Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

“Oh my god, this place is amazing!” Rhonda bellowed as she stretched and looked out over our little haven in the middle of nowhere.

“How was your trip?” I asked.

“Long” Rhonda replied as she took a deep breath and inhaled the fresh country air.

“We took shifts and drove straight through” Laurie added.

“So, what do you think?” Seth asked Craig who was taking it all in.

Poor Craig didn’t know what the hell to think. He was dragged off to live in the middle of freaking nowhere with a couple of queens he didn’t know just so he could avoid being harmed by the one man in the world who was supposed to protect him. He gave us a weak smile and said “cool.” He was obviously out of his element.

“Hey y’all, I’m Brody by the way” my husband said to Craig with his welcoming accent. “I don’t think we ever officially met.”

“And I’m Max” I said shaking his hand.

“Thank you, guys, for taking me in” he said, still apprehensive but sincere.

“We’re excited you’re here” I responded, then asked, “you guys hungry?” I got a huge affirmative, so we unpacked the car and headed into the house. Seth followed me into the kitchen to help with lunch while Brody took everyone else upstairs and got them settled in. We set Craig up in Dylan’s old room because it was the more modern of the two guest rooms and closest to the bathroom. Seth and Zach got Grammaw’s room (as always), and we put Rhonda and Laurie in our room. Brody and I were fine with sleeping on the pullout in the living room. “I’m really nervous about this whole thing, Seth” I said as we made hamburger patties.

“Don’t be. He’s a good kid, you guys will get along great once the whole shock wears off.” Seth said reassuringly. “Remember, I went through some similar shit when I was sixteen. It takes time to trust people.” I knew Seth’s past, but somehow, I always seemed to forget about it. He and his siblings had moved on so well… Craig could do the same. Seth talked me through what Was probably going on in his head, and what to expect… he understood this stuff and it helped me wrap my head around it.

“I’m afraid he’s gonna be bored shitless, I almost went nuts when I first moved here, there’s not shit to do.” I said.

“He’ll find stuff to do” Seth said trying to reassure me it would be okay. We were just finishing up making the hamburger patties when everyone ascended upon the kitchen. Brody and Zach grabbed the platter of burgers and went outside to blaze up the grill while the rest of us stayed in the kitchen. Seth and I kept making lunch while the other three sat at the kitchen table.

“Hey Craig, this all happened pretty fast, I’m sure you’ve got a lot of questions… you can ask us anything.” I offered.

He was quiet and hesitant, then eked out “How much do I owe you for rent?” the others just smiled and waited for me to answer.

“Rent? You don’t need to pay rent, we got you covered.” I said with a little chortle. “We also need help making candles if you wanna make some money, we’ll pay you hourly like we do the other guys.” I said trying to casually answer his questions before he asked them. We all moved into this pretty fast and we didn’t really talk much about details.

“Other guys?” he asked.

“Yeah, Ricky, Trey, and Timmy. They’re all about your age and work for us after school.” I said finishing up the cucumber and tomato salad I was making. Seth finished up the pasta salad when I wiped my hands on the kitchen towel and asked, “Do you wanna see the candle barn?” Craig nodded, and I led everyone out the back door into the candle barn and flipped on the lights.

Rhonda and Laurie were impressed as hell by our little factory in the barn. “Damn, Max. You guys are really living the dream out here, aren’t you?” She said with awe in her voice as she looked around.

I walked them all through the process, talked to them about our different clients, our new products and expansion plans, and explained Ricky’s new role, etc. Craig asked a lot of questions and seemed genuinely interested in what I was showing him. When I told him how much we paid hourly, his eyes lit up, “that’s way more than I made at the restaurant.”

“Listen, we want to keep you safe but we also want to help set you up for success. Have you thought about what you want to do after graduation?” I asked. The others listened with interest.

“I got accepted into the Horticulture program at St Louis Community College” he said, “I want to get into greenhouse management.” ‘An odd ambition,’ I thought to myself.

“Really? We’re talking about building a greenhouse, we grow herbs out back and use ‘em to make our own scents” I told him. Now, I had his full attention.

“For real?” He asked and a smile crossed his face for the very first time since he arrived. “Can I see the garden?”

“Yeah, it’s out here” I said leading him out the back of the old barn. Jimmy was waiting to greet our guests as we made our way to the garden… of course they all flipped over him. “I just planted a few weeks ago, I expanded the size of the herb garden this year and cut down on the other produce” I told him about selling at the farmer’s market last year, but dropping out this year to focus on candle making. I showed him where the wild lavender and mint grows as we walked back towards the beehives. He had a huge grin on his face as we looked around. “I’m gonna need help out here if you’re interested.”

“Hell yeah” he said with true excitement in his voice… finally. “My mom and I used to work in the garden together all the time when I was just little. Can you teach me bee keeping?”

I smiled big, I was a geek when it came to gardening and bees and loved that he was interested in all of it. “Hell yeah!” I said mimicking him, excited to have a new bee-buddy. I was so happy that he was interested in bees and gardens, because there wasn’t fuck-else to do out in the middle of nowhere, and he didn’t have any friends, or wheels to drive into town. He may have been safe from his father out there, but in many ways, he was still a prisoner. We walked back to the deck where Brody and Zach were grilling, they were just finishing up the burgers. We all went inside to eat lunch.

As we ate, Rhonda spoke to Craig like a mother, “you’ve got a good opportunity for a new start” she said, “I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, but if I were you, I’d take full advantage of this opportunity and put as much money away as possible while I was here.” Craig nodded, then Zach spoke up.

“I’ll see what I can do about keeping your father away from you so that you can come back to St Louis and go to school in the fall if you want.” Zach was interning at a law firm and was trying everything he could think of to keep Craig’s father at a distance. I realized that the entire group of people sitting at my table were using their talents to help give this kid a better start. Seth always talked about the “village” of people that rallied around them in Phoenix, I always thought it was cool, but never truly grasped the power of it until that day. We had all these people willing to help. Not just the people around the table, but our friends and family here, their friends in St Louis, Seth’s village in Arizona, our other friends in Wisconsin, my family in Minnesota. I couldn’t think of one person we knew that wouldn’t be willing to pitch in and help Craig, or anyone else in need. There was an opportunity here to create… well, I guess you could call it a national village. A network of people willing to help guys like Craig get a better start, and if we’re successful, Craig becomes part of that network and helps the next guy, and it grows from there. There was a seed of an idea planted in my head although I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it yet.

The next day we said goodbye to the four people (and the puppy) who brought Craig safely to us. Then it was just the three of us. Craig spent the day with me dealing with the Bees and working in the garden, we talked the whole time and he opened up to me a lot. He told me his mother died in a car accident when he was just eleven, they were very close and used to work outside in the garden together, plus she ran a community garden just a few blocks from their home. After she died, his dad moved his now stepmom in… like almost immediately. Craig said it wasn’t even a month after his mom passed away, and as he got older, he started to wonder if they were together before she had died. He and his dad were never that close, and his stepmom never took much of an interest in having kids. He came out to them on his 18th birthday, and from that moment on he was on his own. He probably would’ve been okay if it wasn’t for his father constantly stirring up trouble for him at home, work, and school. Even though he was never close to his father, he didn’t expect such a visceral reaction, he assumed he already knew and would be fine with it. The poor kid had his world flipped upside down over night. After he told me about himself, he asked a lot of questions about me and Brody. How we met, where we met, where we grew up, how we ended up in North Carolina, how I got into candle making, what Brody did for a living. I answered all his questions honestly. It was awesome that we got to spend the day together getting to know each other.

Monday came quickly and it was time to integrate Craig into the world of BroMax. Craig was all set with his online courses and Brody planned to introduce him to Ricky and the crew when they came to the barn after school. I was a little worried about leaving Craig and Brody on their own, so far, I had been the buffer. When I got to the school, I had coffee in my classroom with Mrs. J, Gina, Laurie, Sara, and Harris as usual. I filled them in on the situation with Craig, and as expected they all volunteered to help with whatever we needed. Damn, we were surrounded by such good people. I was so anxious about what was going on at home that the school day seemed to drag on forever. When I finally finished school for the day and made it to the candle barn, all my fears were put to rest. The music was blasting, the guys were working and laughing, and Brody had the French doors in the loft open and was keeping an eye on everything.

Timmy was showing Craig how to properly clip wicks, Ricky was pulling together orders for Stella, and Trey was busy pouring candles at one of the stations. I walked up behind Timmy and Craig “How’s it going, men?” Ricky looked our way with a smile and rolled his eyes at my “men” comment.

“Good boss” Ricky shouted to me. “Timmy and Craig are finishing up our first pour and Trey is starting a second… we’re cranking it out.” Craig gave me a quiet “hi” as he concentrated on what Timmy was teaching him.

I went up to the loft where Zoey was hanging out with Brody, both were excited to see me. Brody updated me on what I missed, which surprisingly wasn’t much. “I introduced Craig to the guys, Ricky showed him around and set him up to shadow Timmy, and he blended in with the rest of ‘em” Brody said as he continued to tweak something on his iPad. “The music changed a little bit today” he added. “It went less rap and more techno-dance.” That made me laugh.

I walked over to the French doors and looked down over our little factory… everything seemed to be in perfect Harmony. I took a quick video of the guys working together and wiggling their little butts to the music and sent it to Seth. ‘All is well here’ I texted and got an LOL in response.

After that I headed downstairs, put on my apron, and went to work with the guys. We worked a few more hours before we shut it down for the night. Timmy, Trey, and Ricky all jumped in their cars and headed home.

I Made dinner while Brody continued to work and Craig cleaned himself up. That night at dinner We threw about ten billion questions at Craig about his first day. He seemed to be adjusting well, He got along great with all the guys and was getting into candle making. The only thing he wasn’t thrilled about was going to school online. He missed the social aspect of school, and said it was lonely learning that way. Our first week together went well considering how fast everything happened. It was definitely a learning experience for all three of us. There was a lot of walking on eggshells at first, some very tense moments, and a lot of adapting. We heard Craig crying in his room one night, we asked him about it the next day and he timidly admitted that he was just a little lonely. We totally got it, he was 18, stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no human contact except for us and the three guys he worked with a few hours a day.

There were less than two months left in the semester, but I decided to talk to Principal Simmons to see if he had any connections to get Craig into school. I was amazed at how fast things moved; transcripts were requested and reviewed, a favor or two were cashed, in… as always, Principal Simmons got shit done. By the end of the day Craig had an opportunity to finish school with Ricky and Timmy.

It was Craig’s second Monday with us. I got home from school and he was hard at work in the candle barn with the other guys. The music was blasting and the boys were cranking it out as always. I went up to the loft to tell Brody about Principal Simmons pulling a few strings for Craig. Brody yelled down from the loft “Craig, come up here a minute.” The other boys let out a collective “oooooooooo” with a few other “Craig’s in trouuuuuble’s” etc. He just laughed it off and came up to see us.

Brody started “Hey buddy, we know you’re lonely out here durin’ the day…” Craig politely tried to say that it wasn’t a big deal, but we knew it was. “Max’s boss pulled a few strings, and if you want… you can finish out the school year with Timmy and Ricky’s class.” Craig didn’t want us to worry about him so he tried to blow it off like it wasn’t a big deal, but the smile on his face betrayed him. Brody let him off the hook, “It’s okay to admit it, Craig. It’s boring as fuck out here.” Craig laughed.

“I really want to go back to school… with people!” Craig said smiling ear-to-ear. “Are you guys sure it’s okay? I mean, I’m gonna need a ride there and stuff and I don’t wanna be a pain in the ass.”

We hadn’t really thought about that, but before I could offer to drop him off on my way to work Brody said, “You’ve got a license, right?” Craig nodded. “You can take Old Blue, just treat her good.” Brody was generous to a fault and never hesitated to share what he had.

“So, when can I start?” Craig asked.

“I’ll find out” I said, and made a quick call to Principal Simmons. He made one call and it was set. The one thing about living in a small town is that everyone was connected to everyone. Craig was cleared to report to the Principal’s office in the morning. “Okay, it’s all set, you report tomorrow.” Craig’s eyes lit up and he broke into a smile. “How about if I drive you tomorrow to make sure everything goes through, and Ricky or Timmy can bring you back here after school, you can start taking the truck after that.” Craig nodded in agreement, We had a plan, and he was psyched. He ran down to the barn to tell the guys then went back to work.

Ricky came up to me before he left for the night and said, “Don’t worry, Max. I’ll take care of him tomorrow.” I couldn’t help but hug the guy, the way he just accepted Craig into the fold warmed my heart. The next day Craig started school and Ricky didn’t lie… he took care of him. I dropped him off and made sure he got registered, then Ricky met us at the Principal’s office and took over from there. He introduced him around, made sure he got to his classes, he even introduced him to the faculty advisor for the GSA. it was a turning point for Craig and he came into his own over the next couple of weeks. He made new friends and seemed to fit right in. He took to candle making instantly and was a huge help to the team… Ricky loved having another body to pour candles. Mrs. J helped me tutor him in beekeeping and even gave him one of her old beekeeping suits. On top of all that, he was an amazing force in the garden and smart as hell, he taught me a lot. The bottom line is that he adapted quickly and became a big part of our world. He had only been there a couple of weeks, but I was already dreading the idea of him leaving at the end of the semester. Craig seemed happy and spent a lot of time with Ricky and his friends, he also basically commandeered Old Blue as his own so he had a little freedom.

One Friday night when they were out, Brody and I had our first night alone in weeks. Brody was up in his loft after dinner working late, he had been doing that for several days putting his heart and soul into a new pitch for one of their clients. I went up to check on him just in time to find him shutting everything down for the night. He was standing by his desk closing his laptop when I came up the steps and moved in behind him, he turned around to see who was there, his back was to the glass top desk. He was smaller than me and his ass lined up perfectly with the desktop so I hooked my hands under his arms and lifted him up a couple of inches so he was sitting on the desk and started kissing him passionately as I did. Not a word was exchanged as I fumbled with the belt holding up his tight, faded jeans. It took a lot of fumbling and wiggling to peel them from his tight little body, but soon they were hanging from his dangling ankles. I grasped his soft member with my hand as my tongue probed his hot mouth. Still, not a single word had been spoken, but our moans echoed through the old, dimly lit barn.

My lips stayed locked to his as I stepped off my own shoes, fumbled with my belt and zipper, and stepped out of my jeans. I stood there like Winnie The Pooh with just a shirt and no pants as our impromptu kiss turned into a full-on oral assault on each other. Our lips were locked and our tongues explored the depths of each other’s oral cavities. It took just a couple of minutes before we were both hard as fucking hell! We loved Craig, and were so happy he was doing well, but having him live with us was killing our sex life and I wasn’t about to let this opportunity to be alone together slip through my fingers. I pulled out of our passionate kiss and dropped to my knees, Brody leaned back on his elbows and I pushed his legs up to his chest. My tongue instinctively went for his sweet, funky little pucker. He had been up in his loft working all day and I could smell just a hint of his body spray mixed with his natural scent, I inhaled deeply before I took my first lick with the flick of my tongue. I licked up and down his crack, stopping to flick my tongue on his hole, then with one long motion, I lapped his crack from the small of his back, past the hole, up is taint, then over his ball sac to the root of his shaft finally reaching the bulbous purple head of his perfect, perfect cock. My hand wrapped around his thick shaft and I licked its purple head before I took him in my mouth. His gasp of surprise morphed into a guttural groan I moved down taking him deeper. Inch-by-inch he entered me until his ample head hit the back of my throat. He sat up straight and moved his hands to the back of my head, holding me there to choke on his engorged manhood. My eyes watered as my throat muscles contracted around him, air was sparse but I didn’t struggle. This is what I wanted, what I had come for, and Brody knew it… he knew me. His hold on my head loosened up but I didn’t retreat. I relentlessly tried to take more even though there was literally no more for me to take. I loved everything about sucking Brody’s cock; the taste, the feel, the smell, the texture, the sensation of it lodged in my throat.

I slowly relented letting just a little of him free, slowly I moved up his cock until just the head remained in my warm, talented mouth. I was moving my hand up and down the throbbing shaft stimulating every nerve, making it so hard that it felt almost plastic as it tried to escape its skin. Up and down my hand and mouth moved as Brody writhed and his moans got louder. I used my free hand to cup his balls, they were tightening against his taut body. I know my husband, and he was seconds away from shooting his load. I pulled off him completely and stopped my attack.

He responded with a disappointed groan but recovered quickly and took control. He jumped off the desk, and commanded “get on all fours” with a devilish grin on his face. I loved take-charge Brody. I pulled off my shirt, crawled to the open space in front of his desk, and got on all fours wearing nothing but my socks. Without being asked, I put my cheek to the wood floor and pushed my ass into the air. “Gotdammit, Maxwell” Brody said as he stepped out of his jeans and unbuttoned his shirt. Once he was naked, he dropped to his knees, smacked my ass, then pulled my cheeks apart and dove in tongue first. Oh, my fucking, god! It felt so amazing, that man knew how to eat ass. I could feel his tongue teasing the little red hairs around my hole. Since Craig moved in, I let my manscaping go a little, I wasn’t hairy by any means, but I was definitely scruffier than usual; that didn’t stop Brody from feasting on my pink pucker (in fact it inspirited him to dive deeper). I kept pushing my ass back against his face and he kept pushing his face deeper into my crack Hoovering my hole. His hot breath, his wet tongue, the occasional finger probing in and out… damn I was so lost in the rapturous euphoria of it all that the world around me seemed to disappear.

“fuck me” I squeaked out in a voice I had never heard before. “Please fuck me” I begged in the same unfamiliar voice. I repeated over and over in a whimper “please fuck me, please fuck me…” That was so unlike me, but I yearned for him, I needed him so freaking badly. I needed him IN me.

Brody exhaled a “hell yeah” before taking one last deep dive into my hole making me yelp with pleasure. When he finally retreated from my ass, he lined his saliva slickened cock up perfectly with my saliva slicked hole and pushed, he was balls deep with one thrust.

“Goddammit, Brody” I cried in a breathy howl. It was painfully pleasurable, and I loved every fucking inch of it. He pumped in and out with slow, steady strokes and we savored every damn bit of it. It was so perfect, it was raw, unbridled lust and we were both in the moment feeling every sensation.

Brody kept going at the same pace, he leaned down and whispered in my ear “oh, Maxwell, I’m gonna cum.” I begged him for it and he delivered! He shot his load deep in my ass with a yell… yes, a fucking yell that echoed through the old barn. Damn it was nice being alone again. Brody kept yelling and pumping, just letting loose. He reached around and jacked me off to completion as he did, my load flew high into the air and landed on the wooden floor of the loft. Goddamn it was a wonderful night. We collapsed next to each other, then just cuddled for a while… right there on the floor of the barn loft, naked. We stayed there for about fifteen minutes.

After our session in the loft, we went into the house and showered, put on some sweats, made popcorn, and cuddled on the couch watching Netflix. We both dozed off and were peacefully sleeping until Zoey started barking like a mad dog. We both woke up just in time to see Craig walking in the door. “Hey, how was your night out with the guys?” I asked.

“Awesome” he responded without hesitation, then went on a rant about how much fun he had. I couldn’t help but notice that almost every other word out of his mouth was “Ricky.” Brody noticed it too and we exchanged glances. We knew smitten when we saw one.

Craig was falling for the undeniably straight Ricky. Uh oh.

 

To be continued…