The Color of Summer Page 8

  “Hello,” June signed to him. “My name is Juniper.”

  “Hello, Juniper,” Max signed back. His movements were far more clunky than hers, especially when spelling out her name. “My name is Max.”

  She signed something back that Max didn’t understand.

  “I don’t know that one.”

  “It means ‘nice to meet you.’”

  “Show me again?”

  She slowed her movements, and Max copied her, signing, “Nice to meet you.”

  June laughed.

  Max could just catch Tyler watching them in his peripheral vision as Max got a crash course in signing from a very accomplished six-year-old. Tyler didn’t interrupt them, though, and got up after a while to go to the kitchen, leaving them to practice in peace.

  June didn’t seem to mind that it took Max a while to catch up with her. She had flash cards with written phrases on one side and the sign movements shown in pictures on the other, and used them to put Max through his paces. After an hour or so, his brain felt fried.

  “Again?” he signed when he couldn’t quite catch what June was saying. Something about food.

  She repeated the phrase, slower this time.

  “Are you asking what’s for dinner?”

  “No, I want you to stay for dinner,” she said. “Daddy’s making tuna casserole.”

  “I like tuna casserole. That would be nice, thank you. Are you sure that’s okay?”

  June nodded. “I already asked him earlier.”

  “You’re very good at signing,” Max said, helping her pack away the flash cards. “I’m going to have to practice at home to keep up with you.”

  “It’s nice, because then if you meet someone who is deaf, you can speak to them and make friends.”

  “That’s true. I’m just going to talk to your dad real quick, okay?”

  June nodded, and Max hauled himself up off the beanbag. His knees creaked with the effort, and he winced. That was probably not a good sign.

  He found Tyler in the kitchen, crushing potato chips to go on top of the casserole.

  “My mom used to make it just like that,” Max said, leaning against the counter.

  “It’s the only way to make it.” Tyler looked over Max’s shoulder, possibly checking to see where June was, then leaned in to kiss his cheek. “Thanks for coming over. I think you made her whole week.”

  “She’s a smart kid. I don’t know about us practicing together—it was more like her teaching me.”

  Tyler grinned. “I was going to warn you. She takes it quite seriously. Her teacher is great.”

  “That’s good. She invited me to stay for dinner. I wanted to check that was okay with you before I said yes.”

  “Of course it is. She mentioned it earlier, but I warned her you might be busy.”

  Max shook his head slowly. “Nope. I don’t have plans for the rest of the week now.”

  June yelled for Tyler from the living room, and Tyler rolled his eyes before answering her.

  “Can I put the TV on?” she called.

  “Yes.”

  “You limit her TV time?” Max asked.

  Tyler shrugged. “She limits herself, if I’m honest,” he said and opened the oven to put the casserole in to finish cooking. “She likes playing with her dolls or being outside just as much. I can’t deny it’s a good babysitter, though.”

  Max grinned, and when he heard music from the TV, he reached for Tyler, tugging him in for a proper kiss. Tyler went with it, gently catching their lips together. Max liked the feeling of Tyler’s stubble against his cheek. It was far softer than it looked.

  “You haven’t invited me out on another date,” Max murmured, teasing.

  Tyler blushed. “I was going to. Then my daughter kind of waylaid my plans.”

  “I don’t mind. I like hanging out with her. Or both of you together.”

  “I have to work this weekend. So it’ll be next weekend before I’m free, and since she stayed with Dana on Saturday, I probably need to spend some time with her. So it might be—”

  Max cut him off with a quick kiss on his lips. “Tyler. We can work something out. Please don’t stress out about it.”

  Tyler blew out a hard breath, then nodded. “I know. I’m just trying to warn you now, because my life is hectic. And a mess.”

  “We’ll find time,” Max promised. “You might want to grab that casserole. It smells like something’s burning.”

  “Oh shit,” Tyler mumbled. Max just laughed.

  BETWEEN MAX’S schedule and Tyler’s promises to Juniper, it was a couple of weeks before they found a night that suited them both for a second proper date. Not that Max hadn’t seen Tyler in that time—Tyler stopped by the shop on a fairly regular basis, bringing Max lunch or leftovers or gossip from around Sweetwater.

  Max wrapped up his last client right on time and answered a few final emails before heading upstairs. The small apartment was starting to feel like home, now that he’d finished unpacking and setting things out the way he liked them. Before heading for a shower, he quickly straightened things up. Just in case they ended up back here.

  Instead of heading out of town tonight, they were just going back to the Irish pub for a few drinks and to watch a band. Staying in Sweetwater meant there probably wouldn’t be much PDA going on. Not that anyone would be surprised to see them together; they weren’t exactly hiding their friendship.

  Max dressed in black jeans and a light blue shirt, rolling the sleeves up to his elbows to show off his tattoos. He’d already noticed how much Tyler liked to look at them and wasn’t above showing off his better assets.

  Just as he was finishing up styling his hair, Max’s phone pinged with a message.

  I’m outside, but I’m early. No rush.

  Max stuffed his wallet and phone in his pockets, locked the door to the apartment, and rushed downstairs. Tyler was waiting right where Max expected to see him.

  “Hey,” Max said as he slid into the passenger seat. He immediately leaned over and kissed Tyler, knowing it would be a while before they got the opportunity again.

  “Hey yourself. You ready?”

  “Let’s go.”

  Chapter Ten

  TYLER WAS a lot less nervous for this date night than he had been for the first one. The past few weeks had been good to them, and he’d appreciated the chance to just hang out with Max, with no pressure to take it anywhere.

  They were definitely going to take it somewhere tonight, though.

  Max had looked incredible when Tyler picked him up, casual but still put together. After their second beer, he’d decided to leave his car at the pub and pick it up later. He didn’t drink much or very often, partly because he was a deputy and mostly everyone in town knew him, but also he never wanted to be hungover around June.

  When Max’s hand drifted to Tyler’s knee and squeezed, Tyler leaned in close so Max could hear him over the band.

  “Do you want to get out of here?”

  Max’s grin was devastating. He licked his lips and nodded.

  Tyler called a cab and prepared a story for why they were going home together if it turned out to be someone who he recognized. The driver wasn’t familiar to him, though, and Tyler made sure to keep his hands to himself on the journey back. Just in case.

  They stumbled up the stairs to Max’s apartment, and Max all but slammed the door shut behind them.

  “I’m not sure how I stopped myself from doing this all night,” Max murmured, then surged forward to press his lips against Tyler’s.

  He smelled good. Tyler slowed down their kisses, sinking into Max’s warmth, and let his hands roam over Max’s back. He smelled good and he felt good and Tyler had a twisty feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was pretty sure he’d never before felt this pulsing, pressing need to have sex with someone right now. This was beyond just being horny… he could take care of horny on his own. This was all about Max—the man who was currently looking at Tyler like he was starving for what
ever came next.

  Max led them to the couch and nudged Tyler to sit down, then straddled Tyler’s lap to keep their kisses going. He gently cupped Tyler’s cheeks in his strong hands and held Tyler in place, taking control in a way Tyler hadn’t experienced before. It was new and heady, and every time Tyler tried to lick into Max’s mouth he pulled away, teasing.

  “Max,” Tyler growled. He wrapped his arms around Max’s waist and hauled him forward.

  “Shit.”

  Max ducked his head and ran his nose up the side of Tyler’s neck, whisper-light, and nudged gently behind his ear. Tyler dropped his head back on the sofa, baring his neck for the slow, wet kisses Max was leaving there.

  Not wanting to be left out, Tyler tugged Max’s shirt free from his jeans and got his hands up underneath it, pressing his palms flat against the bare skin of Max’s lower back.

  “Tyler.”

  “Hmm?”

  Max rocked their hips together. It was pretty obvious they were both turned-on. He straightened up, sitting back on Tyler’s thighs, and very slowly unbuttoned his shirt.

  The first thing he revealed was carefully inked collarbones, delicate ferns that caressed his skin and framed the pale line of his throat.

  Then more of his toned chest, pale pink nipples that were pebbled and tight, a light dusting of hair right in the center of his chest. His flat stomach, pale and defined, home to darker hair that dipped down under his waistband.

  Tyler reached up and pushed the shirt off Max’s shoulders, exposing his toned forearms and the rest of his tattoos. Max was still breathing heavily, his lips kiss-bitten and pink. Tyler leaned in and pressed his lips to Max’s throat, wanting to taste his heartbeat.

  “What…,” Max started, tipping his head back to give Tyler better access. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to take me to bed,” Tyler said. He shuddered when he realized how true that statement was.

  “Are you sure?” Max grabbed Tyler’s face again so he couldn’t hide. “Tyler, I don’t want you to do something you’re not comfortable with. Or something you’ll regret.”

  Tyler licked his lips and tried to concentrate.

  “Honestly, I’m going with my gut right now,” he said. “I don’t want to think, I just want to….”

  Max nodded. “Okay.”

  He clambered off Tyler’s lap and offered Tyler his hand. Tyler took it, and let himself be led to Max’s bedroom.

  While Max pulled the curtains closed and turned on the lamps, Tyler pulled his own shirt off and toed off his shoes.

  “Getting started without me?” Max teased.

  “Just trying to catch up.”

  Max stripped off his clothes slowly, putting on a show, and Tyler couldn’t tear his eyes away. He wanted to study all of Max’s tattoos up close, not just from an artistic point of view, but because he wanted to lick and kiss and find out just how sensitive the ink had left his skin.

  When he was down to just his boxers, Max crawled onto the bed and cocked his head, inviting Tyler to join him.

  Tyler definitely didn’t need to be told twice. He kicked off his jeans and socks and quickly shuffled onto the bed, disrupting Max’s neat sheets as he nudged Max onto his back. From there, he could cover Max’s slim body with his own and kiss him stupid.

  “Do you want a blowjob?” Max asked when Tyler took a break from his lips to kiss and lick at his neck. He sounded breathless. Tyler liked it. “Or you wanna fuck me?”

  Max’s mouth was on Tyler’s throat and he shuddered. “Actually, I was thinking you could fuck me.”

  Max paused. Then he kissed Tyler very gently. “You sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay.”

  Max kicked his boxers the rest of the way off and leaned over to grab stuff from his nightstand.

  “Roll over,” he instructed, tapping Tyler on the hip. Tyler did as he was told, grabbing one of Max’s pillows and burying his face in it. He felt like he was floating, like this wasn’t really happening to him. He pushed away his concerns and decided to just feel, to live in the moment.

  Tyler moaned softly as Max gently teased at his hole with soft fingertips. Then he drizzled cold lube down Tyler’s crack, making him jump.

  “Ass,” Tyler muttered.

  Max leaned down and bit Tyler’s asscheek, then kissed it.

  “Not sorry.”

  He gently eased Tyler open with slick fingers, twisting and teasing until Tyler felt like his spine was drawn tight like a bow, tension coiled in his muscles and his cock hard as a rock.

  “Please,” he murmured into the pillow.

  Max must have heard. “On your side,” he said, nudging Tyler where he wanted him. Tyler did as he was told, drawing his top knee up toward his chest.

  He heard and felt Max shuffling around behind him.

  “Condom?” Tyler asked.

  “Yeah. Is this your first time?”

  Tyler hesitated. “We can discuss the specifics later, but it’s not the first time I’ve had something dick-shaped in my ass.”

  “Good to know.”

  Despite Max’s careful prep, Tyler still jumped when Max started to ease his cock in.

  “Shh. You’re okay. I’ve got you.”

  Max kissed Tyler’s neck and shoulder, running his fingertips over Tyler’s belly and cock, pinching at his nipples. It was a lot.

  “Oh my God, Max.”

  Tyler’s cock was flagging at half-mast, the sensations of everything overwhelming his brain. He could recognize that Max was good at this, it was good sex, intimate and sexy and perfect, but oh my God.

  Max kept it easy and slow, still kissing Tyler and touching him everywhere, and then it was too much. Tyler reached back and tapped Max’s hip.

  “Can we stop now?”

  “Of course,” he murmured, lips still caressing Tyler’s shoulder as he carefully pulled out.

  “Sorry.” Tyler shifted onto his back and threw his arm over his face.

  “Don’t be,” Max said. “Hey.”

  He poked Tyler in the side. Hard.

  “What?”

  “Are we done? Because, I’m just saying. We don’t have to be done, if you don’t want to be.”

  “You didn’t get off.”

  “Neither did you,” Max said. “I mean, I’m happy to cuddle or whatever. Or I could blow you.”

  “Come here,” Tyler said with a laugh.

  Max did as he was told, straddling Tyler’s lap, then leaning in to lie comfortably on top of him. Because making out? Yeah, that was good.

  They kissed slowly, surely, cocks and chests rubbing together as Max rocked back and forth. Tyler slowly became aware that his cock was not just hard, it was sticky, precome beading at the head.

  “Lube. Need the lube,” he muttered.

  Max slapped around on the bed until he found it, then poured it straight onto Tyler’s cock from the bottle.

  “You like doing that way too much,” Tyler said as he shivered from the cold.

  “You make funny faces. Totally worth it.”

  The lube warmed up quickly when Max started rutting against Tyler’s stomach again, rubbing their cocks together in the slick mess. Tyler reached around and grabbed a handful of Max’s ass and wrapped his other arm around Max’s shoulders in a desperate attempt to take control of the situation.

  Which was ultimately futile.

  Max was way too happy to be in control of this, chasing his own orgasm with breathy moans and sharp little bites at Tyler’s collarbone.

  “I really can’t wait for you to fuck me.”

  That was enough to tip Tyler over the edge, coming between their slick stomachs with a choked-off moan.

  “Oh, fuck yeah,” Max said, leaning back to watch Tyler come. Then he pinched Tyler’s nipple. Hard.

  “Fuck!” Tyler wanted to tell him to warn a guy, but he couldn’t deny he liked it.

  Max cheated, reaching down to jerk himself off onto the growing mess on Tyler’s stomach. />
  “Too fucking hot,” Max grunted. To pay him back, Tyler tweaked his nipple, and Max practically growled as he came.

  Tyler was going to complain that he was the one with come all over him, but then Max collapsed down and spread it between them. Which was gross, but also strangely sweet.

  “Will move in a sec,” Max said breathlessly. “Came too hard. Brain cells dead.”

  Tyler slapped his ass playfully.

  “Nope. Still not moving. Totes dead.”

  “Come on, you’re heavier than you look,” Tyler grouched.

  “You’re the one who got come on the sheets.”

  “You’re not funny, Max Marshall.”

  Max laughed and rolled over. “Fine. I’ll go find something to clean you up.”

  Tyler watched Max’s naked ass as he walked out of the room. He ached in new and interesting ways. He took a deep, exploratory breath and sighed. Everything in this room smelled like Max—his cologne, his sheets, something that might have been his shower gel. Tyler liked it, a lot.

  He wasn’t particularly experienced when it came to sex. Tyler could go through his entire dating history—including Max—on one hand, and had always felt embarrassed about being in his thirties and being so lacking in sexual partners. He couldn’t help but compare the sex he’d had with Max to the sex he’d had in the past… and it was like his whole world just got turned upside down.

  He had to consider that maybe he wasn’t bad at sex after all. He had just been having it with the wrong people.

  When Max came back in, he was still naked and rubbing at his belly with a damp towel.

  “Holy shit,” Tyler said when Max grinned and tossed him the towel.

  “What’s up?”

  “Apparently I’m really into having sex with men.”

  Max flopped on the bed and laughed until he cried.

  “That was mean,” Tyler grumbled as he wiped lube and sweat and come off his skin. “I was serious.”

  Max leaned over and kissed Tyler’s shoulder. “After everything we’ve been through tonight, now is the moment you decide to have a revelation about your sexual orientation?”