Good Guys Don't Date Bad Boys – Ch. 34
By Laura S. Fox
Copyright © 2022 Laura S. Fox
All Rights Reserved
Gay Erotica
Intended for Mature Audiences Only
This story will contain graphic depictions of sexual intercourse, strong
language and it is not meant for readers who are less than 18 years of age.
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Chapter Thirty-Four – What
Siblings Are For
Their parents appeared to
be just as taken aback as Maddox was by the furious crowd pouring into the
kitchen. After a few calls for quiet from their dad, and one, very prompt, hand
slap on the counter from their mom, finally, his siblings quieted down some.
Not completely, and the first to talk was Alicia. "Mom, dad, can't you see?
Maddox's totally crazy about Jonathan!"
"His name is Jonathan?"
Sophia asked. "What's his family name?"
"Is that the most
important detail here?" Vern intervened. "Maddox, is this your idea of a joke?"
Of course, Vern would
side with his parents, given how serious he had grown up to be. Throughout his
childhood, Vern had been his idol and hero. Given the fourteen years between
them, he couldn't be anything else. He wasn't that right now, though, and
Maddox felt a pang in his chest, like he was losing something important all of
a sudden. "It is not a joke," he told his oldest brother.
Vern pursed his lips and
stared at him with hard eyes. While Sophia was the younger version of their
mom, Vern carried the strongest resemblance to their dad.
To his surprise, Vern
turned calmly toward their parents. "If Maddox says it's not a joke, then it's
not a joke. Because Maddox never lies when it's about important things."
That was his hero, yes,
right there. Maddox wanted to hug him and thank him for being on his side.
"But he's an incorrigible
womanizer," Sophia protested.
"And I have no idea what
to wear to a gay wedding," Emma moaned.
"What gay wedding?" Their
mom raised her voice over them as they began to talk all at the same time.
"There won't be any gay wedding."
"Really, mom?" Alicia
asked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Of course, there will be a gay
wedding."
"I haven't thought about
it that far," Maddox considered it a good moment to intervene. "And how come
all of you are here? And why?"
Emma considered it proper
that she should answer that. "When Al is lurking in corners, something
interesting must be going on."
So, from there, it must
have spread like wildfire. There was an invisible connection between all the
Kingsley siblings that Maddox was very much aware of, as well. When they got
together, it was impossible to keep a secret. At least they left spouses and
kids out of it, and for that, Maddox was grateful.
"Go back to your rooms,"
their mom ordered in a loud voice. "This is something we must talk to Maddox
about, just your father and I."
"Like hell," Alicia
protested. "You'll have to make me. And we're too old for you to send to our
rooms like that."
"You're never too old for
me to still consider you kids," their mom replied. "Maddox is just, what's that
word, dear?" She turned toward their dad.
"Confused?" Their dad
replied, but he seemed to be the one confused by the whole thing.
"Yes, that," their mom
said. "And we're going to sort him out right now. But without you here."
"I'm not going anywhere,"
Alicia said. "Vern, she cannot make us go to our rooms, right?"
"We're here for Maddox,"
Vern confirmed. "And we'd like to hear what he has to say, as well."
"And we want to see
Jonathan, too," Emma added eagerly, with stars in her eyes.
Maddox made a move to
hand over the phone, but his mom caught his hand. "Don't you dare," she warned
him.
That was something he
couldn't understand, but allowed his mom to take the phone out of his hand.
"Why?" he asked.
"Because he's too
handsome, and it's easy to get these airheads," she pointed at his sisters,
"thinking that you're about to marry into some royal family."
Emma let out a gasp of
surprise. "What are you saying? Al, you weren't just talking shit, were you?"
Alicia stared at Emma
triumphantly. "When do I ever talk shit?"
"Stop using the word
`shit' in my kitchen," their mom boomed over the animated conversation that
seemed to have been triggered by Alicia's comment.
"Sorry, mom," both Emma
and Alicia said in unison.
"Really, is that all you
care about?" Sophia gestured wildly. "That this dude looks like a prince?
Hello, how about the elephant in the room?"
"Don't be annoying,
So-so," Alicia counterattacked, using the most annoying nickname she had ever
come up with for her sister. "And dad is not that fat."
That prompted a snicker
from Emma, and Maddox could swear even Vern covered half his face for a moment.
No, their dad was in good shape for his age, but he might have gained a bit of
girth during the past few years since he had started leaving Vern in charge of
the construction company. Both his parents deserved more free time, but it
looked like their dad was indulging a bit too freely in their mom's awesome
cooking lately.
Obviously sensitive to
his kids' remarks, their dad sucked in his belly and stared at them, all
wide-eyed and ready to bolt.
"This isn't about your
dad," their mom stopped them. "This is about Maddox and his sudden decision to
shock us. It isn't like you to do such a thing." Apparently, she had already
forgotten about how she wanted them out of there, save for Maddox.
"Right, because if it's
not aligned with your picture perfect idea of a family, then it doesn't exist,"
Alicia protested in his stead. "Maybe Maddox could get his beautiful boyfriend
pregnant, and then you'll finally be happy."
"Alicia Boadicea Carolina
Kingsley!" They all shut up at the same time and stared at their dad. Alicia
tried to play brave, but anyone could see she was wavering already. "Go to your
room. Now," he added.
Alicia turned on her
heel.
"And think about how
you're going to apologize to your mother," he called after her.
Not even Alicia dared to
slam the door after her. Long moments after she was out of the room, they
remained silent, just stealing glances at one another. Vern patted Emma and
Sophia on their shoulders. "Let's go. Maddox needs to talk this through with
mom and dad."
Maddox stared after his
siblings and felt a new kind of weight crushing his chest. He appreciated
Alicia being on his side, but her volcanic temperament was getting her in
trouble more often than not. And now, their dad was really pissed at her, and
that said a lot.
"You, too, Maddox. Go to
sleep," his dad said.
"But--"
"No `buts'. We'll talk
tomorrow some more. But before that, we'll have a family Thanksgiving dinner.
Your mom didn't work this hard for any of you to make a mess out of it. Good
night."
Maddox knew better than to
antagonize his dad when he got like that. He knew that their dad loved all of
them, but he also cared about their mom, and he could tell that Alicia's words
had been too harsh, as much as they must have been meant as some sort of joke.
He retrieved his phone, wished them good night in a subdued voice, and headed
out of the kitchen.
***
"Aren't you too hot?"
Jonathan looked at Rusty, who still wore the sweater he had given him earlier.
"Do you want it back?"
Rusty asked while he felt the fabric by rubbing his hands over his belly.
"No, it's not about that.
I was just wondering if you're not hot with the sweater still on."
"I'm hot either in or out
of sweaters," Rusty said promptly.
Jonathan chuckled and
shook his head in mirth. "I don't doubt that."
"I've never had anything
as nice as this," Rusty commented as he continued to examine the cable knit
pattern like he could read some ancient spell in it. "It's cashmere or
something, right?"
"Yes." Jonathan didn't
want to comment on how having nice things didn't mean anything if you didn't
have the rest, like a supportive family. It would have been an unkind thing to
say, seeing how Rusty had had such a hard time growing up with his parents splitting
up and him left to wonder whether it had been his fault or not. Actually, he
wasn't even wondering, most probably. At least he, Jonathan, had nice sweaters.
"Feel free to keep it if you like."
"For real?" Rusty's eyes
lit up like a Christmas tree. He could be such a kid sometime. It made Jonathan
want to spoil him a little, even though they weren't friends.
"It looks great on you."
The hunter green really brought out Rusty's eyes.
"I'll give it back,"
Rusty promised. "Only not right now. I'm going to spend Thanksgiving in it. And
I'll wash it and stuff."
"Better not," Jonathan
said brightly. Something told him Rusty was as adept at washing sweaters as he
was around the kitchen. And it wasn't about ruining a sweater he didn't give a
damn about. He just didn't want Rusty to panic over something like that when it
happened. "I mean, it's fine. And my offer still stands. If you like it just as
much after Thanksgiving, please keep it."
"It's a bit tight across
the chest," Rusty argued, but by the way he was smiling, Jonathan could tell he
liked the idea.
"Yes, you have a more
muscular build compared to me," Jonathan said courteously.
Rusty was about to say
something, when Jonathan's phone started ringing.
"It's Maddox," Jonathan
said, and his lips quirked into a fond smile.
Rusty jumped theatrically
over the sofa and hid behind it. "I'm not here!" he announced.
Jonathan still held the
phone without answering. "All right, but why are you--"
Rusty's head appeared
over the sofa for a moment. "In case you want to go all smoochy-smoochy over a video
call," he explained and ducked behind the furniture again.
Jonathan pursed his lips,
but he couldn't argue with Rusty. He would insist that he at least confide in
Maddox, who was his closest friend. But for now, he had a more pressing matter
than that. "Hi," he said and walked out of the living room.
"Hi," Maddox's voice came
through.
Jonathan immediately
sensed a certain tension in his boyfriend's voice. "Maddox," he said gently,
"what's the matter?" He dropped his voice to a whisper.
"You can tell, right? You
can tell that something's the matter."
"Yes, but--"
"I screwed it up somehow.
I mean, I didn't, but somehow I did."
"What are you talking
about?"
"I kept telling you my
parents would be totally fine... and well, they're not fine. I mean, they're fine
in the sense that they're healthy and everything. They're just not fine with me
being with you."
Jonathan let his
shoulders drop. He wasn't particularly surprised. He didn't know Maddox's
parents, and the chances were that they would remain strangers for a long time,
but to hear something like that out of the blue couldn't have sat well with
them. "Take it easy," he said the first thing that came to mind. "Give them
some time."
Maddox scoffed at the
other end. "I thought they were the coolest parents in the universe." That was
how children who had never been betrayed in their beliefs about their parents
talked at the first sign that the adults in their life were actually different
from what they thought. Jonathan had been there. He had trusted his folks with
all his heart.
"They are still that," he
offered as consolation. "But seeing how you've never before even liked a boy
that way--"
"They should have been
cool with it," Maddox said obstinately. "But it doesn't mean a thing. I mean,
for us. When the time comes, maybe we just elope or something."
The word `elope' sounded
not quite at home in Maddox's mouth, yet Jonathan felt a pleasant warmth
spreading through his chest. They were both getting a bit too romantic for
their own good, right? That little voice inside his head called his feelings to
order right away.
"Whatever, I'm not going
to change, no matter what they say," Maddox added. "How about you? Can you
talk? How are your parents?"
"They must be well, I
mean, they were when I talked to my dad on the phone earlier." Jonathan took a
deep breath. "I didn't go, after all. I just felt it was too soon."
"Then where are you now?"
"I'm at the campus."
"All alone?"
Jonathan hesitated for a
moment. Would it be that much of a betrayal to tell Maddox about Rusty? It
surely felt that way.
The decision was taken
from his hands when Maddox continued to talk. "I should come back, too, and
spend Thanksgiving with you."
"Maddox, no. Your parents
love you very much. You wouldn't have grown up into the awesome guy you are
today without them. Spend the holidays with them, and show them that you love
them, too." He surely was big on giving advice. A sudden pang of loneliness gripped
his chest. As out of place as displays of affections were considered in his
family, he wanted nothing more right now than to hug his dad. Or maybe just
share a handshake, regardless of how things stood between them.
"You're too nice for this
century," Maddox said and laughed softly. "You know what? I'm going to wear
them down. Yeah, I'm going to convince them. And then, they'll be happy to have
you as their son-in-law."
"Son-in-law?" Jonathan
asked, rightly nonplussed.
"Sorry, sorry, it's just
that my sisters put strange ideas in my head. Forget what I said," Maddox said
quickly.
"You told your sisters?"
"I only told Al, but
well, it's not like I could keep the rest of them in the dark. The good news is
even Vern is convinced I tell the truth about us being boyfriends and serious,
too. Only Sophia is a pain in the butt, but that's because she didn't see you."
"The rest saw me?"
Jonathan asked, experiencing a tickling sensation at the back of his neck. He
couldn't imagine the kind of house Maddox had grown up in, so different from
his own.
"Only Al. And of course,
I showed that pic of us to mom and dad. Now, everyone is convinced you're some kind
of prince in hiding."
"Oh, yes, surely, that's
me," Jonathan commented dryly.
Maddox snickered like a
naughty kid. "You could be that, for all I know."
Jonathan sighed. There
were still things between them, things they had to talk about. But they had
time, so there was no reason to hurry. Of course, none of them was that he was
a prince. "I can tell you, without the shadow of a doubt, that I'm of no royal
blood."
"As good as. I bet your
folks have a huge mansion and stuff. And horses."
"A few, yes," Jonathan
confirmed.
"No way, Jose," Maddox
said excitedly. "For real?"
"Yes. I'll take you there
some day," Jonathan promised. It wasn't only up to Maddox to wear down his
family; that was a good task for him, as well. And if they claimed to be all
right with him being gay, they would have to accept Maddox as his boyfriend.
"Awesome. So, can you
ride?"
"Yes."
"Cool. I have such a cool
bf," Maddox said and laughed some more.
There was already an
important difference from the way he had sounded at the beginning of the call.
Jonathan felt better, too. Maddox was all sunshine, and he should stay that
way.
"Someone's about to
pester me," Maddox added, "by threatening to take down the door. Talk to you
soon."
"Sure." Jonathan stopped
himself before adding words that almost rolled naturally from his tongue.
"Goodbye," he added, a bit too rigidly.
"Bye, babe," Maddox drawled
in the most sexy voice he had, making Jonathan feel uncontrollable giddiness
taking over.
***
"Come in already," Maddox
called out, a bit annoyed that he had to cut short his conversation with
Jonathan. If it were Alicia, he would make sure she'd get an earful about being
so annoying.
To his surprise, Vern was
the one to come through the door. But, of course, with Alicia in tow. Maddox
rolled his eyes, but gestured for them to come in. Alicia plopped herself down
on his bed and bounced a few times. "You always had the best bed," she said
with a crooked smile.
"What are you guys doing
here? If mom knew you were here--"
"That's why I dragged him
out of bed," Alicia pointed at their brother.
Vern grabbed a chair and
sat down, then leaned forward, steepling his fingers and watching Maddox
intently. "How's it going, Bug?" That nickname had stuck with Maddox since
before he could remember. Apparently, he had liked bugging his oldest brother
the most, and Vern had been at the receiving end of all the `whys' and
`why-nots' for the longest time.
"Well, you know," Maddox
said and hunched his shoulders.
Vern reached for him and
squeezed his left arm in sympathy. "They'll come around."
"Will they?" he asked.
"Yeah. I've known them
longer than all of you," Vern said and smiled. "Now that they're not here, how
about you tell us more about Jonathan?"
"Yes, yes, tell us more
about Jonathan," Alicia insisted as if he hadn't agreed.
Maddox rubbed the back of
his neck and grinned. "He transferred to Sunny Hill at the beginning of this year.
He's a junior, too. And I got into a bit of conflict with him on the first
day."
"Enemies to lovers,"
Alicia declared and made a gesture with her hands as if to frame a title.
"We weren't enemies,"
Maddox protested. "Thing is, I just couldn't stop thinking about him. So, I
arranged to work on the statistics project with him."
"Don't tell me," Alicia
grabbed his arm hard, "that he's just a pretty face. Ha, that must be how you
managed to fool him. But, I suppose that a poor grade is still worth it."
"Jeez, Al, you really
like jumping to conclusions. No, he's actually very smart. Perfect GPA level of
smart."
"That's very good," Vern
said. "You should lead with that the next time you attempt to talk to mom and
dad about him."
"Apparently, they only
care if he's a girl, and he's definitely not that. By the way, Al, so not cool
what you said."
"Hey, bozo, I'm on your
side. And it's not like you cannot have kids if you want," his sister pointed
out. "They're just, ugh, so narrow-minded."
"You will still
apologize, Alicia," Vern said sternly.
Alicia squirmed a little
under Vern's pointed gaze. "All right, I will," she said with a heartfelt sigh.
"I just wanted to point out the obvious."
"No, you were just trying
to rile them up because that's what you do," Vern said in his parent voice.
Maddox didn't mind that since Vern was much older than they were.
However, Alicia didn't
seem to like that much because she stuck out her tongue at him.
"I rest my case," Vern
said with a grunt and a shake of the head.
"I didn't mean to upset
them," Maddox said. "I really thought they would be fine with it."
"They should have been,"
Alicia interjected. "Sorry, I'll shut up," she added when Vern stared her down
again. "But, V, you should totally see this dude. He's like a fairytale
prince."
"Really?" Vern said dryly
just to annoy Alicia. "Does he ride a white horse?"
"He rides horses," Maddox
said and puffed out his chest. "I have no idea if they're white or something
else, though."
"He does?" Alicia's voice
rose so much that she slapped a hand over her mouth herself.
"Yeah," Maddox replied
with self-importance. He took out his phone. He wanted to show off his
boyfriend to the entire world if possible.
Vern took the phone and
looked at the pic for what seemed like a long time. "He is very handsome. You
two look good together."
"Right?" Alicia asked
excitedly and bounced on the bed again. "But look at the other pic." She leaned
forward and dragged her finger quickly over the screen before Maddox could stop
her. "See, V, see? Jonathan is totally head over heels with this bozo."
"Why is he at Sunny
Hill?" Vern asked probably the first pertinent question. "He looks like he
would be attending one of the most important and expensive colleges in the
country."
Maddox felt his grin
fading. "He had some trouble at the school he attended before."
"What kind of trouble?"
It was Maddox's turn to
squirm under his brother's intense stare. "This guy he was with, he got caught
with something. And then he blamed it all on Jonathan."
"Caught with something,"
Vern said slowly. "We're talking drugs."
"Yes, but Jonathan
doesn't do stuff like that," Maddox said defensively.
Alicia grabbed the phone
from Vern's hand and stared at the pic closely. "He looks too healthy to do
that shit," she concluded.
"Only that guy was doing it,"
Maddox continued, more and more alarmed that it might be possible for the rest
of the world to see the incident with different eyes. "Jonathan just happened
to be with him."
"Hmm," Vern said in a
non-committal manner. "I doubt he would have a perfect GPA if he did drugs.
However, Maddox," he added in his most serious voice, "how well do you know
Jonathan?"
"Enough to know I like
him very much."
"You love him," Alicia
reminded him of his slip of the tongue. "That's what you said," she said
quickly.
"That's all well and good,"
Vern continued, "but you should get to know him first. I believe that you
believe that he was not to blame. And I doubt someone as prim and proper as he
appears to be from this picture would use drugs. Nonetheless, there may be
other things you should consider."
"Like what?" Maddox asked,
more aggressively than intended.
"For instance, if he's as
invested as you are in this relationship. As I see it, you took a big step by
telling our parents about him. Did he do the same? Is he planning to, at
least?"
"Planning to," Maddox
said quickly. "He told me one day he'll take me to see his horses."
By how Vern pursed his
lips, he could tell it wasn't the ideal answer. Yes, he had blurted out that he
loved Jonathan and didn't plan on taking it back, but did Jonathan feel the
same? They behaved like boyfriends, they had lots of awesome sex, but it wasn't
like they had talked about feelings and all that.
"Not exactly the same
thing," Vern pointed out.
"It doesn't matter,"
Maddox replied. "He'll do it in his own time. Plus, he barely talks to his
folks. He is even spending Thanksgiving alone, at the campus, because of them."
"Oh, no, all alone? Poor
him," Alicia said and cradled the phone to her chest. "You should have brought him
with you."
"That might have caused
an even bigger ruckus," Vern said, always the voice of reason. "These things
must be thought through carefully."
Maddox felt pretty miffed
that Vern sounded so cautious in regard to Jonathan. "I bet no one would have
been this worried if I had come home with a girl."
"True," Vern admitted.
"You'll have to put yourself in their shoes, though, Bug. They've always known
you as someone who changed girlfriends faster than socks."
"They weren't girlfriends,"
Maddox justified right away.
Vern waved like that
wasn't important. "We're all surprised. Very surprised."
"I'm not that surprised,"
Alicia intervened.
"That's because you
wouldn't be surprised if they said people landed on the sun tomorrow on the six
o'clock news," Vern countered her.
"Yeah," she admitted
without any hard feelings.
"And because of the
element of surprise," Vern continued unfazed, "it shouldn't come as such a
shock to you that they need time to process this new information. I, personally,
would very much like to meet Jonathan."
"Yeah, yeah, I want to
meet him, too." Alicia bounced on the bed again.
"I want him to meet
everyone. He's an only child and told me he cannot even imagine what it is like
having so many siblings," Maddox said.
Vern laughed. "I suppose
it's going to be quite a shock for him. We'll just get Alicia to behave, and
then his transition period to the Kingsley chaos will go smoothly."
"I'm never going to
behave," Alicia promised and stood on the bed so that she could command the
room from her position of power.
"We'll see about that,"
Vern said drily.
Maddox stood and then
hugged his brother. Alicia jumped on his back, and he squeezed her arms, as
well. "Thanks, guys. It's good to know I have allies like you."
Vern thumped his shoulder
with his fist and smiled. "That's what siblings are for, Bug. Don't you forget
that."
"I won't," he promised.
"Damn, I guess it's going to be kind of an awkward Thanksgiving now because of
me."
"Don't worry about that.
We'll have fun. And just let it all sink in gradually," Vern advised him.
"You'll see that they will change their minds once they get used to the idea."
"I really hope you're
right," Maddox said. "Now how about you get out of here so that I can catch
some sleep?"
"You're going to sex-text
Jonathan, right?" Alicia said, all knowingly.
He put her down and began
pushing her toward the door. "I'm not," he protested.
Alicia snickered but let
him push her out of the room. Vern walked out of his own accord. "Sleep tight,
Bug," he said and ruffled Maddox's hair on his way out.
TBC
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