“How come I didn’t get coffee when I came in here?” Trent pouted.
“You didn’t ask. The first words Max said this morning were a whispered ‘do we have coffee?’ I think he needed some to become human again.” Harper ducked the towel Max threw towards her. “Hey, mind the oven! Sei un idiota!” She laughed as she called him an idiot.
“Hey, hang on. If you’re going to curse at me, do it in English so I can understand!” Max complained, looking to Trent for help.
“You’re on your own. I’ve put up with this for years!” He laughed as he sat next to him.
“Thanks,” he said with a pout. Trent leaned over and kissed him chastely, several times.
“Good morning,” he said quietly.
“Morning, handsome,” Max whispered.
“All right, you two. Enough canoodling. Time for breakfast.” Jocelyn placed plates in front of them both. It looked delicious.
“Thanks, Harper, Jocelyn. This looks great,” Max said.
“Yeah, thanks.”
“It’s okay.”
They ate breakfast with companionable conversation and for a short time after. Then Harper turned to Trent.
“Papa?”
“Yes, sweetheart.”
“Could I come and live at your apartment instead of here?” She looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers, which she did when she was nervous.
Trent was quiet for a moment. “Of course, you can. I thought you’d want to stay here because of everything you have, but if you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”
“I want to live here,” she whispered.
“Oh, Button, of course, you can. We can sort it out today, no problem at all.” He hugged her close. In a way, he was glad she had chosen to live at his house. He would’ve quite happily stayed here for her, but this didn’t feel like home anymore, and he certainly couldn’t afford the bills on it. But if she had wanted to stay, he would’ve figured it out somehow.
“Thanks, Papa.”
That decided, Harper spoke to Jocelyn and asked for her help to pack her things up. Neither were going to college or uni that day, and Trent had decided to call in sick too. No way would he be able to concentrate with everything that’s going on.
“I’m going to have to head out,” Max said quietly after the girls had left the kitchen.
Trent was a little disappointed, but he knew how busy Max was especially with taking some time off for his injuries. He also knew Max was filling his days with consultations and expanding his diary as much as possible before he was able to do more strenuous work, hopefully, next week.
“That’s okay. Get yourself to work. I’ll text you later.”
Max leaned forward and wrapped his arms around Trent’s neck. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
“That doesn’t leave a lot, Max,” Trent said in a serious voice.
Max hit his shoulder, then kissed him slowly. Trent slid a hand into Max’s hair and the other to his ass and gripped tight with both, enjoying the moan Max gave him. Their kiss deepened, tongues sliding along each other’s. After several minutes, they pulled apart, leaning their foreheads together, gasping for breath.
“I love you,” Max whispered into his mouth.
Trent kissed him again, slowly this time. “I love you.”
“See you later? Shall I come to yours? Unless you want to come to mine for dinner? With Harper of course, and Jocelyn if they want to.”
“I’ll ask them and see what they want to do, then let you know if that’s okay?”