“I don’t have you on a pedestal, but you’re still different. You’re nothing like this place, or this life.”
“That doesn’t mean I can’t adapt. If I were a thinner-skinned man, I’d be insulted about the concerns you have of me.”
Ethan kissed his collarbone again. “You know that’s not what I mean at all. It’s not you I worry about.”
“You don’t think you or your family are good enough for me, is that it?”
Hearing Max say the words aloud ignited a flicker of shame inside him.
“I just want to be good enough for you,” Ethan said quietly, unable to meet Max’s eyes. “I love you so much. You’re so good—you deserve that in return. It’s important to me that I feel like I’m enhancing your life, not averaging it out, if that makes any sense.”
“Take away the money and the material goods—which I know you don’t care about anyway—and I’m a man with an awkward relationship with his parents who has difficulty letting people close to me. Some might say that you’re the better adjusted one, and I’m fortunate that you put up with me.”
“Well, when you put it that way...”
“Exactly.”
Ethan dipped his tongue out to touch Max’s skin. “Okay. I’ll try to move past it.”
“Good. And if you continue to harbor doubts, you’ll talk it out with me before jumping to more conclusions.”
“I will. Promise.” If only people saw this side of Max. He must be the world’s most understanding man. “Your turn to come clean,” Ethan said. “This was a novel experience for you. I’m surprised you haven’t already packed our stuff and made a reservation at the nearest Hampton Inn.”
Max’s smile was wry. He absently caressed Ethan’s hair while his gaze roamed around the small bedroom. “I admit I’ve never spent the night in another person’s home. It took some getting used to.”
Ethan sat up a little. “Wow, never? No sleepovers when you were a kid?”
Max gave him a look.
“Okay, I guess that’s not a thing that happens when you’re at boarding school all the time. But really? Never?”
“No. I wouldn’t dare impose and frankly, I value my privacy too much. I prefer hotels.”
“I knew this, that’s one of the things I worried about.”
Max shook his head at his sheepish expression. “I expected to feel uncomfortable with the minimal privacy, but your parents made me feel welcome and at ease. It’s been a more than tolerable experience.”
“’More than tolerable’,” Ethan repeated with a laugh. “Not great as a Yelp review, but coming from you, it’s high praise. This couldn’t have been easy for you with this bedroom, my parents’ bedroom, and the bathroom all within four feet of each other. Even I feel like someone’s breathing down the back of my neck.” As if on cue, they heard his father gargling at the sink, the sound passing clearly through the wall. Ethan groaned and dropped his forehead to Max’s chest as the other man chuckled.
“Poor Max,” Ethan said when he raised his head again. “You’re a stranger in a strange land, and that land is in rural Indiana. On the bright side, you didn’t leave during the night and call off the wedding, so I’d say you passed the test with flying colors.”
“A test you passed first,” Max reminded him.
Ethan tried to imagine himself spending the night in the villa in Barcelona as a guest of Max’s parents. He doubted Marcela would dream of inviting him to stay. Or if she had, he would have been put in a separate wing—because of course there would be multiple wings—which would have been like staying in a hotel.
But what if the Pooles had lived in a cottage with the same small square footage as this house? Ethan shivered a little. Talk about awkward.
“I had it easier,” he claimed. “I spent only half a day with your parents. I wasn’t taking a shower in their bathroom and using your mother’s loofah.”
“Thank god for that.” Max looked distinctly uncomfortable.
“But who knows what the future will hold,” Ethan added mischievously. “Maybe one day we’ll all sit down to a game of Scrabble together.”
“Don’t hold your breath waiting.” He shivered pleasantly as Max ran a broad hand down his spine. “I’ve enjoyed myself here, Ethan. This trip was a good idea.”
“We’ve still got lunch with my old co-workers,” Ethan warned him. “Hold off on declaring this a good idea until after the dust clears.”
“It will be fine.” Max idly brushed his thumb across the swell of Ethan’s buttocks. “I’m looking forward to visiting the venue after lunch. It’s been something of an abstract concept in my mind. It will be helpful to see it in person.”
“Honestly, Max, even if you hate it, you and I both know you aren’t going to say anything.”
“Why do you think that? I told your mother the truth. I do care about this wedding.”
“I know you do. I just meant I doubt that anything’s going to bother you enough to prompt you to ask for a change. The things that matter to you are probably the same things that matter to me: that there’s room enough for everyone and that our moms will get good photos out of it.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Max patted his buttock, signaling Ethan to slide off him so he could sit up. “But it’s important that I see the space so I’ll be well informed while discussing it with my mother.”
“Ah.” Ethan sat up, too, and scrubbed a hand through his hair. “What happens if you know she’ll be unhappy with it?”
“Compromise will always be found,” Max said assuredly.
Ethan hoped Max’s confidence about the situation would rub off on him soon.
They both turned their heads at the sound of the bathroom door opening and Ethan’s father shuffling down the hallway to the kitchen.
Ethan sent Max a look of challenge. “Rochambeau for who showers first?”
Max studied Ethan’s extended fist warily. “What’s the capacity of your parents’ water heater?”
Ethan tried to school his expression but clearly he failed. He squawked when he received a pillow to the face that shoved him onto his back.
“Max, no!” he protested as the other man strode quickly to the door with his toiletries bag. “That’s cheating!”
~~~~~
Ethan’s mother had done what he’d expected and prepared a huge breakfast for them. In addition to his favorite waffles and the yogurt she’d gotten on sale, she’d made pancakes in case Max didn’t like the waffles, toast with honey, and she’d set out little bowls of different cereals in case Max didn’t like the pancakes either and was more of a Captain Crunch guy. Ethan’s heart melted when he saw that she’d also poured cans of fruit cocktail into her best serving bowls and stabbed toothpicks in the pineapples and cherries.
“Were you comfortable last night?” she asked Max as they all sat down to eat at the little table beside the stove. “Did you need the blankets? Should I get more out for tonight?”
“Max is his own heat source,” Ethan said as he poured himself juice. “He’s warm enough for both of us.”