ADDICTED [BoyxBoy]

29 | υnтσυcнαвℓє

And now that you're close

I feel like coming undone

Chapter 29 ~ Untouchable

Liam Slater

"Do you think he'll like this?" I blurted aloud as I picked up an Avengers action figure package from the shelf and examined it carefully. When I didn't get a response from my brother, I looked over my shoulder to catch him poking a random toy on the shelf. "Owen."

He lifted his head to look at me. "Huh?"

I waved the box in the air. "Do you think Max will like this?"

His brows furrowed. "Max?"

"Yeah, Max, my boyfriend..."

"Oh!" He gave me a short, apologetic smile and made his way to me. He must've stood over my shoulder, examining the toy, for an eternity before he actually decided to reply. "Wait, how old is he?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's sixteen."

Owen let out a large, offensive laugh. "'Kay, 'cause I thought you were a pedophile pinning after six year olds," he finished his sentence with a smug grin that made me want to punch him. "A sixteen year old who still plays with toys ... you sure know how to pick 'em, little brother."

I gritted my teeth together and tried to maintain my composure. "Is this a good present, or not?" I reiterated, my tone growing more demanding.

Owen's eyes flashed with genuine amusement as he raised his hands in mock surrender. "Look, dude, I'm down with the rainbow coalition we got goin' on, but I didn't come here to go Christmas shopping for your childish boyfriend." He reached over my shoulder, took the box from my hands, and set it back on the shelf.

I gave an inward sigh. "Max is leaving in a week and I want to give him something to remember me by."

Owen's facial expression grew impassive. "Fuck him," he said with a nonchalant shrug.

I perked up. "What?"

"I'm sure he'll remember that."

I frowned. Did the thought of having sex with Max ever cross my mind? Sure, but I knew about his past experiences with sex and I didn't want to rush him into something with such a sensitive history.

Shaking my head, I looked away. "No, I'm not going to have sex with him. I don't think we're ... there ... yet."

Owen rolled his eyes. "'Kay, whatever, let's ditch the toy section and get high."

"No," I said quickly. "I'm not doing that stuff anymore. Max hates it."

Owen shifted his weight onto his left leg and folded his arms across his chest in a disapproving manner. He must've stood there for a few deadly silent seconds, poking the inside of his cheek with his tongue, before replying with, "You're gonna stop having fun because of your stupid boyfriend? C'mon, Lee, I thought you were cool."

"I don't need it anymore," I fired back at him. "It's not good for me."

Owen's mouth fell agape as he looked at me like I had just grown a second head. He studied me hard with those scrutinizing forest green eyes of his, and then slowly brought a lit cigarette to his mouth. "Wow, look at you," he said, feigning enthusiasm, "with morals and shit." He finished by nudging my shoulder, hard, and chuckling to himself.

I spared him a glance and refocused my attention on the toy sets in front of me. The voice in the back of my mind told me it would be a waste of time to try to figure out which toy Max would like best. Deciding that there would be no harm in doing so, I grabbed three different action figure packs from the shelf and tossed them into the cart. I promised Max I would make this week the best week of his life and I planned to keep my promise.