CHAPTER 24
maverick
Hot! Hot! Hot!” I hissed as I grabbed the coffee mug out of the microwave. I fumbled as I almost dropped it, swore even louder when it burned my palms, and narrowly avoided breaking it while I tossed it on the counter. “ Goddamn!”
“Are you okay in there?” Harley called from the bedroom.
“I’m good!” I shouted back and hoped he believed me, despite the way my voice cracked. Clearing my throat, I repeated, “I’m good. Just… give me a minute, and I’ll be in there.”
After cleaning up, I’d left Harley in my bed to surprise him with my favorite comfort food.
Honestly, you couldn’t go wrong with a microwaved mug brownie made with Kahlua.
Drunken brownies made everything better—at least for me, they did.
Considering it was his first time for anything, I wanted to do something to ease his worries, if he had any. Hopefully, he didn’t.
Grabbing the only old dish towel I had, I wrapped the mug up, found a spoon, and hurried back to the bedroom.
Harley sat awkwardly in my bed, looking like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
One of my shirts hung slightly loose around his lean frame, and his hair was disheveled and finger-combed.
I could get used to the sight of him like this.
“Come here.” I climbed on the bed behind him and scooted around until my legs were on either side of him. Before I was settled, he leaned back into me with a little sigh—a notion that made my heart swell. His body was warm against mine, and I wrapped one arm around his middle to keep him close.
“What’d you make?”
“Drunken brownie in a mug.”
“That’s not a thing,” he scoffed.
“It is when I make them,” I retorted. As I said it, he took the spoon and helped himself to a big bite. The groan he let out was utterly satisfying and made me smile. See? Drunken brownies made everything better.
“How drunken are we talking?” Harley asked through another bite.
“Eh.” I made a face. “I only add a little bit of Kahlua.”
At least, this time. Sometimes, I added more, but I wasn’t about to tell him that. I also didn’t tell him that sometimes I skipped the brownie part altogether and just drowned in a bottle of Kahlua. It just depended on my mood.
In silence, we shared the brownie while my fingers danced lightly over his skin.
I couldn’t get enough of him. The feel of him under my fingertips and the warmth of his body against mine brought a kind of comfort I didn’t know existed.
His presence was soothing. It calmed down the ramped-up part of my mind that was constantly on.
And I liked how he melted against me as I kissed the curve of his shoulder and the side of his neck.
“Can I ask you something?” I said finally, and he let out a small sound, encouraging me to do so. “Why haven’t you done anything?”
Maybe it wasn’t my place to ask, but I was curious. I was under no delusions that he’d waited just for me, but considering his reputation in high school, I couldn’t help wondering.
“Oh,” Harley replied, his voice flat. Fuck. “That.”
“Forget I asked,” I told him quickly. The last thing I wanted was to make him uncomfortable. It was that important.
“No, no, it’s fine… I just.” He sighed. “I don’t know. I don’t… find people attractive.”
Not what I was expecting.
“No, that’s not right. I do—a lot of people. I’m just not attracted to anyone. My dick doesn’t work.”
“It seemed to work just fine with me.”
“That’s different.”
“How?”
“I don’t know,” Harley muttered. I could feel the tension in his body and kissed his temple.
“Maybe you’re just Maverick-sexual,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. A breathy chuckle was about all I got from him. Feeling bad for bringing it up, I kissed him again. “You know it doesn’t matter, right?”
“To you, it doesn’t,” he said. “But I’m the broken one.”
“You’re not broken,” I whispered. “Sometimes, it takes the better part of your life to figure it out.”
“I want to know now.”
I couldn’t imagine how the uncertainty bothered him, considering his anxiety. I also didn’t understand. Knowing I was gay was easy. I’d known my whole life. Sure, Aidan made my life hell over it, but I never doubted or questioned my sexuality. I didn’t envy anyone who experienced that.
“You’re not broken,” I reiterated softly, pressing my lips to his temple and willing him to feel that I meant it.
“Why brownies in a mug?” Harley asked in an obvious attempt to change the conversation.
“Because I can make them.” I laughed. “And a warm brownie makes everything better. We’ll call it good aftercare.”
“Does this mean you’re making me a brownie every time we do anything?”
Every time. That made me grin. Him thinking of any future with me made my chest tight with emotion.
“I’d say yes,” I began, “but let’s face it. More than one brownie a day isn’t a healthy choice.”
“More than one?” he demanded. Rotating slightly, he stared up at me, and I smiled wider. “How many times a day are you doing anything?”
“I don’t have a TV, princess,” I told him. “We’ll have to find a way to pass the time whenever you’re around.”
“You’re incorrigible,” he commented, but there was no actual malice or frustration in his voice.
Setting the empty mug on the floor, I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him toward me.
His weight settled over me as I kissed him.
His fingers curled into my hair, and his mouth moved softly against mine.
My tongue broke through the seam of his lips as I deepened the kiss.
He tasted like chocolate and hopes I’d once given up on.
I was desperate for more of him. To taste him.
Touch him. Feel him. It was evident in the way my cock stiffened in my boxers and how my heart raced wildly.
There was something so addictive and so terrifying about being with Harley.
Inexplicably, he was everything I wanted.
It didn’t matter the time or distance. Once he cracked my heart open all over again, it was game over.
This was it. All the same feelings came surging to the surface, unforgiving and unforgettable.
I just had to hold onto the hope that he felt the same.
“Stay the night?” I asked quietly, expecting him to say no. A few hours together was one thing, but his absence wouldn’t go unnoticed by his mother. It was a silly thing of me to ask, no matter how badly I wanted him to.
“Okay.” The answer came out so quickly and simply that it surprised me.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Harley said with a small laugh. He kissed me once. Twice. Three times. Each one was a little shorter as his smile grew. “I want to, Maverick.”
“Okay.”
Gently pushing him up, I hurried across my living room to double-check the deadbolt and chain lock. They would keep Aidan from just walking in unannounced. I wasn’t ready for the fight that would happen if he walked in to find Harley.