Break my shell, p.19
Break My Shell, page 19
“Let it go, Day, it’s fine,” Max said quietly behind his back, but it wasn’t fine. Seeing Max crushed under Vanessa’s heel drove home just how not-fine it had been for Dayton to put up with her all these years. Maybe he hadn’t been able to find the courage to fight for himself, but for Max, he would.
“He only works in the kitchen, so it’s not like he might punch a customer again,” she grumbled.
“He also has no paperwork, right? Just as he had none when you first employed him,” hissed Dayton, getting into her face yet again.
Vanessa licked her lips, hesitating with her answer. This was it. Of course she hadn’t officially employed Max. Just like last time, she was avoiding taxes, and paying him less than legally required.
“He’s here on friendly terms. That’s just between me and Max,” she said in the end.
Dayton snorted. “On friendly terms? Don’t make me laugh. You know what?” he asked, delving his hand into his shoulder bag to pull out the battered notebook when he kept all his records. “You are going to pay him the full minimum wage that he earned both times he worked here. And you are paying me back everything you owe me by the end of the week,” he said, opening the notebook on the relevant page and showing her the numbers. All his overtime was there, with hours, dates, and money owed.
Vanessa took a step back, but by the nervous way she kept rubbing her hands together, he knew he had her. Enough was enough. She would not suck out Max’s happiness.
“You know the last months have been tough for River Inn—”
“I don’t fucking care how the inn is doing. You employ people, and that means you have to pay them before yourself. And if you can’t afford keeping the Inn, then you should sell it.” He made a circle around the grand total of money she owed him and pushed the pages into her face. “You will pay us both back or I am going to report you for not paying your employees, and employing people illegally. Kathy knows, but I am pretty sure the bride and groom, whose phone numbers I still have, would gladly confirm Max was an employee, even if he’s not in the books.”
The adrenaline surging through his veins was like liquid gold. For once, he’d said what he’d intended to and hadn’t accepted her excuses. She opened her mouth, and Dayton was already expecting to hear her talk about how she’d saved him from life on the streets all those years ago but her lips sealed again. Max’s hand on Dayton’s shoulder was yet more rocket fuel to his fury. He would not let this go. He was done being humiliated and seeing the man he loved suffer.
“Fine,” Vanessa spat and turned around. “As a matter of fact, I will pay you right now, so I can be rid of you, but the River Inn will suffer for it!” As if that was a threat Dayton was supposed to care about.
“That is your problem,” he said softly, following her, his fingers entwined with Max’s. Heat coursed through his body at the realization that he would leave here with enough money to move away. To change his life.
Squeezing Max’s fingers even harder, he dared to look at him. He had never been a pushy person, and this did not feel much like him, but oh, did it feel right.
The barely suppressed smile told Dayton all he needed to know about Max’s opinion on the situation. Max leaned closer and gave Dayton a silent kiss behind Vanessa’s back.
They walked into Vanessa’s office, and it seemed even more cluttered than before. As if every month there was a new build-up of junk. She kneeled by the old-fashioned safe under her desk, mumbling something beneath her breath.
Dayton leaned against Max, still unsure whether he wasn’t dreaming. For so long he’d allowed her to treat him like garbage when all it took was relentless conviction. And a little bit of blackmail.
“I even considered taking you back as well. Maybe for a night shift, or some other position,” Vanessa said from behind the desk where a jingle of coins suggested she was counting out every penny. “But after that sex scandal, there was nothing I could do.” It sounded like pity, and yet Dayton knew she was saying this to spite him in one more way.
He could stoop to the same level. “At least I’m having sex. And I don’t need a job at River Inn anymore. I got one in Miami,” he boasted, even though that hadn’t happened yet. It was worth it to hear her silently growl again.
It had been great to have Max punch Greg, to have him protect Dayton from nasty comments or from Vanessa putting him to more tasks without paying overtime, but actually being his own hero? He was getting a taste for it already.
Vanessa got up with all the money and counted it out in stacks on the table. Did she not use banks? Dayton felt like a drug dealer taking his share of blood money. But it was blood and sweat money, and he’d have every penny of it.
“I imagine it’s understood that you’re fired, Max,” Vanessa hissed. “You can thank your boyfriend for it. And I will only pay you for one hour’s work today.”
Max raised his eyebrows. “Um, yeah, makes sense.”
“Yeah, we will happily leave and never see you again,” said Dayton, massaging Max’s hand with his thumb. Energy was soaring inside him. In fact, he wished he could push Max into the chair and ride him right now.
“Good riddance!” Vanessa crossed her arms as Dayton stuffed the wads of cash into his bag, not even caring to put the pennies in his wallet. He tossed them straight inside.
From the looks of it, the cash was right, and he wasn’t going to stay here and count it all to ask her for an additional 10 bucks if he could avoid her presence. “We’re leaving town. Have a nice life, Vanessa. I hope you treat your other employees better than you treated me,” he said and turned around, feeling the burn of explosions setting off behind his back as he left. Like a boss.
The weight of Max’s arm over his shoulder made him feel weightless instead of pushed down. As soon as they were out the front door, Max chuckled and kissed him again.
“Oh, man. That was so fucking badass.”
Dayton grabbed onto him and pulled their bodies closer. If anyone had a problem with him having his little moment of triumph, they could go fuck themselves. “I am so horny right now,” he whispered, in disbelief that he would voice such a comment, but with the adrenaline coursing through his body, he didn’t care anymore.
Max growled into the kiss. “Can’t wait to take care of that.”
Dayton laughed and kissed him again, stirring when his phone buzzed rapidly. He reached into his pocket, knowing they couldn’t fuck here anyway, and this reason was as good as any to regroup and leave the River Inn forever. Still petting Max’s back, he opened his email and frowned.
“The weirdo answered. I’m hired.”
Max frowned. “What? The one who told you about his sex life? What if he’s a serial killer?”
Dayton looked at him, perplexed, then touched his fat shoulder bag filled with money that could provide them with a good start. “We need to relocate. And they offer assistance with that,” he said, licking his lips.
“And we can look for new jobs if he turns out completely batshit and we have to move,” Max finished for Dayton with a smile.
Dayton nodded, and his mouth spread into a smile. “I mean, his boyfriend seemed nice and normal. It could be a good start. Local experience if I need a different job,” he said, in disbelief at how happy he felt right now. It was as if everything had suddenly fallen into place.
“Come on, let’s go, because I’m getting horny thinking about you being horny.” Max laughed and pulled Dayton toward the car.
Dayton squeezed his hand, still coping with the boost to his ego. “And then we’ll go to the police. You still have that flyer with Greg’s return at the back, don’t you?” he asked breathlessly.
Max raised his eyebrows and opened the car door. “Yep. You sure you wanna do this?”
Dayton licked his lips and slid into the passenger seat, depositing the bag in the glove compartment before gathering the strength to answer. He knew it would hurt, but maybe if Greg were punished, he would not ever target another person. “He deserves it. I didn’t ever deserve to be treated the way he treated me, so he should pay,” said Dayton slowly and looked up at Max. “I was still a minor when they were taken. And there’s a date in the picture. He’s gonna pay.”
Max smirked and started the engine. “Fuck yes. He’s going down.”
Dayton smiled. Seeing Max’s reaction made him relax about the issue, and he stroked his man’s forearm.
He needed to brace himself for stupid comments at the police station, but with Max at his side, he knew he could go through with it.
It was high time he learned to fight for himself.
Epilogue
Max put a piece of chicken in each of the little boxes Liam had already filled with cauliflower rice. Liam’s casual lessons in nutrition were a great addition to the boxercise instructor course Max was doing. Thanks to Dayton being so generous and working more hours than Max, Max could focus on developing his skills.
At first, Max had thought he’d get a job at a local gym or something along those lines but despite being weird, both hotel owners turned out to be so cool and friendly, and Max ended up first giving a hand wherever was necessary. The Sunchaser was a small hotel, more of a B&B really, and it had only opened a year ago. Liam and Ryan were still looking for ways to make more money, one thing led to another, and they all came up with a plan to make the hotel a place for health and fitness retreats.
Working here was nothing like the job at the River Inn. Here, Max felt like he was a part of a team that respected him, and was excited to make a new life to himself. Even if he wouldn’t be a professional boxer again, training guests on a beach in the morning didn’t sound all that bad.
Max stalled with the piece of chicken still in the tongs when he got to the last box with what looked like… blue rice?
He raised it in his hand and shot Liam a questioning glance. Liam sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “You know how crazy Ryan is for that dumb blue menu idea. I can’t serve it to guests, but if he wants to eat colored food, then that’s fine by me. He’ll be happy for the rest of the week.”
Right. The blue menu. Ryan was as cute as he was quirky, and Max had heard about the newest marketing idea all too many times. Blue chicken, blue potatoes, served with blue corn and a blueberry dessert. It made no sense, and Ryan couldn’t understand why all of his employees were telling him no one would like to eat blue chicken.
“Should I put a regular piece of chicken in his portion?” Max asked, wondering how a guy who looked like an alternative surfer bro ended up with a blue-haired twink in a wheelchair. He was sure he’d learn the story one day when they all got drunk.
Liam gave a long sigh. “No. I prepared a blue one last night. God, I secretly hope he understands how unappetizing it is. But that’s the problem with people who don’t really appreciate food that much. I’ve managed to curb his intake of fries, but there’s still a long way to go,” complained Liam. At least he was a professional cook, so Max guessed making those crazy meals for Ryan wasn’t tedious for him
Fortunately, Dayton was much less picky.
Max snorted, watching the blue chicken and the blue cauliflower go into the box. “We’ll see how that goes down. We can’t serve this to guests unless it’s Halloween or something.”
They gathered the lunchboxes and walked into the bright corridor with huge windows opening the space into the beach below. The whole building was so airy and bright, with even the wooden panels on the floors evoking images of holidays.
Max kinda liked living here, so he didn’t push Dayton into looking for an apartment someplace else, even if it meant that sometimes they needed to be available outside of normal shifts. When working for such nice, welcoming people, it was no hardship at all.
When they entered the reception area, which opened up into the second floor, Dayton was dealing with a guest, but he smiled at them as soon as the woman left for her room.
The rattle of newly-installed beads on the spokes of Ryan’s wheelchair announced the guy’s presence before Max even saw him. And no matter how unreasonable a boss Ryan sometimes was, his enthusiasm was infectious. Max just hoped the piercings all over Ryan’s face wouldn’t inspire Dayton to follow in his employer’s footsteps.
Cinnamon lazily sleeping in Ryan’s lap made the image they created together even sweeter.
“Food’s ready!” Max smiled widely at the kind of boyfriend he never thought he’d have.
Dayton tapped something on the keyboard in front of him and walked out from behind the reception desk. He looked so smart in fitted pants and a green shirt that went well with his red hair. Since they started working here, he seemed to have relaxed and even smiled more, just enjoying each day. Finally, his suggestions were heard, and his skills appreciated. No wonder he loved the new job so much.
“Time for my lunch break. See you in an hour?” he asked Ryan, already walking Max’s way.
“Sure! I’ll man the desk in the meanwhile.” Ryan’s eyes shone with glee when he got the box with his blue food. “Oh, my God! That’s so cute, Liam.”
“I knew you’d like it,” said Liam, gently spinning the wheelchair around, to Ryan’s cheering.
They were so weird.
And so adorable.
But not as adorable as his Dayton.
“Mm, that looks delicious,” said Dayton, plucking the lunchbox from Max’s hands and already walking to the back door leading to the beach.
Max stayed half a step behind to have a good look at Dayton’s ass in the fitted pants. “Liam’s already planning packed lunch menus for when I take our guests on a longer hike next week.”
“Right, the next group is coming soon. I need to organize a few things for the induction evening,” said Dayton, stopping briefly to regard the glorious sand when they walked out to the wooden platform outside. The salty wind dishevelled his hair and made him look so hot Max wished he could kiss him then and there, but Dayton had already started walking down the stairs.
Max pushed off his flip-flops and followed barefoot over the silky sand. They got to ‘their’ rock and sat together hip to hip, watching the waves.
After the events that had led him to prison, Max thought he’d never find peace again, and yet here he was. Alive, thriving, and eating lunch with the man he loved.
He kissed Dayton’s temple with butterflies fluttering in his stomach.
The End
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Special Needs: The Complete Story
— CARETAKING. YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG. —
Liam slept with his boss. Again. And lost his job because of it. Again. Set on changing his ways and tired of sleeping in his car, he applies for a job as a live-in caretaker, even though he has no experience in it whatsoever. He has a lot of practice in lying his way out of any situation though. Only problem is, his new boss – wheelchair bound owner of a sex hotel – is gay, cute, funny and oh, so fuckable! There is only one logical solution to Liam’s dilemma – pretending he’s straight. Brilliant!
When Ryan inherited his aunt’s B&B, he thought he’d hit the jackpot by changing it into a fetish sex hotel. Things didn’t go as planned though, all of his marketing efforts seem to fail, and the debt is mounting up. Being a wheelchair user doesn’t help in actively promoting his hotel, but his luck starts to change when he hires a new caretaker. Liam is open-minded, helpful and caring. All that Ryan needs from a caretaker to kickstart his business, but things would all be a lot simpler if he didn’t start crushing on his new employee. And even if, in some other dimension, Liam did return his feelings, how long can Ryan keep his fetish a secret?
