Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64847 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 324(@200wpm)___ 259(@250wpm)___ 216(@300wpm)
“Hold up. You found a man to pay you a ton of money to not have sex with him? Where can I find one of those arrangements?”
I grinned at that and explained, “We have sex. We just haven’t had anal, and I’m not sure what to make of that.”
“Have you tried asking him?”
“When I brought it up, he just said he wasn’t ready for that. I don’t get it, though. We’ve been extremely intimate, but it’s like he’s drawn a line in the sand and decided that’s one step too far.”
“You know, a lot of people don’t actually like anal sex, for any number of reasons.”
“No, I know. I just would have expected him to try it by now, before making up his mind about it. But if he says he’s not ready, I obviously have to respect that.”
Daniel nodded. “Yeah, of course. I don’t have any advice, other than pointing out that sitting around overthinking things isn’t going to help. Meanwhile, there’s an awesome party going on downstairs. I say we join in and get extremely drunk.”
“Good idea.”
He got up and crossed the room. “But first, you need to change. That outfit belongs in the trash.” As he said that, he pulled a black dress shirt from my closet.
“Okay, but that’s one of my work shirts.” At the mention of work, he shrieked and threw it across the room, which made me laugh.
12
Timothy
Daniel and I ended up drinking and hanging out with my housemates until the wee hours. Then, because he was way too drunk to drive home afterwards, he spent the night on my couch.
He offered to drive me to Aleksei’s house the next morning, and on the way, I asked, “What do you have planned for today?”
“My schedule’s very full. I plan to sulk, avoid Brad, and bask in this awesome hangover. It’s all designed for maximum misery and dissatisfaction.”
“So, you’re still mad at your boyfriend.”
“Yes, but only for dragging me to a party I didn’t want to attend in the first place and then ignoring me. I really don’t know if he’s cheating, so I’m saving that huge meltdown for when I have some actual evidence.”
After Daniel dropped me off, I climbed the stairs and knocked on Aleksei’s door. He answered so quickly that he must have been waiting in the foyer, and I could tell right away he was in a fantastic mood.
Before either of us said a word, he pulled me to him and kissed me, and my entire body started buzzing with need and anticipation. One thing rapidly led to another, and we wound up on the floor in the empty living room, sucking each other in a frenzied sixty-nine. The last time we’d done anything was Tuesday, and this was Sunday. There’d be time for savoring each other later, but right now we just needed release.
We both finished in a matter of minutes, and then it took some time to come back to earth and catch our breath. We shifted around and adjusted our clothes, settling in side-by-side. Then I flashed him a smile and said, “Hi, Aleksei. How are you today?”
He grinned and brushed my hair back. “Hello, Timothy. I’m well, thanks. And you?”
“No complaints.” I put my head on his chest, and as he rubbed my back, I murmured, “You really need some furniture.”
“That’s an undeniable fact. So, let’s go buy some today.”
“For real?”
“Sure. Why not?”
I sat up and said, “This’ll be great. We can start with some research online and figure out where we should go. I’m an IKEA kind of guy myself, because those stores are so much fun. But that’s obviously not what we’re looking for.”
“Why not?”
“Because you have the budget of a Russian czar.”
“You said it’s fun though, so can we go there? I’ve never been to one.” He looked hopeful as he got to his feet.
“If that’s what you want, then absolutely.”
This was all pretty surprising. We’d never gone out in public together, and while I was trying not to read too much into it, I couldn’t help but think it felt like a big step.
Aleksei held out his hand and helped me up. “Brunch first, though. I got overly ambitious this morning and made us far too much to eat.”
He really had, but it was all delicious, and we lingered over our meal. Once we were finally headed for the door, I asked, “Since it’s Reuben’s day off, how are we getting to the furniture store?”
“I have a car. It had been sitting a while, but I had someone come out on Friday to replace the battery and get it up and running again.”
It couldn’t be a coincidence that he’d gotten his car fixed right before we decided to go out and do something. Aleksei was all about planning ahead, so even if the furniture idea was new, I’d be willing to bet he’d been thinking about doing some sort of outing all along.