It wasn’t that Max had cheated or done anything terrible, it was more that Max simply hadn’t been able to give his ex, Adam, the commitment that he wanted.
Adam was nice. Real nice.
But Adam couldneverbe what Max truly wanted.
Adam simply wasn’t a Little.
Effectively, Max had been homeless and living out of his car for the past few weeks. The winnings from the drag race were going to be spent on securing the rent on a new place.
But with the money gone and his beloved car looking worse for wear, Max was beginning to feel a little bit lost. For a guy who lived on the edge, Max was used to being in sticky situations. However even by his own standards, this was shaping up to be something else altogether for Max.
After spending a while resting, Max spent the rest of the day wandering around the pretty suburb. It all seemed very familiar to him. The cafes, the florist, even down to the multiple wholefoods stores that seemed to be on every corner.
But as amusing as it was for Max to play games like ‘spot the hipster’, he knew that soon it would be nighttime. Max hadn’t dared to go back to his car for fear of being spotted near it, and in truth he feared that it had been towed or even stolen.
Facing up to problems had never been a strong suit for Max, and today was proving to be a prime example of exactly that. But no matter how much he wanted to bury his head in the sand, Max knew that he needed to dosomething, and soon…
What are my options?
Who can I call?
What’s my best play here?
Max crouched down and sat his butt down on the curb. He took his cracked, barely working cellphone out of the back pocket of his blue jeans and scrolled down his contacts list…
‘Jeez. Not sure how many favors I have left to call in,’ Max sighed. ‘Unless…’
Max quickly tapped out the message. He kept it short and sweet. The message was to his old college friend, Channing.
Max hadn’t seen Channing for quite some time but they hadhistorytogether.
And come to think of it, Channing lived pretty damn close to where Max was in that moment. Max had only been to Channing’s place once, the last time he saw him in fact. Channing had only just moved in at the time. And given that Channing was a steady guy who loved routine and consistency, Max was willing to bet that Channing would still be living there now.
So with all of this in mind, rather than wait for a reply to his message, Max decided to seize the initiative and head on over to Channing’s.
But if Max was convinced that Channing was still living at the same address, he was far less sure about what kind of reception he would receive upon his arrival…
* * *
Max rocked up at the building he believed to be Channing’s apartment block. It still had the recognizably super-smart entrance lobby with the abstract prints on the smooth, whitewashed walls.
Max shook his head and laughed at the sight of a yoga instructor walking past him while carrying what must have been the world’s smallest dog.
But rather than focus too much on the painfully hip surroundings, Max made his way down the corridor that he was certain led to Channing’s apartment.
‘Okay, here goes,’ Max said, surprising himself as he realized that his heart was beating a little quicker than he might have expected. ‘Am I… nervous?’
Max quickly shook himself down as he knocked on the door and waited. Each second felt like an eternity. Max thought back to his time with Channing at college. They certainly had fun together.
But Max had always known that while it was good fooling around, Channing was always going to want more.
Not only that, but Channing was fully committed to being a Little. And exploring that side of himself.
Max knew that he liked the idea of it, but he still wasn’t sure at that time whether he wanted to be a Daddy or not. Again, it was the commitment that being a good, reliable Daddy to a boy required that put Max off.
That’s why Max had taken the decision to make a clean break when he chose to drop out before graduating. Max thought back to his trusted motto:
No commitment, no pain.
