Page 94 of Except You
“Okay, fair enough, but you won’t even kiss him in public. What’s that about?”
Max glances at him, swallowing roughly, and then faces me, looking determined.
His hand slips through my hair and he pulls me forward, his lips brushing mine.
Coop scoffs and then Max deepens it, his tongue pressing into my mouth, making my dick perk up under the table.
Fuck. Me.
The possessive way his mouth moves over mine, the way he tilts my chin and sucks at my tongue makes a whimper leave me.
It’s only when he pulls away, our lips slightly swollen, that I hear Coop clap slowly.
“Finally,” he says, and I turn to look at him, my entire body flushed.
“Don’t question us again,” I rasp, and Coop gives me a curt nod.
“You got it. I won’t, not after that kiss.”
He wets his lips and then signals for the waiter to come over. Wine is poured, food is brought, and the entire time, I think of what Max did.
How he publicly claimed me. It might not be in front of his parents, or in front of a large crowd of people, but it was enough. That kiss in the small, dimly lit restaurant, told everyone what we are.
We are an us.
Chapter Sixteen
Max
Ipanic slightly after dinner. Just like I did after our first kiss. As soon as we pull into the driveway of my house, I feel my head start to spin. Everything seems sideways and overly warm. Leaning my head against the cool window, I try to breathe deeply.
“You okay?” Beau asks, and I manage a small, unsure nod.
I’m not okay. Not at all.
I kissed Beau in public. Claimed him. Everyone who was looking our way saw. What if this gets back to my parents? What if they find out I’m with another man? Is this what Magnus felt like? What a fucking nightmare he must have lived in. The stress. The panic.
Fuck. And I was part of the problem.
“Hey, you’re alright. Just breathe,” Beau says softly, pressing a cool water bottle to my overheating skin.
I inhale deeply through my nose and then out, fighting the urge to cry, but there’s a lump in my throat and it won’t dissipate. Seems it lives there now.
“Was it Coop? God, he’s such an asshole. I’m gonna kill him,” Beau mutters. I want to reassure him that it wasn’t, but I can’t answer, my heart racing, my vision going blurry.
It wasn’t Coop. It was Beau. My Bow-tie has me like this.
I’m falling for a man, and I can’t cope.
“Okay, Max, baby, just breathe,” Beau says again and then undoes his seatbelt and crawls onto my lap, knocking the horn in the process and making him jump. I let out a stuttered breath, trying to laugh, but it comes out more like a sob. I inhale shakily as he unbuttons my shirt slightly and presses his cool hands to my neck.
His forehead falls to mine and he murmurs to me, telling me to listen to his breathing, to follow him.
I do, trying to steady my heart, trying to just feel Beau against me.
It’s so easy to do this. I’d follow him anywhere. Anywhere.
And it eventually works. My head stops spinning and the nausea that hit me earlier subsides, leaving me a shaking, sweaty mess. I don’t know why Beau is attracted to me. I’m a hot, stinky mess.