Rough Attraction (26 page)

“It seems I’ve turned rather transparent over the last month or so.”

“Not necessarily transparent, but the energy between the two of you is strong enough to either qualify as its own power source or bomb a small city off the map.”

“That’s pretty much how our encounters are, too.”

“It’s not usually my place to advice. Trenton is the one you should really go to or Darko’s brother Pyotr. But since you’re asking me, the answer is,
be
with him
.” and like that, according to Diesel, the solution of life was revealed.

“I just—”

“No buts.” Diesel interrupted the muck and mud Maxum was about to pile up on his simplistic solution, “Darko is a good man, he’s got his life in order, knows what he wants and he’s never afraid to go after it.
And
, he has strong family ties. He might get you high on octane but he’s well grounded, too.” Diesel chuckled slightly, perhaps some inner thought, then looked back at him once again, nodding agreeably. “Invest in him and the return will make you very rich.”

Maxum looked away, his eyes catching Darko sitting at the bar looking his way. Just sitting there like one of those exotic sports cars, he had a weakness for. It also wasn’t going unnoticed that Trenton Leos was talking to
him
.

“Look. No one said you had to get married the same day, just take it for a test drive. But do it on the right kind of track.” Diesel added.

Maxum could see him out of the corner of his eye watching him watch the man of his desires. He turned, facing Diesel over his shoulder, who was smiling at him, as if pleased to know he would make match-maker of the year for this. Diesel didn’t, for a second, look concerned over any future involvement with Darko, but rather seemed like it was the best choice Maxum had before him. And right then for the first time Maxum felt it too. There was just one last thing to do. He glanced around but didn’t spot Simeon at either of the bars close by, but he pretty much knew where to look, so he headed for the restroom.

He heard the moans the second he stepped in. He strolled past the stalls, stopping at the sink and decided to wash his hands. Some symbolic thing he guessed. He used one of the towels on the marble counter, dried his hands then dropped it in the hamper, then turned and leaned back for a moment of reflection. He wasn’t angry, in fact he felt free for the first time in a long time. Even knowing the second he walked out he was going to snatch Darko up in his arms and beg him to give him a chance to do it the right way with him, he still felt free. Free to have what he wanted, what he ached for. He heard the groan behind the stall door followed with a murmured complement. He almost laughed.
Aint that rich? Simeon wanted him back yet the other man still got the blowjob.

“Hey Sognac! You don’t mind giving Simeon a ride home do you?” He started off for the exit, “Thanks I appreciate it.” And stepped out, walking right into Diesel who was grinning at him.

“Remember use the right track.”

“Which one is the right track?”

“The qualification track. Not the race track.”

Maxum stilled at the answer—
he got it!
He actually got what Diesel meant. Because he had every intention of just snaring Darko up and dragging him to his studio so they could burn the sheets between them. Consequently, that wasn’t the right step to take right now.

“And don’t forget to drop a check in the donation box on your way out!” Diesel called out after him.

Maxum threw a nodding smile over his shoulder to him and headed for the bar.

He was grateful to find Darko still sitting there and no Trenton Leos. Even more so, that his target didn’t try to storm off when he approached. Signaling the bartender, Maxum pulled up next to Darko, his gaze dropping to the bar where he folded his hands and carefully told him what he knew he needed to say first. “I never cheated on you.” Okay so it was an awkward start, but it was a start and when Darko said nothing he continued.
Something— Anything—
he reminded himself. “That day I left to pick Simeon up from the airport, I tried to cuddle with him. I actually had to guilt trip him to do it, because I was already missing you. I might as well have been hugging a mannequin. I think I got one kiss out of it. That was it. I never even tried again after that. I didn’t try, because you were right. I was with the wrong person. I just didn’t know it yet and I am so sorry for screwing that up with you. But I did not cheat on you, if that helps me get another chance with you.”

Maxum chanced a look. Darko just sat there looking at him.
What the fuck was he thinking though?
— “The other night when you left I realized something, and it took losing it to actually know it even existed.”

“And what would that be?”

“My heart. The sinking feeling I felt after you left was a pain I don’t want to keep feeling— but I don’t want my heart back if it doesn’t come with a full package. Meaning you.”

“Me too.”

It was all Darko said, but it was enough to have his head snapping around. Only Darko’s posture told him to maintain space. Don’t rush him yet.
Fuck or fight
. They were both good at that, but
this
— this was new frontier for them.

Maxum returned his gaze to his hands still on the bar, his weight leaning on his elbows. He cleared his throat, summoning up more things to say. “I like overpriced, overly fancy, rich foods. I like holding hands and driving a fast car on a slow Sunday. I hate going to flouncy socials, but I like reaping the benefits from the networking, so I go to them anyways. I like watching porno on Saturday afternoons—” he paused recalling one of Darko’s comments about not giving up certain curricular activities and he grinned mischievously, “And— I would really like to fuck you on my desk overlooking the city, as well as, on the black glass top of the board room table.”

The silence nearly killed him and his insides collapsing, dreading that he was still failing to gain Darko’s pardon for another chance.

“So where is Simeon?”

Maxum’s head may have been slumped forward, but the smile that came over him was impossible to miss. In the wreckage that threatened to strip away his lance chance to ask Darko to be with him he had executed a plan. Plan to do away with bad investments and competition. It had gone together rather successfully. That alone had him smiling.

“What the fuck is so funny?”

“He’s in the bathroom giving your date a blowjob.”

Darko’s face melted into an incredulous expression. Then without a word marched off for the hotel restroom. Maxum didn’t budge, arms still on the bar holding his weight while he sipped on a glass of cognac—
with a C
— and just waited for Darko’s return.

It wasn’t a moment longer when he heard the request behind him.

“Seems I could use a ride home.”

Maxum pushed off the bar and turned to look at Darko, grateful to see he didn’t look as pissed as maybe he should. “I’d love to give you one.”

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Darko made a double take as Maxum pulled the Bugatti into the garage at the Beekman Tower Gehry, “What are we doing here?”

“I— I need to take a piss and I won’t make it to your place in time. You mind?”

Darko gave it some thought, it was a poor excuse, but he was willing to play along to see what was really going on, “Nah, I don’t mind. I could use a pit stop myself.”

Darko followed Maxum’s lead as they went up to his flat in the tower, only this time they weren’t clawing at each other’s clothes to come off. In fact, they were rather calm and reserved— it was almost floundering in a way, but Darko wasn’t about to dismiss the new behavior for them. A new discovered pace, to show they could putter around and perhaps after that they could finagle a cruise control for them. When they walked in Maxum seemed to fall into an automated routine, keys and wallet went into a dish that sat on a buffet table against the wall in the foyer, his coat in the closest, followed by his suit coat that went over the back of the chair sitting next to the table. Then he offered to take Darko’s coat and hung it up. His hand came up taking his tie, pulling it loose as he turned and stopped to look at him. He was quiet; even the gears normally grinding and trying to shift were quiet. Darko wondered what it all meant. Had all this defeated the man, now he was just a lost pup who was willing to follow whoever was willing to feed him a few morsels? Darko nearly shook his head to refute the thoughts, but stopped himself. He didn’t want to give Maxum any more doubts than what were already there, but he was at a loss to give anything else either.

“You want a drink? I have several dark ales and even a couple of black ales if you prefer.” Maxum fished out a comment as he broke from their gaze and crossed the living room to the stocked bar along the wall.

At the mention of the selection, Darko quickly fell in step and followed him over, “No one keeps black ale on hand unless you drink it yourself.” He protested, “Which you don’t.” But just as Maxum opened the small fridge under the bar, certain labels grabbed Darko’s attention. He took the door from Maxum’s hand and pulled it open wider. Sure enough, aside from the four or five dark ales, three of which Maxum had seen him drink before, there were just as many black flavors— Butchertown, Imperial Iba, Föroya Bjor Black Sheep, and Point 2012. He opted for a bottle of Brains Dark Ale instead, while Maxum poured a glass of high priced scotch over ice.

As he sipped on the ale, Darko scanned over the bar. It wasn’t really the kind of selection for—
say
— a party with cheap-thorough-fairs for a multitude of guests, but rather customized for Maxum’s own palate. Perhaps a select few dinner guests and little more. Maxum had obviously purchased the black ale just in case he ever got the chance to bring him home with him again. Trenton had said Maxum was the kind of man who would bend and fluctuate to fit with the person in his life. However, not a bottle of champagne or floral wine to show that a certain someone else had ever had the pleasure of having a drink with him here.

And that thought struck a note deep inside Darko.

He glanced around the immense apartment—
nothing
— not one thing hinted of Simeon’s presence. Even outside of Darko’s biased dislike for the flaunting male, he wasn’t so unfair he refuted that Simeon was just different stock.
Because he was
. Simeon personified the feminine male. His home was probably a muse of pastels, houseplants and the latest works of a local artist. Not one thing here in Maxum’s flat said,
Simeon was here.

Had Maxum just been thorough of wiping him out? Or was the gap between those two so great, Simeon never fit in, in the first place? It was all just Maxum, hung up on his morals about making a relationship work.
There was only one-way to be sure
. “Mind if I use the bathroom?”

“Sure. Down the hall first door on the right.” Maxum pointed with his glass then went over to the sofa to find the remote pad.

Darko made his way down the hall, finding the bathroom easily enough but the one he really wanted to see was the one in Maxum’s bedroom. He wandered further down, finding an office and a guest room that looked as though it had never been touched, a third room that had not a single solitary item in it, and then finally finding a master bedroom that was about as big as his own pad in total. “
Dayyum
.” He gasped taking in the décor. Darko took a quick glance over his shoulder; he could hear the Times Square crowd cheer spilling down the hallway, but no Maxum. Coast clear, he walked in. The bedroom, unlike most everything else he had seen in the luxury residence, was a straight out black-n-white color scheme with a Grecian trim for added flare. Black walls with white trimmed frames set the stage with a king-size canopy bed with its tall posts curtained in with black drapes that had the typical Grecian block border design. Though it took him by surprise, he actually liked it. A canopy bed wasn’t usually a man’s first choice, but it made sense, since like everywhere else in the apartment, the exterior walls of the flat were all glass. So, bed drapes were a necessity if one wanted to sleep in on Sundays.

Not wanting to stray for too long that he would invite Maxum to come looking for him; Darko found the bathroom and went in. It was nearly as big as his bedroom at home. A double sink vanity, a jumbo-sized shower with an overhead rain showerhead, even a waterfall chrome plate, and jet-massagers on all three stone tile walls. Everything a rich man could invent for a bathroom was present. Only, Darko didn’t find what he was looking for. Instead, he found what he needed to know. No second toothbrush, or personals one would find if another person lived or stayed here frequently. In plain truth, Simeon wasn’t here. He never had been. Simeon, for all the effort Maxum had put into building a relationship, had never filled the spot. Maxum wasn’t grieving over losing his long term partner, he was grieving over never having found him.

Glancing at the high tech Jacuzzi with the large screen tv mounted on the wall in front of it he nearly laughed. All the toys and gadgets, and no one to play with. Perhaps now he had.

When Darko returned to the living room, he found Maxum standing there. The large screen with the New York party crowd from Times Square filling it frame by frame behind him, but for the man, it might as well have been blank for all the concern he wore on his face. Darko saw it right away; he was waiting for the rejection.

“Why’d you bring me here Maxum?”

Maxum’s shoulders slumped, “To beg.” He turned away and wiped over his face, perhaps to hide his disappointment or something stronger, “I’m sorry. I’ll take you home.”

Darko stepped into his path blocking him when he headed for the closet. Their eyes met in silence. Maxum, for all the smarts he had didn’t have a clue where he was in his life right now or what Darko possibly wanted from him just then. Darko, for all the years with his brother, couldn’t find the words to tell Maxum or ask him to try again. So he kissed him.

It was soft and tender; he could even feel some small bit of pain in it. “I wish I had some grapes right now.” Darko murmured against his lips as they paused in the embrace.