Page 39 of Except You

Fuck.

I turn the washer on and jog into the kitchen, finding Max leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in his hand.

Damn, he looks so fucking good like that. Divert thy eyes, you fucker!

I swivel my eyes to my mom, who is handing me a plateful of eggs, bacon, and pancakes.

“Here you go, love. Why don’t you two go outside. It’s really nice out, and we can light the fireplace.”

I peek over at Max and his eyes meet mine.

“Come on, Daddy,” I say, and he shakes his head, a grin forming on his face.

“Alright.”

I lead him out onto the porch and gesture at a chair for him to sit in. He plops that nice ass right on down, and I swallow the ball of lust forming within me.

Bad Beau. No.

While we sit, me shoveling food into my mouth like I haven’t eaten in days and him nibbling on a plain and very unappetizing bagel, I glower at him.

“Eat like a man, Max.”

“This is my third breakfast. While you were snoring away, your mom fed me. Twice.”

“Jesus. What else did she do?”

“Asked me questions from the list.”

“Oh god, did you answer them seriously?” I ask, and he grins at me, not answering my question.

“She also showed me some baby albums. You were a cute-looking kid.”

“I was very cute, thank you. And I still am.”

Max’s eyes settle on me, and he nods. “You are.”

See, it’s these little things that he says that make me swoon. From everything he told me, I assumed he’d be a homophobic ass, but he’s not. He’s good-natured, he’s funny, and fuck me, he’s hot. And he has no problem flirting with me and touching me and carrying my heavy ass around.

I really need to get him to do that again.

I’ve never been carried by a man in my entire life. Until yesterday.

“Stop flattering me. We might suddenly end up married.”

“I could think of worse fates.”

I roll my eyes and continue to shovel food into my mouth, trying like hell to get my heart rate under control.

This little crush is growing at an unseemly rate.

“Fine, when is the wedding date?”

Just as I say that, my mom gasps behind us, and I feel my cheeks flame.

“No, is this true?” she asks with hope written all over her face.

“Mom,” I say and then glower at Max who is doing nothing to help the situation. “We are not getting married.”

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