Page 89 of The Sidekick

“Since when are you such a fucking quitter? Just how far did your balls crawl inside you? Or is the big boss man turning switch?”

“Max don’t make me start counting,” I rub my hand absently on my thigh, the pins there giving me a twinge that constantly reminds me of their presence. Of my mistakes.

Max’s brown eyes meet mine as he settles back into the couch, satisfied now that he’s gotten a rise out of me. I want to be irritated with him, but his defiance is what got my attention in the first place. I like the push and pull we always have for dominance in the relationship. He isn’t afraid of my bad attitude towards virtually everything. I don’t have to fake anything with him. And when he finally breaks down with pleasure and starts babbling, it’s one of the biggest and most rewarding turn-ons.

His eyebrow rises, and I’m reminded that we’re having a conversation here. My anger needs an outlet, and it’s gearing toward sex instead of a real conversation.

I spread my legs and get comfortable, gesturing for him to kneel in front of me. He sighs and gets up, grabbing the pillow from under the desk and setting it down before kneeling, hands flat on his thighs.

We sit in silence for a few minutes as I try and work through what I could possibly do next to help the situation. Preferably without fucking it up again. I don’t think she’s gotten a single letter I’ve written and that wilts me like nothing else could. My soul is in those words, every fucked-up piece of it. How do I talk to her about this without losing it? I can’t keep walking away to get it together.

Max keeps his eyes on the floor, actually behaving himself for once despite the sigh at the beginning. Fuck, he’s adorable.

“Are we sitting here stewing or making a plan?”

He had to ruin it.

“If you keep it up, you’re going to spend the rest of the night on the floor as a cockwarmer. This is your only warning before I start counting.”

His shoulders stiffen, and I can practically hear him pouting. Cockwarming is one of the only things that he actually takes as a punishment. There’s something about him not being able to talk back that he doesn’t like. I can’t imagine why.

My mouth has just opened to speak again when the door gets flung open dramatically, and Sarah is revealed in the doorway, face flushed and breathing heavily. The way I’m positioned has my open legs and a kneeling Max in full view. I thought everyone had left.

I glance at Max. He loves the game of who will catch us. This is one of the very few times that we’ve been caught in a somewhat compromising position. Neither of us really cares if we get caught, but we have to see if we can convince the person that it isn’t what it looks like.

He continues kneeling, eyes downcast in the perfect submission pose.

I’m not in the mood to play that game tonight, either. I feel too raw. I don’t think we could anymore now that Tera has made our relationship even more obvious.

“Can I help you, Sarah?” I ask calmly as she stares at my legs and Max’s position, practically panting. Max’s fingers tighten on his thighs. Is he jealous that I’m talking to her, or was it the tone I used?

“I just,” she takes a few steps into the room to get a better look, and my back teeth grind in irritation. Max’s shoulders have tensed enough I’m half afraid he’ll get up and punch the girl.

“Finish your sentence and get out,” I tell her flatly. It’s one thing to irritate me. It’s easy to do. But to make Max uncomfortable? Not acceptable.

She blinks at me stupidly and does some kind of pose she must think is sexy. “I just wanted to see if you needed any help.”

When she continues standing there with her lips in a ridiculous pout I say, “Step two of that command was what again?”

Max laughs very softly, his fingertips relaxing again.

Sarah has no answer for that, but her stance becomes more rigid, her attitude quickly becoming petulant. “Why does he get to stay?”

“Because he’s my fucking partner.” It feels so good every time I say that. He’s mine, and this bitch can fuck off.

Instead of making her think twice about being here, my words seem to excite her more.

“I could join you both,” she offers and takes another step closer.

“Is your name Tera?” I ask with a deadly tone.

Max’s breath sucks in sharply at the question. The fact that I’m finally acknowledging it to someone other than him means something. I get the heart-crushing feeling that it’s too late.

“What is it with her? You all act like she’s this perfect chick.” Sarah drops the pose as she finally loses her temper. “She threw a plate of food in your face and got you beat up the same night!”

“That’s right,” I snap my fingers with an insincere smile. “You’re the one that threw a plate at her tonight, aren’t you?”

“She deserved it. Even she said so,” The petulant defense makes me drop the fake gentleman act quickly.

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