Page 46 of Smart Ass

Ben

Ben blasted his music as he settled into his car, already singing to the vibrant beat. He’d just been to visit Evan and now he was going to see Maxamillion.

They’d only had one night together before the (endless) weekend forced them apart, but that was how he thought of it now. Not going into work, but seeing Max.

Evan had been bugging him to tell him who he hooked up with, because he apparently kept looking all sappy and ridiculous.

He’d really tried not to, because midway through the visit today they’d gotten some bad news about Quincy, which legit worried the shit out of him. Quincy wasn’t just being held for questioning as a victim, but as a potential criminal. In jail. After he’d been attacked.

It was utter fucking bullshit. Total prejudice against sparks.

But before Max even gave Ben the news to relay, he’d already reached out to the best lawyer team available, filled out applications for several grant and support programs to help Quincy, investigated the visitation rules at the jail… and threatened Ben with a spanking if he tried to do anything but focus on Evan.

It was kind of wild.

Obviously, Ben figured Max could take on tasks like that. But to have him identify everything that Ben would have done himself and then do it better? It made him kind of emotional in a way he hadn’t expected.

Ben absolutely would have done anything for Quincy and Evan. He wouldn’t have complained at all, even if he was stressed and exhausted and running himself ragged. And he would have done it on his own.

He didn’t need anyone.

Which is why he maybe sniffled once when he realized that Max had already stepped in and taken away all the crazy, overwhelming shit that he would have spent all week working on, and just told him when he needed to talk to the lawyers.

It was a huge fucking relief.

He told himself it was all because Maxamillion was worried about Quincy. The two sparks hadn’t even met yet, but Ben knew it was true.

Still, Ben had found himself smiling up at the camera in the corner of the hospital room every time his phone chimed.

Which is why Evan had teased him.

Ben had agreed with Max not to tell anyone about him until the investigation with Quincy was over. There was just too much of a risk that someone would make the connection between the weird traffic patterns that had hit the news, the so-called virus at Orbit which had mostly been covered up, and the emergence of a new spark.

It was getting harder not to tell Evan, but also kind of… easier? It was bad enough that Evan caught him smiling at the corner like a lunatic.

Evan would probably make a whole big deal out of it or something. Try to convince him that he was in for the same gag-inducing lovey-dovey domestic bliss that Evan and Quincy had going on (or would, once Quincy’s trial was over), and Ben definitely didn’t need to hear that.

Max was just, you know, his own personal evil computer overlord stalker Dom who Ben had jerked off to twice while thinking about in the shower last night.

No big deal.

(Hopefully Max hadn’t figured out how to stalk him there yet. He really didn’t need to get any teasing from Max about it, either.)

(Even if the idea of Max secretly watching him in the shower made him hot.)

So it had been a weird, good, bad, crazy day, and now his car was driving him to Maxamillion. Who would hopefully pull him into the maintenance room for another naughty interlude.

Ben sang a little louder, bopping his head. This was a great song, even if he didn’t know all the words.

Only on the next verse, another voice joined his. Deep, lush, and sinfully sexy.

“Max?” Ben screeched.

Max just kept going.

“I didn’t know you could sing.”

Max snorted. (Which Ben kind of loved because, like, Max didn’t have a nose, so why would he snort?) Then he said smugly, “You’ve heard me sing before.”