Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

Zach and Seth’s bachelor party was a lot tamer than ours… by request. They just wanted a chance to kick back and have fun with their friends without Kelly controlling their every move. The party bus was loud and Hunter decided to do a reprise of the striptease he did at our bachelor party, but this time to a less enthusiastic crowd. Nathan’s friends and Zach’s cousins were straight (and several very conservative) with little exposure to gay guys, unlike Seth’s family or our straight friends and family. It was a very uncomfortable vibe (although Nathan seemed to be enjoying himself). Luckily, Hunter realized that he may have overestimated the crowd and kept it lowkey by keeping his pants on… so no harm no foul. Thank god Kye wasn’t there, god only knows how many people he would’ve offended (he had a conflict and couldn’t make the wedding)!

After a little over a half hour on the road, our bus pulled up to the Casino. Brody and I had brought a couple of boxes of cigars and handed them out to the guys as they got off the bus. I’d arranged for the casino to reserve a couple of Blackjack and Poker tables for our group so we could all play together. Zach and his dad asked us all to mix and get to know each other, so Brody and I played Blackjack with a couple of lawyer friends of Nathan and a couple of Zach’s cousins. We were smoking stogies, drinking whiskey, and having a shitload of fun. At one point the seat next to Brody opened and Eric sat down to join the game. Brody immediately tossed a $25 chip to the dealer as a tip, thanked him, then got up and left; I followed. We moved to a poker table and sat with Kev, Randy, Cam, and some other guys (including the Mayor of Randy’s hometown). Again, we were having a great time. It was interesting to watch the dynamic evolve as we all got to know each other. On the bus trip in, our gang was being themselves… loud and proud, while the “new straight guys” were kind of standoffish, but after a little time at the casino we were all laughing and joking like old friends. After a few hands of poker, Kev and Randy went off to play the slots vacating a couple of chairs. Again, Eric sat down, and again, Brody tossed a $25 chip to the dealer, thanked him, and started to walk away.

Eric looked over at Brody as he was about to exit the table and asked, “Did I do something to piss you off?” his voice was curt and he was obviously irritated.

Without missing a beat Brody said, “you mean other than making out with my husband? Nah.” Then he shot Eric a fake smile, raised his eyebrows, clenched the stogie between his teeth, and walked away. Again, I followed him and we went towards the penny slots where we could hear Dylan and the Westin Brothers yelling… somebody just won a jackpot. Eric looked over at Cam and I heard him ask “What the fuck?” Cam slid into the seat vacated by Brody and started to talk to Eric as we left the table. We successfully avoided him for the rest of the night.

We all stayed at the casino for a few hours, there were a few big winners, and a few big losers, but we all had a great time. The bus ride back was filled with stories and laughter. Seth and Zach thanked everyone and reminded those who were in the wedding (which were several by the way) to pick up their tuxes and to be at the church at 6PM sharp for the rehearsal. They also invited all out of town guests to the rehearsal dinner at a local steakhouse. After the bus dropped us off at the hotel. Some of the guys headed for home, but surprisingly most stayed for a nightcap at the hotel bar. It was a fun group, yeah there was a little awkwardness here and there, and some let’s just say inappropriate questions due to curiosity. On a sidenote here, I’ve noticed that when straight guys who have never been around gay guys get comfortable with gay guys… they like to ask questions like “which one is the girl” or “does it hurt” etc. it’s harmless but awkward. One of Zach’s cousins who was about our age kept asking questions of all of us until Hunter put a hand on his shoulder and said in a sultry voice “I would be more than happy to answer ALL of your curiosities about homosexuality in private if you’d like.” The guy turned bright red and that was the end of the questions. The rest of us tried not to crack up. But other than that, it was just a bunch of guys having a good time. Seth and Zach were both happy that everyone felt so comfortable around each other.

That was the thing stressing the guys out most… the mixing of our openly gay group of friends and chosen family with Zach’s more conservative relatives and small town friends. After the bachelor party Zach breathed a sigh of relief.

“This was perfect, you guys. Everyone had a good time, even Nathan’s conservative buddies.” Seth said with a smile as we stood in the hotel bar talking.

Zach was standing next to him “And it was a great break from my mom” he added with a laugh. We were sharing stories from the night as we stood at the bar when Nathan came up behind Zach and Seth, putting an arm around each.

“I was at the County Clerk’s office this morning and she said you haven’t been in to apply for your marriage license yet, you guys need to handle that tomorrow.” Nathan said to the couple, the two looked nervously at each other.

“Um… Dad” Zach said looking at his father. “We need to talk.” Nathan furled his brow. Brody and I started to walk away but Zach asked us to stay… moral support, I guess. We all moved to a high-top table in the sophisticated hotel bar and sat. Zach started to speak, but Seth cut him off immediately.

“Nathan…” Seth eked out.

“Dad” Nathan corrected.

“Okay, dad…” Seth said correcting himself. “We got married on New Year’s Day in Las Vegas” he blurted out and we all looked at Nathan awaiting a response.

“Mom was driving us insane” Zach added in explanation. “We just wanted a small wedding and it turned into a freaking three-ring circus, so we got married with these two as witnesses” he said nodding to us. “No one knows but the four of us.”

Nathan Hall thought for a minute then spoke, surprising us with the question “Do you have pictures?” He was smiling. Zach pulled out his phone and showed his dad the 10 photos from the chapel wedding package, and a few others. Nathan scrolled through the picture with a sigh. “I’m only going to say this once, and if you ever repeat it to your mother, I will deny it” he said before pausing. “I think that’s great, and I totally get it; she’s driving us all nuts” Zach and Seth smiled. Then he added, “This is all about you… but you do realize she can never find out about this, right?” We all nodded in total agreement as Nathan thought through a plan in his head. “I’ll talk to the reverend at the rehearsal dinner and let him know you’ve had a civil ceremony and he won’t need to sign the license, and on the wedding day you can pretend to sign something to throw your mother off the trail.” We talked about it a little longer, then the two guys thanked him for the amazing wedding, their appreciation and gratitude were clear. At the end of it all, Nathan just laughed and hugged the guys. “I seriously don’t blame you. She’s been out of control for almost a year. You guys just enjoy the next couple of days. I’m proud of you… and Seth… welcome to the family.” After he finished his drink, the three of them drove back to the Hall’s, and Brody and I went to our room.

We stripped down to our underwear and sat up in bed talking for a while. Brody kissed my neck and started to work his way down. It was so nice having him in the bed with me after five days of being alone. I just laid there and let him go, damn it felt so good. Brody put his fingers in my waistband and was about to pull my underwear off when someone knocked on the door quietly. “Ignore it” I whispered, silently pleading with him to keep going. The knocking got louder and more persistent until Brody finally gave in with a heavy sigh and got up to answer the door clad in just his underwear. He opened the door just a crack. I could hear voices but couldn’t make out who was there or what they were talking about, then in walked Eric.

Eric stood in the middle of the room with Brody behind him as I leaned against the headboard with the covers pulled up to my waist.

“Um… um I need to talk to you guys” Eric said as he fumbled for words. “Cam told me what happened in Vegas.”

“What do you mean Cam told you? You were there” I said in kind of a rude tone, I was not happy he interrupted us.

Eric looked at the ground then sheepishly replied “I was so fucking drunk; I don’t remember anything until we got to the bathhouse.” I looked at Brody and raised by eyebrows… the bathhouse was new information, but I didn’t comment (Although I really wanted to know what happened!). “My drinking got out of control for a while, and I haven’t had a drink since February. I am so sorry if I caused any trouble between you guys.”

Brody remained stoned-faced as he asked, “Are you getting help?”

“Just Hunter.” Eric said definitively. “It’s not like I was sneaking around drinking or anything, it’s just that when I did drink, I drank to excess.” He paused and made eye contact with us, “I wanted to try it on my own first and I’ve been doing okay with it, Hunter’s been a huge help. He also told me that if I overdo it this weekend, he’s driving me to an AA meeting when we get home. I haven’t touched a drop.”

I didn’t say much, but Brody asked a few questions about Eric’s wellbeing, making sure he was okay then said, “I’m glad you’re turning things around.”

Eric gave a weak smile, “I am so sorry for what I did. Cam said I caused a big fight between you guys.”

Brody shot me a look as he said, “well, you weren’t kissing yourself. Was he, Maxwell?” He wasn’t letting me off the hook.

“No. I definitely participated” I said in embarrassment.

“Eric, I’m proud of you for trying to make a change” Brody said. “But this is your last chance with me. That shit with your friend RJ grabbing my ass a few years ago, then New Year’s Eve… strike three and you’re out.” He said it in a harsh, serious tone. Brody was quiet, and a good guy… but he didn’t tolerate bullshit and Eric’s immaturity had taken his toll on him over the years.

“I promise, Brody.” Eric said looking him in the eye. “And Max, I’m sorry I put you in that position.”

“I wasn’t completely innocent, Eric” I replied, embarrassed. Brody extended his hand to Eric and they shook on it, then Eric said goodnight and went back to his room.

Brody got back on the bed, but the moment had passed. Instead, we talked. “Ya’ know, Maxwell… I’m not good at separating sex and love like a lot of the other guys. I’m satisfied with just you, but If you need more…” I cut him the fuck off. NO! I didn’t need more.

“Shit, is that what you think? That I need more? C’mon you know me better than that! I only want YOU. I love you!” I said completely offended, getting mad, and at the same time worried he was still disappointed in me. Yeah, okay fine, I kissed Eric when I was drunk, but every other action I made pointed to me loving, needing, and wanting only him. I was about to go into a rant when Brody turned and kissed me.

“Yeah, I know. I just wanted you to say it” He said with an evil grin. The little bastard was baiting me. Before I could protest, he grabbed both sides of my face and kissed me full-on. “You know I love our friends, Maxwell but I don’t miss the drama” he said before he shoved his tongue down my throat.

I pulled him off my face for just a quick moment and said, “Yeah, I love our friends too, but I love our quiet world… and I love you too. Damn I missed you.” Then we went back to our passion-filled kiss. One thing led to another and before long my legs were pushed against my chest, and Brody was between my legs loosening up my hole with lotion from the little bottle that was lovingly placed on the bedside table by housekeeping. His finger worked its way in and out of my hole, each movement causing me to writhe, moan, and beg for more. Damn, I had missed his touch! As he was fingering my hole, I was thinking about how he had scared me in the shower earlier that day and then how excited I was that he was really there. I truly thought I was dreaming at first. That’s how much I loved him… when he wasn’t with me, I dreamed we were together. Just being with him was everything to me. I got out of my head just in time to feel his perfect manhood pressing against my hole… fuck he was the perfect fit for me in every way. He leaned in and kissed me as he lifted my legs over his shoulders and pushed slowly forward. I just basked in the pleasure of him moving through my channel until his soft, smooth scrotum rested against my round, pale buttocks.

He just rested there for a minute as he looked into my eyes and whispered “I love you so damn much, Maxwell. I hated being home without you, it wasn’t the same” and he meant every word. My heart was beating so fast, I mean it’s not like this was our first time, we’d been having sex for more than three years, but it was right. Perfect and right… Brody was my soul mate, my perfect fit. He slowly pulled out of me completely and quickly pushed back in (thank god, I felt empty without him). He slowly moved in and out of me over and over, we kissed tenderly as he did. We weren’t in a hurry and savored every movement as we made love. I had missed him so much. I was so damn hard the entire time with my arms wrapped around his neck. After what seemed like a very long time, I begged him to go faster. Dammit! The sensations just shot through my body sending me into the throes of ecstasy. Wow. Just wow. My head was spinning and my insides were on fire. He moved harder and faster, gyrating his hips so I could feel every glorious, fucking inch of him.

My eyes were rolled up in the back of my head when I felt my orgasm build in my balls and move up my shaft until I unloaded between us. “fuck” I whispered quietly as I involuntarily dug my nails into his smooth, toned back.

“Fuck, that hurts…” Brody grunted into my neck as he buried his face in my neck, then added “So fuckin’ good.” As he continued to pump in and out. “Shit, Maxwell. I’m gonna cum.” I started pushing my hips up, fucking myself on him and taking him deeper, forcing him to shoot his load deep inside me. He kept pumping in and out of me using his seed as lube, damn it felt so good to be with my husband again after five days apart. I just loved the guy. After we made love, he spooned me until we fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up with his arms wrapped around me, right where I belonged.

My phone dinged with a text from Cam “Hey you guys up for breakfast?” It was only 7:30AM. We were free until 10:00AM when Kelly had a list of “best man duties” for us to handle. I asked Brody about breakfast, he was game. So, we told Cam we’d meet him at the hotel restaurant in about forty five minutes, just enough time to take a shower together and clean off the funk from the previous night.

When we got down to the restaurant Cam and Elliot were already seated at a table and drinking coffee. There were so many people in for the wedding and I hadn’t spent much time with Cam and Elliot, so the four of us had breakfast and caught up. Seth and Cam were best friends in high school, and were still close, but Seth and I became even closer once I paired up with Brody and the four of us became friends… I was afraid Cam might be pissed that I was best man instead of him, but he didn’t care, he was happy to be a groomsman. We talked a little about Eric, Cam filling us in on his conversation with him and me telling him about his visit to our room to apologize. The Cam changed the subject abruptly saying “Hey, guess what we bought” as he passed his phone across the table and started showing us pictures of a cute little three bedroom cape cod just a few blocks from Elliot’s parents.

“Oh my god, congratulations. It’s cute!” I said.

“Yeah,” Elliot said. “Perfect for newlyweds.” Brody and I looked up from the phone to see our two friends smiling wide.

“Holy shit! You’re engaged?!” I asked with excitement as the two nodded, then shared details.

“You’re the first ones we’ve told, and we want to keep it quiet until after the wedding… we don’t want to steal the thunder from Seth and Zach” Cam said.

“But we had to tell someone!” Elliot added. They’re parents were both coming to the wedding so they planned on sharing the news about the engagement and the house with them at Sunday brunch after the wedding. “They know we’ve been looking at houses, but they don’t know we have an accepted offer.”

“I am so happy for you guys!” I truly was. Cam was a lost soul when I first met him, and Elliot was afraid of his own shadow, but they were great together. Brody ordered mimosas for the table to celebrate. Our impromptu breakfast was now a great celebration. They swore us to secrecy until Sunday. Sure. Why not? We kept Seth and Zach’s wedding a secret for six months, we could handle this for a couple of days. After the big announcement we caught up on everything else.

“Hey, where’s Teddy?” I asked. He wasn’t at the party last night.

“He had to work today” Cam said. “He and Emma should get here just in time for the rehearsal tonight.”

“Emma?” I asked, “Who’s Emma?”

“He’s been dating her since right before Christmas… it’s serious.” Elliot said. I hadn’t talked to Teddy since our wedding. We were never really that close, he was more Zach and Seth’s friend than mine. “I like her.”

Cam chimed in, “he’s really gotten his shit together.” He looked up at us, “um when he saw Dylan with Gina at your wedding, he went into a little depression. “One day about a month later he came down to our flat and said “I’m done being a man child. Time to fucking grow up.” We listened with interest as Cam told us about how Teddy stopped the partying, dove into his career headfirst, and planned on moving into their flat with Emma when they moved out because their place was ‘more grown-up.’

“Wow.” I said as I listened. “I didn’t realize the Gina, Dylan thing hit him that hard.” The other two nodded.

“Yup.” Elliot said as he sipped his coffee. “After he saw them, then saw your place, and heard what was going on with Seth and Zach settling in, he felt like he was being left behind. Everyone was growing up except him.” I felt for our friend as I listened to Cam and Elliot tell the story. “One day he just decided to grow up, I guess.”

Well, damn. Good for him” Brody said. “It sounds like he’s doing well.” Just as we were finishing our Teddy conversation, Dylan, Gina, Eli, Brian, and his girlfriend Olivia, all joined us.

“Breakfast is on me bitches” Eli said. “I got lucky at the casino last night.” He added then recapped the story of his jackpot win. It sounded like everyone had a great time, I was relieved. I had been worried that the party would be too tame for our crowd, but considering the group of straight conservatives, I think we hit a good balance.

As we were all talking and laughing I heard a young girls voice yell “HEY!!!!” and Gina responded with “Hey gurrrl!” It was Riley Hall, Zach’s little sister. She was just 16 when she first started visiting Zach in the dorms, now she was a gorgeous, twenty year old college girl (FYI that fact did not go unnoticed by Eli).

“Hey Max and Brody, mom-zilla is waiting on you guys. You have about 10 minutes before your late. Mom had you scheduled to stuff gift bags” she said with a laugh.

“Ugh.” I grunted as I threw a wad of cash on the table to pay for breakfast, and we exited the restaurant promising to see everyone at the rehearsal. For the next several hours Kelly had me, Brody, Seth, and Zach doing any task she could find including stuffing gift bags, carting flowers and other crap around town to the steakhouse for the rehearsal dinner, the church for the wedding, and the country club for the reception. The day got away from us and we barely had enough time to shower and get dressed before the rehearsal.

The wedding was being held at a cute little nondenominational church in the middle of town. The Halls were Catholic and Kelly fought like hell to have the wedding at their church… but even mom-zilla couldn’t convince The Pope to host a gay wedding. Once everyone was there, she choregraphed the processional. Two by two the couples walked down the aisle: Brody and I lead the procession the took our places on either side of the altar. Cam and Elliot followed behind, then Eli and Riley, then Teddy and Seth’s sister Theresa, then Brian and Gina, then Eric and Mary (Seth’s other sister). Once we were all on the altar poised and waiting, Matty and Maddox walked down the aisle together, each carrying a ring on a pillow for each of the grooms. Then Brooklyn and Scotty paved the way for the two grooms by spreading flower pedals (or pretending to do so at rehearsal) from the back of the church to the altar. Finally, it was the grooms’ turn. Zach’s parents escorted him down the aisle first, followed by Brad and Scotty escorting Seth. We practiced a few times and Kelly made a few minor adjustments to the order, made sure we were standing at the perfect angle on the altar, etc. Then Kev and Mauricio each got up to practice their readings. It took us about two hours before Kelly was satisfied, then it was off to the steakhouse for the rehearsal dinner.

By the time we got to the steakhouse, all the Arizona guys were in town (and of course Kelly invited them to dinner). We were guided to a private room in the back of the steakhouse. It was dark, loud, and crowded as we entered and greeted everyone. We’d seen most of the gay guys in Vegas at New Year’s, but I hadn’t seen the straight Nicholls’ brothers since our wedding, and I had only met Seth’s sisters at graduation. I was an only child, and it was fun watching Seth’s big family together… they laughed together, gave each other shit, and clearly loved being together.

So far, the weekend had been action packed, and the main event was yet to come.

 

To be continued…

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Author's note: This chapter is packed with a lot of character updates. If things aren't clear, don't hesitate to ask questions. As always... thanks for reading and thanks for the comments and emails.