Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

I made it through my first year of teaching fairly unscathed. There was the whole Mimi Fargus incident, but overall the good outweighed the bad. I LOVED teaching! As exhausting and draining as it could be at times it was even more fulfilling. And I had taken to life in the country like a fish to water. All in all, my life was coming together in a great way. I hadn’t seen my parents or grandparents since our wedding and decided to piggyback a trip to Minneapolis onto the wedding trip to Wisconsin. Brody encouraged me to go while he stayed behind to hold down the fort and would join me in Wisconsin on Thursday. 

I woke up when the plane touched down in Madison, Wisconsin. It was the Wednesday before Seth and Zach’s wedding. Seth had begged me to come early and be a buffer between him and his mother-in-law… he said he needed a friend. She was a great lady, but she was going totally overboard with the wedding and was driving him crazy. The guys just wanted a small affair, but Mrs. Hall was turning it into the social event of the century and it was getting way out of hand. Seth told me the guest list was about 300 people, and he and Zach didn’t even know half of them.

I was flying in from Minneapolis where I had just spent three days with my family and was exhausted! It was great to see everyone and I had a great time, but mom had every minute of my trip booked with family and friends and I was wiped out… luckily, I got a good nap on the short flight. I had a lot of luggage with me for the two trips so had to check my bags. I deplaned and was looking for baggage claim at the small airport only to see Seth’s smiling face waiting for me by the carousel. He gave me a huge hug and was crying.

 “What the fuck’s wrong, Seth?” I asked.

 “Not a goddamn thing! I am just so happy to see you. I’m emotional as hell.” We grabbed my bags and stopped to get a cup of coffee at a café in the airport. Seth and Zach had been staying with Zach’s family all week and Kelly Hall had been driving them crazy with every little wedding detail. They both could not have cared less. “I’m glad we did the Vegas wedding because now this is just a party… Kelly Hall’s party.” He said with a sigh as he sipped his latte.

“She sounds awful” I said being a friend.

“No, no, no. Not at all. She’s actually wonderful” Seth said coming to her rescue. “She has a heart of gold and wants us to have an amazing day, but her idea of amazing and ours are totally different, and we gave up fighting her about six months ago.” He paused to take another sip, “But I am so excited to see everyone, and the reality of it is… it’s gonna be one helluva party” he said with a smirk.

“So, what’s the soiree costing, may I ask?” I said with a smug smile.

 “No idea. We tried to keep track in the beginning but she stopped sharing costs with us because she knew it was stressing us out. She keeps saying her and Nathan wanted to do this for us and we should just let them… so we are. Frankly, I don’t want to know what they’re spending, it’ll just make me sick to my stomach… but if I had to venture a guess, I’d say over $60,000” Seth said with another sigh. “Shit, as soon as we drove up to the house, she whisked me off to the country club to approve the china and glassware for the reception’” He said venting. “Who the hell cares?! I had no clue people actually chose that shit… I assumed the place would use whatever they had. But Kelly requested some specific pattern, then wanted me to approve it. Am I the only one who thinks that’s F’d up?!” Seth ranted for a good twenty minutes, letting it all out while I just sat there listening and laughing every now and then. “I truly love her, but I am so not into this. And it has turned into this whole political thing.”

 “Political thing?” I asked. “What do you mean?” Seth pulled out his phone and brought up a headline that read “Country Club Hosts First Gay Wedding For Mayor’s Son.”

“Are you fucking serious?” I asked as I scrolled the article. It was actually a positive piece about how progressive the country club has become and spun Nathan Hall as a man with strong family values who loves and supports his son and future son-in-law. It could’ve been a fuck of a lot worse. “This is pretty good.” I finally said after I read through the article.

 “Yeah, but now everyone is watching and Kelly is overcompensating. Plus, there’s a tiny faction of club members who tried to cancel the wedding” Seth said rambling again. “All I wanted was a tiny ceremony, now it’s a huge, out of control, political statement!” He rolled his eyes as he sipped his coffee, then sighed. “You know me, Max. I appreciate the hell outta every little thing anyone has ever done for me.” That was absolutely true. He still thanks Brody for giving him a deal on Grammaw’s car and that was like over three years ago. “But this is all too much... it’s overwhelming. Zach and I have been bickering for weeks… we don’t bicker!” His voice was getting louder as he just let it all out. I know this sounds bad but I found the whole thing amusing as hell. Seth was always the one who was calm and listened to other people’s problems and it was kinda’ fun to watch him lose his shit. Seth saw the smile on my face and stopped mid-rant “What?!” he barked, then snickered realizing I was laughing at him.

 “Nothing” I said with a grin. “it’s just nice to see you… well… lose your shit for a change. You’re usually the together one.” Seth laughed out loud at that. “And I feel kind of honored that you chose to lose it with me.”

 “I appreciate you changing your plans to come early. I can’t talk to Zach about this anymore, he just keeps telling me to suck it up, it’ll be over soon, and all that does is piss me off more.” Seth finally looked up at me as he took a break from ranting.

 “Just leave the pageantry to Kelly and enjoy your day” I said. “My mom told me that the only regret she had about her wedding day was that she didn’t take time to talk to people. So, at our wedding, I made a point to talk to everyone and hang out with my friends. It made the day even more amazing… fuck the details and the three-ring circus and enjoy your day.” He finally fucking smiled. “That” I said pointing at his smile “Do that!” Seth just started laughing and shook his head trying to shake off the stress. We finished our coffee and went into the parking garage to find the little GTI then whirred out of the garage and onto the freeway. As we headed North to the resort hotel outside of Zach’s hometown where most of us were staying, Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ came on the radio and I blasted it and said, “This. THIS is what you gotta do…” I started singing along “shake it off, shake it off…” Seth joined in and we were both laughing, singing, and leaving the stress of the wedding day on the freeway. By the time we got to the hotel, Seth was Seth again. I checked-in and we unloaded all my luggage into the room. There was a gift basket one of the two queen-sized beds. I looked at it with curiosity as Seth let out another sigh “Ugh, Kelly insisted on local gift baskets for all out of town guests. Local soaps, local cookies, local map, blah blah blah” he said as the tension started coming back to his face.  I jumped on the bed and patted the spot next to me, he plopped down and we just talked about everything but the wedding.

 “Hey, we gotta pick up Zach in an hour for dinner” Seth said as we lay there. “It’s gonna be just the three of us tonight. Tomorrow night we have the bachelor party at the casino, and after that we’re under the thumb of the Queen Bee until Sunday afternoon.” Seth said with a sigh, “I trust you received you emailed itinerary” he added with a laugh and another eye roll.

 “Dear lord, yes” I responded with complete sarcasm. “The old girl’s got a leash on y’all, aint she?”

 Seth laughed at my comment, “You’re turning into such a redneck.”

 “Yup! And damn proud of it!” I said with a proud smile, I liked the guy I was becoming. We hung out a bit longer and Seth seemed relax. I went into the bathroom and splashed some water on my face to freshen up before we got in the GTI and drove through the cute little town to the Hall’s house to get Zach.

 Seth parked the car in front of the beautiful old house, pulled up the emergency break, inhaled deeply, then exhaled and put a big, fake smile on his face. “Alright, I’m ready to go back in” he said making me laugh.

 Kelly Hall flung the door open and threw her arms around me “Maxwell, I am so happy you’re here!” She said. “As soon as Brody gets to town, the two of you need to go pick up your tuxes, the address is in the itinerary I emailed you and then… “

 Jesus Christ, Kelly” A voice boomed from behind her. “Let the poor guy cross the damn threshold before you bombard him,” it was Nathan Hall. He greeted me with a firm handshake and a winning smile… the consummate politician. We exchanged pleasantries and I thanked him for all his help with Mimi Fargus as we moved into the stately home. He was a very handsome, likable guy and it was clear that he knew his wife was driving everyone nuts.

 Zach came bounding down the staircase. He gave Seth a kiss hello before he greeted me. I saw their eyes meet as he wordlessly asked his husband if he was doing okay. I saw Seth nod. Zach was in a tough spot, trying to appease his mother and support his husband at the same time. We sat in the living room and talked for a bit. Kelly tried to bring up wedding business several times and Zach and Nathan kept steering her away from the topic. It was an interesting dynamic. Seth was right, she had a heart of gold, but she was obsessed with this wedding… more so than the two grooms. “Well, we’re gonna go to dinner and catch up. We’ll be home late” Zach said.

 “Why don’t we join y…” Kelly started to say when Nathan put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her on the cheek, wordlessly telling her to back off... it worked and her tone changed completely. “You boys have fun. Max, we’ll see you tomorrow.” She said. Zach mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to his dad, and the three of us jumped into the car to head to dinner.

 Seth literally screamed when all the car doors were shut making me laugh. Zach kissed his husband on the cheek and didn’t say a thing. Seth let out a sigh, smiled, and we were off to dinner. We went to a cute little Japanese place in the middle of town and after a little Sake were all laughing and stress free. Zach was driving so just had a few sips. After dinner they dropped me off at the hotel and I talked them into a nightcap at the bar. Zach just had a Coke. “Hey, I got two beds in my room, why don’t you guys just stay here tonight?” I proposed, putting a huge, hopeful smiled on Seth’s face as he looked at Zach with pleading puppy dog eyes.

 “My mom will freak the fuck out” Zach said, then just a second later he said. “She’ll get over it” and ordered a Martini. He texted his dad that they were staying. Nathan just sent back a thumbs up. We drank for a good two hours, those two needed some stress relief. At about midnight Central time we went up to my room with drinks in-hand.

The three of us laid on one of the beds with me in the middle and Facetimed Brody. He was in bed when he answered (it was 1AM in NC and he was not happy). Zoey was barking at the phone. “Are you Okay Maxwell?” Said the boxer-clad Brody as Zach and Seth made catcalls. “Fuck, y’all are drunk as skunks” he said in a combination of annoyance and amusement. 

“Hi Zoey, it’s Uncle Seth. Who’s a good boy? Zoey’s a good boy!” Seth started to babble at the screen making the dog go crazy. I slurred an explanation to Brody that our friends were stressed out so we drank at the hotel bar and they’re going to stay with me.

“I’m glad ya’ll are havin’ fun” Brody said. “I’m excited to see you tomorrow, baby. I miss you.” That got an ‘awwww’ from Seth and Zach. “But I got a shitload of work to do around here in the morning before BA and Daddy come to pet sit, and I need some damn sleep.” Even in my drunken state I got the hint. We said goodnight, hung up, and I just passed out between my two friends. We were fully clothed with all the lights and the TV on and our half spent drinks on the nightstand.

 We woke up to Zach’s phone ringing in his pocket. He mustered a groggy “Hello?” and I could hear Kelly yelling on the other end of the line. It was almost 10AM and he had already missed a million to-do’s on her list for the day. After half a dozen “yes mom’s” we all rolled out of bed.

 After the two guys left, I popped a couple of Ibuprofen and jumped in the shower, damn I was hungover as hell and the warm water felt amazing. I’m glad we slept in or I’d have been useless for the rest of the day. My phone was on the vanity and playing some tunes as the steam bellowed in the glass shower. My eyes were closed when suddenly two arms grabbed me around the waist. My eyes popped open in panic and I was about to scream when a familiar voice said “Y’all were dunk as hell when you called me last night” I flipped around to see my husband naked and in the shower with me. I screamed out loud, “WHAT THE FUCK AR YOU DOING HERE?! You said you didn’t get in until this afternoon!” 

“I lied” Brody said with a smile as he kissed me under the water. “We took the early flight, I just wanted to surprise you and it looks like my timing is perfect.” It WAS fucking perfect. I hadn’t seen him in five days! It was the longest we had been apart since I moved to North Carolina. Between the booze that was still in my system, missing my husband, and the overall shock of having him in my arms so suddenly, I was paralyzed. All I could do was hold him and push my face in to the wet nape of his neck. “Gotdammit I missed you, Maxwell.” He whispered.

 “I missed you too… so freaking much” I whimpered into his neck still paralyzed from the surprise of him being right fucking there with me. We just held each other under the water for a while, then kissed. It was a little peck and I just held my lips there, then my tongue pushed into his mouth and I explored the inside. He did the same to me as our tongues danced. His hands moved down and groped my soft, wet package. One hand stroked my flaccid cock and his other cupped my balls. He put his thumb and index finger around the top of my balls then pulled them down. I moaned into our make out session. Damn, it all happened so fast! Once second, I’m hungover in the shower alone with my husband a thousand miles away, the next second we’re naked, making out and he’s pulling on my balls. I moved my hands down to cup his ass cheeks, damn that ass was so perfect. Brody had this natural bubble butt and when I cupped it, the curves fit perfect in the palms of my hand and there was something so hot about feeling the soft, round skin of that butt. Even in my hungover state, all the action was making me hard. I ground my cock into his, he was already hard. “I can’t believe really you’re fucking here” I whispered into our kiss.

 I moved downward licking his nipples, then gave one long lick from the middle of his chest, following the happy trail down his abs, over his belly button and taking his cock deep down my throat. It was all one, sensual movement. Brody grunted as his cock bottomed out in my throat. He tangled his fingers up in my wet, red hair as he pushed my head down and pushed his hips up, slowly fucking my throat. The back of my throat felt bruised and painful in a wonderful way, I loved the feeling of his cockhead pounding my throat. After a little bit I pulled off him and stood up, kissing him briefly as I reached behind him for the tiny bottle of hotel shower gel. I turned, poured some gel into my hand then used it to soap up my hole, then Brody’s engorged manhood. I turned around then backed onto his cock. I pushed out my hole as I and let him in. He entered with ease filling my passage and making me feel whole again. I had missed him so much and having him in me made me complete… yeah, yeah, yeah, I know how fucking gay that sounds, but it’s true.  Brody was my everything. And he was there. With me! I was complete. Brody moved in and out of me as he kissed my neck tenderly under the water. He moved slow as we both savored being with each other again after a long absence. His swollen member filled me and warmed my insides as my outsides started to shiver from water starting to turn colder as it washed over us. I begged Brody to go harder and faster. He slowly picked up his pace, almost teasing me with his slow response, making me want more. I pushed back and pulled forward forcing him to give me more as he went in and out. He grabbed onto my hips for dear life and gave me his all!

 “Damn, Maxwell. You feel so tight. So good” He said as he moved faster and harder. “I’m gonna cum.” I grabbed my own cock and stroked in rhythm with his movements, the faster he fucked me, the faster I stroked.

 “Shoot in me, Brodes, gimme your load” I begged.

 “Hell yeah” he said as he pounded me for all I was worth. “You want it? Huh? You want my 5-day load?”

 “Fuck yeah I do.” I said. “Shit. I’m cumming too.”

 He grunted as he pushed all the way into me, bottoming out. I blew my load all over the shower wall as he filled me with his warm spunk. He kept pumping in and out of my cum-lubed hole, each movement setting off fireworks within me. It felt so fucking good to be with him again, to have him inside me. We were in a strange hotel in the middle of Wisconsin, but I was home. I was with Brody.

 After we both came, we just stood there under the now cold water for a moment before I shut the faucet off. We dried each other off, then I wrapped the towel around me and jumped on the bed where I sat leaning against the headboard. “What are y’all doing?” Brody asked. “We gotta meet Dylan, Gina, Darius, and tommy for lunch.” The whole group from North Carolina (except for me) had flown up on the same flight and drove in from the airport together.

 “No way in hell!” I said in a serious tone. “Kelly Hall has me on a schedule, and trust me, you don’t wanna fuck with her this week” I laughed. “In fact, if she knew you were here, she’d make you come with. We’re having lunch at the country club so I… the best man… can see the venue.”

 Brody laughed, “I’ll go to lunch without you” he said.

 “The hell you will” I said picking up my phone and texting Seth about Brody’s arrival. Within seconds Seth texted back “Kelly says bring him to lunch. We’ll meet you in front of the hotel at 11:45.”

 “You fucker” Brody said with a grin as he jumped on the bed and tickled me. “You sold me out to Mrs. Hall.” After a little wrestling we got dressed and went down to meet Zach and Seth in front of the hotel. On the way out we stopped by the hotel restaurant to say high to the rest of our North Carolina gang. I was happy to see them all. The all walked us out to the car so they could greet Zach and Seth. Elliot and Cam, Eric and Hunter, and Seth’s family were all coming in later that day for the bachelor party, and Gina was going to hang with Zach’s little sister Riley who was home from school in New York for the summer… the two had bonded years ago when Riley would visit Zach in college. After everyone hugged and said hello, We headed to the Country Club to meet Kelly.

 We drove up through the gate and followed the long winding drive up to the beautiful, majestic stone building that looked to be well over 100 years old. There was a circular drive that led to a covered Porte Cochere where a valet waited to park the car. Jesus H. Christ the place was fucking dripping with old money. My grandparents had money and I’d been to places like this when I was a kid, but it had been a lot of years, and now my comfort zone was more like a dark country bar in the middle of nowhere. Brody let out a ‘day-um’ under his breath making Zach laugh. “Don’t be intimidated, it’s all show. My mom is completely out of control.” The two of us looked around the grounds, then up at the stately building totally awestruck. Like I said, I grew up around money, but this was all new for Brody and he walked around with his mouth agape taking it all in like a country bumkin. It was cute as hell, and Zach had an amused smile on his face as he watched Brody. We moved up the steps and into the lobby.

The interior was as impressive as the exterior. It was very grand with old hardwood floors and 20-foot ceilings. The chandeliers were massive but the focal point was the incredible, triple-wide winding staircase that led to the ballroom on the second floor. Kelly Hall was waiting at the bottom of the staircase when she saw us and waved as she moved towards us. “Good morning boys. Brody, it’s so nice to see you again” she chirped as she leaned into hug him, he winced as she did making the three of us laugh… Brody did his best in social situations, but still wasn’t a hugger. Kelly Took a deep breath the exhaled “Well, we have so much to cover. We’ll have lunch in the restaurant, but first I want to show you the ballroom where the reception will be.” With that she pivoted and started walking up the beautiful staircase talking nonstop as she did. She was going on about timing, schedules, speeches, seating arrangements, transportation to and from the reception, the church, blah, blah, and of course, blah. None of us were really listening. We entered the stunning ballroom and Kelly proceeded to point out where we were to stand for the receiving line, where we were to sit, where the dancefloor would be, etc. The woman had a plan, and it was clear that neither Zach nor Seth was into it… well clear to everyone but Kelly.

We survived lunch and were released for the rest of the day once we promised to go pick up our tuxes. The valet brought the GTI around and we headed downtown to do our duty. We picked up our tuxes, tried everything on, and after the tailor made a few minor adjustments, we were on our way back to the hotel. It was about three o’clock when we entered the lobby carrying our garment bags. The previously quiet hotel was now loud and alive, most of the guys had arrived! Some were checking in others were lounging with drinks in their hands. Our friends from the duplex were all there, the Nicholls/Westin crew from Arizona was there including those with little ones. All the kids were staying with Mom and Pop Nicholls until Friday when they would come up for the wedding. The rest of the gang from Arizona were flying in on Friday night.

We dropped our tuxes off in our room then came back down and hung out at the hotel bar. Eventually the rest of the guys showed up, It was so good to see everyone again. Nathan Hall and some of his friends and Zach’s cousins joined us for the bachelor party.  We all ended up eating together at the hotel restaurant and hung out at the bar until the party bus picked us up to take us to the Casino.  

It was going to be a wild weekend!

 

To be continued…