Page 165 of Alpha Mates

He’s still in the bath when I get back, so I set everything down on the low table in front of the massive TV in the suite’s lounge, and strip the bed of its duvet. I throw that on the couch along with some extra pillows and cue up the movie that owns Julian’s heart.

Then, I wait.

Such a gruelling task,Max half teases, but I know that by the strain in his voice, he wants nothing more than to forget this whole thing and climb into the bath with Julian instead.I won’t deny that.

We’ll get to all that later,I promise, but the reminder forces me to swallow down my sudden arousal.Maybe.

Not maybe. It’s for certain,Max says with conviction that’s not entirely made up of lust.I’m serious. I saw the way he looked at you today.

So did I. I thought I was imagining it at first when I caught him staring at me on the zip lines, but then we’d gotten on the ground, and there was no mistaking the warmth in his eyes when I had him in my arms.

Julian wants this,Max whispers.He wants you as much as you want him.

And Goddess knows I fucking want him. Desperately. But it’s more than that. I … I—

“That was amazing!” Julian groans as he saunters into the room with flushed skin and a smile big enough to light up the whole damn hotel. His damp hair frames his face, and in only his boxers and one of my shirts, he’s a physical test of my restraint.

“What’s all this?” he asks when he spots my surprise.

“How does a movie sound?” I toss the duvet back, making room for him.

His grin remains right where it is as he circles the couch and dives into the space beside me. “It depends on what movie.” He reaches for the remote, but I snatch it from him before he can ruin the surprise.

“Close your eyes,” I instruct, and his frown deepens as those blue eyes narrow with suspicion.

“Why?”

“Hells, Jewels. I don’t have porn loaded up. Just close them,” I tell him, and his already flaming cheeks deepen a shade before he finally gives in to my request.

With the target blinded, I slip from the couch to switch off the lights. The suite falls into darkness, but the lights from the valley shine like fireflies through the glass.

I pull Julian to me once I’m back on the couch, snuggling close until we’re a tangle of limbs with him curled against me. I hit play and wait for the title card to disappear. “Alright, you can open them.”

Jewels blinks his eyes open to focus on the screen, but mine remain on him. When the old Disney logo appears, his lips curl up at the corners, but it’s not until the music starts playing that his eyes bulge, and he sits up so quickly that he almost slams his head into my chin.

“Treasure Planet?!” he shouts, and I think that’s probably the first time I’ve ever heard Julian really yell.

Then he’s leaning down to thank me with hundreds of kisses, each one a shot of serotonin to my heart. I soak it all in, his joy, excitement, and disbelief, until Julian tucks himself back under my arm to watch his favourite movie.

Julian’s no kid, but he looks as innocent as one with the way he stares at the screen, all wide-eyed and open-mouthed. He laughs at every joke and gasps at every landscape as if he’s never seen the movie. I try to follow along, so I can understand exactly why it’s his favourite, but mostly I’m watching him watch it.

What I do catch is dumb and great all at once—space adventure with a kid chasing treasure across planets? Exactly the kind of shit Julian would worship. I can see little Jewels watching this on repeat and making it his holy grail.

I stay quiet, not wanting to ruin a second of it for him. I just watch along, loving his reactions, until the credits roll.

“I get why you love it so much,” I whisper, drawing his attention from the screen for the first time since it started. “You were mouthing the words, you know.”

“I was?” He covers his parted lips with his hands.

“Most of them,” I chuckle, pressing a kiss to his head before taking the mostly empty tray to the kitchen. “Don’t worry. It was cute.”

“That doesn’t help,” he grumbles behind his hand barrier. He looks mortified, but I really do think it was cute.

Julian stays poorly hidden in his embarrassment until I come back to him to pry his hands from his face. He cranes his head back to look at me.

“Are you really that embarrassed?” I ask as I lean over the back of the couch. “We’ve seen each other do worse.”

“Maybe,” he mumbles, brows relaxing. “More you than me, I guess.”