CHAPTER EIGHT

He called Max when he started up the car. He knew he should have probably waited, but he needed to know exactly what had happened, and he didn’t know if he could wait.

Ethan waited for the phone to ring for a few seconds. “Hello?”

“Hello,” Ethan said. “Max, can you talk?”

“Um, sure,” Max replied. Ethan could hear him walking away from something.

“No,” Ethan said. “Can you meet up and talk somewhere?”

Max didn’t answer for a few seconds. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“It’s just a talk, Max,” Ethan said. “I’ll go to you.”

Max sighed, seemingly resigned. “Fine,” he said. “But make it quick, okay?”

“Fine,” Ethan said. “Tell me your address. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

Ethan didn’t have to drive far to get to Max’s place, though it was in one of the suburbs of the city. He supposed he shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when he pulled up to a beautiful white two-story colonial surrounded by a tall black fence and a swing gate.

It opened when his car pulled up, which surprised him. He parked in front of the house, right next to the porch, behind the car that had picked him up when they had gone on their first date. As he killed the ignition, he took a second to look up at the house.

That had only been a couple of days ago, but already everything felt like it had changed, like his life before meeting Max was fading. It was weird, and now that he was sitting there leaning back on the driver seat, he wasn’t sure how much he liked it.

He was thinking about it when he heard someone open the door. Max was wearing jeans a white button-up shirt. His hair made it look like he had just gotten out of bed.

The two exchanged a significant look before Ethan took the handle and stepped out of the car. He took a deep breath as he started to walk toward Max, who was still standing on his porch, looking up and down at him. He wasn’t saying anything.

Ethan waited for a few seconds as Max looked at him. They stood there, just staring at each other, neither one of them saying a thing. Ethan wanted to ask him for an explanation, but now that he was there, he wasn’t sure what he had driven there for.

Max was the first one to move. He started to approach Ethan, looking right at Ethan as he walked toward him. Max reached out and grabbed his hand. “Hey,” he said. “You shouldn’t have come here.”

Even as he spoke, even as he looked into Ethan’s eyes, even as he squeezed his hand and Ethan felt his fingers around his hand, Ethan could feel the hesitation in the way Max was looking at him, in the way his voice wavered.

“I need to talk to you,” Ethan said.

Max cocked his head. “Why?”

“Because I do,” Ethan said. “Because this is important.”

“You barely know me,” Max said, more to himself than to Ethan.

“I know,” Ethan said. “Which is why I wanted to talk to you about this. If I could figure out… If I had been able to figure out why you did what you did, then I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t need to be here. But I really have to know why you did what you did.”

“I told you—”

“No,” Ethan said. “Don’t lie to me. I went to see Kelsey…”

Max furrowed his brow when Ethan trailed off. “You went to see the governor?”

“I wanted to understand,” Ethan said. “And we had a different score to settle.”

Max watched him. “Your sister,” he said. It wasn’t really a question.

“You know?”

Max nodded. “It’s hard not to,” he said. “You know, when you want to be a politician.”

“Or when you can read,” Ethan replied quietly. He closed his eyes and sighed, leaning back on his car. Being with Max wasn’t helping him escape the drama of his family at all. He had been selfish to only think about what he could get out of being with Max.

Max sighed. He seemed defeated. “Come in,” he said. “Let’s have a drink and talk this over.”

“Our last drink,” Ethan said. It was supposed to be a joke, but it sounded bitter on his tongue. Max didn’t laugh.

Ethan followed him as they walked toward the house. Max stopped for a second before he opened the door. He looked back at Ethan, who raised his eyebrows. He wondered if Max would explain why he was hesitating, but Max didn’t say anything. He just pushed the door open.

Ethan walked into a beautiful grand foyer with spiraling staircases on each side of the room. He didn’t have much time to take it in as he followed Max into the living room, an open plan room with a gorgeous chaise lounge. Max sat down on one of the individual recliners and Ethan followed, sitting so he would be able to look right at Max.

They were far away from each other. Ethan couldn’t help but draw the comparison to when he had first gone to the grief counselor, just how far away she had been from him. Max was staring at him, clearly waiting for him to say something, but Ethan hadn’t been able to bring himself to say anything.

Max shuffled in his seat. “Do you want that drink or—”

“No,” Ethan said. “No, I… I just want to ask you something, okay?”

Max nodded. “Sure,” he said.

“Kelsey said you dropped out,” Ethan finally said, his voice thin “But you told me he wasn’t going to endorse you. You lied to me.”

“No,” he said. “I didn’t lie to you. I just didn’t tell you the entire truth.”

“And that’s better than lying?”

Max furrowed his brow. He regarded Ethan for what felt to Ethan like a very long time before he spoke. “I don’t owe you anything,” Max said. “Not even the truth.”

“I know,” Ethan replied. “I get that.”

“And yet you are here.”

“And you haven’t kicked me out,” Ethan said. “You gave me your address. If you didn’t want me to be here, I didn’t have to be.”

Max nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s true.”

“But I’m here,” Ethan said. “So I can’t help but feel that you want to answer my questions.”

Max watched him. “But you haven’t asked me anything yet.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said, shifting his weight. “Yes. I’m getting to it. It’s just, the more the words move around in my head, the less sense they seem to make.”

“Just tell me,” Max replied. “You’re building up in your head.”

Ethan took a deep breath. When he spoke, he wasn’t able to look at Max in the eyes. “Did you drop out of the race because of me?”

Max was quiet until Ethan looked at him. When he saw Ethan, he shook his head, but only slightly. “No,” he said.

Ethan watched him.

“I mean, not entirely,” he said. “You were part of it.”

Ethan swallowed, trying his best to ignore the knot in his throat. “I was?”

“Yes,” Max said. “I didn’t want to use you—”

“And you didn’t want me to use you either,” Ethan said, matter-of-factly.

“Yes,” Max replied, his gaze darting away from Ethan. “Which is weird, because most of the time, I wouldn’t care at all.”

Ethan licked his lips. “Why do you?”

Max shook his head. “Beats me,” he said.

“You could find someone else,” Ethan said. “You only need a fake boyfriend to help you win the election.”

Max nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “I only need a fake boyfriend. The problem is, I don’t want one.”

Ethan chuckled. “I don’t understand,” he said. “You seem like an ambitious person.”

“I am an ambitious person,” Max said, a smile suddenly on his face. “I’m also a patient person.”

“That surprises me,” Ethan said.

Max raised his eyebrows. “It shouldn’t,” he said. “I’m still waiting for you to beg me to sleep with you.”

Ethan laughed, shaking his head. “You’re going to be waiting for a while.”

Max’s smile widened into a grin. “I really don’t think so,” he said.

Ethan licked his lips, which were dry. “Why do you think I’m going to come crawling to you and asking you to fuck me?”

Max cocked his head. His blue eyes were glimmering. “Because you are,” he said. “Because you have. You are here, after all.”

“I’m here because I wanted to ask you a question.”

Max straightened up slightly, brushing his shirt off. “You can keep telling yourself that.”

Ethan blinked, leaning back on the chair. “Why do you think I’m here?”

Max took a deep breath. When he spoke again his voice was deep and throaty. “I expect it’s because you want to crawl over here and suck me off,” he said.

Ethan swallowed. His throat was dry, his heart was going a million miles an hour, and he wanted to open his mouth just to tell Max that he was there for answers and not for his weird sex games. Except his cock didn’t seem to agree with that and he was harder than he thought he had ever been in his life.

“No,” Ethan said. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“Sure,” Max said, biting his lower lip. “That is definitely not why you have inched closer and closer to the edge of your seat. That’s not why you keep shifting your weight from side to side so you can hide how hard you are. And you’re hard, aren’t you?”

Ethan swallowed. He shook his head because he didn’t want to answer, but he wasn’t able to bring himself to say anything. He wasn’t able to do anything but open and close his mouth as he continued to feel his body sliding closer to the edge of his seat, especially when Max licked his lips.

“You want to get on your hands and on your knees,” Max said, his voice a growl. “And then you want to crawl here so you can suck me off until I come in your mouth.”

Ethan looked into Max’s eyes, then his gaze slowly went down to the rest of his body, the way his shirt was hugging his chest and his stomach. He stopped, his gaze lingering on Max’s crotch, despite the fact that the denim fabric of his jeans was hiding his erection. When Ethan picked up his gaze, Max was staring at him.

“Do it,” Max said. “Get on your hands and knees, Ethan. Crawl to me.”

It was as if his body wanted to listen to Max more than he did. Before he could think it through, he had completely slid out of the chair and he was on all fours, moving toward where Max was sitting. He was staring right at Max, because he wanted to look right at his face, even though moving like this was weird and humiliating.

“Good,” Max said. “You’re such a good boy.”

Ethan swallowed. He didn’t know why this was turning him on so much, but the way that Max was talking to him, the way he was looking at him—the fact that Max had made him crawl toward him—it was making him dizzy. It was making his hardened dick throb. It was making him feel like he was going to faint.

Max wasn’t that far away from Ethan, but it felt to Ethan like he might as well have been across a football field. There were beads of sweat on his forehead as he finally crawled to where Max was sitting.

He could smell his scent, his sweat and his cologne. He didn’t know what he was supposed to do when he was a few inches away from Max, so he stopped and craned his neck up. They looked at each other for a long second, then Max extended his hand and stroked the top of Ethan’s head, ruffling his hair. “You’re so beautiful,” Max said, moving his hand so that he was cupping Ethan’s face. “I’ve wanted to touch you ever since I called you this morning. I’ve been thinking about how gorgeous you looked with my come on your face.”

“Max…”

“I like it when you say my name,” Max said, biting his lower lip. “And I really want to let you suck me off.”

Ethan groaned. “You want to let me?”

“Yes,” Max said, stroking Ethan’s jawline with a curled finger until he had tilted his head up and their gaze was locked. He traced his thumb over Ethan’s lips until Ethan opened his mouth enough to let him in.

Max wasn’t gentle. He stuck his tongue inside Ethan’s mouth, grabbing his very tongue, and Ethan could feel himself start to choke a little bit. Max ran his thumb roughly over the ends of Ethan’s teeth and then moved his thumb out of his mouth.

“See,” Max said when he moved his finger away from Ethan’s mouth, a trail of spit glistening between Ethan’s mouth and the end of Max’s thumb. “Your mouth is all prime and ready for me.”

Ethan moaned. Even though they were both still wearing all their clothes, this situation had already turned Ethan on so much that he could feel his jeans strangling his cock. When Max moved his hand, lifting his thumb toward his own face and licking it off himself, slowly, deliberately, his gaze set right on Ethan’s face, Ethan thought he would come right then and there.

Max stood up and his leg was close enough to Ethan to make Ethan wince. Ethan instinctively moved back, but Max shook his head slightly. It made Ethan feel like he was stuck to the floor.

Max was staring at him, his eyes glassy. “I was thinking about taking my pants off,” he said. “But I don’t know. I think you might not deserve it.”

“Please,” Ethan heard himself say.

“Please, what?”

Ethan swallowed. The palms of his hands were burning from the carpet under him, his knees hurt from the position he was in. He was uncomfortable, but he wasn’t focused on that. He was focused on his gasping, on the way he felt when Max brought his hand to his zipper. Once it was there, he didn’t move it. He just left it there, teasing Ethan, taunting him.

“Please, Max,” Ethan said. “Please let me suck your cock.”

Max smirked at him. “You’re so good,” he said. “I love it when you beg. It turns me on.”

“Please,” Ethan said.

Max started to undo his zipper, his finger moving down unbearably slow. Ethan felt like he was holding his breath until Max slowly undid his zipper. Then he moved his hands up to put his fingers under his waistband. Ethan thought Max was going to yank his pants down to show Ethan his erection, but his hands stayed right where they were and didn’t move at all.

Ethan groaned. He closed his eyes. “You’re hurting me, Max,” he said.

“I know,” Max replied, a smile on his face. “But I can’t help but love the look on your face. You look so stunning when you’re frustrated.”

“This is cruel,” Ethan said.

“It is?”

“Yes,” Ethan said. “I need it. I need you… I need to suck you off. I need to have your cock in my mouth.”

Max licked his lips. “Good,” he said as he dropped his pants down to his ankles. Ethan stared at the bulge in Max’s boxers, at the impressive outline of his gorgeous cock. “You’re such a good boy.”

Ethan pressed his face against Max’s salty skin. He kissed the soft skin on Max’s legs, trailing up until he was close to the edge of Max’s boxers.

“Take them off, Ethan,” Max said, his voice quiet.

Ethan nodded. He started to kneel up, but before he could, Max’s hand was on top of his head and he was resisting. It wasn’t painful, it was just firm, and it was enough to tell Ethan he should stay on his hands and knees. When Ethan raised his eyebrows, Max shook his head. “Did I say you could use your hands?”

Ethan swallowed. “No,” he said.

“Then don’t,” Max said.

Ethan nodded. His mouth was dry as he kissed Max’s skin again, craning his head up so he could softly bite the fabric of his boxers and try to move it down his leg. It was hard, because he could only get the bottom of the leg with his teeth when he craned his neck back a considerable amount. He pressed his lips together and managed to grab the fabric with them. He managed to move it down halfway down his leg. There was no way he was going to be able to move his entire boxers down with just this leg, so he scooted over to his right leg.

He took a deep breath as he shuffled along, his body sinking into the carpet under him. He kissed Max’s leg as he moved his lips all over Max’s leg. He finally clamped his mouth shut on the fabric, this time moving it down quickly. He finally stopped when Max’s boxers were halfway down his legs, just so he could eye Max’s crotch.

Max’s dick was standing completely erect. It was only a few inches away from Max’s cock, but it still felt like he was a few miles away, and he didn’t know how long he could stand to be around Max’s cock without putting him in his mouth. It was something of a challenge, to finally move his boxers down his legs, but Ethan finally managed to move them down so they were around his ankles and level with his jeans.

He was gasping for breath by the time he was done. Doing this—undressing Max, doing it in such a difficult way, it was all worth it. It felt worth it. Doing anything to turn Max on, to make sure he would earn the ability to suck Max’s cock—it felt like it mattered. And it turned him on, too, it made him dizzy.

He was going to crane his neck up and ask Max if he could suck him off, but before he could, Max had sat down in front of him on the carpeted floor, his legs crossed and his cock right in Ethan’s face.

Max smiled at Ethan. He traced the outline of his jaw, slowly moving his finger up to Ethan’s cheek, then threading his fingers through Ethan’s hair.

He yanked Ethan’s head back and looked right into his eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” Max said. “You’re such a good boy.”

Ethan swallowed. “Thank—”

“No,” Max said. “Don’t thank me. Bark.”

“Sorry,” Ethan said. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“No, you heard me just fine,” Max said, shaking his head and tutting. “You can talk and we’ll stop. Or you can bark and we’ll keep going.”

“Fuck—”

Max stared at him. Ethan took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he thought about what to do next. The thought of stopping crossed his mind, but only for a second. It felt preposterous. And there was something so hot about what Max had just asked of him, like he wasn’t even allowed to talk to him.

Like he wasn’t even worthy of talking to him.

He took another deep breath and then he barked. It was a soft, playful bark, shy, the best that he could manage. Max tutted, shaking his head. “Come on, babe,” he said. “I know you can do better than that.”

Ethan took another deep breath, then he barked. It didn’t sound like it was coming from his own mouth, it sounded deep and guttural, and it made Max chuckle quietly. His cock jiggled when he did. Ethan couldn’t help but notice the way it looked, tall and hard and throbbing, the head covered and glistening with precum.

“That’s my good boy,” Max said, stroking the top of Ethan’s head. “Do you want your treat now?”

Ethan’s eyes widened. He was about to say that he wanted his treat, but he clamped his mouth shut when he saw the way Max’s gaze was boring into him. He tilted his head down and whimpered, hoping that would be enough to communicate just how much he wanted this.

“You’re so good at this,” Max said. “You can suck me off now. You can suck me dry until I come in your mouth, okay?”

Ethan nodded again, and then slowly wrapped his mouth around Max’s cock. He only started by swirling his tongue around the head of Max’s cock, coating his tongue with Max’s come, until he looked at Max for a second and Max gave him a little nod.

That was all the approval Ethan needed to start really going to town on Max’s cock, moving his head back and forth rapidly, letting Max fuck his throat roughly as Max held his head down when he got to the base of his cock, for just a few seconds. For just enough time that it made Ethan almost gag, then he would release him, and then Ethan would start throat-fucking himself on Max’s cock as hard as he could. There were tears in his eyes and water from his nose, he could feel Max’s cock throbbing in his mouth, and then he heard Max say he was going to come, his voice a low growl.

“Stay there,” Max said. “Eat all of my come, boy. Lap it all up.”

Ethan practically choked on Max’s cock as Max held his head down, his dick contracting in Max’s mouth as he came all over Ethan’s tongue and into his mouth, so much so that Ethan felt like he was going to gag from Max’s come.

Max released him from the hold he had on the back of his head. When he did, Ethan realized that Max hadn’t been holding him down hard, that he was barely holding him down. Even as he moved away from Max’s cock, Ethan realized that he had been the one who had been throat-fucking himself with Max’s cock without Max helping him very much.

He was just letting it all sink in when Max put his hand under Ethan’s chin and tilted his head up. “Good boy,” Max said, his voice a whisper. “You’re so good.”

Ethan opened his mouth to laugh, to say something, but Max was still staring at him.

“Lick me off,” Max said. “Gently. You wouldn’t want any of your treat to go to waste, did you?”

Ethan nodded. He went to work, doing what he was told, licking around Max’s balls and his softening cock. By the time he was done, he felt like gasping for air. Max was purring under him.

Ethan dropped his head on his lap. He hadn’t intended it, but everything that had happened up to that point had been so very exhausting, he didn’t see any choice but resting. As he did, Max stroked his head, softly patting the top of his head every now and then. It was a little bit humiliating, but he couldn’t help but become more and more turned on as Max kept stroking his head.

“You can talk now,” Max said quietly.

Ethan looked up at him, his eyes wide. He wasn’t sure he could even begin to conceptualize what had just happened, never mind talking about it. He swallowed before he spoke, his throat sore. “Okay,” he said. “That was…”

Max shook his head, tsking. “Did you forget something?”

“Yes,” Ethan said. “Fuck, sorry. Thank you.”

“Thank you what?”

“Thank you, Max,” Ethan said.

“You’re welcome, babe,” Max replied.

He leaned forward and kissed Ethan on the mouth, a short peck that seemed to last only a couple of seconds. Ethan watched him, his eyes wide, unsure of what he was supposed to do now.

Max furrowed his brow. “It’s okay,” he said. “Put your head on my lap. I’ll go get you some water in a bit.”

Ethan groaned. His cock felt like it was going to explode. He had followed every direction that Max had given him, including not touching himself, and he didn’t think he had ever been that turned on in his life. He put his head on Max’s lap and closed his eyes. Even though his eyes were closed, he knew Max was staring at him.

“You can’t need it that much,” Max said, as if he could read Ethan’s mind. “You’re not begging me yet.”

Ethan groaned again, a desperate whimper on his lips.

Max stopped stroking his head, then laughed, the weight of his hand heavy on Ethan’s scalp. “Max…”

“I’ll do it,” he said. “When you beg.”

Ethan whimpered. He was about to ask Max if he could even touch himself—at least touch himself—when Max moved away from him. “You stay here, okay? Don’t get up. I’m going to get you some water for your throat.”

Ethan was going to protest, but his throat was dry and he liked the idea of drinking water. Max helped him sit up. Ethan was surprised at how weak he felt, at just how much help he truly needed. His eyes widened as Max wrapped his arms around his waist and nuzzled into his neck, breathing hard on his skin. “I’m right here, babe,” Max said.

Ethan closed his eyes. He let out a deep, shaky breath as Max let go of him. He didn’t look back as he heard Max’s footsteps receding. He took deep breaths until Max sat down next to him again, handing him a glass of ice water.

“This will help,” Max said, brushing Ethan’s hair away from his face. Ethan nodded, grabbing the glass of water and wetting his lips with it at first. He didn’t realize just how thirsty he was until he felt the water on his lips. He tilted his head back as he drank the rest of the water. He did it far too quickly, enough to bring on a bit of brain freeze but nothing he couldn’t push through.

He handed Max the glass back and looked up at his face. Max was staring at him, a smile on his face, his cheeks tinted with red. “Hey,” he said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Ethan nodded. “Yes,” he said. “I think so. That was… a lot.”

“I know,” Max replied. “And we can always stop. You can just tell me you want to stop.”

“I don’t—I didn’t want to stop,” Ethan replied, his voice a whimper. “I just—I guess I just wasn’t prepared for that to happen.”

“I know,” Max said. “I didn’t think anything would happen either, but you looked so beautiful, I couldn’t help but think about how hot you’d look if I made you crawl.”

Ethan bit his lower lip, shaking his head. “You’re making me blush.”

“Good,” Max said. He kissed the tip of Ethan’s nose, something Ethan hadn’t been expecting. Ethan’s eyes widened as Max moved away from him and flashed him a smile. “I like it when you blush.”

Ethan couldn’t help but smile at him.