with him.
"Matt?"
"Yeah?" he said on a whisper.
"This is me giving you a heads up that I'm about to kiss you," he said before placing his lips on Matt's in a gentle kiss.
Julian moaned when their lips touched. Matt immediately responded by wrapping both of his hands around Julian's forearms, anchoring himself. He tilted his head a little, giving Julian a better angle to deepen the kiss—which he did enthusiastically. Julian shifted one of his hands from Matt's cheek to around his neck.
The wind outside howled louder, and the rain began to fall harder.
Matt gasped when he heard the sounds outside and Julian took advantage and let his tongue outline Matt's lips softly, tenderly. Julian let out a slow growl when Matt tentatively touched his tongue with his own. Slowly their tongues danced together until the sound of pounding rain hit against one of the windows on the opposite side of the house, forcing Matt to break the kiss.
"What the hell is that?" Matt asked breathlessly. "It sounds like someone's shooting a garden hose at the window or something."
"Fucking rain," Julian snarled. He listened carefully and realized what was happening. "The fucking storm changed direction. Shit!"
Reluctantly, he released Matt, grabbed the lantern, and made his way upstairs to minimize any water damage from the storm.
Back to reality . He figured it was probably divine intervention keeping him from doing anything more than kissing. He just couldn't resist Matt regardless how hard he tried. He didn't want to risk losing Matt by pushing him again. Shit .
Julian really needed to fix something right now, anything that required a serious amount of fucking hammering to relieve this tension.
* * * *
October
Matt thought passing the peak of hurricane season and moving into October was a relief. The little damage caused by the storm had been repaired and the renovations were back on schedule. Luckily Matt was sitting at his desk dealing with the budgeting of the renovation when the call came through.
The phone call was expected, but the timing was not.
Reluctantly, he answered. He should have known better.
He was shocked his brother had managed to keep his engagement to Lindy a secret for so long. Sadly, his mom's tearful explanation of her only other son marrying someone out of their social circle, a shop worker at that, didn't surprise him. Her outrage rolled right over him.
"We expected more from him. He was so different from you. Not a criminal. Not someone who let us down."
Matt listened to it all and attempted to ignore the twisting rejection that continued to jab at him and churn his insides. He mentally dodged every accusation she spewed at him, Alex, and now her new target, Lindy. Whose fault was it that Alex was marrying outside of their class? Why had Matt already met her when she hadn't?
Then, of course, the call and blame veered toward the traditional path. When was Matt finally going to settle down and get married? Why didn't Matt come and work with his father?
It went on and on.
Matt was numb, trying to avoid her harsh words from hitting their mark. Not one single care whether Alex was happy or a single kind word about Matt.
Not one.
Finally, the call ended before his resolve.
He sat at his desk, his shoulders slumped as thoughts raced through his mind. Would he ever measure up, be enough? Mothers were supposed to love their children unconditionally, why didn't his?
He turned his cell phone in his hand repeatedly while his thoughts continued to kill every tiny bit of hope that had had the courage to survive within that, someday, his parents would accept him.
The house was silent. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for construction noise. The sounds of Julian's hammer and drill had become comforting over the past few months. God, he wanted Julian. Being around him, the random kisses, the way he looked at him. He wasn't sure how to read him, but was confident there was a fire kindling
"Matt?"
"Yeah?" he said on a whisper.
"This is me giving you a heads up that I'm about to kiss you," he said before placing his lips on Matt's in a gentle kiss.
Julian moaned when their lips touched. Matt immediately responded by wrapping both of his hands around Julian's forearms, anchoring himself. He tilted his head a little, giving Julian a better angle to deepen the kiss—which he did enthusiastically. Julian shifted one of his hands from Matt's cheek to around his neck.
The wind outside howled louder, and the rain began to fall harder.
Matt gasped when he heard the sounds outside and Julian took advantage and let his tongue outline Matt's lips softly, tenderly. Julian let out a slow growl when Matt tentatively touched his tongue with his own. Slowly their tongues danced together until the sound of pounding rain hit against one of the windows on the opposite side of the house, forcing Matt to break the kiss.
"What the hell is that?" Matt asked breathlessly. "It sounds like someone's shooting a garden hose at the window or something."
"Fucking rain," Julian snarled. He listened carefully and realized what was happening. "The fucking storm changed direction. Shit!"
Reluctantly, he released Matt, grabbed the lantern, and made his way upstairs to minimize any water damage from the storm.
Back to reality . He figured it was probably divine intervention keeping him from doing anything more than kissing. He just couldn't resist Matt regardless how hard he tried. He didn't want to risk losing Matt by pushing him again. Shit .
Julian really needed to fix something right now, anything that required a serious amount of fucking hammering to relieve this tension.
* * * *
October
Matt thought passing the peak of hurricane season and moving into October was a relief. The little damage caused by the storm had been repaired and the renovations were back on schedule. Luckily Matt was sitting at his desk dealing with the budgeting of the renovation when the call came through.
The phone call was expected, but the timing was not.
Reluctantly, he answered. He should have known better.
He was shocked his brother had managed to keep his engagement to Lindy a secret for so long. Sadly, his mom's tearful explanation of her only other son marrying someone out of their social circle, a shop worker at that, didn't surprise him. Her outrage rolled right over him.
"We expected more from him. He was so different from you. Not a criminal. Not someone who let us down."
Matt listened to it all and attempted to ignore the twisting rejection that continued to jab at him and churn his insides. He mentally dodged every accusation she spewed at him, Alex, and now her new target, Lindy. Whose fault was it that Alex was marrying outside of their class? Why had Matt already met her when she hadn't?
Then, of course, the call and blame veered toward the traditional path. When was Matt finally going to settle down and get married? Why didn't Matt come and work with his father?
It went on and on.
Matt was numb, trying to avoid her harsh words from hitting their mark. Not one single care whether Alex was happy or a single kind word about Matt.
Not one.
Finally, the call ended before his resolve.
He sat at his desk, his shoulders slumped as thoughts raced through his mind. Would he ever measure up, be enough? Mothers were supposed to love their children unconditionally, why didn't his?
He turned his cell phone in his hand repeatedly while his thoughts continued to kill every tiny bit of hope that had had the courage to survive within that, someday, his parents would accept him.
The house was silent. He closed his eyes and tried to listen for construction noise. The sounds of Julian's hammer and drill had become comforting over the past few months. God, he wanted Julian. Being around him, the random kisses, the way he looked at him. He wasn't sure how to read him, but was confident there was a fire kindling
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