Max Shine
Max sat in his living room on his plush couch with the oversized cushioned seats wrapped in a patchwork blanket made by his grandmother. It was the one thing in the world that made him feel better after a tough day. His granny had been the only person in his life who lavished him with love and affection. The blanket, that he inherited when she passed, felt like a warm hug from her every time he placed it over his frame. What Max wouldn’t do to feel her frail arms wrapped around him now. He missed hugs so much. It had been a long time since someone had held him. He had to admit he was kind of lonely.
He spent so much time working that he had isolated himself from old friends and had no time to make new ones. Even his former band members avoided spending leisure time with him. The only person who he connected with these days was his neighbor down the hall.
Lattimore Aston was a cool dude. He was the CEO of a very successful financial company, so he was rarely around. However, when Lattimore was available, Max always found himself drawn to his place to hang out. As he laid there reading his favorite romance book about an alpha motorcycle club president who was trying to convince a shy librarian type to be his, Max’s phone rang.
“You got Max. Speak to me.”
“What’s up Max? This is Lattimore from down the hall.”
Max folded the corner of the current page of his book and sat up on the couch, removing his blanket along the way. It was rare for him to receive a call from his neighbor, and he was intrigued.
“Yo, man, what can I do you for?”
“Listen, my best friend is moving back home and will be staying with me. I am throwing a welcome home party and would love for you to come over.”
“That’s great having your best friend back. Yeah, sounds like fun. When is this shindig?”
“Saturday night, any time after eight if you’re free.”
Free? Yeah, he was free. He had been every weekend since the band broke up. Well, they hadn’t really broken up, had they? More like they kicked him out. He missed his bandmates, but refused to grovel to get back in.
“Great, I’ll be there. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“For sure, man. You’re going to love my best friend, PJ. I’ll see you Saturday.”
After ending the call, Max jumped up off his couch, his favorite book long forgotten. He was so excited to have something to do this weekend that didn’t involve weather or a book. He was so happy he pressed his music app on his phone and started dancing to the Maroon 5 tune that told him he had moves like a famous rock star.
Max took the expression, dance like nobody’s watching, to another level. You would think he was practicing for a Broadway performance the way he was going at it. He figured it was great cardio so why the hell not? He let loose swinging his hips and moving his feet to the beat. Before long Max was sweating and out of breath and loving every minute of it.
“I’m going to a party! I’m gonna get naughty,” he sang while doing a two-step.
Falling back onto the couch, he fell into a fit of giggles. Why was he like this? If anybody saw him acting like this, they would surely lock him away. Max didn’t care. Dancing brought joy to his life, and he wouldn’t change that for anything. I needed that, he thought to himself.
“What I really need is to get laid,” he blurted out to no one in particular.
He went back to reading that romance book of his. It was just getting to the sexy part and that was his favorite. Without a steady girlfriend of any sort, he had been reduced to self-pleasure when he needed a release. The steamy parts of his books helped to fuel his ministrations.
As Max read about the sexy heroine seducing the hero in an abandoned barn atop a stack of hay, he started to get excited. Unbuttoning his jeans, he slid his hand inside to relieve some pressure from his growing erection. Max stroked himself as he read about the passionate lovers going at it on the pages. As the protagonist met his climax, so did he. Her removed his t-shirt and wiped up the mess he made on his stomach. The one good thing about living alone was his privacy. No one was there to catch him in moments like this.
Feeling sticky, he decided to hop in the shower. He shimmied his way into the master bathroom and removed the rest of his clothes before cranking up the tunes on his phone. Max scrubbed his body while singing at the top of his lungs to any song that came up on his playlist.
While he was styling his hair into his perfectly messy style, his stomach growled like he hadn’t eaten in a week. There was no food in the fridge so going out was his only option. He needed to be around people anyway. He craved companionship, even if it was that of strangers. He knew just the place to satisfy both his need to feed and his need to be seen.
The Mexican restaurant a few blocks from his apartment was always poppin’ on Thursday nights. The food was excellent and the drinks deliciously strong. It didn’t hurt that the margaritas were two for one, with no limit. After devouring a combo platter with three enchiladas, a tostado and a couple of hard tacos, Max sat in his booth nursing his third margarita and ear jockeying the couple in the booth behind him. Apparently, they were on their first date and the getting to know you session wasn’t going well.
“So, yeah I told my mama about you, and she wants to meet you.”
There was a silent pause and then he heard coughing coming from the table. The woman was sitting there, telling a man that she just met, that her mother wanted a meet and greet. What the hell? He felt bad for the poor guy, but their conversation sure was entertaining.
“Ummm, this is just our first date, Cindy. Usually, the meet the parents thing comes later.”
Dude tried to laugh it off, but the stress in his voice was evident.
“Well, if you’re planning on getting laid tonight, you’ll have to meet mama. I couldn’t possible screw you without her approval.”
Shit! Things were getting interesting. Max sat up a bit in his seat and took a big gulp of his drink. Big mistake. The frozen concoction caused a sharp pain at his temple. Fuckin’ brain freeze!