Chapter 3 #4
Adam’s shoulders stiffened like he was bracing to hold up the world. Yikes. Guy was that uptight about the idea of Mo fucking him? He definitely had some stuff to work through.
“Like this?” He set the kitten on Adam’s left shoulder, then knelt behind him and peered over his right.
“Perfect,” Maryan said. “Mo, maybe if you grab the right tit—uh, kitten?”
Mo actually felt the heat of it when Adam flushed. He snickered and cupped his hand under Adam’s, supporting Orange Crush. “Think this is the weirdest first family photoshoot ever?”
At least the joke made Adam unclench a little bit, and he glanced up at Mo. “No way, did you ever see that old website?”
Mo had no idea what he was talking about, which was fine, since looking into Adam’s dumb, handsome face at that range apparently fried his brain.
The sudden silence made the artificial shutter of Maryan’s phone camera sound that much louder.
“That one’s definitely going on our Instagram,” she said cheerfully.
“I think I’ve got plenty here, along with the video I got earlier today.
And these guys are just about exhausted.
” It was true—the black cat hadn’t stirred from its nap, and Georgia had folded into a mini loaf and its head kept wobbling forward like it was too tired to stay awake.
“Do you want me to bring out another group, or are you out of time for the day?”
Mo was all set to go for another round of kitten cuddles—was, in fact, mentally rearranging his schedule to make time for regular kitten therapy—but he didn’t even get past opening his mouth before Adam shook his head. “Maybe next time,” he said stiffly. “Thank you, though. These guys are great.”
“Well, the black one and the creamsicle are spoken for, but if you’re thinking of adopting, the other two are available. They’re kind of a two-for-one deal, though.”
“Just like us,” Mo chirped, and ducked forward and smacked a kiss on Adam’s cheek, all impulse.
He definitely should’ve taken theater with Sage. This was fun.
Under his palm, Adam went so stiff, Mo stood up and backed away.
Evidently, he didn’t share the sentiment.
“Thank you again for letting us do this,” he said to Maryan.
It took him a moment to get to his feet; he had his hands and lap full.
“I hope you get lots of people coming in looking for a friend.”
Like he’d turned into a robot all of a sudden. Mo didn’t get it. Then again, he didn’t have to. Adam wasn’t his boyfriend for real—even if this would have been a fun thing to do with an actual partner. Especially if said partner lived somewhere the kittens could come home to.
Adam didn’t speak much as they exited the shelter and got into the horrible boring Land Rover.
He sat so stiffly, Mo’s body ached in sympathy. If he reacted like this every time there was a camera on them, this fake-dating plan wasn’t going to work.
“Well, that was fun.” Mo’s voice came out dry and bristling, more sarcastic than he actually felt. Well, about most of the experience. The kittens had been fun, and Adam had been kind of nice to hang out with—until Maryan came back and Adam reinserted the stick up his ass.
He grunted and said nothing at first. After a long pause, he finally spoke in a bland, media-approved tone. “Kittens are great.”
“Yes, who doesn’t love kittens. Too bad about the rest of the company, though.”
Adam’s mouth tightened, but he didn’t take the bait. Wow. So he wasn’t even going to give Mo this fun? At least when Adam snarked back, Mo could give it to him guilt-free.
Instead, he sat there in silence with a man who was apparently embarrassed to be associated with Mo in public.
That had to be the issue, right? Adam had acted normal-adjacent until someone else was watching, and then every time Mo had opened his mouth, Adam got stiffer.
So great. Mo was fake dating a guy who thought Mo being himself was embarrassing.
He couldn’t escape his parents’ attitude even when he was fake dating someone to escape his parents’ attitude.
Adam turned east off the Piestewa Freeway, right back into Biltmore. Guess Mo wasn’t getting dinner out of this.
“Well, today certainly has been something,” Mo said as they pulled into his drive. “I’d say thank you, but that would imply gratitude.”
Adam’s knuckles turned white against the steering wheel. “You wouldn’t want anyone to think you were grateful to others.”
Mo’s stomach rolled. He remembered now why he’d never tried to make friends with this asshat. Every time they met previously, Mo left the exchange feeling like Adam found him wanting.
Mo got out of Adam’s boring car and refrained from slamming the door long enough to say, “See you next time, snookums. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it, but for some reason, you did agree to this!”
If Adam had thoughts about that, Mo didn’t want to hear them. He stomped up the front steps and jabbed in the code to unlock his door.
He considered calling Sage, but they were probably too busy to hear about his bullshit again. Instead, he stalked toward the garage. He needed some mechanical therapy and a palate cleanser after that horrid Land Rover.