His stomach swooped as Max waved from halfway down the line, his face lighting up. As he waved back, Jeremy sternly reminded himself that, no, Max’s face did not “light up.” He was just smiling. Being friendly. Showing off his dimples.
“Hey!” Max said as Jeremy joined him. Then he stepped closer and leaned down before suddenly jerking back and painting on another smile. He lightly punched Jeremy’s shoulder. “How’s it going?”
“Great!”
Was he going to kiss me? It seemed like he was going to kiss me. No. I probably imagined it. It’s the bus fumes. We’re officially paused. And we’re not a “we” yet.
“Great!” Max echoed.
They smiled and nodded at each other, and Jeremy tugged on the edge of his new woolen toque. “Are you sure your family’s okay with me tagging along?”
“Absolutely. The more the merrier.” Max nodded again. “You’ll probably be bored. We’re not very exciting.”
“I won’t be! I’m not very exciting either.”
Max chuckled, his cheeks dimpling, and Jeremy’s heart soared even though that was against protocol. Seeing Max again in person, the urge to climb him like a tree thrummed like a revving motor.
It was like when you were hungry, but you didn’t realize just how starving until you had a bite of food. And then you were ravenous and you wanted to shove everything in your mouth. Which made Jeremy think of his dick in Max’s mouth, which was a dangerous train of thought. They were just friends now.
Thirteen days until January first. Max hadn’t said if they were staying for New Year’s Eve or coming back to the city. So maybe it would be a bit longer than thirteen days. If they came back for New Year’s, did that mean they could unpause a day early?
“You good?” Max asked.
“Yep!” Just needed to stop obsessing. “Thanks again,” Jeremy said. “I don’t need excitement. I’m just happy to be with you.” He quickly added, “And your family. I mean I’ll be happy to be with them too. I—” He forced himself to stop rambling. “Thank you.”
Max smiled softly. “Anytime.”
Jeremy ordered himself not to read into the smile. “It really is generous of you all.” Even if nothing more ever happened with Max, he would always be grateful. He hadn’t let himself think about how awful Christmas would be alone. “I’m so glad I’m not staying on campus.”
“Yeah. That would be grim. We’ll have fun in Pinevale, even if it’s PG-rated.”
As much as that would be torture on one hand, it really was for the best. Max had done more than enough for him already, and Jeremy didn’t want him to feel obliged. If he wasn’t careful, his crush would spiral out of control. Falling in love with Max wasn’t part of the deal. Even if maybe, at some point, one day, maybe even in January…
Max’s sister appeared with a box of Timbits and a tray of double-doubles, and after introductions, they sipped the hot coffee and ate the donuts, which were still warm. Meg talked about her exams, and Jeremy was happy to listen. She was friendly and had a warmth to her that was similar to Max’s. Jeremy could imagine she was one of those people who could talk to anyone and not feel nervous.
He plucked one of the powdered donuts from the box, and mmm, the jam center of the little ball of dough was sweet and perfect. As Meg rambled on about King Arthur and how gay he and Lancelot were, Max was smiling at Jeremy.
“You’ve got…” He’d put his gloves back on, and he bit the tip of the index finger to slide his hand free, his coffee still in his other hand. With his bare fingers, he brushed the corner of Jeremy’s mouth, and Jeremy was very glad his new parka went to mid-thigh. “Icing sugar,” Max murmured. Their gazes locked, and Jeremy’s heart thumped.
“So, yeah, totally want to bang each other,” Meg said. Max whipped his hand back, and Jeremy forced his eyes to her. Meg smiled cheerfully. “Arthur and Lancelot.”
“Right, yes,” Jeremy nodded. “And, um, what about Guinevere? Did she…” He tried to think of a way to end that question.
“Enjoy watching? Definitely. I have some threesome theories. Not that I came up with that, obviously. But my term essay in the new year will be about sex and Arthurian society.” She nudged Max. “Admit it. Law school will be boring AF compared to English lit.”
Max gulped from his coffee cup. “Yeah.” He laughed, but it was strained. Meg frowned, but then the bus rumbled into the bay, engine whining. They shuffled along and boarded, and soon enough they were on their way. Until they weren’t.
“If there’s a hell, it’s sitting in traffic,” Max grumbled.
Looking out the window of the packed bus at the multiple lanes of traffic crawling along, Jeremy chuckled. He had to admit he was enjoying every moment of his thigh pressing against Max’s in the confines of the packed Greyhound’s seats, which even Jeremy noticed seemed smaller than ever, especially with the people sitting in front of them putting their seats back. Meg sat a few rows up squished in with an old lady.