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Max flicked on the radio at the next red light. “No Diggity vs Thrift Shop,” by Sheeran and Passenger. Sean smiled, his anxious muscles instantly relaxing. Beside him, Max’s thumbs tapped on his steering wheel.
A couple minutes later, though, the song concluded. As did their little drive. Sean glanced around, surprised. Get the fuck out. Max had taken him to a dead end. One surrounded by dense trees. Man, Sean hadn’t even known this place existed. He’d bet his ass teens came here to party.
Max parked to the side and cut off his engine. Then those hard, intense eyes were back on Sean. “Get out.”
Sean’s brows shot high. He chuckled awkwardly. “You’re not gonna leave me out here tied to a tree or anything, right?”
Max stilled, furrowed his brows, then barked out a laugh. “No, Sean. I’m not.” He shook his head and grabbed his door handle. “Jesus, you’re an odd one sometimes.”
Sean fought back a smile and climbed out, too. Max headed to the back of his truck, unlatched the tailgate and dropped it down. Sean joined him right as Max sat on its ledge. But just as Sean moved to sit down as well, Max held out his hand and stopped him.
“Nope. You stay standing.”
Sean blinked at him, confused.
Max gave him another of those long, slow once-overs, then crossed his arms and thumbed the corner of his mouth. A mannerism Sean didn’t see himself ever getting enough of. He tracked that thumb intently, remembering their last session. How Max had done the same thing to Sean’s mouth as they chilled out on the couch regrouping. Man, that session had been incredible.
Max’s expression turned wry. “I think while we’re out here amongst all this space, you should demonstrate some of your skills.”
Sean looked at him blankly.
Max grinned. “Go on. Show me something cool, my little Olympian.”
Sean stilled in surprise. “You want to see me do stunts?”
“Yeah. Why not. Is there a problem with that?”
“No. No problem. It’s just… no one’s ever asked me to show them stuff.”
Max’s grin faded. “Really?”
Sean gave a shrug. “Really.”
Max propped his hands behind him and took in Sean’s body yet again. “Talk about a wasted opportunity.”
Sean eyed him, strangely touched that Max wanted to see him perform. “So… what kind of stunts would you like me to do?”
“Surprise me.”
Sean toed off his shoes. “Is this my punishment?”
“Not even,” Max chuckled. “This is just an appetizer.”
“Now see.” Sean pulled off his beanie, then his shirt. “When you say things like appetizer, you kind of get my hopes up.”
“Do I. What kind of hopes?”
Sean stepped into the grass. Rolled his shoulders. Did some stretches. “That your mouth will end up on my body.”
“Hmm.” Max’s eyes hooded. “Doesn’t sound like much of a punishment.”
“No.” Sean grinned. “It really doesn’t.” He scanned the ground, then drew in a breath. “Okay. Here we go. Short and sweet.”
Spreading his stance, he bent at the waist and splayed his hands square on the ground. He still couldn’t believe he was doing this. No one ever asked to see him perform. Not his friends. Not his roommate. Not even his parents. For them, watching him compete had always been enough. Never once had they come to watch him practice. Just dropped him off and picked him back up again. When he was older, he drove himself. So the fact that someone was interested enough to request a demonstration felt really fucking good. Or maybe it just felt good because it was Max.
Sean shifted his center balance and lifted his feet. Slow and controlled, with knees locked straight, he raised them till his toes pointed skyward. Once perfectly vertical, he drew his legs together, held the pose, then promptly stood back up.
“Ta-dah.” He smiled.
Max’s lips curved. “More.”
“More?” Sean thought for a second. Scratched his neck. “Okay.” He moved back to face Max a few yards away. “Behold, a standing back tuck.”
“A what?”
“A backflip.”
“Ah.” Max nodded. “Commence.”
Sean grinned at his hot little audience of one. This was fun. He loved having Max’s undivided attention. Assuming proper stance, he raised his arms, then used their circling momentum to propel him up, over, and backward. He landed with a soft thump nearly exactly where he’d started.
Max’s grin spread wider. “Damn. That was hot.” The kid had some skills. Max resituated his junk. “Show me more.”
Sean chuckled and gripped his hips. “Seriously? You want more?”
“Fuck yeah. I could watch you all day.”
Thud.
Sean’s insides beamed brighter. That was one hell of a compliment. Max just earned himself something special. A layout, as it were, Sean had practiced just recently. Which wasn’t unusual. He brushed up on stunts all the time at the gym.
Moving to one end of a long stretch of grass, Sean slid Max a confident grin. “Prepare to be amazed, Sir.” Not that it was one of his fancier passes, but hey, he was working with grass.
