Epilogue- Maxwell
Fourth of July
“Maverick! Don’t jump off that side of the dock, you are go-”
Splash.
Mav surfaces again, splashing and groaning. “Fuck, my knee!”
“Well if you stopped for a second and listened to me yelling at you, you’d know you were about to bash your knee in,” Clayton scolds like a disappointed parent.
I walk over to the edge of the dock, holding my hand out to help Mav up. Dragging him to the edge of the dock and out of the water, his knee is bloody and cut up.
Laughing at his pain, I help him down the dock where Clayton’s parents are sitting on the shore.
Amy holds up a first aid kit, already prepared. “Happens often, doesn’t it?” Mav mutters.
“Sure does. Kids run around here forgetting where the rocks are. Been bringing a first aid kit with me for years.” She leans forward on her chair, patting her leg for Mav to lift his foot. He hesitates for a moment before putting his big ass foot on her small thigh.
Amy disinfects the wound and Mav cringes, shutting his eyes at the sting. She then slaps on a waterproof bandaid, tapping his leg to let him know he is good to go. As if nothing happened, Mav runs to the dock and jumps off the opposite side.
Dax comes strolling down from the camp-site, a granola bar in his hand and finally awake from the dead. I’m not even kidding, we tried to wake him up like five times.
It feels so good to be here. At a lake with everyone that I care about. The only thing that would make it better is if Mom was here.
Clayton told me to invite her and I did, but I think she might stay put.
I’m sure if she tried to get away, my father would tell her not to come.
Not because he controls her, but because it had something to do with me.
I call her a few times a week, sending texts and updates just to let her know that I am perfectly okay.
I’m content with my life. It’s not like I’ll never see her again. Just later, when things aren't so heated and tension riled between Randall and I. It will never be fixed between us, but that’s okay. I don’t need it to be.
My life the way it is is enough.
Clayton and I both work for the same hospital. He is an ER technician and I’m an EMT until we decide where we want to call home.
Mav and Dax stayed in Florida, both of them becoming EMTs as well.
The goal is for all of us to be a nurse, but we had to get some experience under our belt first. I’d love to go somewhere that Dax and Mav will be, but what matters most, is being with Clayton.
I can jump on a flight anytime I want to see my friends and they’re more than understanding of that too.
Our day consists of swimming, eating, playing cornhole and badminton.
This is exactly what our weekend is going to look like and it’s such a good time to have everyone with me.
Dax and Mav are fighting in the water, splashing one another like kids and dunking each other below the surface.
That’s the thing about a body of water. No matter how old we get, it turns us into a bunch of children.
“Where’d you go?” Clayton asks, pulling me from my head.
“Just thinking about how perfect this is,” I admit.
“Yeah? What makes it perfect?”
“Everything. The food. The games. The weather. My friends. Your parents. You.”
“Well, buckle up, baby, because we have an entire weekend of it.” Clayton says, a cheese smile playing across his face.
“Jesus, I didn’t realize you guys were fucking badminton masters,” Mav grunts, pissed that he has lost yet another game to Clayton and I. “Can we switch up the teams or something?”
“What? Are you a sore loser?” Clayton jokes.
“No.”
Dax is silent and he has been pretty quiet today considering. “You good over there, Dax?” I ask.
“Yeah, why?”
“Awfully quiet today,” I explain.
“What? Does my sister not want you to use her to wet your dick anymore?”
Dax stays silent, face stoic.
“Oh my god. She ended it?”
“Fuck off, Maverick,” Dax fumes.
“Shit, I’m sorry, man,” I offer.
“Guys. Let it be. I’m fine,” Dax convinces but seems he’s talking more to himself than anyone else.
We all nod once though and respect his wishes. To Mav’s wants and needs, we switch the team up. Dax and I play vs. Clayton and Mav. They won this game. Mav cheers like an idiot who doesn’t realize he only won because Clayton scored most of the points.
“Take that, motherfucker!” Mav banters, dropping the racket like it’s a mic and he just had some profound moment.
“You only won because Clayton is on your side,” Dax points out.
“Fuck off. I helped!”
Going up to the net, I look Clayton in the eyes. His eyebrow quirks with a questioning look.
“You’re going down, pretty boy. I was being nice.”
“Yeah, right. Give me all you got.” Clayton teases.
“Oh, I’ll give you all I got,” I say, winking at him.
“Gag. Get a room. Or a tent. Somewhere that isn’t in front of my innocent eyes,” Mav says, making a gagging noise and sticking his tongue out.
I smirk, stepping back to the edge of our drawn up court. “Let’s go, mother fuckers,” I say, throwing the birdie in the air and whipping it over the side of the net. Mav flails his arm, missing completely.
“Point one,” Dax calls out.
The volley begins and we go back and forth before the birdie drops on our side, my racket missing it by just a hair. Games go on and on until Mav finally tires out. We tried to quit about three games ago but he was determined to get better. It didn’t work.
Cleaning up the game, we put all the supplies away and head back to the camp site where we make sandwiches, shoving chips between the layers, cracking open cans of soda, and relaxing until it’s time to hit the fireworks.
The sun is gone, the moon up high in the sky.
It glistens against the water’s surface, making it look white.
Mav and Dax are sitting down at the dock, feet in the water, waiting for the fireworks to begin.
Clayton and I are further back, closer to the camp site.
His parents have their lounging chair at the edge of the water, sitting at the shore with their feet getting splashed by the waves crashing on to the shore.
“How was your day?” I ask him.
“It was the best day. How was yours?”
“I agree. The best day.”
“Thank you for having me and having my friends, too.”
“Accepting you is accepting them. Plus, they’re funny and not that bad. Maverick is a hoot.”
I laugh, exhaling through my nose. “Yeah, he is, isn’t he?” Leaning my head on his shoulder, I take in the scent of him. He smells like sweat and the lake and smoke.
We had a fire as the sun went down before coming to watch the fireworks.
They start. Blues and red and greens bursting in the sky, the pops echoing for miles. The colors reflecting off the lake.
“You want to go closer and get a better view?” I ask Clayton, not taking my eyes off the sky.
“Nope, my view is just fine,” he says.
The view really isn’t great. Trees are a little in the way of the sky, but when I turn to see him, he isn’t looking at the sky at all.
He is looking at me. Grabbing his leg, I pull him closer to me until our bodies are touching.
Sliding my hand to his cheek and toward the back of his neck, I pull his face into mine, kissing him.
The lights from the fireworks illuminate us and it gives me the perfect view of him, shadowed a little, but still enough.
I want to keep this moment in my brain forever. Engrained.
Our kiss deepens and his hands trail up and down my body, like he can’t tell where he wants them, but puts them everywhere. I pull away for a moment, looking to see if anyone is watching us, but they aren’t.
I accept it, deepening the kiss and laying us back on the ground on top of the blanket we are sitting on.
“Mm, we can’t do anything right here,” Clayton mumbles against my lips.
“Sure we can,” I say, moving my hand down his body. Slipping into his shorts and boxers, I grip his cock.
Leaning over the top of him, I put my ear above his mouth and listen to the pants he lets out as a jerk him.
“Someone could see,” he pants.
“I’m watching. Just relax, pretty boy,” I soothe.
I work him to the edge of climax, listening to each sound he makes, each puff of my name. Just as his back arches and I know he’s about to finish, I let go, taking it away from him.
“What the fuck, Max,” he cries. “I was about to cum.”
“I know,” I smirk.
His parents and my friends are so focused on the fireworks, the booming echoes still happening.
I decide that this moment is the time that I’m going to face my fears.
Moving down his body, kissing along his torso outside of his shirt, I pull his cock out just enough for me to slip it into my mouth with confidence.
“Max, you don’t have to,” he whispers.
Instead of answering to tell him that I want to, I flatten my tongue and take him deeper. When he hits the back of my throat, his cock twitches in my mouth. Clayton’s hands move to my head, fingers entwining with the strands of my hair.
His hips jerk involuntarily.
I lick and suck at him, moving up and down his cock.
Taking a peak at him, I see that his lip is drawn between his teeth, eyes closed.
I know that he’s trying not to finish. He was already so close.
Pushing my head all the way down, taking his full length and letting him hit the back of my throat, I pull back up and jerk him again.
He moves his hips up and down, fucking my fist as he chases the climax.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, Max. I’m gonna-” his words are quiet and strained as he tries not to make a noise. He’s so afraid of someone catching us, but the thought of anyone walking over here at no notice has my dick rock hard in my shorts.
Clayton comes in my hand. It’s warm and sticky. He leans his head back, mouth open and trying to catch his breath. He tucks himself back into his shorts quickly.
I use the blanket as a towel, wiping my hand clean, but there is a stickiness left behind.
Before I can get up to fix that, as if right on time, my friends come barreling toward us, tackling me down to the ground.
“What the fuck are you two doing over here? Sleeping?” Mav shouts, but as he gets seated on the ground, I watch as his hand goes right where I wiped the cum off mine.
“Ah, fuck. What is that? Why is the blanket sticky?”
Clayton looks at me. I look at him. Mav looks at me and then at Clayton.
“Oh, don’t even fucking tell me,” Mav grimaces.
Dax laughs, loud and deep from his chest. “Oh this is fucking good!”
“I need bleach. An entire bottle. I have to soak my hand for the rest of my life,” Mav exaggerates.
“I think soap and water should be fine,” Clayton jests.
“Oh my god. Whose is it? Wait, don’t tell me. No. Tell me.”
“It’s Clayton’s.”
“Oh my god. You sick fucks. I think I’m going to hurl,” Mav says, voice shaky. His cheeks puff out and his clean fist comes to his mouth. “Oh my god.”
Dax, Clayton, and I all sit here laughing at him.
“This isn’t fucking funny!”
“Yeah, it is,” I confirm. “Come on, Mav, let’s go wash up.”
“No. I’m going to fucking drown your ass,” he retorts, going to grab me, but I run. Sand kicks back under my feet, my toes digging into the ground trying to not fall.
“Motherfucker!” Mav yells from behind me, catching up to me. When he does, he grabs me by the legs, shoving me over his shoulder and running to the water.
He throws me and dunks my head under playfully.
Dax and Clayton come in behind us. Amy and Bill laugh at us just being guys but shout at us to be careful.
The four of us splashing and kicking and shoving.
Fireworks are popping behind us. Amy pulls her camera out, snapping pictures.
Dax taunts Mav over what happened. Clayton and I kiss under the moon and bright lights snapping in the sky.
And I know that at this moment, everything is going to be just fine.
“I love you, Clayton. So much that my heart can barely hold it,” I proclaim. “It’s me and you for the rest of our days, pretty boy.”
“I love you too, Max. As long as I have you, I can get through anything.”
Just as the finale of the fireworks show, Clayton and I kiss. Deep, slow, and filled with a love I never thought I’d have.
I lived twenty-one years without Clayton and now that I have him, I know I can’t go a single one without him.
It's him and I, forever.