“I work with them, that’s it,” he clarified.
I finally got what he was trying to tell me, but I suspected he was actually trying to tell me something else and that had me worried. “You don’t consider them family?” I asked.
Mav sighed and looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. “They’re good men…great ones. And you’re right, they are a family.”
“But you’re not a part of it.”
“Don’t do that,” Mav grumbled as he dropped my hand.
“Don’t do what?”
“Don’t feel sorry for me. Not everyone needs what they have. What you have.”
I struggled with how to respond since I didn’t want to fuel his growing irritation and ruin the night we had planned, but I suspected we were treading dangerously close to yet another turning point in our relationship. I could press him and try to figure out why he didn’t feel like a part of a family that clearly included him whether he wanted it to or not, or I could back off and drop the whole thing and we could continue pretending it wasn’t a glaring sticking point. I finally settled for somewhere in between.
“I don’t have it,” I admitted. “That big family,” I clarified.
“Dom Barretti loves you, Eli. I have no doubt the rest of the Barrettis do too.”
I nodded. “I know they do,” I said softly, suddenly wishing I hadn’t brought the topic up. There was no way I could make Mav understand without seeming like a jealous, petty child. “We should get going so Baby doesn’t make a mess in your hotel room,” I said quickly as I tried to push past Mav. It had been Mav who’d suggested we take the dog back to the hotel with us this morning and I hadn’t argued since it meant I could spend an entire uninterrupted night and morning with him.
Mav caught me around the waist and held me there as he bent down to brush his lips against my ear. “They love you, Eli.”
I closed my eyes at that and finally said the words that made acid churn in my belly. “They shouldn’t.” With that, I managed to escape Mav’s hold and hurried down the stairs. He caught up to me at the landing and grabbed my arm, but instead of questioning me further, he kissed me hard and used his body to pin me against the wall.
The kiss was brutal and greedy and I eagerly returned every desperate swipe of his tongue over mine. I was panting when he finally released my mouth, but held me against the wall with his big body, his hard cock pressing against mine. “I think you should collect your prize as soon as we get back to the hotel,” Mav murmured against my mouth. His teeth gently caught my upper lip in their hold before releasing it and soothing the skin with his tongue.
“Even though you let me win?” I bit out as my dick swelled painfully and pushed against my zipper.
We’d ended up working out for nearly two hours in the gym at the hotel this morning, but mostly because we’d ended up getting distracted so often. It had helped when other guests had come into the gym to work out, but the second they’d left, Mav and I had been all over each other and at one point he’d started jerking me off as he’d had me pinned on the mat beneath him. He’d only stopped when a wide eyed, older woman had coughed to get our attention to let us know we were no longer alone. By the end, I had actually learned some additional moves, although I’d been too horny to really care and while I had managed to throw Mav over my shoulder when he’d grabbed me from behind, I’d had no doubt that he’d helped with that quite a bit. He’d declared me the winner and then dragged me up to the hotel room. We’d showered together and jerked each other off, but had run out of time to do much else since I was due at the hospital.
“You want a rematch?” Mav asked as he teased my lower lip in the same way he had my upper one.
“Fuck, no,” I groaned and then I grabbed his hand and practically dragged him to his waiting Harley. I used the ride back to the hotel to run my hands all over his thighs and ass, not caring who saw us and when he got me into the hotel elevator, Mav returned the favor by lifting me and pressing me against the wall and grinding his cock against mine. I was half temped to tell him I’d changed my mind when we got to the room and ask him just to fuck me right there against the door, but my eagerness to know what Mav’s tight ass would feel like as it engulfed my cock had me barely acknowledging my dog as he greeted us. I promised the confused animal I’d take him out later as I dragged Mav to the bedroom and slid the double doors shut so Baby wouldn’t crawl into bed with us like he was prone to do at home.