I got to have all this? His hands encouraged me down, soft against my head, and I took him into my mouth and nearly missed his groan, I was so caught up in the taste of him. It was so good, so fucking good. I took him in as far as I could, to the base of his cock, and swallowed. Fuck.
“Fuck.” Max echoed my thought with a moan, his hands still on my head but not holding, just touching my hair, sliding down to my shoulders and back up. “God, that feels so good.”
The words were like a shot of whiskey in my belly. I felt warm with them, a little drunk on his appreciation. I worked him, licking and sucking and loving every second of it, until Max finally had to ask me to stop. “I don’t want to come until I’m inside you.”
My ass clenched and my cock pulsed at the thought of him fucking me, breath hot against the back of my neck as he filled me up. “Let’s do that now.” I slid up onto the bed next to him and grabbed the lube, tipped it out onto my fingers, and began to stretch myself as fast as I could stand.
Max watched me for a second then asked, “Would you like it if I help?”
My jaw dropped. “You want to?”
“Yeah,” he said easily. “Some people don’t like having other people touch them like that, but I love doing it.” He grinned. “I can be much more precise with my fingers, for starters.”
“Um…okay. Sure.” It definitely wouldn’t hurt, as long as he didn’t go shoving in too many at once, and even if it did, I could take it as long as he enjoyed it. “Go ahead.”
“Thank you.” His voice was practically a purr as he settled onto his knees behind me. I heard him open the bottle and slick up his fingers, and I tensed in anticipation of the first push.
I got a gentle, teasing stroke instead. “I like to go slow,” Max said, rubbing the pad of one of his fingers around my rim, not making a move to press, just circling, circling. “It’s a kink you’re just gonna have to tolerate if we’re going to do this.”
“I think I can handle that,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. It felt good, better than I thought it would. I was hypersensitive to his touch and hyperaware of every shift he made, outside or in, or whether he switched fingers. When he stroked his thumb firmly down my perineum to my aching balls, I grunted and clenched my fingers in the bedspread.
“Yeah?” I wasn’t sure what question he was asking, but a second later, he was grabbing my sack like he had last night, rolling it in his hand as his finger slid firmly into my ass.
“Fuuu—ugh,” I groaned, completely inarticulate, but what the fuck was I supposed to say when I was being played like a damn piano? His finger felt so good—there was no burn to the entry at all, none of the stinging that usually accompanied the act. I didn’t mind the sting, yet this felt good enough it should have been illegal.
After a few more seconds of gentle movement, he added a second finger, and the top of my head threatened to come off. I grabbed the base of my dick, not sure whether I wanted to tighten my grip and slow things down or start stroking and speed them up.
“Wait,” Max said soothingly, still fucking me with his fingers. “Just wait, you’ll love it.”
“I already do,” I whispered, and it came out a little broken. I’d barely moved—how could I feel this out of breath?
“I know, but give me a second.” He pressed down with his fingers and rubbed and—
I didn’t know what sound I made this time, but it had to be a good one, because he chuckled. “Yeah, I know, I like that, too.”
Liked it? He liked having his nerves fire pure pleasure up his spine? I didn’t like it. I was afraid I’d become addicted to it if he kept going. “Now,” I begged, arching my back and pushing into him, so close to falling apart that I could taste it. “Now, please, I need you.”
“I need you back,” he said, and that felt almost as good to me as his hand. He let go of me, but he was quick with the condom, and before I could take more than five slow breaths in an effort to calm myself, his cock was at my hole, pressing just enough to tease me. “Are you ready?”
I nodded, and then…oh my god, it was still slow, so slow, only now the stretch kept going and I could finally feel a bit of sting, enough to make my body really, potently aware that I was getting fucked. It felt so good I couldn’t speak, I could barely breathe, I just wanted more.
“Easy, Dominic,” Max said, stroking his hand down my flank. His touch grounded me, made me feel like I was more than a live wire. “I’ve got you. God…” I glanced over my shoulder and our gazes connected. His eyes were dark and glassy, mouth open and red. He reached down and touched where we connected, traced his finger around me like he had before, only now he wasn’t teasing—now I was so full of him I ached, and I loved it. “You look fucking incredible.”
I was just able to get out, “Show me,” before he started moving, and oh damn…he did show me. Apparently, we were done with slow, because he ground against me hard enough I almost fell over then pulled away and thrust back inside before I could take a full breath. I braced myself on my arms and focused on staying with him, on making sure this wasn’t only about me, that I didn’t just get what I needed and come, but he wasn’t making it easy.
If I touched myself, it would all be over. I was so hard I was actually leaking pre-cum onto the bed, a shining puddle of it collecting beneath my dick. I wanted to touch myself so badly, one or two good strokes and I’d be gone, lost in what might end up one of the best orgasms of my life, but I couldn’t. No, no, not yet, I chanted at my body.
All of a sudden Max’s strong arms wrapped around my midsection. He pulled me up so that my hands were off the bed and tilted me until my back rested against his chest. My mouth opened and closed like a fish as his cock pressed even deeper inside of me. “You’re so goddamn good for me,” he murmured against my ear. “You feel fucking amazing, and I want you to come around me.” I might have started to shake my head—I could barely tell at that point, and Max just said, “Yeah, yeah, I do, baby, I do. Come for me. Do it right now.” And without moving his dick, he reached down and jerked me off, hard and fast.
I saw stars.
I thought I nearly blacked out.
It was so strange, coming like this. Impossibly good, and so, so strange—held close, vulnerable, letting myself rely on him to hold me up because there was no way I was going to be capable of it on my own. My whole body went as boneless as a butterfly, with one notable exception, and I tilted my head back against Max’s shoulder, closed my eyes, and moaned through the aftershocks. Jesus. Who knew orgasms came with aftershocks?
Max tensed against my back, his exhale harsh as he clutched me tight and came a few seconds later, but I was beyond responding to it other than twisting my head and pressing my nose into his cheek as I breathed. We took a little bit longer to catch our breaths, and then he leaned forward, lowering both of us back to the bed before pulling out and getting rid of the condom. I hardly had a chance to miss him before he was beside me again, one arm around my waist, his lips pressed gently to mine. I kissed back, as best I was able to.
“Hey, Dominic?”
I forced my eyes open. “Mmyeah?”
“I don’t think I’m up to working on the house tonight.” He kissed me again. “Maybe in the morning.”
It hadn’t been a fluke—he wanted to stay the night again.
I smiled. “Sounds good.”
Chapter Nine
Max
I could honestly say that I hadn’t seen this coming, not in a million years. I hadn’t had any intention of coming back to Edgewood for anything other than supporting Hal and the girls. I’d figured it would be a lightning-fast trip, where I made my presence felt and made the girls happy then got out of town again.
I hadn’t figured on Dominic Bell.
I hadn’t figured on having some of the best sex of my life with my best friend’s younger brother, a man I’d basically watched grow up. It might have squicked me if I thought about it too much. But Dominic was a consenting adult now, and he was into it—damn was he into it—and his presence had taken my trip from a comfort to myself and Hal into a genuine, expansive pleasure.
Everything seemed better—even work felt like less of a pervasive weight across my shoulders.
I was happy, I realized on the second morning Dominic dropped me back at his brother’s house, his hair still wet from the shower and his lips still a little swollen from the blowjob in said shower half an hour ago. I’d fingered him again when I returned the favor, and he almost fell down when he came as a result. Thinking about it was enough to have warmth flood my body, from my chest straight down to my cock.
I genuinely couldn’t remember the last time I had felt like this. I thought about it as I walked into the still-dark house, lips still tingling from a good-bye kiss.
After hanging my coat at the door and setting my bag of clothes down by the stairs, I made a beeline for the coffeemaker. Happy was such a rare feeling. I thought I was happy in the city, but compared to this? I shook my head. There was no comparison—I could practically float through the air.
What kind of person didn’t recognize how being really happy felt? Fuck. Was my life in the city that depressing?
I liked being a lawyer. The pace of work at the offices of Staller, Weisz and Coast was frenetic, especially when I was still a junior trying to rise through the ranks. I honestly didn’t remember the last time I’d gone to a play on Broadway or out to a restaurant while I wasn’t also wooing a client or…anything, really, other than the gym and work. I liked the work, overwhelming as it could be sometimes, but…
When was the last time I’d gone out in New York City, just for fun?
“Earth to Max.”
Hal’s voice broke my reverie. I’d been standing at the coffee machine with a cup of steaming French roast in my hand, completely lost in thought. “Sorry, what?”