Page 64 of The Battle of Maddox
I knew I flamed bright red at his question.
“Since when are you into the men?”
I let out a sigh. “Since him. I thought it was a little brother big brother thing, but I don’t think that’s it at all.”
“I thought the kiss was a stunt on stage.”
I let out a huff. “Me too, until I did it and I didn’t want to end it.”
Smoke shook his head. “There was nothing platonic about the way you were just looking at him, and him back at you. Are you…sure? He’s an adorable twink who has brought a hell of a lot to the band. It’s cool if you’re serious about this—everyone loves a good love story. But don’t fuck up the band because your dick got confused.”
“The last thing my dick is right now is confused.” I took a drink of the beer. “I was insanely confusedbeforethe kiss. I didn’t know what was going on. Where the hell were all these hard-ons andfeelscoming from? I don’t know if I would have figured it out if I didn’t decide that a statement like a man-on-man kiss would be a great idea as we tried to rescue two gay women from the jails in the Russia.”
“Did you two…” He waggled his eyebrows.
“No.” My headshake was small but definite. “No, we haven’t. He was terrified in Russia. He didn’t want to take the chance of getting caught or getting tossed in jail.”
“Don’t blame him.” Smoke shook his head. “There are still gulags out there, and that’s not a good look for anyone. How are you feeling about that part of the deal?”
“The physical stuff?” I blinked a few times. “He’s a really good kisser, and I discovered that my nipples are a whole erogenous zone I didn’t know existed. I think I’ll be okay.”
The smirk slipped on to his face. “You think that’s good? Wait until he finds your taint.”
I groaned, “Jesus.”
“And just wait until you discover the joy that is your prostate.” He kissed his fingers and laughed. “Perfection.”
Rubbing my hand on my forehead, I let a laugh escape. “This isn’t just about the sex, man. I was actually incredibly attracted to him from the get go. I didn’t realize it wasthiskind of attraction, but I’m kinda glad it is. He’s got a huge heart and big brain and it’s all attractive to me.”
“Brain?”
“Masters in chemistry, bachelor’s of music.”
“Ooh, smart and ambitious, I like.”
I chuckled. “But don’t mistake me. I like that ass, too.”
He grabbed my wrist. “Seriously, though man, go easy. You’ve never been with a guy. It’s not just the sex that’s different. It’s the way people perceive you and him and your relationship. Don’t…don’t hide this, Doxx. Don’t do that to him. You saw how Uriah and Austin got fucked over. I’ve been in a closeted relationship. It’s not fun. If you can’t handle it, please don’t hide it.”
I glanced in the direction Aaron had disappeared. “I don’t think I could hide this if I tried.”
Aaron
The paperwork we were given at the beginning had Josef’s email in it and I quickly typed out a short message to him. The computer had offered an encrypted email program when I opened it, so I used that. I tried to be as circumspect about what I was saying as I could, but there was only so much to say and only so many ways to hide it.
I desperately wanted to check my email, but I knew that would be really stupid because they still might be able to trace me.
Instead, I opened the encrypted browser on the desktop and started surfing the news for a bit. I hadn’t seen anything in the news for two days and that wasn’t usual for me.
Curiosity had me navigating to Rolling Stone’s website, and there was a small write up about the kiss on stage. They were calling it a protest against LGBTQ discrimination, which was true. About one second into the kiss, and then it had turned.
I flitted about for about twenty minutes. I wanted to give Maddox time to catch up with his friend—hisinternational spyfriend—until I came across the gossip site that had tried to bust Austin Lowell as gay, and in the worst way. They were a bad outlet and they were terrible to the LGBTQ community.
Lo and behold, there we were on the homepage, liplocked on stage.
Robot Servant Front Man in Scandalous Gay Affair
Ugh. I hated this website.
