Rough Attraction (9 page)

An hour of this and Simeon had reached his limit of sitting quietly. For him it was about as enthusiastic as sitting in a waiting room in a doctor’s office.

“Can we go now?” a little saucier than perhaps even Simeon had meant to use, because it was quickly followed with a peck on the cheek and a bat of his lashes.

Maxum forced on a warm smile, “What do you say we just stay in. We could order delivery and lay about for the remainder of the evening in nothing but our skins, and make love all night.”

Simeon looked at him like he’d just lost his marbles, but played along anyways. “Like what?”

“Chinese. Works for me.”

“Eww
— are you serious? Do you know how much MSG is in that stuff?” Simeon twisted from his arms. “But you know Thai does sound good. Pat tells me that new place over on Avenue A has superb Tom Yum soup. Perhaps we could go there?”

“Sounds good, we can walk.” Maxum latched onto the option with a cheerful relief that he’d accomplished some arbitration with his partner so soon.

“Walk? Are you crazy?” Once more Simeon’s voice went up and gave him a super-sized scoffing glance. “It’s freezing out there.”

“Well, if you weren’t dressing like you dragged the west coast sunshine with you and put some clothes on, it wouldn’t be so bad.”

Simeon seemed to think he had a better idea and said as much. “Or— you could pull the Rolls out and we could go in it.”

“Sim, in case you didn’t notice I picked you up in the Fisker. I am not driving all the way to the garage, changing out cars, then coming back to pick you up so we can go eat at a restaurant that is only three blocks down.” Maxum wasn’t really ready to give up on the moment he was hoping to have. He’d had a taste of the other side. Of what it was like to have intimacy in the most casual of arrangements and atmospheres. If his life with Simeon were to work out, they’d have to vamp it up a bit, but he would settle for bartering for just a fragment of it. “If you can actually spend the next ten minutes snuggling with me then we’ll go.”

Once again, Simeon’s reluctance was too obvious, but Maxum got what he wanted—
in show
at least. Along with a mumbled side dish of
don’t nobody even know what a Fisker
is
, to boot. Maxum relaxed back down on the sofa forcing the tension out of him then rolled to his side, making room for Simeon to lie next to him. Which also took some coaxing, but no amount of bribing or cuddling was going to put in the warmth that just wasn’t there. Maxum for all he felt from his partner might as well have been lying down with a mannequin doll.

Ten minutes— on the dot, and Simeon was up and heading wordlessly for his room to change. The silent retreat was his strategy to not invite any further detours. Minutes later a scream echoed down the hall and Maxum was to his feet running for the bedroom he skidded to a halt finding Simeon standing just inside the room with his hands around his face. Maxum glanced around but didn’t see a reason for the scream. “What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? Have you lost your mind?”

“Why as a matter of fact I have, did you not see it roll across the floor?” Maxum came back with the incredulous response to point out just how insane Simeon’s rant was. However, all that did was get his partner going further.

The frazzled man straightened, slamming his fists to his hips. “Oh, so, my bed is ruined and you want to make fun of me? That’s just perfect.”

“It’s not ruined Simeon, what the fuck are you going on about?” Not bothering to comment on the
making fun
part. Maxum knew better then take the bait on that argument.

Simeon’s shoulders slunk and his eyes bugged out at him in utter shocked annoyance. “Look!” he cried out.

Maxum, once again, glanced around the bedroom, but save for the disorder of the bed linens which was almost unheard of for Simeon, he saw nothing to warrant the three-bell alarm. “What am I looking at?”

“My bed!” Simeon jabbed a finger at the guilty-as-charged furniture, “Someone has been using my bed! I told Dante he could not use my condo for any reason and look!” Simeon threw his hands toward the tussled bed covers. “I just know if I look, I’ll find soiled linens.”

Maxum slapped a hand to his forehead then scrubbed over his face while he held back a groan, relenting to his exhaustion of the mini-dramas. “They can be washed.”

“Washed?” The look Maxum got now didn’t just convict him of losing his mind but apparently it really did fall out of his skull. Which he knew it hadn’t, but arguing with Simeon had all the logic of placing your hand on a lit burner to see if it was hot. There just wasn’t any winning.

“Yes, Sim, washed. Now will you get dressed so we can go eat?” Maxum now saw the urgent need to actually get Simeon out of the house, before the night was lost in mayhem for good.

Simeon staggered over to the dresser and leaned on it. “Oh, I don’t know if I can now. I feel a headache coming on.”

Maxum was suddenly on the road of tested patience. “Sim, you do not have a headache. Now stop this. We’ll change the sheets when we get back.”

“You expect me to sleep here?”

“I’ll buy you new sheets. There! Will that settle this?”

“New sheets? That’s not the point!”

“Then pray tell, what is!” Maxum had finally lost his cool, and let his own voice belt out a notch louder then he cared to do so.

Simeon spun waving his hands to further the drama, “I’ll just have to go get a hotel room.”

“What? Simeon, what the hell are you thinking? A hotel? They’re just sheets for crying out loud!” Maxum had already sacrificed his composure but he was not willing to disengage logic. The ensuing chances bringing the heat boiling up in his face.

“My bed is ruined. I can’t sleep in it, now that it is infested with Dante’s spunk.”

That was it; all logic for this argument was gone. “Simeon you used to sleep with him before we started dating. Your
insides
are infested with his spunk!” Simeon’s hand swung out, delivering the swift sting to his face. Maxum froze there a half second, trying to decide if he actually deserved that or not. While perhaps his choice words had, some darker emotion won out deciding that he had not, and he turned to storm out.

“Where are you going?” Simeon actually followed him as he reached the front door.

“For a drive.” Bitter tones escaped gritted teeth, biting back the storm of emotions that were far worse than he was willing to spill.

“At this hour? Traffic will be dreadful.”

“That’s why we have turnpikes, Simeon.” He headed out not even pulling the door closed as he stepped down the hall.

“Well, call me.” A light tone as if it were Sunday and no disorder had just taken place, called out to him. Maxum slammed to a stop and spun ready to snap, but the door was already clicking shut and Simeon had retreated into his world. The rage inside that wanted to fight, drifted off like steam from a hot street after the rain. Deflating the emotions, neither feuding nor relieved. There should have been more to this— but Simeon had dismissed it or perhaps he didn’t even see it all. That there was something wrong, something missing between them and it left Maxum feeling further emptied then he had before.

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CHAPTER FIVE

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

Maxum sat at his desk staring out the tall windows that overlooked the new Beekman/ Gehry Tower where he lived, and the park below that sat between them. He’d been sitting there for almost an hour doing none of the things he was supposed to be doing and all of the things he
didn’t
need to be entertaining at all. Darko was just a onetime fling; a bit of rough play that was like spice and hot sauce to his lethargic love life. One taste of that man was like pumping NOS into his system, and it had his insides smoldering. When they were together it was like he couldn’t get enough of the man until they had both collapsed in utter exhaustion from the best revved up sex he’d ever had in his entire life.

It’d been two weeks since he left Darko’s sleeping body in the late morning to go pick up Simeon. And it had been just as long since he bothered to see Sim as well, with little more than a few phone conversations, he even pointedly forgot last night to arrive at the sushi bar they regularly go to once a week where Sim always surprises him with a couple of friends to join them. Never a romantic night alone. Instead Maxum had buried himself in work— sort of—  and at night as he kept to himself alone at his flat, his mind was filled with intoxicating thoughts of Darko.

He couldn’t close his eyes without seeing Darko. Those ripped abs and firm pecs. Deep-blue eyes that glinted in contrast to his nearly black hair and shallow ten-day growth of facial growth. The dark musky taste of his cock.
Fuck.
His head fell back over the leather backrest of his chair, and he let out a groan towards the ceiling. Just thinking about it had him breathing hard. A physical sensation twitched below the belt and he rolled his head to the side, glancing down at his lap—
among other things
. He took a deep breath and let it out with a sighing growl.

Nine days he’d had with the man during Simeon’s two week trip. No telling what Simeon had been up to during his visit to California. Maxum wasn’t in the dark about his partner’s indiscretions, who was so easily lured into a back room or bathroom for offerings of party favors. But no argument in the world would convince Simeon the blowjob-for-blow was still considered cheating. So Maxum wasn’t about to feel contrite for his own venture. What tormented Maxum was not guilt for any wrongdoing to Simeon, but rather he felt as if he was cheating on Darko. He’d had something so rich and overpriced that now he found it even harder to stay in the muted arrangement he was in with Simeon. Darko added fire to his hearth, but he couldn’t go back. Because life with a man that good couldn’t possibly be right for him.

Still, Maxum could think of nothing else. He was a viral man with a hunger he had never been able to sate. Never finding the right man for his needs. It wasn’t until he met Trenton Leos and his brother Diesel Gentry, that he thought he might find what he needed to fill in the voids. An island that allowed endless sex—
where ever you pleased to have it
. It was a rich and tantalizing offer. A personal investment he didn’t pass up on. Yet, even there, he found there was still the one missing element.
A desirable and willing partner
.

The comm on his desk phone buzzed. He swiped over his face with both hands then reached over, punching one of the buttons, “Yeah, Alysse.”

“Simeon is on line one.”

Shit
. Just what he needed. A call from Simeon when his thoughts were anywhere but. He stared at the flashing light on his phone, wondering how long he could just sit there before it stopped flashing. Simeon, his prosaic lover would probably sit there and wait. The flashing light would burn out before Simeon would hang up.

He punched the speakerphone then the line.

“Simeon.”

“Well there you are honey. I missed you last night. Are we still on for the dinner party tonight?”

Fuck
. He’d already forgotten about the charity tonight. He scrubbed over his eyes with a rough hand to clear out his other thoughts, “Yep, still on.”

“I guess you had to work really late last night huh, hon? Sometimes I think you’d never stop working if I didn’t come around to brighten your day, every so often.”

Maxum let out a sigh, “I gotta go. Got a meeting.”

“Well okay go get him tiger. You’ll come get me say around seven?”

“Sounds good.”

“Well alright then. Kiss-kiss. I lo—” Maxum disconnected the line before the remaining words could come across. Then just sat there staring at the phone some more. He landed an elbow on the armrest of his seat, leaning on a tilt to scrub across his forehead a moment. He pulled the center desk drawer out and picked up the business card he kept there and flipped it over. X marks the spot. He reread the scribbled address over and over. Even if it didn’t mark the spot it was where his thoughts were.

~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~  *  ~

At precisely 7:00pm sharp, Maxum pulled up along the curb in front of Simeon’s NoHo condominium building. He watched as his partner came out of the lobby wearing a contrite expression undoubtedly over the selected vehicle Maxum had just dared pick him up in. The expression alone warned Maxum tonight would be like any other, Simeon was going to have an opinion about showing up in class rather than flash. Even if Maxum saw the inevitable coming, he still got out and opened the door to be the perfect gentleman to his partner.

“Where’s the new Mercedes?” Simeon stopped and gawped at the bucket leather interior and console that came between them.

“I took it back.” Maxum answered with a shrug.

“You wha-? Took it back?” Simeon asked in a shrilled pitch, “What on earth for?”

“I didn’t like it. It didn’t stand up to my standards.”

“Standards? Oh hon what on earth are you talking about? You’re like the only rich man in the state of New York that doesn’t have a Mercedes. I mean for goodness sake look at it. Who paints their car like this and still has class?”

Maxum lost his smug amusement; patience for being compared to
other
rich persons was not a strength he possessed for conversation, especially when he was still standing on the passenger’s side, holding the door open for the partner who’d just judged him. His gaze floated down the rolling streamline of the sports car, the sides were a royal blue and the top area a refrigerator-white, the two colors came together in streaks that swirled into each like taffy. It was one of the things he loved the most about the car; the rare custom paint job made it standout even in its own class and fast made it one of his favorite cars in his collection. “Sim, get into the Bugatti. At two-and-a-half-
million
dollars, I am pretty damn sure it will succeed to impress your friends at the party. That is,
if
they are rich enough to know what the fuck it is.”