Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
He headed back into the city.
To Tam.
* * *
“I brought Chinese,” Driver said.
Tam blocked the doorway with his arm. His heart stupidly soared at seeing Driver again after what happened the night before. He’d come back. Again. Thank God.
“Eggrolls?” he asked, doing his best to be detached.
“Check.”
“Duck sauce?”
“Of course.”
“Your bribe is accepted, you may enter.” He turned and made his way into the living room, trusting Driver to close and lock the door.
“Phew, you had me worried there for a minute.” Driver’s chuckle was a little forced so Tam turned to study him. He had lines of tension around his mouth and his shoulders seemed tight.
“Tough day?”
“Hard work, that’s all. What about you?”
“Class and shopping, nothing interesting. I was tired all day. I don’t think I slept well.”
“Huh, the way you were snoring all night I’d assume otherwise.”
“I don’t snore.”
Driver’s smirk was indulgent but he didn’t argue. Tam went to the kitchen to grab forks, spoons and beer while Driver headed to the living room.
Driver unloaded the takeout boxes onto the coffee table. He’d peeled off his leather jacket and flung it over the arm of the couch. The worn blue denim shirt he wore over his white T-shirt looked soft in all the right places and practically begged Tam to touch. His jeans stretched with the flex of Driver’s thighs as if they were a second skin. Casual. Uncomplicated. Hot as hell.
Driver didn’t even need to try and already Tam’s heart was pounding.
Tam on the other hand had meticulously combed through his entire wardrobe to find the perfect pair of I’m-not-trying shorts to wear over his sexiest underwear—not that he’d been planning on showing them off or anything. He hadn’t even been sure Driver would come back. But he’d hoped. He couldn’t deny that. He’d hoped hard.
And the fifteen minutes he’d spent in the bathroom touching up his no-makeup makeup just on the off chance that Driver would swing by again was proof. ’Cause if he had come back, and if he could still look at Tam and smile, if he could eat with him and joke with him and touch him the same way? It had to mean something, right?
“Have you ever thought about getting the Sassy Boyz online?” Driver asked.
“Like a website?”
“Yeah, or even just videos. I met this girl in LA who had a YouTube channel. All she did was talk about makeup and fashion but she earned money from it.”
Tam sat beside Driver and began opening the boxes for inspection. “I wouldn’t even know where to start with something like that.”
Driver picked up the carton of white rice and scooped some pepper steak into it. “Just a thought,” he said before shoveling a forkful into his mouth. After he chewed, he added, “I could help if you wanted.”
Tam dipped one of the still-warm eggrolls into the duck sauce as he contemplated Driver’s suggestion. At this point, he’d be open to anything that would keep their group together, but starting such a project was something the whole group needed to agree on. He’d bring it up when the moment was right.
He and Driver spent the next thirty minutes chatting while they ate, just like a normal couple. They talked about how their days were, what they did, what they ate and small things that didn’t have much importance. Except Tam had never shared those little moments before with anyone else. No one cared what he ate for lunch or who he’d spoken to.
No one cared if the lady at the market had given him attitude again because he insisted on using exact change instead of breaking a twenty. No one cared if the dog on the corner took a shit in the exact same spot as he had yesterday and the day before. Or if his best student finally managed the move he’d been practicing for a week. But Driver did.
So, to Tam, it wasn’t an insignificant conversation. It was way, way more.
Between the two of them it didn’t take long to polish off two beers each and the steak and the chicken plus all the appetizers. And of course, every chance he got, Driver snagged a bite off Tam’s plate. Same as ever, except now Tam didn’t get irritated. It was more proof that things were going to be okay.
By the time they were done, he was buzzing from more than the cheap beer. It was already after midnight, but Tam didn’t want the night to end.
He didn’t want Driver to leave.
This was the fourth night in a row that they’d spent together, yet Tam had no idea what that meant. Were they friends now? Tam couldn’t exactly classify Driver in the same category as Ansel and the others. For one, Driver flirted nonstop and touched whenever he got the chance. So, were they dating?
Couldn’t be, because of Tam’s issues. So, what did that leave?