Read Love in Xxchange: Miles to Go for Free Online

mind.
     

     
    It took every bit of Max’s willpower to finish the fence and the rest of his work without stopping to call either of his bosses. The need to know what was going on with Bo was pressing down on him. Max told himself it was because Bo was a friend of his—it had nothing to do with the dreams he’d had about the lithe blond man that left him shaken and confused when he woke up.
    Those dreams, along with the fantasies Max’s brain seemed determined to create,
    always sent his body into a state of arousal and his mind spinning with confusion. He’d never been particularly attracted to anyone, which might seem strange for someone his age, but Max just accepted it as a fact. Having been raised in a violent fundamentalist household, sex was something that was discouraged—except his folks apparently hadn’t got the memo since there’d been eight kids.
    MILES TO GO
    Bailey Bradford
    27
     
    Any normal inquisitiveness a child might have had wasn’t allowed in his house, and since Max had plenty of older brothers to learn from, he’d buried every trace of sexuality as deeply inside himself as possible. More than one of his brothers had been brought before the family for masturbating. His father always made the guilty boy strip then proceeded to beat him sometimes to unconsciousness with his thick leather belt while the rest of the family was forced to watch.
    Well, not forced, not all of them, Max admitted to himself. His ma had always ordered the number of strokes, and his oldest brother had frequently cheered and jeered. Sometimes Max thought it was a miracle he was still alive and as sane as he was. And he couldn’t go there, hadn’t ever really been able to and probably never would.
     

     
    Max stirred the pot of chilli on the stove. The cornbread was done, nice and golden with just that hint of a sweet taste he loved. Hopefully Annabelle would, too.
    “Sup’s on,” Max called out, hoping she’d hear him now the shower had stopped.
    “Be there in a sec,” came her faint reply. The bathroom door opened minutes later as Max was filling the two bowls with the fragrant chilli. “Oooh, corn bread, too! Tell me it’s the sweet kind…”
    Max chuckled despite the tension that had been eating away at him for hours now.
    “Yep, it is. Got you a chunk right there at the table.”
    “Oh, yum!” Annabelle took her bowl and grabbed a spoon from the silverware drawer, thanking him as she did. She pulled out her chair and plopped down. “I haven’t heard from Rory yet.”
    Max stirred the chilli in his bowl, wondering if he could even keep it down. What the hell is wrong with me? The swirls in the orange-red stuff seemed particularly fascinating. “Him or Chance’ll call as soon as they’re able. They ain’t thoughtless jackasses.” Which meant that whatever happened to Bo, it must be really, really bad to have kept them from calling.
    Or maybe it meant it wasn’t serious, and that’s why they didn’t feel the need to call and let him know if Bo was okay—it was confusing and frustrating and Max felt a rare surge of temper. He excused himself, ignoring Annabelle’s concerned expression, and put his food away.
    MILES TO GO
    Bailey Bradford
    28
     
    Stepping into the bathroom, he shut the door and leaned against the sink. He’d felt such a sudden burst of anger that it left him shaking, his fingers trembling even as he tried to grip the cabinet. The urge to throw his bowl, smash it against the wall and do the same with anything else he could break, had come and gone in a flash, but damn, it had scared him.
    There were too many memories of his pa’s violent temper that Max carried around with him—he wouldn’t add his own.
    He wouldn’t be his pa, not once, not ever. He’d put a bullet through his brain before he ever hurt people like his pa had. Same went for his ma and most of his older brothers—he would never be the hate-filled monsters they were.
    “I ain’t him, I ain’t any of