Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
“How would you like it done?” the waiter asks him.
“Um…”
“Rare…medium rare—”
“Well.”
Then I give the waiter my order before he heads off.
“So cute watching you in a big ole fancy place like this,” I tease.
He glances around uneasily.
“I guess you do this a lot. Dress up like you did that night at the fundraiser.”
“I’m even better at dressing down,” I joke.
He laughs, and I can tell it sets him a little more at ease.
“Timmy, relax. This is your night.”
“It’s our night.”
The waiter arrives with rolls and butter, and we enjoy some while we chat about school and work. Soon, the entrees arrive, and Tim’s devouring a big-ass steak—I’m sure he can understand why it costs so fucking much just based on how he’s eating it.
He doesn’t know, but I sure as fuck can’t afford tonight either. I’m putting it on my credit card and will be paying it off over the next few months. I rarely use my credit card. Had about forty dollars on it before tonight, but I figure we deserve this. I know Tim does. He’s made so many big changes, and he needs to celebrate this new direction of his life.
After we finish eating, I notice a few more couples dancing in the space before the orchestra. As the song starts to change, a few more couples head out.
“Let’s go,” I say.
“What?”
He turns to the dance floor, and his eyes widen.
“Oh, hell no.”
“Hell yes,” I say as I stand.
I start toward the dance floor, but he sits there, eyeing me like I’ve lost my mind.
“I can’t dance.”
“I’ll show you. It’s slow. It’s easy.”
He rises and follows me onto the dance floor.
As we get there, I turn to him, and he’s looking around at the other couples like they’re a bunch of crazy people who’ve lost their minds.
“This isn’t going to be weird since we’re two dudes?” he asks.
“These are the types who’ll think it’s classy,” I say as I take his hands.
“Oh, really?”
“I guarantee you half of them are bragging right now about how much money they’ve given to LGBT charities. Now, seriously, you have to at least move with me.”
“Oh, sorry.”
We move together to the beat. I instruct him, show him where to position his hands to get him started.
“I lead, you follow,” I say.
“There’s a first.”
I laugh. “Do as you’re told,” I tell him the way he might tell me in more erotic situations.
He fucks it up a few times, but catches on pretty quickly.
“See? You don’t do much. Just move your body a little bit.”
He leans close to me and whispers into my ear, “I like it when I make your body move a lot.”
Desire races through me…so much so that I have to catch my breath.
He pulls away.
“Where did you learn to dance?” he asks.
“Mom wouldn’t let us get away without taking some dance classes. We started very young. Me and…”
I stop.
“God, I’m sorry,” I continue. “It shouldn’t always get to me like this. Me and Becky took classes together. And we’d put on these little shows for Mom and Dad when we were kids. Becky wanted to do this performance piece for them to ‘Unchained Melody.’ I know. It was stupid, but we practiced it to perfection and surprised them with it on their anniversary. You’ve never worked with a more stubborn dance partner than Becky. She was a good dancer. Me, meh…this is about as good as I ever got.”
I see how serious his face is, and I wish I could have taken that story back.
“Who says I don’t know how to kill a lovely evening?” I ask.
“No, no. That didn’t kill anything, Mark. It’s beautiful that you had that kind of relationship with her. And I love hearing about her.”
“I love talking about her,” I say, my eyes watering. “But we don’t talk about those times anymore. Those aren’t the sorts of things Mom’s audiences want to hear. They want to hear about the horror. The tragedy. The nightmare. And she gives it to them.”
“From everything you’ve told me, it sounds like you need to talk to her about this.”
“What’s there to say?”
“You can’t keep forcing yourself to hear that kind of shit. You need to take a stand.”
“I don’t think I can say anything because it makes me so mad. And then she’ll get mad, and it won’t solve anything. It won’t change her or her career. Nothing can stand in the way of Governor Darlene Kenmore and what she wants.”
“I’m sorry that you feel like that.”
“It’s fine. Who needs family when I’ve got this special guy in my life?”
He starts to move toward me, and I can tell he’s thinking about kissing me.
Then he stops and glances around.
For a moment, it seems we both managed to forget where we were, and what we could and couldn’t do here.
“Thank you,” he says.