Epilogue
The following day
Reid McKinley
The worst part about traveling early was getting Max out of bed, but the perks were enough to energize me for the both of us. Everyone else was still asleep, so we snuck out undetected, having already covered the goodbyes last night. Even better, we were back in a chilly DC by eleven AM.
One Uber later, and we were ready to pick up groceries close to my place. I took a photo of my coffee as we headed into the store, and I posted it in our travel group chat.
Rise and shine, friends. We’re already home, and you haven’t even boarded your flights yet. Suckers.
That oughta stir some shit with the brats.
Possibly motivate Sam to move back to the East Coast too.
Max’s phone dinged with the message, and he opened up the chat after grabbing a cart. “That’s cruel,” he chuckled.
“It is I, raiser of hell,” I said proudly.
He snorted.
We dumped our carry-ons in the cart, then started our romantic stroll through the produce section.
“What time does Alex usually come over?” I asked, picking up a bag of carrots. I wouldn’t mind a nice steak and some roasted vegetables tonight. Maybe a baked potato.
“Right after school,” Max replied. He went over to the apples. “We can do dinner at your place, right?”
I side-eyed him. “Max, I’m gonna try to get you to my house every damn day. You might as well move in. There’s a guest room with Alex’s name on it too.”
He sent me a quick grin. “I will happily spend every night with you, but I’ll have to slow things down for Alex’s sake. Even though he’s expressed that ‘Uncle Reid’s house is way cooler,’ I’m not sure uprooting us right this second is a good idea.”
Logically, I knew he was right—and we were in no rush. But it sure felt good to hear that Max was as impatient as I was.
“We’ll be flexible on the weeks you have him,” I decided with a nod. “Totally unrelated, I think I’m gonna buy a new TV for the guest room. Maybe an Xbox or…PlayStation…?” I trailed off, unsure which one Alex preferred.
Max narrowed his eyes at me, and he looked to be fighting against the amusement in his expression. “He likes PlayStation.”
I nodded. “I think I’m gonna get a PlayStation.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “Totally unrelated.”
Totally.
I’d get my steak tomorrow instead. Max had found a good deal on chicken tenders, so that was why I sat my happy ass down at the kitchen table while he ruled the food prep. I’d finished my task of slicing up vegetables for the oven.
Alex sat across from me, already studying for his midterms. He had his laptop open, three thick books also open, and two notebooks. And his phone.
I was damn proud of that kid. He was so disciplined when it came to school.
He’d realized early that learning didn’t come easy for him, so his mothers and Max had helped him set up a structure in which he could retain information better without stressing himself out.
The boy created his own flash cards, for chrissakes.
Back in the day, I wasn’t sure I’d even cracked my books three days before midterms.
I hadn’t gotten any A’s either…
I took a sip of my coffee and opened my phone.
“Was there anything else you wanted me to put on the list, buddy?” Max asked. “I’m gonna run errands after work tomorrow.”
Alex pushed up his glasses and glanced over at Max. “Just the markers, specifically orange and green.”
“Orange and green, understood.” Max made a note in his phone. Then he grabbed the tray I’d prepared with vegetables, and he placed them in the oven. “Remember to utilize Uncle Reid for economics. He’s great at that stuff.”
I smirked, fully aware of what he was doing, and inclined my head. “Utilize me whenever, son.”
Alex grinned and scrunched his nose. “All you do is complain about taxes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, that’s not entirely correct, is it? I bitch about them when the money isn’t going to the right places. I think people are way off the mark when the arguments boil down to just raising or lowering taxes.”
He pursed his lips and nodded thoughtfully. “Makes sense.” He shrugged. “You already helped me score an A on my paper on market supply, so I’d definitely come to you before Dad.”
I chuckled. “Hear that, Max?”
He smiled wryly. “Uh-huh.”
Alex cocked his head and shifted in his seat to face Max better. “This is the third time today you’ve told me to turn to Uncle Reid for something. Like I don’t already know? Am I too high-maintenance for you?”
That cracked me up. The boy was sharp. He was onto Max’s unnecessary scheming.
“Of course not,” Max replied vehemently. “I was just…”
Nervous. He was nervous.
“Ignore me,” Max finished.
I didn’t know why he was nervous about telling Alex that we were together, though.
Alex and I had a good relationship. We texted memes to each other, for fuck’s sake.
It didn’t get better than that. In my day, that was the equivalent of my wandering aimlessly around Gramps’s garage while my old man tinkered with his car there.
We hadn’t spoken much, but I’d eyed the walls of tools, checked the shelves with paint and thinners, and watched Dad pretend he knew something about engines. Quality time well spent.
Today, it was meme culture.
Alex shrugged and went back to studying, Max concentrated a little too hard on the cooking, and I rolled with the punches.
I’d told him we didn’t have to have this conversation with Alex today; we were in no hurry, but he’d said he wanted it out of the way so we could start spending more time at my house.
I went to Mclean House’s website and figured it was time to check off the next item on my list.
Become a member in their online forum. We’d get to the paid membership eventually, so we could attend events out at their property, but I wanted to lurk a bit in the background first. Or rather, I didn’t want Max to think I felt an urgency to belong to another community.
All I wanted was an upgrade of our social circle.
With our out-of-towner friends so far away, we needed locals to hang out with.
Choose your handle.
I took another swig of my coffee and went with the same username I’d had on our shitty Discord server for Old Town. Max had once picked it for me after approximately seven beers.
BruiseMassIndex.
It was about as cool as the one I’d chosen for him, @404NotFound.
Maybe he could change that now…
I’d sure as fuck found and claimed his overthinking ass.
Once I had an account, I searched for him, knowing he’d registered a profile a few years ago.
Sure enough.
I sent him a friend request before I began hunting down the others I knew at Mclean, mainly some of the founding members and the ones they’d stolen from us. Nora, Lane, Corey, Lin, Beau…
Their online community was impressive. A Sadist could get used to sneaking information here. Members wrote their own journals and shared interesting information in the discussion threads.
Their event schedule was packed too. Demos, club nights, bondage sessions, big events and small, and chill get-togethers.
Three kinds of monthly munches. One where the entire community was welcome, hosted at Macklin’s on K Street—good restaurant—one for the Mclean Littles, and one for rope enthusiasts.
The more I read, the better I felt about us moving on from Old Town.
This was what we needed, a solid community where Max and I could get to know new people, dip our toes in the nonsexual end of the pool for casual play with masos—and they actually had a pool too.
But for as much as I was beginning to look forward to a more active social life, I hoped Max didn’t want to venture further in terms of play with others.
I finally had him. Lord knew I’d waited in line long enough.
“Alex?”
“Um, yeah…hold on.” Alex finished typing what he was working on, then glanced at Max. “What’s up?”
I looked at him too, and I saw what he was gearing up for. He cleared his throat and threw a dish towel over his shoulder.
I lifted my brows. You’re not even gonna let him finish his studying?
Evidently not. “I wanted to tell you that I’ve met someone.”
Some twenty-five years ago…
“Whoa.” Alex straightened in his seat, visibly surprised.
My mouth twitched.
Truth be told, I’d expected to be at least a little bit nervous, but when push came to shove, my only source of worry for so long had been Max himself. And I’d locked him down properly, so I guessed that was all there was to it.
“You know him already,” Max confirmed.
Alex’s initial reaction was to glance at me quickly, and that settled things for me even more. We weren’t a shock to anyone who knew us. Dylan certainly wasn’t going to be surprised when I called him tomorrow.
I let a smile break free.
The kid smiled back, then chuckled and faced his dad. “You and Uncle Reid?” he pressed.
“Yes.” Max nodded. “How do you feel about that?”
Alex shrugged and scratched his nose. “All good. Congrats and stuff. Maybe Moms can quit talking about it now. Every time you see each other, they gossip about if you’re together or not.”
Well. There we go.
“Can you relax now, darlin’?” I asked Max.
He let out a breath and chuckled, maybe at himself. “I suppose so.”
“Darlin’,” Alex snickered. “That’s weird.”
I smirked.
The following week
“Sounds like you made the right call,” Reese replied, biting into his burger.
“Yeah, but maybe a couple years too late.” I took a big bite of my burger too.
The joint was packed with the lunch crowd, and I was far from the only one decked out in high-vis. In fact, I was fairly sure I recognized some of the construction crew from the nearby worksite I’d just left.
Reese shrugged and grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the bar. “Not if Max needed the extra time to let go of OT. I’d probably be just like him.”