Raven’s mouth dropped open in surprise, and there was still a hint of pink in his cheeks.“Yeah?”
“You have my number saved.Call me if you need to.If you need to be picked up or if for some other reason you feel like it.Or text.I enjoy a text.”
Maxim winked at Raven, and the flush in Raven’s cheeks deepened.It was a small thing, and yet it hit Maxim with the weight of a well-aimed punch.
Oh no.
“Sure,” Raven said, adding one of those rare smiles.“I’ll…I’ll go shower.”
He headed to his room, looking back over his shoulder once and giving Maxim yet another careful smile.
Maxim kept his own expression pleasant, still standing there even when Raven’s door had closed.Does he realize?Maybe not.At least this isn’t him offering himself to me in the middle of the night.I shouldn’t encourage it.Did I encourage it?
Maxim thought over what he had and hadn’t done.More than anyone else, he’d just been present with Raven, had filled silences with chatter, had coaxed him into doing things that weren’t thinking or being alone with his memories.
With the clarity of hindsight, Maxim could see how perhaps affection had come as a natural byproduct of being so close.He could also see and feel in his heart of hearts that it was affection he returned, though whether the depth and breadth of it matched what Raven felt, he didn’t know.He knew for a certainty he had no right to explore it, shouldn’t even speculate.
Maxim clutched the folder tighter and balled his other hand into a fist.What he felt did not matter.If he acted on it, he’d force Raven to act in turn, and that would be cruel.I will be there for him.I will always be there for him.
A dog nose bumping into his leg made Maxim look down at where Ume was staring up with curious eyes and that smiling face of his.
“What?Have you been lying in wait?Do you read minds?”
The dog cocked his head.
Maxim sighed.“Would you perhaps like one of the handmade treats Heath got for you?”
A low whine escaped Ume, and he made sure to sit, all neat and pristine, eyes focused on Maxim’s.
Maxim sighed and went to fetch him the treat.They kept them in a ceramic bowl in the coffee corner that Heath had bought especially for them.It had Shiba Inu designs all over and was covered with a lid, the knob of which was shaped like a smiling Shiba head.If nothing else, Ume had succeeded in cementing his place in the household and in training all of them quite well.
Once the dog was crunching away next to him, Maxim pulled out his phone and texted the bouncer from the Red Clover about the party of three that was headed his way and how he would appreciate them being let inside after working for it just a little.
Chapter 34
Thethreeofthemhad agreed to meet in the lobby, and Raven headed down after his shower.Heath was already there, and Jason walked in almost at the same moment Raven stepped off the elevator.Outside, a purplish dusk was rapidly fading into night.
Bryan eyed them from his desk, and Raven could feel his heart beating hard in his chest as he walked up to the others and said, “Hi.”
Heath cleared his throat.“Hey.So, the Red Clover, huh?”
Raven shrugged.“Jason had the idea.”
Heath put a hand on his hip and turned to Jason.“Of course he did.What?Why’re you frowning like that?”
Jason was.It wasn’t the first time Raven had seen the expression, and he was almost certain he knew what was coming.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, but we look like a weird boy band or something.”Jason looked at Raven and Heath in turn, then crossed his arms.“Heath is suit guy, Raven’s hoodie guy, and I’m fun guy who actually made an effort to dress up.”
At the desk, Raven heard a soft snigger from Bryan.
Heath huffed.“A puffer jacket isn’t dressing up, and for your information, I have a reputation to maintain.I can’t just, you know, put on lace and leather and go out like that.”
Instead of a snigger, there was the tiniest of gasps from the general direction of the desk.
Raven shrugged.“I like this hoodie.You know I don’t do fashion.”
Heath raised a finger.“Also!I helped dress a friend only the other day, and it really brought out his twink energy.The point is, I don’t need that.I like maintaining my je ne sais quoi element.”
