Sweaters & Cigarettes (3 page)

“But, um…” Max glances away for a moment,
looking uncharacteristically subdued, somehow. He seems to hesitate a little
bit. And then he looks back at Theo. “Give me your phone.”

Theo actually raises his eyebrows in
surprise, but when Max holds out his hand, palm up, he doesn’t question it.
Instead, he reaches into his pocket and gets his cell phone, putting it in
Max's hand, and Max starts fiddling with it, navigating through the menus and
apps, eyes fixed on the screen. And after a minute or so, he hands the phone
back to Theo, who takes it, confused. Max puts his hands in his pockets and
backs away a bit.

“You’d better use that,” he says, nodding
at the phone, suddenly back to exuding confidence, like he always does, and
Theo glances at the phone in his hand. The screen is black, turned off, and he
looks back up at Max. And Max smirks in that mischievous, angelic way of his.

“I’ll be waiting,” he says, before turning
around and walking away. And Theo keeps his gaze on him as he leaves, keeps his
eyes on that black-clad, lean frame, until Max rounds the corner of the
building and is out of sight. And then Theo looks back at the phone. He turns
on the screen, and it takes a few seconds to process what he’s seeing.

Max
, it says. And below the name is a number,
entered into Theo’s contact list. Theo swallows hard, suddenly feeling oddly insecure
and nervous. Max gave him his number. Just like that.

Theo exhales slowly, still tasting some
cigarette smoke, and he closes his eyes for a moment, head still spinning. He
puts his phone back in his pocket.

“You’d better use that. I’ll be waiting.”

He opens his eyes, and he swallows hard,
before making his way back to the school.

Chapter 3

Phone call

Theo has spent a long time staring at his phone, now. A ridiculously
long time.

Max gave him his number. And he specifically
said that Theo “better use it”. So why is Theo hesitating, sitting on the edge
of his bed, cell phone is his hand? Max told him to use his number, so he
should. Right?

He doesn’t even know what Max wants,
though. He clearly doesn’t seem to take Theo too seriously, yanking him around
like that, with his blue eyes and angelic smirk, making Theo feel like he’ll do
basically whatever he asks. Theo thinks about earlier today, about that kiss,
and he can’t really see straight.

Damn
. Just…
damn
.

As he sat down with his friends at lunch,
after that, he could have sworn it was written all over his face. No one seemed
to notice, though. His friend Hannah frowned and asked why he smelled like
cigarette smoke, but he just shrugged, and she dropped it, and they all went
back to talking amongst themselves. And Theo sat there, poking at his food,
trying not to think about it. He didn’t see Max for the rest of the day, and
now he’s sitting here, trying to pluck up the courage to text him.

Theo takes a deep breath. And then he
opens up a new text message. He’s really not the kind of guy to do this; he’s
shy and awkward and nerdy, even though he doesn’t necessarily look the part.
God knows, he used to, all ugly sweaters and no eye contact. But then he
started hanging out with Hannah, and Michael, and their friends, and gradually,
this changed. At least, on the outside. Despite Theo’s occasional, successful
bouts of sarcasm and dry humor, he’s still pretty insecure, and despite the
fact that he doesn’t really look like a complete, stereotypical nerd anymore,
he still really feels like one.

He still feels awkward and self-conscious,
and so, when someone like Max gives him this kind of attention, he’s just at a
complete loss as to what to do. Especially when he’s got the biggest crush on
Max, as it is. And he can’t ask anyone for advice; his friends wouldn’t be very
helpful, given how much they all seem to hate and look down on Max and his
crowd.

So Theo is on his own, and he swallows
hard as he starts typing.

I’m using it,
he writes, in lack of anything else,
referring to Max's comment earlier today.
Happy?

He hesitates for a moment, before taking
another deep breath, and pressing
send
.

It takes about a minute, before his phone
beeps in response, and he opens up Max's reply.

Very
. That’s all it says, and Theo just stares
at it. Then he frowns, annoyed. How the hell is he supposed to answer that?
Could Max be more of a douchebag? Isn’t it enough that he’s making Theo text
first, couldn’t he at least help him along a little bit?

Theo groans and puts the phone down on his
bed, suddenly more uncomfortable than a moment ago. He really doesn’t know how
to answer that. This is stupid.

It’s when the phone suddenly rings after
another minute or so, that Theo actually starts and looks at it, wide-eyed.
Max. Max is actually
calling
him.

Shit
. Theo swallows hard and nervously picks
up the ringing phone. He stares at it for another second or so, chewing his
bottom lip, before he answers it.

“Hello?” he says, trying to sound casual,
not entirely sure he’s succeeding.

“Hello, Theo.” Max's voice sounds rough
and low, and Theo has the distinct feeling he’s smiling. Or smirking, probably.
“Good to hear from you.”

How does this guy manage to make pretty
much anything sound suggestive, seriously? Not to mention the fact that hearing
him say Theo’s name like that makes Theo tense up and tingle in all the right
places.

“Well,” Theo says, looking at the floor,
glad Max can’t see him. “You did ask me to.”

Max chuckles, and it makes Theo shiver,
for some reason.

“That, I did,” he says, and he sighs into
the phone. “You wanna hang out?”

Theo tenses up. Well, that came out of
nowhere.

“What?” he musters, his voice
embarrassingly high, and Max chuckles again, as though amused.

“Hang out,” he explains. “As in, being in
the same place, together.”

Theo swallows hard.

“Why?” he says, and grits his teeth
immediately. Damn it. He didn’t mean to say that.

Max doesn’t seem to be bothered, though.
Instead, he still sounds like he’s smirking, amused and entertained at Theo’s
reactions.

“Because I think you’re cute,” he says
simply. “And I like to think we have fun together.”

He sounds completely sure, confident, and
it makes Theo squirm, for some reason.

“And I’m curious to see what else that tongue
of yours can do.”

Theo blushes then, hard, and that warm
burning suddenly comes out of nowhere, shooting through his body. He
involuntarily makes an uncomfortable, slightly strangled sound, and Max laughs.

“Too much?” he says, and Theo clears his
throat.

“A bit,” he says, sounding tense and
awkward. “Yeah.”

“Sorry,” Max says, not sounding sorry, at
all. “My bad.”

Silence lingers for a second or so, before
Max speaks again.

“Tell you what, though,” he says, in that
gravelly voice. “You come over, and I promise I’ll behave.”

Theo’s heart starts beating a bit faster,
and he squeezes his eyes shut. He exhales slowly. It’s ridiculous, but just
hearing Max talk like that actually makes him feel uncomfortably turned-on, and
he fidgets slightly, sitting on his bed. He clears his throat again.

“Right now?” he musters, and Max makes a
thinking sound.

“That would be ideal,” he says. “Seeing as
how I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, all day.”

Jesus Christ.
Theo bites down on his lower lip and looks
up at the ceiling. He has never heard anyone talk to him like this before, and
the fact that it’s Max makes it so much worse. And the way he says it, as
though it’s the easiest thing in the world, as though he just
knows
that
Theo won’t be able to resist, is doing very bad things to Theo’s self-control
and better judgment.

“Okay,” Theo says, to his own surprise,
and he can practically sense Max smiling.

“Great,” he says, an almost predatory edge
to his voice. “I’ll text you the address.”

Theo nods, even though Max can’t see him.

“Yeah,” he says. He can’t really seem to
find any words, right now.

“See you soon, then,” Max says. “Bye,
Theo.”

Theo doesn’t have time to reply, before he
hears Max hang up on the other end, and he lets out a slow, shaky breath, as he
lowers the phone from his ear. It takes only a few seconds, before he receives
a text from Max, with his address, followed by a short message of
don’t be
late.

Theo swallows hard. This is not how he
thought this was gonna go.

Theo manages to actually get to Max's house, before he starts to fully
realize what the hell he’s doing.

His parents didn’t question it when he
said he was just going “out”, and after checking the address Max sent him and
noticing that it’s not that far from his house, he decided to walk. It took him
only fifteen minutes or so, and now he’s here, hands in his pockets, staring at
the front door. The sun has just started setting, he notices
absently―it’ll be dark in a little while.

Theo takes a deep breath and raises his
finger to the doorbell, but before he even manages to press it, the door opens.
And he’s met by Max, who eyes him up and down, leaning against the doorframe,
while Theo awkwardly lowers his hand again. Max smiles wickedly.

“Come on in,” he says, stepping aside, and
Theo actually averts his eyes as he steps over the threshold and into the
house. Somehow, he feels like a prey stepping into a predator’s lair. He’s not
sure which surprises him most; that it feels that way, or that he really doesn’t
mind.

The front door closes behind him, and he
looks around absently, until Max makes his way past him.

“Parents are out,” he says, making his way
into what Theo assumes is the living room. “Got the place to ourselves.”

Theo swallows hard then, not lost on the
tiniest, suggestive hint in Max's voice. He still reanimates, though, and soon
enough, he sheds his jackets and shoes, and follows Max into the house.

“Sit,” Max says as Theo enters the living
room, and Theo does, without objection. There’s a couch, in front of a
big-screen TV, and he sits down, feeling rather awkward and out of place. Max
doesn’t seem to notice or care, though. Either that, or he’s just amused by it,
like with everything else Theo says or does, apparently.

“Can I get you anything?” Max says,
pierced eyebrow slightly raised, and Theo just looks at him, before shaking his
head the tiniest bit. He’s not sure why, but somehow he just assumes that
everything Max says is laced in sarcasm, and he doesn’t want to answer, really.

Max cocks his head and makes his way over
to Theo and sits down beside him. Neither of them speaks for a few moments.

“Relax,” Max suddenly says, and Theo turns
to him. He’s sitting with his elbows against his knees, leaning forward slightly,
so he supposes he doesn’t look very relaxed, and he gets what Max is saying. He
doesn’t straighten, though. Because he isn’t relaxed, and sitting next to Max
like this is oddly terrifying.

Max quirks a smile.

“You’re a bit weird, you know that?” he
says, and Theo frowns at him.

“You’re calling
me
weird?” he says,
and Max smiles a bit wider, cocking his head.

“Touché,” he says. “But at least I’m
obvious about it. You…”

He eyes Theo up and down, the smallest
frown on his face, as though he genuinely can’t make sense of him.

“I can’t figure you out.”

Theo swallows uncertainly. He has never
heard that one before. Most of the time, people don’t really bother trying to
figure him out.

“Well,” he says, a bit uncomfortably,
half-shrugging. “I’m nothing special.”

“I don’t know about that,” Max murmurs,
still looking at him. Then he leans in a little bit, and Theo almost flinches.
Max pauses for a moment, looking into his eyes.

“I’m gonna kiss you now,” he says simply.
“Okay?”

Theo doesn’t say anything, suddenly frozen
in place. But after a second or so, he manages to nod, and Max doesn’t need
telling twice.

A moment later, he’s pressing his lips
against Theo’s, and Theo closes his eyes. He slowly straightens in his seat, as
Max moves one hand to his shoulder and gently pushes him back against the
backrest of the couch. And then, to Theo’s utter surprise, Max moves up and
straddles him, sitting down on his lap with one knee on either side, leaning
against Theo so that his back presses against the couch. And Theo’s head is
spinning again, taken completely off-guard.

“I’ve wanted to do this for days,” Max
murmurs against his lips, hands sliding down along Theo’s neck, his shoulders.
“You’ve been on my mind the whole time.”

Theo actually finds himself wincing a bit then,
and Max notices. He stops kissing him and pulls back a bit, and Theo feels
oddly embarrassed.

Max just looks at him for several seconds,
head slightly tilted.

”You don’t believe me?” he finally says,
but Theo doesn’t answer him. Honestly, he does find it a bit hard to believe,
what Max is saying. No one sees him that way, and no one ever has. It just
doesn’t make sense. And hearing it from Max is enough to make him
uncomfortable.

Max keeps his eyes on him, before he sighs
quietly, leaning in again. He plants a soft kiss on Theo’s lips.

“Would it help if I told you,” he says,
his voice just above a rough whisper, “that I got off while thinking about you,
the other day?”

Theo tenses up, his whole body suddenly
rigid. He turns away, and Max kisses his jaw, slowly. Theo swallows hard.

“You can’t just say stuff like that,” he
manages to say, and Max pulls back just a little bit.

“Why not?” he says. “It’s true.”

Theo slowly looks back at him, looks into
those blue, black-lined eyes. They’re completely sincere, unwavering,
dangerously hungry, and Theo reluctantly admits to himself that it’s turning
him on.

“I think you’re hot, Theo.” Max leans in
closer, his lips just barely brushing against Theo’s, his words a warm whisper against
his skin. “And I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Theo starts breathing heavily, as he feels
Max slowly start grinding against him, feels his own hands move down to those
hips.

“That kiss, the first time around… It was
amazing,” Max continues, his voice still low, still rough, whispering against
Theo’s mouth. “And I kept waiting for you to make a move after that, but you
never did. So I had to improvise.”