Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99949 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 333(@300wpm)
So yeah, I’d be fine if I turned out like Walter in that sense. I just hoped I didn’t have as dirty of a mind as the old man did. Or if I did, I at least needed some kind of filter to keep all the dirty thoughts between just me and my man.
“I just wanna know when the next one’s going to be posted,” I heard a man say as I neared the back of the library. “Hey, wait, I really am a big fan of your videos. It’s just that you and that hot-as-fuck boyfriend of yours have been teasing the whole show for a while now.”
I knew that voice. It was the librarian, Arthur Tomlinson. The older man was married to a woman who was also the mother of his three kids. I’d always gotten a creepy vibe from the guy, but I’d only met him once or twice. Who the hell was he talking to—?
I knew the answer to my own question before I heard the other person’s response.
I’ve done things, Lincoln. Bad things.
I wanted to be wrong, but not for me. For him. It wasn’t fair that it was yet another weight he carried on his already overburdened shoulders. Theo deserved a break. He’d fucking earned it with all that he’d survived.
“I told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Theo said in a hushed voice. “You’ve got me confused with someone else. Now if you’ll excuse me…”
There was a loud thump and then the shelves holding the books in the last aisle rattled slightly. Like something had been thrown against them.
Or someone.
I turned into the aisle just as Arthur used his body to pin Theo’s against the shelves.
“Those moans you make… I come so fucking hard—”
I slammed my fist into the fucker’s jaw before he could say anything else. I pulled Theo behind me at the same time in case the piece-of-shit librarian tried anything else, but the coward was sniveling on the floor.
“You broke my nose,” Arthur whined.
“I’ll break a lot more if you go near him again.” I knelt down enough to get in Arthur’s now bloody face. “In fact, I think it’s time you retire, you piece of shit,” I snarled. “Actually, why don’t you seriously consider putting this town in your fucking rearview mirror for a while,” I added before hitting the asshole again for good measure.
I turned to make sure Theo was okay, but I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see only empty space.
I easily caught up to him in the parking lot. Since it was both Sunday and dinnertime, there was no one around, so I didn’t have to worry about onlookers.
Theo was clearly on autopilot as he sought his escape because the direction he was walking in led to the waterfront and nothing more.
“So if you break your promise, does that mean I get to break mine?” I called. As badly as I wanted to force Theo to stop, I knew that putting my hands on him right now would only make him more desperate to get away.
Theo kept walking. His arms were wrapped protectively around his body and he was hunched in on himself. It was painful to see him revert to the behavior that had all but disappeared as his confidence had grown over the past couple of weeks.
“Because I’m never going to break my last promise to you, Theo. I’m never going to stop chasing you.”
He came to an abrupt stop.
“We get to have our happily ever after,” I reminded him. “No one gets to take that from us. Nothing gets to take that.”
Theo didn’t move. He didn’t respond in any kind of meaningful way, but I knew he was hearing every word I said.
“I never told you what happened after Rabbit took his last breath,” I said loudly. “And you never asked. You’re smart, Theo. I know you heard all the things I didn’t say when I told you about that last day.”
I began walking toward him. My footsteps sounded heavy even to my own ears. “Ask me, Theo. Ask me what I did after Rabbit died.”
“I know what you did,” Theo responded.
“Does it change how you feel about me?” I asked. “Does knowing I shot myself up with what was left of my little brother’s morphine so I wouldn’t have to live with what I’d done to him change how you feel about me? Do you love me even a little bit less?”
Theo shook his head. “No,” he said firmly.
“Then why do you get to play by different rules?” I was a few feet behind him, but I knew I’d gone as far as I could. “Why am I supposed to love you any less than I did five minutes ago?” I let out a harsh laugh. “Fuck, it’s not even why anymore. It’s how, Theo. Tell me how I’m supposed to love you less because I sure as shit have no idea how to do that.”