Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 30218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
“What kind of work are you getting done on your house?” I asked him.
“Small stuff,” he said. “Just a couple of things in the kitchen, mostly. Here, let me show you.”
He pulled out his phone, swiping over to some photos of his kitchen backsplash. It was old and yellowed, with crumbling tiles and ancient grout. He showed me the tiles he’d picked out for the new backsplash, which were a creamy speckled white, sleek and classic.
“You’ve got a good eye for this stuff.”
“I can only afford the backsplash right now, but it’s going to change the vibe of the whole space.”
He cradled his phone as he swiped through some mock-up images of what the finished backsplash would look like. As he was flipping through them, a banner for a new text message flashed at the top of the screen.
>>Mom: I mean, look how good he looks! Absolutely fucking perfect for you, huh?
The message was followed quickly by a tiny preview of an image of a young man, dressed in mint green doctor’s scrubs.
Casey grimaced, looking up at me before sliding his phone over.
“You totally saw that, didn’t you?”
“I plead the fifth.”
“Shit, man,” Casey said. Pink slashes appeared on his cheeks, and the sight of him blushing was somehow even cuter than when he had been all cocky and confident toward me.
“Your mom likes setting you up with guys, huh?”
He rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose, nodding. “She’s particularly hell-bent on setting me up with this guy Derek. He’s the son of one of her friends, and when she found out that he was not only gay, but in medical school, she went nuts with it.”
“Adorable.”
“Not adorable,” I said. “I’m 23. I don’t need my mother trying to arrange blind dates for me.”
I took a long sip of my beer. “I’d have killed to have that kind of support from my mom when I was your age.”
Casey pocketed his phone, furrowing his brow as he looked over at me. “What happened?”
“My mom only wanted me to end up with one kind of person: a woman,” I said.
“Yikes.”
“And so I did end up with a woman,” I said. “For five years. Married her, even, after we got pregnant when we were barely 20 years old.”
“Wow,” Casey said. “I knew you had a son, but still. That’s so young.”
“Didn’t even seem that young, back then,” I said. “Hell, my own parents had me at 20, too. I just thought I was doing the right thing. And I loved Melissa, too.”
“Then you realized you preferred men?”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “No. Then I realized she preferred other men.”
“Oh, God.”
“One man, in particular,” I told him. “I always knew I liked both women and men, but I was prepared to spend the rest of my life with Melissa, until she met the man she’s still married to now.”
“I’m so sorry,” Casey said.
Immediately, I wanted to erase the look he had in his eyes now—it was something between sadness and pity, and whatever it was, I really didn’t want him to feel that way toward me.
“All for the best,” I said. “I was young, stupid, and had no career prospects. Her husband now owns three very successful corporate buildings in Denver. Melissa and I both love and care for our son, and that’s the only thing that matters.”
Thankfully, he was giving me that dreamy, starry-eyed look again, rather than looking like he felt bad for me.
“You have such an interesting life story,” Casey murmured. “That’s just another reason I like older guys. My own life story so far is just school, college, and now working from home as a website designer.”
I grinned at him. “And, apparently, prospects with a very attractive young doctor.”
Casey groaned, leaning back. “I was hoping you’d forgotten about that.”
“What’s so wrong with Mr. Medical Student? Maybe you should give him a chance,” I teased him.
He waved a hand through the air. “That guy wouldn’t be able to handle me.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Oh?”
Casey shook his head, then met my eyes again. “No. I’m too much.”
“Too much, how?”
He bit his lower lip, and just the sight of it made me crave having his teeth biting on my lip again instead.
“Like, I want someone who can put me in my place,” he said. “Not always, but when the time is right, you know? Someone who calls me on my bullshit. Who knows that what I really want, deep down, is… complicated.”
I cocked my head to one side. “You want someone to boss you around a little, Casey?”
I fucking loved the way it made him look at me.
“Little bit,” he said, his voice low.
3
CASEY
I was royally fucked.
I’d flirted with guys before at bars. Plenty of times. But it had never been like this.
When Rome had dragged me into that kiss earlier, I’d been half convinced that I could have come right then and there into my pants. I was already all worked up, managing the state of my hard-on all night.