Chapter 377: I would be better at this
Maxwell waited until the next morning to tell Andrew what was going on. He had spent the rest of the day complaining and lecturing Richard, while also taking care of him. From those actions alone, Andrew learned too much about what happened.
With that said, Andrew was happy for Richard, even if Maxwell was pissed. The man got laid.
Good for him.
Maxwell, because he was an omega and had always been an omega probably didn’t realise that things were a bit different when you were a beta. If things had gone down like Andrew assumed, there might be some kind of delay with Richard’s body. There had been a delay with Andrew, so it was an easy jump in Andrew’s mind.
Andrew was fairly certain that Maxwell also made that assumption, but far later then Andrew did. Andrew didn’t mind. He had some Christmas baking to do for Christmas eve and Christmas morning. He wasn’t about to show up to anyone’s house empty-handed.
So, he’d had a great night after he’d shown the guards around. He had waited until the last minute to introduce Richard to the new guards, and while Richard was pale from being lectured by Maxwell, his gaze had hardened upon finding out that guards were being assigned to them.
"Good. I didn’t want to have to get a gun. I have terrible aim." Richard had muttered, and Andrew had raised an eyebrow. Then he remembered that it was Richard who had worried about Tracey coming to their old house, stalking him, and trying to kidnap him. He spoke from a purely scientific viewpoint, but he was also the more...paranoid of the group.
At least, outwardly.
Then, they had dinner, Richard seemed in better spirits and in better condition, and they all went their separate ways. Maxwell stewed for the rest of the night, and into the morning, and now here they were.
Maxwell was sighing, holding onto Andrew’s chest, their legs entangled under the blankets.
"It was Ellis." Maxwell admitted grimly. "Ellis left him in that condition." Andrew was surprised to hear that, as he was sure Maxwell was surprised as well. "Richard would barely answer my questions. It was like pulling teeth." Maxwell complained and Andrew let out a soft chuckle.
"Think of it from his side, Maxy. A man almost as tall as me, formerly a beta and still a workaholic getting bent and uh, whatever else they did by a man almost shorter than you? I’m different because I have experience. Richard?" Andrew shook his head with a soft chuckle. "Ellis probably came at him like a damn storm on a sunny day. Richard had no idea what was happening."
Maxwell grumbled in the bed next to him, burying his face further into Andrew’s chest. Andrew felt the strength of the man inhaling his scent and felt his lips curl up at the sides. This current Maxwell, annoyed but refusing to get up because he liked Andrew’s scent and it was cold? So damn cute.
Andrew was glad that no one else could see him like this.
"Still...Richard explained it a bit more to me. Ellis had to leave early in the morning. Something came up. I’m going to bet it was his family reaching out. There was a reason I made him my secretary, but given that his family is as well connected as mine is...They probably heard about what happened last night." Maxwell sighed. "His family is close to your fathers, so he is probably getting hassled about who you are." Andrew was surprised to hear that.
"Was that one of the reasons why your family didn’t agree to marrying him off to Will?" Andrew asked and Maxwell sighed.
"That, and he came to me in the bathroom when no one else had an eye on him and begged me to not let it go through. That he would do anything to get out from under the control of his family’s thumb and family name. Newman isn’t even his last name. I just...made it up." Andrew felt a small surge of pity.
He couldn’t...even give him a better name? In fairness, Andrew’s fake name was Albert Nice. He’d gotten off...okay, which meant that Thomas probably named him. That was an interesting thing to find out.
Maybe...maybe if they had kids Andrew should name them...It was actually quite interesting to find out that Maxwell wasn’t good at something.
"That’s upsetting." Andrew said. "He had to flee like that? Was it because things weren’t going well with Will?" Andrew asked and Maxwell slid his gaze up to Andrew, grinning.
"You barely have met Will, and you already know him so well. Yeah, things were going terribly. He’d called Ellis to his face a gold digger even though his family is just as wealthy as we are. We just run in different circles." Maxwell said, before he let out another sigh before he groaned. "Fuck. How am I supposed to bring this conversation up to Ellis? ’Hey, don’t leave my brother-in-law in that condition again’? That sounds so awful, even for me." Maxwell muttered and Andrew gave him a squeeze, before leaning down and pressing his lips against his forehead.
"You could leave it up to me? That way, it isn’t awkward for you or Richard. I already had a feeling that Ellis liked Richard, and I might be the reason this was spurred on. I can talk to him in a way that I don’t think either of you two could. Just to be clear, Richard bottomed?" Andrew asked and Maxwell nodded.
"Well, yes? It sounds like-"
"I don’t need to know more." Andrew cut him off, and Maxwell seemed a little surprised before his body started shaking with laughter.
"Andy, are you being a prude right now?" Maxwell asked, shocked and amused. Andrew grumbled.
"I am not a prude. I am never a prude, I just don’t need to know the details, you know? I know that Jordan and Rose are trying for kids, but as far as I am concerned, a stork is delivering the baby." Andrew told him, and Maxwell’s body kept shaking.
"Ah fuck, come here. I need to kiss you." Maxwell told him, and Andrew gladly bent so that he could do just that. Maxwell’s laughter hadn’t stopped as he kissed him, and Andrew was glad for it. He loved seeing the man like this, laughing and enjoying himself. Andrew loved kissing his happiness.
"Stop making fun of me. I’m sure you’re the same way." Andrew mumbled, grumpy and that only made Maxwell laugh more.
"I totally agree with you, I’m just too amused by this. You’re concerned from a medical side, but you also don’t want to know anything?" Andrew nodded, and Maxwell giggled. "Oh, you’re too damn cute for your own good. I wanna eat you up." Maxwell was full of smiles and giggles and Andrew was glad. They had both been a little on the tense side due to the situation with Richard.
"So, Max? Are you going to let me talk to Ellis?" Andrew asked and Maxwell’s laughter slowed before he let out a heavy sigh, groaned, and rubbed his face against Andrew’s bare chest.
"Fuck. I don’t really have a choice, do I? I don’t want to speak to him about this. Ugh. Okay, fine. I’ll pass it over to you, and I’ll deal with the details, alright?" Maxwell gave a huff of laughter. "Our big bad true alpha can’t handle them." Maxwell teased and Andrew growled, wrapping his arm tighter around Maxwell.
"Oh, I can’t handle it, can I? Need I remind you, Maxy, that I’ve offered to bottom before. I’m well versed in all aspects of sex, I just don’t want to hear about how my brother failed to be good at it." Andrew said with confidence and that pushed Maxwell over the edge.
"Is that the problem? That you perceive that he was bad at it? Baby, it takes two to tango. Maybe Ellis was bad at giving it?" It was a good question, but that’s the problem. Andrew didn’t think that Ellis would be bad at it, given who he was, and the fact that he was pursuing another omega. Ellis wouldn’t want to hurt another person if he came from a family like Andrew thought he was getting a picture of.
Richard, however, was bad at communicating when in an awkward interaction. He would bet money that Ellis didn’t know what kind of state that Richard was in the next day. Otherwise he would have come back to check on him. With no regards for the fact that the man he had slept with was staying at his boss’ home.
Ellis wasn’t as stone cold as he made himself out to be. As he had to make himself out to be. If he came from a similar background as Maxwell, he probably had gone through a similar treatment as Maxwell, but the two men had taken it differently.
Maxwell had come out a stone cold bitch of business, while Ellis had been his accomplice. He was supposed to blend into the background, be there when Maxwell needed him, but otherwise be unperceived. That kind of position after coming from a world where he was supposed to be a center of attention probably took a lot out of someone.
Andrew was glad that he was able to break through his shell a little bit when they had been getting to know each other with baked goods. While Maxwell had been relatively unhappy, (probably due to jealousy, what a cutie) Andrew had been rather happy that he’d been able to buy his affection with food.
It was always a good sign to him if he could get to someone through his stomach. It wasn’t as if Maxwell was immune. Andrew would argue that the casserole had gotten his foot in the door, whether he knew it or not.
Would they be here if the casserole hadn’t been somewhat decent? Probably not. Andrew was big enough to admit that, even if Maxwell would never say the same. He’d probably roll his eyes at Andrew’s words and brush him off, while wondering if he was right. He wouldn’t want Andrew to think their relationship hinged on a casserole.
It was his Mom’s recipe. Er, well, May’s recipe, but his Mom was the one who told him that it was the right thing to do! So, a joint effort by the two women he considered his Mom. It was fine.
It worked out, didn’t it? So, here he was, thinking about how Ellis had no idea that Richard had been left in a semi aware state after he’d left him to deal with family drama, and how Maxwell was thinking that Ellis had terrible...table manners.
Okay maybe...there was a small piece to it where Maxwell was right, but it was soo small no one could see it. Andrew wasn’t a prude. He wasn’t! He just really didn’t need to know some things and...Andrew would be a damn champ at this if their positions had been reversed.
Richard was a scientist, for fucks sake! Was Maxwell seriously suggesting that he hadn’t researched this as soon as he realised that this was a possibility? Even when Andrew didn’t want to know anything about being a true alpha, he had still looked up some things.
Ugh! He needed to stop thinking about this!