Page 97 of For All It's Worth
Chapter Forty
Charlie
I’dpromisedtotakeMax to the beach, so I had to hope that the beach in Mexico was a good substitute for a trip to my family’s beach house.
The resort that Will had chosen for his and Andy’s wedding was stunning. A long stretch of exclusive beach and a massive building with all that we needed in one place. Separate honeymoon cabins dotted the areas surrounding the main building
We arrived ahead of the grooms by a couple of hours so we could set everything up for the surprise and re-proposal. Our bags were whisked away to our rooms and we were caught up in hurricane Alice, as my mom tried to organize us all for the arrival of the happy couple.
“Charlie?” My eldest brother, Alex, asked as he approached us. “Could we talk later?”
“Uh, sure,” I hedged. Alex had been acting weird since I’d gone to him for advice about investing in the building that housed Books & Biscuits. There had been several “missed” calls, and I’d watched them ring. He didn’t know that. A number of texts had followed, but I’d been so busy with the renovations that I hadn’t done anything about them. Seeing him now, I felt kinda bad about that.
“What’s that about?” Max whispered in my ear as he finished hanging the banner Will had shipped ahead.
The staff had offered to set everything up, but Mom had insisted that we play a part in it all and had taken over organizing the next few days. She had no doubt whatsoever that Andy would say yes to Will. They’d been putting off planning their wedding with how busy work had been and this was the ideal solution.
“No idea.” I shrugged. I was curious but with the stress and upheaval of everything, I hadn’t wanted to endure another lecture from my eldest brother.
“Charlie.” There was a small admonishment in Max’s tone. “You can’t avoid him forever. What if he wants to make up?”
I thought about it. A year ago I’d have scoffed at the idea of making nice with my brother, but now, nearly a year after almost dying? Well, not having that hanging over me would be great.
Alex had been a puzzle I’d tried to figure out over a lot of therapy. We hadn’t had an issue with each other, except that he’d taken Will’s side and had never forgiven me when Will had. Was this him finally relenting?
An hour later we had our warning that the grooms were en route in their shuttle, so everyone dashed to their rooms to freshen up.
It hadn’t surprised me that Will and Andy’s friends had traveled to Mexico for this. They really cared about each other. What did shock me was how closely Henry and Pete stood together. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I’d seen them kiss once, a blink and you’d miss it pass of lips. I made a mental note to pin Henry down and ask what was going on.
“Shower?” I suggested as Max and I entered our suite. I’d managed to snag one of the last suites, on the same floor as the grooms. I wanted us to have a memorable break.
“Great idea!” He pulled me towards the large bathroom and flicked on the water in the massive shower. There was room in it for several people and like ours at home, it had two showerheads.
My stomach fluttered when I thought about our home. The idea that I had something permanent with Max. Going to sleep with him every night was better than anything in the world. Any time I had a flicker of anxiety and wanted to reach for a drink, I thought of Max clinging to me in the middle of the night. His breath on my neck, the feel of his skin against mine. Then I found the strength to push bad thoughts aside.
We undressed quickly as steam filled the bathroom, leaving our discarded clothes on the floor.
I let out a groan as I stepped under the water, the tight muscles of my shoulders relaxing.
Max’s eyes heated as he took me in and I stretched out a hand for him. He clasped it firmly and I pulled him towards me.
Our lips met, gently at first but quickly heating, my tongue probing his mouth, my hands in his hair, the damp strands sticking to my fingers.
Max pushed up on his toes, his cock brushing mine and making us both groan. His hand stroked me from root to tip and I bent a little to make us fit together better. Shower sex wasn’t always easy with our height difference.
Max took our cocks in his hand, the water making us slide together better, but not smoothly enough. Picking up some shower gel, I drizzled some over his hand, slicking the way better and thrust up into his grasp.
I rested my forehead against his and watched as he worked us quickly, each aware that we had somewhere to be soon.
As my orgasm rose, I kissed Max fiercely, breaking apart only to moan his name as I came apart over his dick and hand. Max followed after.
We traded kisses and whispered endearments as we washed and got ready to join the others down in the lobby.
No one was shocked when Andy said yes a second time, though his asking Will was the official story, we all knew that Will had proposed the same day, ruining Andy’s surprise. Will got to one-up him by surprising him with a fully planned wedding.
Max and I took time out from family stuff in the days that followed because he was worried about me being in such high-pressure situations. Though I avoided being alone with my mom or Alex, it was still a lot to deal with and I appreciated Max looking out for me.
It was his vacation too, so I made sure there were trips for us to take away from the others.
