Maddox
“I killed it. That went so much better than I expected.” Flopping down on the couch, I stretched out and grinned.
“So you’re the accounting equivalent of a rock god, huh?” Bryan laughed as he came out of the bedroom.
“I’m incredible—an accounting god.” Bryan came close enough for me to grab. Reaching out, I pulled him down so he landed on top of me. “Hey, watch the knees.”
Bryan fidgeted around to get comfortable. When he was stretched out on me he grinned, grinding his cock against mine. “I take it the meeting went well?”
Reaching down, I gave his bottom a smack. “None of that now or you go back in the cage, naughty boy. We’ve got packing to do. Remember?”
He wiggled again and shook his head. “I’ve got it almost done. You need to look over your clothes and see if I missed anything, but we’ll be ready to leave first thing in the morning.”
I brought my head up and gave him a quick kiss. “Thank you. I would have helped.”
Bryan looked at me like I was nuts. “It didn’t take long. Not like we’re going to Mars or something. This time was even easier. There wasn’t a mountain of dirty clothes to bring, just a suitcase for the week.”
“Well, thank you anyway.”
“So tell me about the meeting.” Bryan perked up, the wiggling this time out of excitement, not arousal.
“It went great. They seemed to like the presentation and asked good questions. They even laughed at some of the writer jokes I found.” I’d spent days looking up different tax issues they might face and going through the different types of receipts and information they needed to keep track of. “Some of them had everything very well-organized already, but most were more focused on the creative side than the business aspect.”
Bryan shrugged. “That makes sense.”
Nodding, I kept going. “I had several make appointments for me to come give individual tutoring sessions on the accounting software so they can do it themselves, and I picked up several new clients. Some of the authors said they were so busy with the writing and marketing stuff that it just made sense for them to outsource the accounting. I’ve got meetings lined up when we get back. I might even pick up several more after a few think about it.”
Bryan’s grin was ear to ear. “That’s great. You’re going to have a huge business by the time college is over if you keep this up.”
“I know. It’s weird. When Jeremy first talked about the idea, I thought it would be something small to help tide us over until I got signed on with a bigger firm after graduation, but this could easily turn into a full-time business.” It wasn’t what I’d pictured, but I was starting to like the sound of it.
“I think it’s a great idea. Why work for someone else when you can be your own boss? It’s not like you need someone over you reminding you to work.” He looked around the apartment. “Eventually, we’ll need a bigger apartment so you can have a real office.”
“It will be a while before we have to think about that. You’re right though. I like the idea of being my own boss and making my own schedule.” The idea that I would be able to be there whenever Bryan needed me felt right.
He was doing great in classes and loved the job, but it was a lot more emotionally draining than he’d imagined. I wasn’t sure if it would get easier over time or harder, but I wanted to be able to support him. With a regular nine-to-five job that would probably turn out to be seven to whenever with one of the big accounting firms, it would be a lot harder.
Bryan got a goofy grin and started batting his eyelashes at me. “We’ll be rich. You can take me places and buy me fabulous things.”
Giving his bottom a pinch, I grinned when he squeaked. “How about we save for a house and I’ll buy you a crib?”
Blushing, Bryan ducked his head against my neck. “Would you want that?”
The words had come out muffled, but I got enough to know what he was asking. “Which part, the house or the crib?”
He tilted his head, so he was relaxing not hiding, but he still wasn’t looking at me. “Both kind of but mostly the crib.”
“Buying a house eventually would be great. We need to get the details ironed out for where you’re going to school first, but yeah. A yard, a couple of bedrooms where one could be a nursery…I can see us there. Can’t you?” I wasn’t sure what was making him nervous. There were several things that came to mind but I didn’t know what it was exactly.
Bryan nodded against my chest. “It wouldn’t be weird…you know…the crib and all?”
“No. Not for us. I think it would be fun. It’s not something we can do right away, anyway. It’s going to take us a while to save up the money. I have to finish school and get the business going full-time. You need to finish your undergrad and then figure out your master’s program. It’s just something to work toward.” We would also need to get married in there somewhere, but I thought that might be part of his concern so I didn’t bring that piece up.
There was no rush. We’d get to that discussion in our own time, when it wasn’t so overwhelming. I was more comfortable with the idea than Bryan seemed to be but not by much. It wasn’t that I couldn’t see it or that it made me nervous. It was just a big step.
He relaxed against me, some of the stress fading away. Had I addressed the issue? Had he worked through whatever had made him uncomfortable? Maybe he’d just needed the reassurance I could see us as a couple that long.
We lay there for a while, relaxing and just enjoying being together. Finally, Bryan must have decided we needed to get the packing done. His head slowly came up, and he stretched a little, which made his body rub against mine, sending sparks through me.
Seeing my reaction, his sleepy smile turned wicked, but he shook his head. “I’ll start dinner and you go check the suitcase on the bed. Make sure I didn’t forget anything.”
I gave him a mock frown. “Be careful in the kitchen. You’re not going to use the toaster, are you?”
He got his revenge though. Laughing hysterically as his fingers dug into my sides, I almost pushed him off the couch. “Uncle. No…no more…no more kitchen jokes.”
“Ha!” He bounced off the couch, grinning. “I win.”
Sitting up, I gave him a long look that made him shiver. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that. I have ways of punishing a naughty boy.”
He let out a little squeak and bit his lip. Rising slowly, I walked over to where he was standing and wrapped my arms around his waist to squeeze his ass. “I’m going to get you back, and it will be when you least expect it.”
I could feel the shiver that raced through him, and I knew he felt my erection pressing against his leg. He just nodded, his brain not seeming to work. Giving him a long slow kiss, I reluctantly pulled away. “I’ll be in the kitchen to help in just a minute.”
“Kitchen?” He blinked at me, eyes wide and confused.
“You were going to look for dinner while I checked the suitcase.” Leaning in, I bit his lip gently, and he moaned. “Kitchen.”
Nodding, he stepped back reluctantly. “Yes. Dinner.”
I couldn’t help the cocky grin I knew was on my face. I loved how he reacted to me. I knew all kinds of naughty things were running through his head. He probably thought I’d do something after dinner, but I had a better idea. One guaranteed to make him nuts as well as explode with pleasure. He was going to have to wait a little while though.
****
We hadn’t gotten as early a start as Bryan wanted, but by mid-morning, we were heading to his mom’s house. Stopping to get coffee hadn’t taken too long, but it was the debate about an appropriate present for the guys to bring to Bryan’s mom that took the most time.
They’d wanted to make a good impression, but no one could decide on what to get. To Bryan, the whole thing was insane and she wouldn’t care, so he was no help. Other options ranged from a bottle of wine to flowers to dessert. We finally agreed we’d stop by the store right before we got home so they could grab some flowers.
“They were a little bit wound up this morning.” I grinned when Bryan snorted.
“Ya think?”
“I’m not sure if leaving them by themselves was a good idea. Do you think they’re going to keep worrying or let it go?”
Bryan didn’t even have to pause. “Keep worrying.”
That’s what I’d pictured. “We usually stop at that gas station about halfway home. Do you want to switch who sits where when we keep going? Let Kevin or Jeremy ride with you for a while instead?”
Bryan quickly glanced over to nod before turning back to focus on the road. “That might be a good idea. It would give you some time to discuss the updates to the site you were talking about.”
I nodded. “I hadn’t considered doing the tutorial sessions until it came up with the writers. I want to see what he thinks about adding a page to the site on it—and pricing. I don’t want to push away potential clients, but it might be another source of income I hadn’t considered.”
“I think it’s a good idea, but Jeremy has a better feel for this kind of stuff.” Bryan reached over to start playing with the air conditioner. “Why is it still so hot?”
“Would you rather be driving back in snow? Remember that ice storm a few years ago?” I laughed when he looked over at me and frowned.
“Would you please not jinx us? We’re going to have crazy weather for Christmas; I just know it.”
I wouldn’t have laughed so hard except he seemed to be serious. He just shook his head. “It’s not funny. When snowpocalypse or snowmageddon happens, it will be your fault.”
“I’m sorry. No more comments about the weather.”
“Thank you.”
“To-Do list instead.” His grimace had me trying not to smile. “What do you want to do with the guys? We can’t just hang around your house the whole time with them there.”
He grinned. “Yeah, our typical entertainment wouldn’t work.”
“Scenes, sex, and movies only works when it’s just us.” I was only half teasing, but Bryan’s blush made me want to keep pushing it. “Unless you—”
“Maddox!”
“I’m kidding.” I leaned over and gave him a kiss. His face was so hot I could feel his blush against my lips. “What do you think they’d enjoy?”
It took him a few seconds to get his brain back on track, but eventually, he was able to focus. “How about lunch at the diner tomorrow and go out to the lake? If it’s this hot, it might still be warm enough to go in. If it’s too cold, we can still walk around and hang out for a while.”
“That’s a good idea. There’s probably a new movie out.” We hadn’t watched much TV lately, but there were usually big blockbuster movies out around the holidays.
Bryan nodded. “Mom’s got more channels than either of us do so there’s probably some shows they want to catch up on too.”
Binge-watching something with too much junk food sounded good to me, so he was probably right. “Sounds like a plan.”
“What did your parents say about Thanksgiving?” Bryan’s question was hesitant like he was afraid to hear the answer. I didn’t blame him.
“I got a ton of guilt about not being able to come on Thanksgiving Day, but that’s more because they wanted to show us off to their friends rather than actually see me.” It wasn’t very nice, but it was true. “They’re okay with us having lunch with them on Saturday. That will let us have Sunday to get ready for school to start. How does that sound?”
“A little like we’re heading to a firing squad but I guess it will work.”
Laughing, I had to agree. “That’s how it feels to me too.”
He reached over and grabbed my hand. “We’ve got the money for this year lined up and with what we’re able to save, next year will be manageable too if we need to pay for your tuition. Mom already said she’d keep helping and who knows, there are probably some scholarships we could apply for. If all hell breaks loose over there, we’ll still be fine monetarily.”
He was right. We spent a lot of time going over the budget and looking at how much we could reasonably save for next year. We were looking a lot better than most people we knew. It just made me nervous. I didn’t like not knowing what would set them off this time.
“I know it sucks you don’t have a better relationship with them.” Bryan frowned and squeezed my hand.
“Your mom more than makes up for my parents. They’ve always been like this. I’m glad we don’t have to deal with them often. Being tortured for a couple of hours every few months isn’t bad.”
Bryan snorted. “We did pretty good last time. Did they say where they wanted to meet? At their house or another restaurant?”
I laughed. “My mother doesn’t cook at all, and they’ll probably have given the staff time off after making them work the holidays so I’m betting a restaurant, but they haven’t said anything specific.”
“What?” Bryan’s mouth dropped open.
“Oh yeah, got to have staff to cater Thanksgiving so you can show off to friends and clients.” Growing up, any kind of holiday was a reason to put on the “Our Life is so Perfect” show. I was a teenager before I realized most people’s holidays weren’t like ours.
“That’s terrible. I thought Mom spending the day cooking for one meal was bad but that’s insane.” He shook his head. “Do you think we’ll be able to get away with not going to your family’s for holidays? How many years can we get away with that before they go ape shit?”
I didn’t mention anything about him planning that far out into the future. “We just have to avoid them for the next year or so. Eventually, they’re going to realize my major and what our plans are. At that point, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about it.”
Bryan didn’t seem to know what to say. “I’m sorry.”
“I’m not.” I leaned over and gave him another kiss on the cheek. “I have all the family I want right here.”