Mad Maxed

CHAPTER 7

Another month passed, and Max continued to touch Goose in very small ways around the station, never when they were out alone, though, and never in allowance of Goose touching him back.

The touches were never more than on the arm, the small of his back, under his elbow or on his knee or thigh, but they drove Goose crazy with desire, and it was killing him to not be allowed to touch Max back. He hadn’t forgotten Max’s orders in Fifi’s bathroom about that.

As much as the sub in him thrilled to the torment, anticipation of the next level finally drove him to disobey Max one day, knowing he would be punished for it, but praying that it would work the way he wanted.

A mate of theirs was getting married to a woman one fine afternoon, and although Max had told Goose “no more women,” Goose decided to bring a lady to the banquet hall where the wedding and reception was being held.

Max had also brought a date, Linda, a woman he continued to sleep with, although less and less often as the weeks went by. Max had actually gone so far as to tell Linda not long ago that he needed space, and she had given it to him when he had sworn to her up and down that it wasn’t because there was another woman in his life.

Actually, Max had wanted to go to the wedding alone, but Linda had called him just that morning, crying that she needed a date, that it didn’t have to mean they wa coa couple again, but that she just couldn’t show up at her girlfriend’s wedding without a man on her arm.

- If you knew what kind of man I am now, - he had thought during the conversation, – you’d never want to go out with me again. -

Linda was outspoken about her disdain of gay men and women. She thought it was just plain sick and couldn’t understand or at least accept that some people could have tastes outside “the norm”. It was one reason, along with the obvious one, why Goose hated her.

It hadn’t been enough of a reason for Max to have dumped her in the past, though, as she had somehow latched onto him more than any other woman, but now that they were on “a break”, he agreed to take her to the wedding as long as she didn’t make too much out of it.

He was already sitting with her at a table, listening to her drone on and on about her hair, dress and makeup, when Goose walked in with his own date. Max almost leaped from his chair. Only the pointed look and grin from Goose staring back at him stopped him. He suddenly knew just what was going on. Goose wasn’t playing innocent. He was looking to push Max, and Max didn’t like it. He didn’t like it at all.

With a low growl Linda didn’t even hear over her continued yakking, he forced himself not to respond to Goose and turned his head back to her. Goose grinned even wider, noting the rim rod way Max was suddenly sitting in his chair and how his hands gripped to the table, and led his date to another table in direct view of Max’s sight.

The wedding went on and Max ignored and avoided Goose completely, only glaring at him when he was sure that the other man wasn’t watching. Little did he know that with the few mirrors placed about the place in an effort to make the room appear even larger, Goose caught a few of those heated looks of anger, and he reveled in each one.

For his own part, after the first mocking grin upon entrance, he never looked at Max directly again. He was delighting in the danger of what he was doing, but he was afraid to be caught completely in the deadly gaze of the man. He was afraid he’d melt into a puddle of goo in the middle of the dance floor and beg Max for forgiveness in front of everyone, many of whom had no clue there was anything beyond their cop partnership and friendship between them.

That was due to the fact that all the men at the station accepted the unwritten rule. What went on at the station stayed at the station. If a man decided to be openly gay in the surrounding community, that was his choice, but if he only wanted to be gay around his co-workers, no one would “out” him.

Other men, outside of his co-workers, that Goose had seen in that way lived many miles away in a much larger city, and it was the reason that he was still very much in the closet as far as the local townspeople were concerned. If he could get Max to come out with him, though, he would gladly shout he was gay to the entire world.

Until then, he continued to pretend interest in women in order to protect Max. He knew Max would never forgive him if he outed him to the community through what would be their speculation of seeing Max as the close friend of a gay man. Hiding from speculation was second nature to Goose, anyways, as he had done it for years as a teen and then again when he met Max.

The only thing that was bothering Goose about that particular afternoon was that Linda kept hanging onto Max, who appeared to have loosened up quite a bit and would often kiss and touch her lightly. It wasn’t like Goose could just confront the woman like he had with Bentley in the yard. Max would probably strangle the life out of him right there in the middle of the dance floor if he pulled a stunt like that.

So, as jealous as he felt at seeing Max acting in his usual heterosexual way that he hadn’t seen for quite a while since they didn’t spend as much time hanging out together after work like they used to, Goose contained himself, barely. He continued to act in the same way with his own date, a woman he had taken out in the past and who was a woman that he knew wasn't looking for something serious.

Linda was, though, ……. looking for something serious. She had told Max she understood and agreed to date other men while he was free to date other women, but it wasn’t what she wanted. She wanted the handsome man in her bed every night. She didn’t think she really loved Max Rockatansky, but he was quite the catch and that was good enough for her without having to go to the city areas to keep looking.

After two hours of the dangerous tension-filled game being played between the men whenever they came close to each other in the small banquet hall, an inebriated Goose fell into Max by accident on the dance floor. He had been drinking more than usual to calm himself, and he hadn’t meant for it to happen, although he was partly glad it did.

“Ssss sorry, mate, he stuttered slightly from beer and worry while attempting to regain his balance.

“Ya stupid git!” Max snapped and pushed the man away from him, causing Goose to stagger even more.

It didn’t cow or shame the man, though. All it did was make him angry too.

“I said I was sorry, ya fucking bastard!” Goose snapped back, as his own frustration rose from the stress he was under.

“What did you say?” Max shouted, his face beginning to turn purple with fury that Goose would even raise his voice to him.

Of course he would, Goose was a man, and he was pissed too. Fury or not in the face before him, he knew there was no turning back now.

“You’re a fucking bastard, Max!”

“And you’re a fucking queer!

All motion in the room stopped. People who had wondered why the two long time friends hadn’t spoken all afternoon and were rarely seen together anymore outside of work thought they had finally figured it out. Goose was gay and Max didn’t like it.

They didn’t know that they were only half right. Max DID like it, but it was driving him insane because he didn’t WANT to like it.

“Yes I am!” Goose screamed in admittance and turned around to their audience with his arms spread wide. More than half the people looked surprised, a few looked disgusted, some smiled easily and some nodded approvingly.

Goose was outed, and he turned back to the man that had done it to him. “But at least I’m man enough to admit it!”

He should have quit while he was ahead.

Down he fell under Max’s fists, but he didn’t stay down like a weaker man would have. He launched himself at Max and the two fell into the buffet table, crashing everything to the floor as wedding guests scrambled to get out of the way.

The two supposedly best friends were having the first physical fight of their friendship, and they were both putting everything they had into it. Neither held back as weeks and weeks of frustration and anger at the other came out.

Goose found himself not only fighting for his life against a man he knew could kill him, but fighting in rebellion at being placed on the back burner so that Max could continue to resist what he really was inside. He wanted to use his fists to pound sense into Max, force the man to give in completely and do what they both needed.

Max was fighting because the more he hit Goose the more it felt like he could deny what was happening inside himself; hit the man who started it, beat the shit out of him and end any chance of anything more happening before it was too late ….. before he was outed too.

Only the force of seven men pulling them apart and keeping them from each other ended it.

“Stay the fuck away from me, “ Max snarled at Goose and pulled Linda into his arms. “I don’t give a shit who you’re assigned to; you’re not my partner anymore.”

Goose’s face fell; his plan had backfired …… badly.

(END CHAPTER 7)