Page 55 of For All It's Worth
Chapter Twenty Three
Charlie
Bytheendofour date, we were both exhausted, but it’d given me a real insight into what a relationship with Max would be like. In all honesty, it wasn’t that different. It was just now I could hold him close, walk holding hands, and stop to kiss him whenever the mood struck, as it did often throughout the day.
I was already addicted to the way that his mouth felt against mine and his soft sighs as our lips reconnected. It was difficult to keep things PG in public when he felt so good with his tongue in my mouth. My body reacted to him like he controlled it now, and I had no problem with that at all.
“Do you want to come back to my place for a bit?” I asked when we left the restaurant after dinner. We’d spent so much time shopping that there hadn’t been time for a movie and we had both been starving again. “We could watch something.”
Max looked a little reluctant and it had me tensing. He felt my reaction since he had a firm grip on my hand, our fingers laced together. “Sure, it’s just…I want to take things slowly.”
“Oh!”
He began to pull away.
“No, that’s fine. I thought…well, I don’t actually know what I thought, but taking it slowly is fine with me. I’m happy to go at whatever pace. Anything you need Max, okay?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So we’ll watch a movie, maybe make out a little. You set the pace.”
Max had relaxed some by the time we got back to my apartment. Henry was out with my brother and his other friends since it was their usual Friday night routine. Having the place to ourselves seemed to make Max tense up a little again, so I tried to reassure him. “Max, nothing but kissing unless you initiate more, okay?” He nodded his agreement and settled onto the sectional.
I pulled a couple of bottles of water from the fridge, handing one to him as I sat down beside him.
He held the remote and was flicking through the options on the screen. “Any preference?”
“Nah, just nothing heavy. Maybe a comedy?”
Max eventually settled on a movie, checking for my approval before switching it on.
It took a while for the tension to bleed out of him, for Max to settle back and rest his head on my shoulder. I wrapped an arm around him, pulling away a fraction when he stiffened.
I didn’t watch the film on screen, I watched Max gradually lower the walls he’d put up for whatever reason. Not because I wanted to push things further; I’d meant what I’d said. More because I wanted him to relax and trust me.
There was a point that I thought he’d fallen asleep, so I kissed the top of his head and started to pull away. As I shifted away, he put a hand on my thigh to stop me.
“Where are you going?”
I turned so I could face him properly. “I thought you were asleep, I was going to get you a blanket.”
He paused the screen. “Are you not watching the movie?”
“Nah, I just wanted to spend time with you.”
He blushed, “That’s going to take a bit of getting used to, you saying stuff like that.”
I lifted a hand to his cheek, he had such sharp features he looked elf-like in the right light. I rubbed a finger over his cheekbone, down along his jaw to his slightly pointed chin. Grasping it lightly, I pulled his face to mine, stopping just shy of our lips meeting. “This okay?”
He didn’t answer with words, just closed this distance and brushed soft lips over mine.
Our kiss started out teasing. Just light brushes until need built between us and I used my hold on his chin to open his mouth to my tongue.
He slipped his hands around the back of my neck, holding my head in place, controlling the angle.
I was happy to just explore his mouth with my tongue but before long, the heat had risen between us, and it wasn’t enough. He needed to be closer. I ran my hands down to his waist before moving back up into his silky hair. I couldn’t get enough of being able to touch him. To taste him on my tongue. Hearing his little gasps and sighs as he reacted to me so beautifully.
Max climbed onto my lap, his knees bracketing my thighs. His tongue battled mine and he bit at my bottom lip as he braced himself with hands on my chest.
