"We knew it was going to suck," Tony reminded me, bending down to press his head to mine. It wouldn't seem too weird if one of the brothers walked out to check on us; they were constantly giving us shit about how close we'd always been. Little did they know... "Just remember what you said earlier when I asked if you wanted to come out. We'll get through this, and at the end of the night, all of us will be back in our bed and life will be good."
"But for how long?" I asked, turning to look at him. The slight shift put our lips dangerously close to one another. So far, he and I had never done anything when it was just the two of us. Cuddling while we watched TV didn't count because it was something we'd done before that night. Everything in my life now felt delineated as before or after the night everything changed. "How long can we keep this up? How long before Max and I slip up and they all accuse him of cheating on you with me? How long until you decide it's too much for you?"
"How long before you learn to have faith in us?" Tony shot back. "And I don't just mean Max and me, I mean Frankie, Freddie, and Teo too. Honestly, it's going to be a shock to them at first. But we'll frame it in a way that'll force them to see this is what makes us happy. Because Enzo, I can't speak for you or Max, but this past month, I've been more content than ever, and it's because of you guys. Can you say you don't feel the same?"
"I do, but—" Tony pressed a finger to my lips.
"No buts," he scolded me before pressing his lips against my ear. "Not until we get home then there will be butts galore. Is yours too sore from earlier, or are you going to let Max fuck you while I pound him?"
"Tony..." I complained, dragging his name out a few syllables. "You can't say things like that."
He kissed the side of my neck then pulled me off the bench. "It worked thought, didn't it? You're not letting the doom and gloom overrun your mind anymore. Now, let's get back in and enjoy our early birthday party so we can go home and really celebrate. Do you think Max would let me tie a pretty bow around his cock and offer him up to you as my gift?"
"Just because I've been dying to have his dick in my ass doesn't mean you get to claim he's my birthday present, you cheapskate," I teased.
A bit of the weight lifted as I followed Tony back into the bar. Not all of it, but enough that I was able to enjoy the night with my brothers.
Chapter Nine
Tony
My head throbbedthe following morning. I heard my alarm blaring from somewhere in the apartment, but I burrowed my head under the pillow, figuring the incessant chirping would stop eventually.
"Tony, get your ass up and turn that thing off," Max grumbled, shoving me out of my own damn bed. I landed on the floor with a heavy thump, narrowly avoiding clobbering my head on the nightstand. When Max leaned over the edge of the bed, he was biting his lips to keep from laughing. "You okay?"
"No thanks to you," I complained, rubbing my hip where I was certain there would be a bruise later.
"Should've gotten up or, better yet, turned off your damned alarms before you came to bed," he quipped, holding out a hand to help me up. I swatted it away, not trusting him to keep me steady after the unceremonious wakeup. "Oh, come on. If I was the one on the floor, you'd be laughing too."
"Would not," I lied. The phone quit screeching, and I glared at him. "I'd have taken pity on you and let you rot in peace."
"You're the one who decided shots were a good idea," Max reminded me. I had, but only because Enzo seriously needed to unwind, and our brothers kept buying round after round. And since Max was at the table with us, it meant fucking Jordan had been mixing up his concoctions. Bastard. "I seem to remember warning you it was a bad idea, but you didn't want to listen."
"Since you're up, make yourself useful and start the coffee while I shower," I said as I pushed off the floor and kneeled in front of the bed, waiting for the world to quit tilting. Shit. There was a good chance I was still drunk which meant the hangover that would come later was going to kill me.
"Oh, so you tie one on, and now I'm supposed to play the doting boyfriend and care for you?" Although he acted put out, Max was already sliding out of the bed, leaving Enzo the only one who'd get to sleep in.
"Yes, because this is all your fault."
"How's it my fault?" Max scoffed. "Again, let me remind you I told you it was time to switch to water."
"And then you let my brothers keep buying rounds of shots," I reminded him. "We were supposed to come home and fuck each other's brains out. This was not how the night was supposed to go. If you knew they were planning a surprise party, you should've told me, or at least not gotten my hopes up."
"God, are you always this whiny when you're hung over?" Max asked as he followed me into the bathroom. It struck me then he'd never really seen this side of me. With him staying here, I wasn't going out as often, and before, I'd usually been up and out of the apartment before he woke.
"Only when I also have a raging case of blue balls." He took a leak while I adjusted the taps in the shower.
"You got off a few hours before you went to the damn bar," Max pointed out. "How in the hell could you have blue balls?"
"Because I haven't fucked you in forever," I whined. Okay, so it wasn't that long, but it was definitely the longest I'd gone without feeling a tight ass gripping my cock. While I waited for the water to warm up, I sidled up behind Max, holding him close as I ground my hips against his ass. God, I needed him. "When are we going to fuck?"
"Tony, we've talked about this," he scolded me. "I want to make sure we're not rushing Enzo. I know you're a horny bastard, but once we go there, there's no turning back. Have you stopped thinking with your dick long enough to consider what's on the line here? Hell, the guy just about had a panic attack at the bar. He was worried about people seeing me touch him because your whole family is convinced the two of us are in a relationship."
"We are," I pointed out. At least, as far as I was concerned, we'd moved past fuck buddies to all three of us being in a weird, complicated, polygonal relationship. Or something like that. Max's lip curled, and I realized I may have miscalculated. Shit. See, this was why I didn't do relationships. "I mean, I assumed we'd sailed over that line since you've been staying here every night lately."
Cold air started blasting from the vents, sending my nuts on a retreat to warmer territory. I stepped up behind Max, wrapping my arms around him as I kissed the back of his neck. His entire body tensed. Lips still pressed against the top of his spine, I froze. That was pretty much the opposite of the reaction I was going for from him.
"What the fuck did I do wrong now?" I asked, backing away. Having this conversation while I was buck naked and him fully clothed wasn't ideal, but it was obvious I'd taken a wrong turn in the conversation. The problem was, I had no clue how to get back to the playful banter from a minute earlier. Max swatted away my hand when I dared reach out to him again. "Seriously. You're the one who was all preachy about how we needed to talk. It's obvious I said something to piss you off, so talk."
