No. That wasn’t possible. Jed didn’t drink. If Dan was to be believed, not so much as a beer had passed his lips since he was sixteen. Max reached around him and snagged the covers. “Bed,” he repeated. “Come on, get in.”
Jed scooted back and folded his long body into the bed. He held up the sheets for Max almost absently, as though it was something they did every day.
Max slid in beside Jed with equal lack of thought. With Flo curled up in the corner of the room, he didn’t feel the need to be anywhere else.
He lay on his back and watched, faintly amused, as Jed shoved the covers down to his waist and pushed his pillow aside. He’d noticed that before, the way Jed couldn’t get comfortable in a real bed. It was almost like he didn’t know how. Max touched his shoulder. “Come here.”
Moving with care, Jed followed his direction and put his head on his chest, letting his bad leg rest over Max’s own. Max rubbed his hands over Jed’s arms and shoulders, noting the strange texture of the burn scar but paying it no heed. “It’s been weird around here without you. Where did you go?”
Jed closed his eyes. He was silent for so long Max wondered if he’d fallen asleep. The low rumble of his voice took him by surprise. “Phoenix.”
Max ran a tentative hand through Jed’s damp hair. It was growing longer by the day. “What’s in Phoenix?”
“A memorial service.”
“For a soldier?”
“Yeah. A friend.”
A tremor ran through Jed. It was subtle, but Max felt it. He tightened his arms around Jed, unsure if he was cold or distressed, and rubbed his chin gently on his head. “I’m sorry.”
Jed looked up. Suddenly, he seemed closer than ever. “Don’t be. It’s over now. It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Max gazed down at Jed, absorbing the heartrending pain in his eyes. His hand moved of its own volition to cup Jed’s face. He swiped his thumb gently over his cheek and brushed away the solitary tear. “I missed you.”
Jed put his head down and closed his eyes again. “I know. I’m sorry.”
They lay quiet for a while, weighted down with a sorrow so deep Max felt it like it was his own. He wiped away Jed’s silent tears, knowing they came from a festering, open wound. The crippling pain of grief was one he knew well, and it hurt to see Jed so wrecked, hurt so much he couldn’t bear it.
“Max?”
Max looked down. Jed stared back at him, his eyes wide, but before he could utter a word, Max leaned down and kissed him.
Jed kissed him back, bringing his hand to the back of Max’s head and then pulling him close, holding him firm. Something in the air shifted. Heat rose, and the kiss exploded into something primal. Lips, tongues, and teeth. Grasping hands and stuttered breath.
The kiss seemed to go on forever before Max came to his senses. He pulled away with a sharp gasp, realizing he’d done it again—thrown himself at Jed when all he needed was comfort and a friend. “I’ll let you sleep now.”
He backed away and started to slide out of the bed.
Jed caught his wrist with a lightning-fast snap of his hand. “Stay.”
JEDSTAREDat Max in awe. The room was dark and lit only by the moonlight, but even in the shadows, the leonine shape of Max’s lithe, naked form was beautiful.
He wasn’t quite sure how they’d come to this. He could barely remember the three-day drive from Phoenix, but in a place where nothing was as it should be, the feel of Max’s lips on him was the only thing that felt right.
Once sure of their path, it seemed that nothing could come between them. Nothing could come betweenthis.
Max lay over him, holding his weight off him and peppering kisses over his chest. The scars on Jed’s body didn’t seem to bother him. In a distant part of his mind, Jed was relieved, though not surprised. Max had told him before that he believed every soul was scarred, one way or another.
Jed reached for Max again, pulling him close, losing himself in his smooth, dark skin, and kissing him like he’d never kissed another man before. Kissing Max was different. Everything was different with Max.
Max broke away and fumbled with the bottom drawer of the nightstand. A condom and a bottle of lube appeared on the mattress beside them. Jed eyed them like it was the first time he’d ever seen such things. It had been a while since he’d had the need for either.
Max touched his face. “Show me what you want.”
The words were low, whispered, almost, but they were earnest, and Jed understood the meaning behind them. He thought about it for less than a second before he reached for the condom and pushed it into Max’s hand. It had been years since he’d last bottomed, and more than a year since he’d fucked at all, but heneededit. “I want you to fuck me.”
Max rolled a condom onto himself with steady hands, keeping his eyes on Jed. He flicked the cap of the lube bottle. “Get comfortable. I don’t want to hurt you.”