Page 37 of Always
Maverick sighs and rubs his hand across his forehead. “She had me dress up like a fucking ninja, sneak across the RMU campus, the whole time she’s hummingMission Impossible. We climb the belltower, chip away at the mortar, get him off the base, only to be found by campus police who said they were already on their way to get him for her.” He grits out.
I tip my head back and laugh so loud I swear it echoes in our neighborhood. I point at Maverick. “You… you… She… She got you.”
Maverick’s jaw clenches as Damon starts chuckling.
“D-do you like it?” Raven asks, wrapping her arms around my torso.
I beam down at her. “Baby, I fucking love it. Thank you for stealing him for me.” I kiss her nose and tug her to me, letting my hand rest on the flare of her hip where it belongs.
“For the last time she- oh,fuck it.I thought I was going to fucking jail for vandalizing property. We fucking stole him for you. So don’t ever say I don’t… you know…” he makes a weird gesturing motion with his hands.
I grin big at Maverick, waggling my brows.“Looovvveeme?”
He exhales sharply out of his mouth and then sniffs, putting his hands on his hips. “Yeah.”
“You know Maverick, it’s totally cool and not gay at all to voice your affections for other men in your life. Some would even say it’s…emotionally healthy.”
He rolls his eyes. “This has nothing to do with your sexuality.”
“So then come on… give me a hug…” I open my arms real wide.
Mav clears his throat. “That’s really not necessary.”
“C’monnnnnn.”
He glares at me through his peepers but then takes the few steps it takes to get to me and gives… areallygood hug.
“That’s it man.” I squeeze him a little tighter and whisper. “Now, if I get a boner, it’s totally fine. It’s how I communicate love,” I joke.
“Christ, alright.” He laughs, pushing away from me.
“Hey no, wait. I just realized that out of the four of us, Damon and Raven are the only ones who’ve kissed all of us.”
Maverick is especially unimpressed. “I love you Jonas, but it would feel weird to kiss a man I see as my little brother.”
I smile broadly. “Little brother? Fair. I’ll take it.”
“Is that right?” Damon asks, stepping up to Maverick. “And what do you see me as?” They stare at each other for a few breaths, the tension between them rising.
Whoa. It just got ten degrees hotter.
“A good friend, somewhat of a brother, who fucks my wife with me.” Mav replies casually. “And does a fine job of it.”
Damon grins and they shake hands.
Oh. Okay. Obviouslythat’snot going to happen.
Raven tips on her toes, and kisses under my jaw, right on the tattoo of her name on my throat I got while we were in Rome with Sabrina and Parker. “Pizza?”
“You didn’t have any in Kingston?”
She shakes her head.Not without you.
“I’m down for pizza. C’mon. I can hang out with George later. I gotta catch him up oneverything.”
Damon eyes me a bit, but sometimes, there’s just stuff you gotta tell your gargoyle that you can’t tell your therapist-slash-husband, you know?
Once we’re sitting around the table eating, Raven tells me that when she contacted RMU for George, they told her yes. But they also said that George was actually the second George they had because George Sr. actually fell on top of a student in 1928 and crushed him to death. That’s why George Jr. only weighed three-hundred pounds. He was made of resin and some other stuff. But it required a lot of maintenance so they were going to get rid of him. She only paid half a mil for him. Mav chokes on his pizza when she tells us that.
