Jeremy couldn’t stop a laugh of his own, though guilt followed swiftly on its heels. He was a guest, and he should follow the house rules. He cleaned himself up quickly, face hot. “That can’t happen again. We have to be good.”
“Oh, we’re good together.” Behind him at the sink, Max circled Jeremy in his arms, nuzzling the back of his neck.
“Mmm.” Jeremy leaned back before shaking his head and elbowing Max away, turning to face him. “Stop tempting me. We have to follow the rules. Your family has been so amazing to me. I don’t want to disappoint them by breaking their trust.”
Max sighed dramatically and whispered, “Okay, okay. We’ll follow the Puritanical rules. At least for the rest of the day.” He pressed his lips to Jeremy’s forehead, the kiss so gentle that Jeremy’s breath caught. “I’m sorry I was a jerk.” He took Jeremy’s hand.
“It’s okay. Levi and I were trying to make you jealous, after all.” Jeremy squeezed Max’s fingers. “He had your number as soon as he saw you spying on our date.”
“Guess I owe him a thank you,” Max grumbled, a smile breaking through. “Come on. Let’s go be good.”
Being good was highly overrated.
Jeremy flipped onto his side, kicking at the tangled duvet restlessly. He should give in and jerk off again, but what if someone heard him? God, what if someone had heard him the night before? He replayed breakfast like a movie in his head, scouring his memory for hints from Valerie, Meg, or John that they knew what he’d gotten up to.
Of course now he’d gotten up to far more than furtively jerking off. His stomach flipped, the giddy rush of memory not helping him drift off to sleep. He’d had Max in his mouth—more than that, he’d made him come. After so long of tying himself into knots and overthinking, with Max he could let go.
Except he couldn’t because they weren’t supposed to be hooking up. John and Valerie were so cool, and their rules about language and no sex in the house were cute somehow. Not overbearing and stressful, but…wholesome.
Jeremy’s parents would surely have the same rule about no sex in the house—if they even let a boyfriend stay over. But it wouldn’t be cute. It would be stressful and judgy and condemning. It made his stomach acidy to even think about Max meeting them, even though he knew it was stupid to get ahead of himself and worry about it.
He stared at the blur of gauzy curtains lit by the silver glow of the moon. There was a blind he could have pulled down, but he got freaked out trying to sleep in total darkness. There were no streetlights, and the moonlight reflecting on snow was soft and peaceful. Should have been perfect for falling asleep, but his brain wouldn’t turn off.
Instead of replaying humiliating incidents from years ago like usual—how many times did he need to remember asking Jake Podowski if he’d had chicken pox when it was actually new, terrible acne—Jeremy thought about Max actually being his boyfriend.
But he only had fleeting visions of how awesome it would be: holding hands, doing things together, kissing and touching whenever they wanted. Mostly, he worried about what his parents would think. They’d struggled enough with the theoretical idea of Jeremy being gay. His mom’s meltdown earlier didn’t bode well for accepting a boyfriend.
He shifted onto his back, closing his eyes resolutely. Maybe if he quietly got off, he could lull himself to sleep. There was so much spank bank material that he didn’t know where to start as he slipped his hand into his PJ bottoms and lightly touched himself.
And there it was. He zeroed in on the memory of the night before here in this room, Max’s strong hand spread over Jeremy’s ass. Resting there, not squeezing or pressing. Promising so much…
The guest room door creeeeaked open. Jeremy released his dick and lunged for his glasses, finding Max in the doorway in a tee and pajama bottoms, the silver glow of the moon outlining him. Jesus, he was beautiful. His breath rushed out as desire ignited.
Max motioned, clearly asking if he could come inside. Jeremy nodded. Maybe there was something he’d forgotten to say or ask, or maybe he just wanted to talk? Or maybe—
Jeremy’s heart thumped as Max raised his eyebrows, nodding at the bed. Another question, and Jeremy nodded vigorously, removing his hand from his crotch and throwing open the duvet. He shivered at the cool air. A smile blooming on his gorgeous face, Max climbed in and pulled the duvet back over them both.
Not just climbed in—climbed on top of Jeremy, his muscled body pressing Jeremy into the mattress, covering him, deliciously warm and strong. They kissed until they were breathing hard in the silence, lips wet and tongues exploring.