Sweaters & Cigarettes (47 page)

"What?" he says,
shrugging. "I told you I'd be bringing booze."

Theo just smiles, and thanks to the
added contribution of Max's self-provided drink (which Theo is pretty sure is
nothing but pure vodka), the night quickly takes a more entertaining turn.

They don't do much dancing. Theo
doesn't do any, actually, while Cassie and Emma both occasionally run off when
the music changes, often while exclaiming
I love this song!,
or
something along those lines. Meanwhile, Theo and Max mostly just hang out,
choosing kissing, in favor of talking, and drinking from Max's flask. They mix
it in with their drinks, at first, but eventually just decide to skip that step
altogether, instead making them both squint at the burning sensation of the
undiluted vodka going down, directly from the source.

It's fun, though. The night is
actually more fun than Theo somehow expected, and Max is still in that weirdly
good mood, which Theo isn't about to question anytime soon. Theo even spots
Michael and Hannah, who are apparently there together (Theo interprets this as
Michael
finally
getting the fact that Hannah has sort of been into him,
from day one), and who are apparently surprised at seeing Theo there. They
still say hi, though, both of them eyeing Max a bit apprehensively, and Max
waves and smiles in such a blatantly mock-adorable way that it makes Theo
laugh. Then again, it might all be due to both of them getting pretty drunk, at
this point, and neither Michael nor Hannah seem to mind, anyway.

The night draws on, and Theo
disappears to go to the bathroom for a few minutes. When he returns, he finds
Max sitting at the edge of the dance floor, by a table, by himself. He doesn't
look sad or lonely, though; Max is the kind of person who looks like he revels
in being alone, in a way that basically dares anyone to come near him, and he
looks confident and sure, more than anything. Theo envies that.

"Hey," Theo says, as he
walks up to him, and Max gives him a smile. It makes Theo's heart leap, and
he's not entirely sure if that's just because of the way he feels about Max, or
due to the alcohol he's been drinking. Then again, it's probably a little of
both.

"Hi there," Max says, and
Theo looks over at the dance floor. He can see Cassie and Emma in the crowd,
having the time of their lives, apparently, and when he sees the way Emma moves
in closer, eyeing Cassie up and down like that, he can't help but think that
Max was probably right about her intentions, before.

He turns back to his boyfriend.

"Come on," he says taking
Max's hand and tugging on it a little. Max smiles.

"What?" he asks, and Theo
swings his hips pointedly, in a way that would normally make him feel
completely ridiculous. Max raises his eyebrows.

"Are you having a
seizure?" he asks, amused, but Theo just squints at him, shaking his hips
a bit more obviously, as if daring Max to make fun of him. Which he does, of
course.

"Okay, what's that even
supposed to be?" Max says, while Theo releases his hand and carelessly
starts doing something that looks like a move from
Greased Lightning
,
making Max groan and squint in something like amused discomfort.

"What?" Theo says,
staying true to his moves, adding in some more hip-shakes, which are completely
out of time with the music. "Am I embarrassing you?"

"Now, there's a
challenge," Max says, still smiling. "You're just embarrassing
yourself,
really."

"Then dance with me,"
Theo says, not really dancing anymore, just mostly flailing around, and Max
chuckles.

"God, you're a fun
drunk," he says affectionately, and Theo looks at him pointedly.

"So are you," he says.
"Which is why you should dance."

"I'm not dancing," Max
says resolutely, and Theo narrows his eyes at him.

"Really?" he says, and as
if to enforce his words, he turns around and does a little booty-shake. Max
smiles wider, stifling a laugh.

"I'm not dancing," he
says, shaking his head. "No way."

Theo raises his eyebrows at him
pointedly, as he stops moving.

"You sure?" he says, and
Max folds his arms.

"Very sure," he says, a
small, fond smile on his face. "Completely sure."

Theo leans down and places one hand
against the backrest of Max's chair, half-trapping him.

"Really?" he says, and
Max chuckles drunkenly, nodding.

"Really," he confirms.

"Not one little dance?"

"Theo," Max says, blue
eyes locked on Theo's green ones. "I am not dancing. You couldn't pay me
to get up there."

Theo narrows his eyes, pressing his
lips together.

"Why not?" he asks, and
Max lets out a small sigh.

"Because I hate dancing,"
he says. "And you know that."

"Yeah, but we're
at
an
actual dance," Theo points out, and Max leans forward a little, bringing
their faces closer together, and moving up his hand to cradle Theo's face.

"Babe, I love you," he
says, "but I don't dance. I'm sorry, that's just how it is."

Theo sighs, a little disappointed,
but it's really not all that bad. He's not a big fan of dancing, either; it's
mostly the mood of the place, the general atmosphere, that gives him the idea,
and it's not like he's good at it, anyway. And if nothing else, he's pretty
sure Max knows that it really doesn't mean all that much to him, so it's all
good.

"Fine," he says,
relenting. "But you're gonna have to make it up to me later."

Max glances away with narrowed
eyes, humming in thought.

"Actually," he says,
looking back at Theo with a wicked smile. "I think I've got just the
thing."

Theo frowns at him, confused, but
Max saves him the trouble of asking what it is, by covering his lips with his
own. And for a moment, Theo just savors it, leans into the kiss and closes his
eyes. Then he pulls away a little.

"You're talking about
something other than a kiss, I'm hoping," he says. "'Cause that's not
gonna cut it."

Max chuckles against his mouth.

"I've got something a little
better in mind," he says, pressing their lips together in a brief touch.
"Promise."

Theo jerks back.

"Really?" he says,
honestly a bit surprised, and Max cock a pierced eyebrow at him.

"What?" he says.
"You think I can't pull it off? Please, give me some credit."

"No, I just―" Theo
narrows his eyes at him, almost suspiciously. "I'm curious."

Max lets out a small sigh.

"Later," he says, getting
up from his seat and taking Theo's hand, pulling him along with him, as he
leaves the table. "Until then, please accompany me over to this dark,
secluded corner."

Theo eyes his boyfriend in mock
suspicion, as he lets himself be dragged along.

"I don't know," he says
apprehensively, glancing over at the crowded dance floor. "Why would I do
that?"

"Because," Max says,
pulling Theo closer and pointedly trailing his touch down over his ass,
slipping it his hand into his back pocket. "I may not be big on dancing,
but I've got other talents."

As if to point this out, he leans
in and plants a slow, searing kiss against Theo's throat, smoothing it over
with his tongue, and Theo feels thousands of goosebumps prickle all over his
skin.

"Oh, that," he murmurs,
closing his eyes briefly, his hand tightening its grip on Max's. "Why
didn't you say so?"

Max hums against his throat, and
Theo hears a smile in his voice when he speaks.

"Let's just go over there, and
you can grope me in the dark," he says. "Like a proper
teenager."

And Theo doesn't need telling
twice. It doesn't take any more persuasion from Max, before Theo has followed
him to the far corner of the huge room, and pressed him up against the wall.
He's vaguely aware of how he never would have done anything like this, a few
months ago; it's amazing, really, how little he has come to care about what
other people might think. And he can't help but think of just how many times he
has had this thought, since he and Max started seeing each other. He's still
not quite over how insecure he used to be.

They keep at it for what feels like
ages, occasionally pausing to take a drink from Max's hip flask, before
resuming their activities, their hands all over each other, lips practically
glued together, as well as trailing over any skin they can reach. After a
little while, Theo starts to feel the endorphins mingle together properly with
the effects of the alcohol, his head pleasantly fuzzy and his motor skills just
slightly less precise. It feels pretty amazing, and the way Max moans against
his mouth and grinds against him isn't exactly helping; Theo can feel that he's
hard, even through those tight jeans, and he's completely sure that Max can
feel him having the exact same reaction.

Theo barely even notices what's
going on around them. He's only vaguely aware of the loud music, the raised
voices of people talking, and the colorful, flashing lights. He's in his own
little bubble―
their
bubble, his and Max's―and nothing seems
to be able to break through.

Which is why he's more than a
little surprised, when he feels someone tap him on the shoulder.

Theo starts, and pulls away from
Max's lips to look and see who dares interrupt him, right now. And he's met
with a very awkward expression, gracing Cassie's face.

"Sorry," she says,
looking uncomfortable, and a little scared that she might actually get punched
in the face. "I didn't want to interrupt you guys. I
really
didn't."

She adds that last part with great
exaggeration, and she looks a little grossed-out for a moment.

"I mean, you're basically a
zipper-tug away from having sex, so I just―" She interrupts herself,
shakes her head and squeezes her eyes shut, as if to get the image out of her
head. "No. Sorry."

She clears her throat, and looks
back up at Theo, who's still basically pinning Max against the wall, his hands
frozen in the middle of grabbing his ass and pushing in underneath that
button-up shirt.
That totally hot button-up shirt
, Theo thinks.
And
that tie. And that pin-striped waistcoat that's just begging to be―

"What do you want?" he
says, blinking and trying to refocus. Cassie isn't exactly
blurry
, at least
not
yet
, but he still feels a little out of it. And besides, all he can
think about right now is how Max's hands feel on him, one digging its fingers
into his hair and the other pausing on its way down to his crotch.

"I just wanted to let you know
that I'm leaving," Cassie says, a bit hurriedly. "With Emma."

She gestures over her shoulder, and
Theo spots Emma standing a few feet away, apparently waiting on her date. Then
he looks back at Cassie.

"What happened to 'just
friends'?" he asks, remembering what Max predicted earlier, and Cassie
gets a sheepish look.

"Well," she says,
shrugging innocently, "that's apparently a bit harder to maintain, than we
thought, so..."

She cocks her eyebrows pointedly,
and Theo quirks a small, affectionate smile.

"Alright," he says,
freeing one hand to nudge her, shooing her away. "Go on, get to it."

"You sure?" she says,
sounding half-serious and half-joking, while she looks over at Max, who gives
her the flirtiest, drunk smirk Theo has ever seen.

"Hey," Theo says pointedly,
snapping his fingers in front of Max's face. His boyfriend just looks at him
though, eyebrows raised as he turns that flirty smirk on him, instead.

"What?" he says.
"I'm just being supportive."

Theo just shakes his head. He's not
exactly jealous, and he has no reason to be, so it's not that. But somehow, he
just doesn't want his or Max's attention directed anywhere else for longer than
three seconds, right now, lest they stop what they're doing, and he's deprived
of those amazing lips and those wonderful hands and that hot body and―

"Yeah, you should go,"
Theo says, turning to Cassie, who looks a little bit traumatized at the
intensity of the way her friends are apparently looking at each other.

"I really should," she
says, backing off. "You two, have fun."

"Yeah, you too," Theo
replies, but his words are slightly muffled, cut off as Max pulls his face
closer and kisses him, out of nowhere. And Theo closes his eyes, letting out
the smallest moan.

"Behave," Cassie calls,
from what sounds like a few feet away, and Theo just makes a vague, waving
motion with his hand, not tearing himself away from Max for one moment.
"Make good choices!"

And with that, Cassie is gone. At
least, as far as Theo can tell, since his entire world has once again narrowed
down to one thing;
Max.

"Told you," Max murmurs
smugly after a little while, between kisses, hands back to trailing all over
Theo's body. "And you know, maybe we should follow their example."