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Bradley was annoyed, more than usual. It usually happened when he was separated from his long time boyfriend and emotional stabilizer, Max, who had been visiting family out of town with his dad and step mom. Bradley would have joined but couldn’t get work off. The first annoyance.
The current annoyance was this guy who took Tank’s friendly demeanor as an invitation to sit himself in their booth and was now chatting away. He wasn’t really talking to Bradley, something about his scowling face and general “don’t talk to me” vibes making sure the conversation stayed on the other side of the table.
A growing annoyance was that Bradley had been staring intensely at his beloved boyfriend, who was sitting quietly at the bar of the club they were in, and who hadn’t seemed to notice him yet. Max looked like he was spacing off as PJ and Bobby chatted and bantered at each other, which would be fine except he seemed so engrossed in his daydream he couldn’t feel Bradley burning holes into his head.
They had agreed to meet up at the club instead of their shared apartment when Max got back as a way to celebrate and bring all their friends together. Life had been too busy for them all to get together like this in a while and Bradley had been excited at the prospect of seeing the people who had become so key to his happiness - not that he would ever admit that to anyone beside Tank or Max.
His beloved Max… who still hadn’t noticed Bradley.
Despite his annoyance at being unintentionally ignored, Bradley took the time to ogle his boyfriend. Max was incredibly attractive and Bradley was allowed to look, especially in the outfit Max currently had on. It was nothing flashy and would have been normal for Max’s usual wardrobe. Beat up skate shoes, oversized black pants, a cropped jersey knit tank top that exposed his muscled shoulders and toned biceps and…
“I wouldn’t even try with that dude,” came a voice from the other side of the table.
Bradley snapped out of his ogling to look at the guy across the table who had been chatting with Tank.
“Huh?”
“That guy dressed in black at the bar. He’s turned away everyone he’s talked to tonight.” The ‘even me’ was left unsaid, but Bradley could see it in the way the guy pouted ever so slightly.
“Oh did he now?” Bradley smirked slightly and shot Tank a glance, who was smiling knowingly at his friend. “Maybe I should give it a try. I might get lucky.”
“Yea, don’t get your hopes up or anything,” the guy shrugged as he took a drink from his glass.
Bradley rolled his eyes and shot an unimpressed look at Tank, trying to convey Really? This is the idiot you’ve let into our presence?
Tank, used to Bradley’s annoyance after dealing with it for the last week while Max was out of town, just shrugged before tipping his head over to Max at the bar. Bradley turned in time to see Max sigh deeply before pulling his phone out. Bradley felt the phone in his pocket vibrate after a few seconds and allowed himself a small smile.
Bradley knew that if he looked at the notification on his phone, it would be Max asking where he was, so he didn’t even bother checking. Instead, he slid out of the booth and brushed the wrinkles out of the flowy shirt he was wearing. If Bradley was anything, he was petty. And Petty Bradley was about to show the whole bar that Max was his.
He ignored the teasing good luck shouted at him from Tank as he walked away from their table and up to Max, who was looking blankly to his right at his friends as Bobby recounted some story for them.
Slowly, Bradley dragged his hand across Max’s shoulders, drawing his attention to where he stood on his other side. Max turned in confusion to see who was touching him, but the confusion quickly melted into the love and adoration that usually showed in Max’s eyes when he looked at his boyfriend.
“Hello, Handsome.” Bradley said in his most sultry voice. “Need some company?”
Max’s eyes darkened slightly at his tone, but they’d been together long enough that he knew when to play along with Bradley’s games.
“Hmm I don’t know. I’m kinda waiting for someone.” Max teased, but he had already spun his body around the stool he was sitting on and pulled Bradley close to his side with hands at his hips. He gave Bradley a very obvious look up and down before smiling, the piercings on his face glimmering in the low light of the club at the movement. “But you look cute enough that I wouldn’t mind if you stuck around. I especially like that shirt.”
Bradley smirked at the last comment. Of course Max liked the shirt, he picked it out for Bradley specifically because he thought his boyfriend would look hot in it. The shirt was a long sleeved white satin shirt cut with a very low cut cowl neck that, as Max had said, showed off his sexy collarbones. He’d paired it with a simple gold chain necklace that ended right above said collarbones to help draw attention to them. Not that Max needed any more reason to look at Bradley’s chest, which is what he was doing now. He’d also worn his pair of black shorts that would probably classify as ‘short-shorts’ with their short inseam, but were still classy enough that they paired nicely with the shirt.
Bradley knew when Max noticed the shorts, another favorite article of clothing, because he felt one of Max’s hands run down his hip to his thigh and slip a thumb under the hem to rub gently against the skin there. Bradley hummed in pleasure.
“Thanks. My boyfriend picked it out for me,” Bradley said, tracing his fingernail up and down the groves of the jersey knit of Max’s shirt. He felt Max’s hand on his thigh squeeze ever so slightly. He smirked as he let his eyes roam up and down Max’s body as well, taking him in fully just as Max had done to him.
The shirt Max wore fit him very tightly, defining the muscles Max had gained from his athletic endeavors. It also clearly outlined Max’s nipple piercings. Bradley hummed again as he ran his fingernail up and down the grooves of the jersey knit material.
“I like your shirt too,” he said, tearing his eyes away from Max’s chest to see the smug look on his face.
“Thanks. My boyfriend picked it out for me.” Max smirked, mimicking Bradley from before.
“Your boyfriend has excellent taste.” Then, to punish Max for mocking him, he swiped his thumb hard under the piercing. Bradley smirked in satisfaction as Max breathed in sharply and glared up at him.
“Yeah he does. He’s the perfectest, smartest, sexiest, beautifulest, pettiest, hottest -”
“Shut up.”
Bradley grabbed the back of Max’s neck before he could say anything more embarrassing and pulled him into a kiss to shut him up.
The kiss was quick, but Bradley made sure to shove his tongue into Max’s mouth and swipe along the back of his teeth before pulling away. Max, clearly not wanting to be outdone, chased after his mouth. Bradley smiled but didn’t pull back too far. He was rewarded by a deeper kiss than before and the feeling of Max’s smiling lips pressing against his.
When they pulled away, Bradley took his hand off of Max’s neck to run lovingly through his hair, tucking it behind his ear and exposing the handful of piercings that decorated it.
“Hello my goofball,” Bradley murmured lovingly in the space between them.
“Hello princess,” Max murmured back. “I missed you.”
Bradley just smiled back. Max didn’t need to hear how much he missed him since he already knew. Bradley only played games like this in such a public space when he wanted attention. Well, Bradley always wanted attention from his boyfriend, but that didn’t really matter.
They gazed lovingly into each other’s eyes for a few seconds, maybe hours. Bradley didn’t really care, he was too busy enjoying the way Max had adjusted himself to slide a leg between Bradley’s in order to pull his body flush to his chest and the feeling of his fingers running over the jewelry Max decorated his ear with.
“Oh man, I kinda forgot how in love with each other you are.” A chuckle from next to them broke the good mood Bradley had found himself in. He sighed heavily through his nose before looking unimpressed up at Max’s friends. He found Bobby grimacing at their PDA and PJ smirking at his friend’s discomfort.
“Literally how? The whole way over here Max complained about how much he missed Bradley, then pouted when he didn’t immediately find him when we walked in,” PJ laughed as he reached over to shove Max’s shoulder lightly.
“Yea yea yea. Laugh it up, PJ. But last time you and Mocha had to be separated for a week, who had to drag you out of bed and make you eat 3 meals a day? And shower, and-”
“Shut it, Max!” PJ shoved Max’s shoulder again as both Max and Bobby laughed at him. Bradley smiled at their easy banter, and the fact that Max never took his hands off him while arguing with his friends. “That was like the first year we were dating and the first time we were a part for so long! But you two don’t have an excuse. How long have you been dating? Shouldn’t you be used to spending time apart by now?”
“If I am separated from Max for even a moment, the chances of me killing someone increases by 85%. Minimum.” Bradley deadpanned.
“Ah poor Tank. How many times did he save a life this week?” Max chuckled. Bradley raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking if he really needed an answer to such an obvious question.
“Wait, where is that guy? Didn’t Tank come with you?” Bobby asked curiously.
“At that table in the back consoling one of my would be victims.” Bradley turned his head to where he left Tank to find him patting that other guy at the table consolingly on the back as he stared at Bradley and Max with a shocked expression.
“Huh? Isn’t that the guy who tried to ask Max for a dance but Max completely ignored because he was too busy daydreaming about Brad?” PJ asked.
Bradley laughed as Max flushed red at the comment. “I wasn’t daydreaming…” he muttered, though no one heard him but Bradley, who did not believe him.
“Can someone save Tank from Stupid over there so we can all dance?” Bradley requested. He was very proud that it was a request and not a demand, something he had been trying to consciously change about his speech pattern. Max also squeezed his thigh again in approval, shooting a small smile up at him.
“On it. See you on the dance floor!” Bobby and PJ grabbed their drinks and started picking their way through the throng to Tank’s table, leaving Max and Bradley to settle further into each other and resume their tender gazing. Bradley sighed again, happily this time, as he ran fingertips along Max’s jaw.
“I really did miss you,” Max mumbled into the space between them, moving to rest his chin against Bradley’s sternum.
“How much?” Brad settled his hand back on his boyfriend’s neck. “Because I heard there’s a whole bar who’s been trying to catch your attention.”
“So much that I apparently missed all attempts to get my attention,” Max chuckled lightly, before smirking up again at Bradley. “I was imagining the sort of positions we could have gotten ourselves into had we met at home instead of here. Guess I was distracted by the thought of you shivering on my -”
“Eh eh eh, Maximilian,” Bradley scowled as he tugged on Max’s hair to shut him up. “Not only are we in public,” another sharp tug, “We just promised to meet your friends on the dance floor. If you want to take me home that badly, I request a minimum 30 minutes of disgraceful dance floor grinding where you only touch and look at me. Preferably ending with a sloppy make out that makes our friends gag and boo us out.”
Max let out a full body laugh at this, hugging his boyfriend tight to his chest. Bradley oofed at the impact but smugly returned the embrace imagining the sort of scene they created to everyone else in the club.
“If my princess demands it, so it shall be,” Max agreed as his laughing eased. With one more squeeze to Bradley’s thigh, Max stood up and led Bradley with a possessive hand on the small of his back into the crowd of people on the dance floor.
They were booed off the dance floor in a record 15 minutes.