5. Mav Discovers That Telos Has Secrets

5

MAV DISCOVERS THAT TELOS HAS SECRETS

Mav froze, glad he hadn’t been drinking coffee because he would’ve sprayed it all over the windshield. “What do you mean?”

Telos rolled his eyes. “I packed your things, remember? I found a soaked T-shirt under your pillow. That must’ve been really uncomfortable to sleep on.”

He flushed slightly, looking at everything but Mav.

“What did you do with that shirt?” Mav’s mouth said without his permission.

Telos’ ears turned pink. “Stuffed it into your bag, of course. You’re going to have jizz-stained everything over the next few days.”

Except Mav hadn’t come across it when he’d dug through his bag for clothes. He would’ve bumped into that soaked shirt otherwise. “It’s not in my bag.”

“Pfft. It’s in a side pocket.” Telos backed them out of the parking lot, and didn’t look Mav in the eye.

He’d probably thrown it away, the jerkwad.

Mav stewed in his seat, cramming the rest of his breakfast sandwich into his mouth. Being annoyed was much easier than thinking about how Telos had sat in this very seat last night, fisting his own cock.

They got onto the highway. Mav gave Telos directions when the need arose. The rest of the time, they fought over the radio stations.

“Don’t play that,” Telos growled. “I’m the driver. I get to decide.”

“You didn’t let me have that privilege yesterday, so you shouldn’t get it today, either.”

“Yeah, tell that to a baby.” Telos flung his hand into the air. “I’m looking for cool songs to sing to my—to my daughter. Surely you can’t deprive a baby of that.”

Mav frowned. “Why would you sing songs from a radio to a kid?”

“To change things up! I can’t imagine you’d want to sing The Wheels On The Bus for hours on end. At least, not yet.”

Mav released the radio dial. “Fine. You can flip through the stations until you’ve got one song.”

“Five,” Telos said immediately.

Mav wanted to growl. “Two.”

“Four.” Telos smirked.

“No more than two.”

“Three, and I won’t annoy you for an hour.”

“ Fine. ” Maybe Mav shouldn’t have folded so easily, but he liked his peace and quiet, damn it.

“Yesss.” Telos did a victory dance in his seat, his firm shoulder bumping into Mav’s.

Mav grumbled, “Give you an inch...”

Telos waggled his eyebrows. “Just an inch, huh? I’m sure you’ve got more to give. Don’t be stingy.”

Mav was abruptly reminded of his dirty thoughts, and the several inches he’d given to Telos in his imagination. “You can’t take that many.”

Telos’ eyebrows shot up; the car swerved slightly before he got it back under control. With a lopsided grin, he asked, “How many inches are we talking?”

Mav might’ve choked on his tongue if he hadn’t been stunned speechless.

“More than you can take,” he said when he finally found his voice. Then he wanted to claw those words back into his mouth. What the hell had he been thinking?

Telos turned slightly, shooting Mav a hooded glance. “You’ll find that I can take a lot. ”

Mav tried not to imagine that. They were going to be stuck in the car together for hours. Telos changed the radio station and began singing along to the first song.

“Sweet honeybee, oh can’t you see

You’re the only one for me”

Telos had a good singing voice. Deep, rich, and smooth, like top-shelf whiskey that had been aged close to perfection.

“You’re not terrible, I guess,” Mav said.

Telos pressed a hand to his chest and pretended to swoon.

Mav watched the rocky landscape pass them by, dark green trees dotting the horizon. Contrary to what he’d told their team, being alone with Telos wasn’t quite as frustrating as he’d anticipated. He slowly relaxed into his seat.

Telos sang along to five more songs. Then he glanced at Mav. “So. What do you think about when you jerk off? Antique furniture?”

“What.” Seriously, What?

“Don’t tell me you drool over poisonous mushrooms,” Telos said. “The ones that smell like rotting flesh. Or do you jerk off to knobby feet with long painted toenails?” He paused. “I’m not judging.”

“I don’t have a foot fetish,” Mav spluttered.

“I know! Maybe you jerk off to distressed damsels waiting for your rescue.” Telos snickered. He raised the pitch of his voice. “Oh, Mav, please rescue me! I’m swooning without your huge meat pole to hold me up! Do you like my squishy boobs?”

“ Why would I discuss any of that with you?” Mav growled.

“Because I can’t help but think you’re into the most basic of things. Like, you’d beat your meat to the fantasy of a candlelit dinner. With a nice omega who is totally your type.”

Mav frowned. “No.”

Telos raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You fantasize about going on pony rides into the sunset.”

“No.”

“You jerk off while imagining yourself in a bridezilla reality TV show.”

“ No. ” Telos was so damn far from the truth, he might as well be on another planet. And now Mav’s face was burning. To turn the focus off himself, he retorted, “What do you jerk off to?”

Telos shut his mouth so hard, his teeth clacked together.

Mav’s eyebrows shot up. “Yeah? You have something you’re embarrassed about?”

“None of your business,” Telos said tightly.

Mav had seen Telos be many things, but he’d never seen Telos be this cagey. Because he’d promised Telos payback, he said, “Maybe I should make it my business to figure it out.”

Telos tightened his hands on the steering wheel, staring at the road ahead. His pulse sped up.

This had to be the most unsettled Mav had ever seen him. Even more than the news about the surprise baby last night. Mav folded his arms across his chest, angling his whole body toward Telos. “You’re not into illegal crap, are you?”

“Of course not.” Telos rolled his eyes. At least that part seemed truthful enough.

“You think someone’s going to laugh at your kinks?”

Telos shrugged.

“If you don’t judge others for their kinks, why would you be afraid of someone judging yours?”

Telos breathed out noisily. “Because some people are boneheads.”

“Try me.”

At that, Telos turned to stare at him for a brief second. “No.”

“I won’t judge.”

“Really.” Telos sounded disbelieving. “You have literally judged me for every single thing since the century we met. Ever since I—”

Yeah, they hadn’t met in the best of ways. But enough time had passed, that the jagged edges between them had mostly worn away. Mostly. Mav heard the slightest edge in Telos’ words, and maybe he felt a little bad. “I don’t judge you over every single thing.”

Telos scoffed. “I’m still not telling you.”

“So is that kink of yours something you’d tell everyone but me?”

“I don’t have a special kink,” Telos muttered, but Mav could’ve sworn his cheeks turned pink again.

Telos looked... vulnerable, when he was flustered. He looked almost attractive. It wasn’t something Mav was used to thinking about him. “This is the most uncomfortable I’ve seen you.”

Telos scowled and flipped his turn signal, taking them off the highway. “Coffee break.”

Mav fell silent. Telos pulled into a strip mall and thumbed through his phone. Target acquired, he drove them to a small coffee shop nearby, turning into its drive-thru lane.

As they neared the ordering window, the tension in Telos’ shoulders slid off like water from a duck’s back. “Hey, sweetcheeks,” he said cheerily to the barista. “How’s it going?”

She gave him a brilliant smile. “Things are going great! What can I get for you today?”

“I’d like a large black coffee and a chocolate chip cookie. And a large peppermint mocha for this grouchy lump here.”

How had he known that Mav was fond of peppermint mochas?

“Coming right up,” the barista chirped.

Telos leaned back into his seat, rolling his shoulders. He didn’t speak to Mav. When the barista showed up again, Telos handed over his credit card and grinned. “Busy day?”

“Busy, but great,” the barista replied, dimples in her cheeks.

“Just keep smiling, you’ll rake in all the tips,” Telos said. “Just like you did with me!”

She laughed. Mav frowned, wondering what the hell Telos was doing, wasting time on this when they were so close to finding Uriel.

“Why are you chatting with her?” Mav muttered.

Telos flicked a cool look at him. “Can’t I be nice?”

This wasn’t being nice. Mav didn’t know what it was. But it felt wrong in a way he couldn’t explain. “It’s not like you’re sticking around to be friends forever. Cut the chatter and drive.”

Telos tightened his jaw. “Just because you’ve got a stick up your ass, doesn’t mean I need to be rude to everyone.”

He collected their drinks. Then he shoved one of them into Mav’s hands and their fingers brushed—a dry touch, but it sent a whisper of electricity up Mav’s arm.

Telos drew a slow breath. And he turned away, grabbing his cookie from the barista. “Have a great day,” Telos told her brightly, before he rolled up the window and drove away.

Mav felt a bit better after that. Just slightly.

“Happy now?” Telos grumbled.

“Very.”

Telos ignored him. Just as they were about to leave the parking lot, Mav caught Telos’ wrist. “Hey.” Telos glanced over with a frown. “About before. The judging. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Telos’ eyebrows went to his hairline. “Are you possessed right now? Should I look for an exorcist?”

Mav sighed deeply. “I’m being serious.”

“The Mav I know never apologizes for being an ass.”

Mav rolled his eyes. “Fine. I’ll take it back. I’m not sorry.”

A slow smile crept up Telos’ face. “That’s more like it.”

He settled back into his seat, shoulders looser. It eased the tension in Mav’s chest.

“Good,” Mav said. “Because we’re coming up on Uriel’s place. Time for Step One of the baby rescue.”