“And that good cause is my sister. Please… let me help. I’m freeSaturday night. We can… break out the crazy glue and get everything that needsto be finished done.”
“I… would enjoy the company,” Connor said. “But youreallydon’t have to. I’d rather see you take a break.”
“It’d be a break,” Connor said. “I’m gonna be finishing the barnwith Riley until the afternoon, but then… we could have a craft night. And I’llbuy you dinner to sweeten the deal.”
Connor sighed. “Fine. But I’m buyingyoudinner, sinceyou’re making me breakfast. It’s only fair.”
“I don’t think that’s how this works, but if you’re acceptinghelp, I’m not gonna argue,” Max said. “I think… I think maybe we’rebothbad at letting other people help us, and that’s something we could both affordto work on. And it might be easier together?”
“Maybe,” Connor agreed. “I do enjoy your company.”
Max chuckled. “Well, that’s reassuring.”
“I enjoy your cock, also. For the record.”
The tips of Max’s ears burned as he took the perfectly-crispedbacon out of the oven, just in time to plate up the eggs.
Sex was the one thing he was really sure about. Helikedsex, and he felt safe and cared for with Connor.
“I liked… everything,” he mumbled, dividing eggs and bacon ontotwo separate plates. “Enough to maybe do it again sometime?”
“Whenever you’re ready,” Connor said, a smile spreading across hisface that made the tiniest spark of arousal bounce around Max’s stomach.
He could get used to that.
ChapterTwenty-One
“Okay, so, what you wanna do is dip the edge of the petals in theglue, so you get a thin line,” Connor said, demonstrating the technique withthe fake flower he had in his hand. It wasn’t complicated, but he was trying tobe a good teacher.
“And then you’re gonna dip the glue in the glitter,” he said,reaching out to a paper plate with a thin layer of deep blue glitter spread allover it and rolling the edge of the petal in it.
“Sounds like something I can handle so far,” Max said.
“Then you tap the excess off onto your paper,” Connor added. “Andstick the flower in the floral foam to dry.”
Connor tapped the glitter off and stuck the flower in the block offoam while Max nodded along.
“Cool,” Max said. “How many of these are there?”
“Thirty,” Connor responded, pointing to a plastic bag full of fakeroses under the table. “I decided on one per guest, this way they’ll double upas wedding favors.”
He’d gone back and forth on how he wanted the wedding to be, buthe finally felt as though he’d gotten it right.
The whole thing wouldlookhandmade, and maybe a littletacky, but as though it came from the heart.
Those were the best weddings Connor had seen. It didn’t matter howpolished the finish was. It mattered howgenuineit was.
That genuineness came through. And if they couldn’t have it, well,they’d have to fake it.
Besides, this was being done out of love. Max’s love for hissister, and Connor’s love for his career, but love all the same. It wasn’t thekind of love people normally got married for, but the handful of people whoknew that weren’t about to say anything.
“Okay, well… twenty-nine to go, I guess,” Max said, taking the bagfrom under the table. “Is this what you do for people? Like, as a job?”
Connor snorted, going back to the neat little bows he’d been tyingaround cheap glass vases to make them look a little fancier. “You know, itishow I started,” he said. “I did almost everything by hand in the beginning. I’dforgotten how exhausting it was.”
“I bet,” Max said. “Seems like a hard way to earn a living.”
“When I set out on his path I was young, and stupid, and I wantedto do this. I wanted to participate in other people’s happiness. I wanted tomakethem happy.”
