Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
The way he just murders me with those words.
He’s got all night …
“Great, good.” I smile back at him. “I love how, uh … close you are with your brothers.”
“This may be harsh to say, but don’t hold your breath about your dad coming around.”
I wasn’t expecting him to pull a U-turn and go back to that subject. “Why?”
“I wasted many years thinking mine would change. The sad fact is, some people just aren’t meant to ‘get’ you, know what I mean? Sometimes, you’ve gotta just …” He shrugs, then gestures at nothing. “… do your own thing without waiting for anyone’s approval.”
I smile. “Is that what you do?”
“Every damned day. What’s that?” he asks, pointing.
I look across the room. He’s pointing at my portfolio case, still sitting in the chair where I left it. I’m surprised none of my roommates moved it. I guess no one used the dining room table this weekend.
Instead of answering, I walk over to it, take a breath, then unzip the case, freeing my painting from its confines. I bring it over to the empty easel where I place it.
“Wow!” sings Adrian. “You painted this??”
“Yeah.”
He leans in to get a good look. Then he steps back to get a better look. He tilts his head, like he’s trying to get a different angle. “It’s fucking nice, Quin. I didn’t realize you were so damned good. I mean, I’d assumed, but … it’s a whole other thing to see it in front of me.”
I smile. “Thanks.”
“So is this your thing? You like painting sunrises?”
“I like nature paintings, landscapes, stuff like that … as long as it includes the sky.”
“Feels like the sky is living in this painting. I swear I can see the sun glowing in it, ready to bring in the day.”
“It’s actually a sunset.” For a moment, I hesitate. Then I let out the rest: “It’s the last sunset I watched with my brother before he died.”
I’m looking at the painting as I say it, but I can feel Adrian’s eyes on me. Silence falls between us, filling the space. A shuffle of his foot brings him closer to me, and then I feel his arms around my waist.
And I’m back at the fair, caught in his embrace.
I close my eyes, enjoying it.
Then his lips gently touch my neck. He kisses my ear just as tenderly, then kisses the side of my cheek. I turn my face, and his lips catch mine.
Every ounce of the electricity we built up is back, and this time, there’s no chance of anything interrupting us.
Except maybe my roommates, if they spontaneously return from wherever they are.
Yet somehow, that couldn’t be farther from my mind. I find my hands clutching his shirt, where I pull him against me. Our bodies press together as the kiss deepens. Maybe it doesn’t matter if we’re interrupted this time.
Maybe we’ve waited long enough.
The next thing I know, I can’t get my clothes off fast enough. Adrian, too. Everything else in life has become secondary. Even breathing, apparently. I lose my breath as we keep feverishly kissing, like this is the last day on Earth anyone is allowed to kiss. I’m suffocating in his lips, and I can’t think of a more lovely way to gasp for air.
I fall back into a couch I’m thankful is there. Adrian straddles my lap as he works my shirt off of my body button by button, then dives right back in for our unending kisses. I don’t know how it happens, but his shirt comes off as quickly, and soon, we’re skin against skin as our bodies press together on the couch.
I pull away from his face. “Are we doing this?”
Adrian blinks, startled. “Doing this?”
“Yes. This. Whatever this is. Wherever this may go. Are we sure about it?”
“Uh … why wouldn’t we be sure? Aren’t our hard dicks speaking loudly enough for us?”
“I don’t care about what our dicks say. They’re idiots, programmed to get hard whenever someone gives them attention. I’m talking about you. Your brain. Your heart.”
“Fuck, I love when you talk serious shit.”
“Adrian.”
His eyes snap to mine. His fingers come up to stroke some hair out of my face. “Yes,” he finally says, calm and soothing. “Yes. I’m sure, Quin. I’m very sure. I’m tired of not being able to show you what you do to me. How you affect me. How I can’t get you out of my mind since that night we met. Your first impression of me was naked in front of a bathroom. You still turned me down relentlessly. Yes, Quin, I’ve never been more fucking sure about us.”
I blink.
I suppose that suffices for me.
Our lips crash together again. There is no mistaking how charged this kissing is between us. I needed this to happen more than I would ever dare admit out loud. My body has craved his touch ever since inviting his hands onto me for that amazing massage that first night. I have never wanted someone so badly—even those I’d thought once were my type. Maybe I’ve been lying to myself my whole life.