Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 60487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60487 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
But . . .
His stomach dove and his throat tightened. He shoved to his feet and stumbled over the sand in his hurry to get to Grayson’s ute, and once he was inside, he pressed his forehead against the glass and let it rattle through him as they drove silently back to Berhampore.
“Carl . . .”
“Don’t.”
“You promised we were a two-way street.”
Carl swallowed and continued staring out the window at the houses and the hills flashing by.
Grayson murmured, “Those guys hurt you. It must’ve made you feel shitty, seeing them again.”
Carl’s chest ached. “It’s not really them. I barely know those two. It’s that . . . recently I feel like I’m not . . . interesting enough? Don’t have enough to offer?” He laughed hollowly and swiped at a sting in his eyes. “If I’m a magazine, I’ve got no journalistic integrity.”
Grayson pulled to a stop at Jason’s place, and their pensive breaths thickened the air between them. Carl picked at his blunt fingernails and felt his cheeks and throat burn as Grayson observed him. “I can imagine feeling like that makes you feel lonely.”
A violent hiccup raced through Carl and forcing it back down hurt his throat. “We talked about getting a dog and I was stupidly happy to be giving him a kennel, but what’s a kennel to free vet care?”
Grayson couldn’t know what Carl was on about, but he listened patiently.
Carl shoved a hand through his hair. “My ex, he fell in love with a veterinarian. He was mesmerised by how incredible he was, how smart. And the thing is, Nick really is a decent guy. I get why Pete chose him.”
“Wait a sec. Falling for someone has no intelligence measurement like that. It happens if there’s a connection. Doesn’t matter what the person does for a job as long as there’s this strange spark between them. Even if they don’t want it and tell themselves it’s crazy and they’re not ready—they fall anyway.”
Carl breathed in, frowning gently. That was all comforting and hopeful, but he wasn’t entirely sure his life choices didn’t play a role in Pete’s decision.
Grayson seemed to sense Carl still needed convincing. He gripped the steering wheel and continued, “I might meet the most intelligent and accomplished person, and still be bored by them; put to sleep after half a conversation. Exhausted from forcing myself to keep up.” His fingers started a soft drum over the wheel and he glanced towards Jason’s house, swallowing. “Or, I might meet a kind person who enjoys bike rides and hikes and likes to be up early in the morning, and never feel bored.”
Carl . . . got that. If some guy struck up a conversation on, like, intricate details of the middle to late Byzantine period, he’d totally start a smile-and-nod routine while mentally working out his shopping list for the upcoming week. So maybe it made sense that intelligence didn’t equal being worthy of attraction?
Thinking it through like this . . . helped. A chunk of the silly weight on his chest came off and he could breathe a little easier. Carl wagged his finger. “This two-way street thing is gold.”
Grayson’s lips twitched.
Carl felt his own tick up too.
“I’ve got a job to get to, but . . .” Grayson stared into the middle distance, as if struck by a thought, then grimaced and nodded to himself. “What will you do the rest of the day?”
“Leo’s coming round later. That’s a whole other conversation—”
A groan-chuckle. “Not right now.”
A sighing laugh seeped out of Carl as he tried and failed to get his belt to open. Grayson reached over and freed him, their thumbs grazing on the buckle with a static jump. They quickly pulled apart and he clambered out of the car. “Do something fun for yourself,” Grayson said after clearing his throat. “Something distracting.”
He looked over at Grayson with a smile before he shut the door. “I will. Promise.”
I shall take the heart, for brains do not make one happy, and happiness is the best thing in the world.
L. Frank Baum
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter Eleven
Carl held true to his promise to distract himself, even if only by accident. When he bumped into Possible-Fling-Poppy outside the bakery, particularly hungry after the trip to the beach, Carl thought food sounded like a solid idea.
They went to the eatery across from Under The Raindough, sat at an outside table next to grey tussock in planter boxes, and ordered breakfast tacos for the table off an iPad.
The iPad shifted from ordering mode into five-second-trivia-question-and-answer mode—something to inspire conversation, perhaps—but Carl stared grimly at it.
Poppy misinterpreted his glare for uncertainty, glanced at the question—where is Matiu located—and answered before going on to share other te reo Māori names for areas in Wellington.
As he bit into his first taco, Carl caught sight of Grayson whizzing past on his bike and around the corner towards Jason’s villa. Was he due to mow more lawns around there? Or was he heading back to visit?