Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71651 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
I didn’t think there were any gay guys other than me at Bestens High, and finding out that Aaron Vander might be closeted and interested in me?
I was so excited I practically ran to his house.
When I got there, it was like a scene from a movie.
Aaron was there. But when he opened the door, a group of his friends were behind him, and they all grinned at me like I was a fucking idiot.
“He actually fucking came over, bro!” one of Aaron’s friends said before all of them fell into laughter.
“Ori, you know I’m not gay,” Aaron said. “Go suck Finn’s cock or something. Bet he’d let you do it.”
His friends laughed even harder at that one. My cheeks were so hot with embarrassment that I knew they could see that all over my face, too.
“Fuck you,” I muttered to him softly, even though what I really wanted to do was sock him in the jaw.
“I know you want to,” Aaron had said. “Fuckin’ came running over with drool on your chin, Adams.”
I turned on my heel and left, hearing his friends chattering in the background as I walked away. I wanted to disappear. I wanted to teleport out of Bestens and never fucking come back. But I was stuck. Stuck seeing Aaron and his friends in the hall every day after that, trying to push the memory of that day from my mind.
I never told Finn any of what happened.
Apparently, Aaron and the other guys didn’t mention it, either. It was one of the few things I was too embarrassed even to tell Finn, and he went on to play football alongside Aaron until graduation.
Finn would never know what happened that day, if it were up to me.
Looking into Aaron Vander’s eyes tonight felt like getting a dagger straight to my chest. I’d heard that he moved out of Bestens, but clearly he was back, or visiting town, or some fucking thing that meant he was here at the Hard Spot playing foosball right in front of me.
I clenched my jaw, watching as his foosball opponent turned around toward me.
My stomach dropped when I saw who it was. Finn’s pretty hazel eyes were looking right back at me, across the table from Aaron.
Nah.
It wasn’t a dagger in my heart. It was a fucking boulder.
“Hey,” Finn said, his expression changing. But Aaron was already walking over, polishing off a bottle of beer as he approached me.
Don’t say anything bad, I told myself. Finn doesn’t know.
He is never going to know.
But a lot had changed since high school. My filter was practically nonexistent these days, and I didn’t take shit from anybody. I wouldn’t hesitate to take Aaron down a peg or ten.
“Never thought I’d fucking see the day,” Aaron said, coming over and staring at me like I was a science experiment.
His hair was blond as ever. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was red, and I realized he might be more than just a few beers deep. “Little Oreo himself. When the fuck did you get back to Bestens, man? Shit.”
He leaned in and squeezed his arms around me in a strange hug, as if we were old friends rather than… whatever we were.
“Evening, Aaron,” I said. “Been back for a bit.”
“I’m only back for a couple of days, myself,” Aaron said, swaying a little. “Sister’s birthday.”
Thank the fucking lord above.
“Cool,” I said.
“Thought you were like, making movies in California or something now,” he said.
“I worked in an art gallery.”
“Right, right,” he said, nodding slowly.
Finn suddenly appeared beside him, gently pushing his way through the crowd.
Next to Aaron, Finn looked even bigger than usual. He was a couple of inches taller than him.
He frowned at Aaron. “Hey. Let’s go grab a drink inside, man,” Finn said, grabbing Aaron’s arm.
“I want another vodka,” he said.
“I’m thinking water might be better,” Finn said. “Let’s leave Ori alone.”
“He always was like your pet,” Aaron told Finn, laughing in a high-pitched tone. “Literally, Finn, man—like you wanted to walk him around on a leash or something. Oreo! Oreo! Come here, Ori-o!”
Fire ripped through me. “Shut up, Aaron,” I said, before I’d even had time to think. “Finn didn’t treat me like trash, but that doesn’t mean I was his pet.”
“Ooh! Feisty feisty little Oreo!” Aaron said, a dopey, drunk grin on his face.
Finn never really liked Aaron either, but Aaron’s dad had been the football coach at Bestens High, so Finn had always been at least cordial to him. When Aaron used to laugh at me in high school in the halls, though, Finn always told him off. He’d tell Aaron to cut it out, to shut up, to fuck off, but Aaron had never listened.
“He’s right,” Finn told him in a warning tone. “You need to shut up and come get some water.”