Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
She held up another photo, which must have been from about a year later. I’d come into my own a little more in the next photo, because at least my clothes were a little less baggy and I was smiling less awkwardly.
“It’s very adorable,” Adam said from beside me. “He must have been a handful.”
“He was a nut, and I loved every minute of it,” my mom said. “I have a lot more photos where these came from, but this particular box was hidden away in a closet. I haven’t seen these in years and years. I’m sorry if I interrupted you two boys, but I had to show Chase.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said.
I couldn’t even remember the last time I had introduced a guy to my family. Mom and Jamie lived over in California, so the opportunity for them to meet people was already low to begin with.
But I also hadn’t had any reason to introduce them to someone. What was I supposed to say, when I never committed to anyone? All the times I’d been with guys only for one night, or maybe a couple of weeks? Hi, Mom, here’s a guy who doesn’t really give a damn about me, but he likes the way I suck dick?
Not going to happen.
“We should let them go,” Jamie said, still suppressing a smile. I knew he was going to talk to me later and give me a good roasting, but for now, he was playing polite.
“Good to see you,” Mom said. “And very nice to meet you, Adam. I would talk to you more, but I do have a call with Susan and Jen for my physical therapy consult in five minutes.”
“No problem, Mom,” I told her, holding up a hand. “I love you.”
“I love you so much, Chasey. Bye now, boys. Have fun.”
“I’m sure they will,” Jamie said, right before he hung up the call.
The call ended and I sunk back onto the couch.
“Adam,” I said, grabbing the big plush blanket nearby on the couch and tossing it over my face. “All I ask is that you don’t make fun of my thirteen-year-old self.”
“That picture, as your mom said, was fucking adorable,” he said. He reached for the blanket and pulled it down a little, revealing my face.
He was smiling at me. His eyes looked so kind, so full of affection. I’d always thought he was sexy, but Adam’s presence was also so comforting.
Especially right now, when I thought I was about to melt into a puddle of shame on his couch.
“Well, now you know the truth,” I told him. “I haven’t always been the expert at hair dye application that I am today.”
He squeezed my hand. “I loved the pictures. And your mom and brother seem nice, too.”
“They’re both pretty awesome,” I said, dropping the blanket. I squeezed his hand back, not letting him pull it away. “What were you going to say, by the way? Before we were interrupted by my own teenage past, haunting me?”
“I was just going to say that we need to settle our argument the way an elderly married couple would do it,” Adam said. “Put it as a vote to all of our friends.”
“Is that right?” I asked, sitting up straighter on the couch again. “I don’t buy it. No matter what Charlie or Shawn or Nathan think about Superman, I’m still going to love him. Even if it’s just because he reminds me of you.”
“Reminds you of me?” Adam said, incredulous.
“You totally look like him,” I said. “I’ve thought that since the moment I met you.”
“You really are out of your mind.”
“Especially when you put on your glasses,” I said. “That make you look all smart and sexy and Clark Kent-ish. God, that’s fucking hot.”
“Good Lord,” he said, and I could see the pink slashes forming on his cheeks as he blushed. “I thought you were about to say I’m like an alien. Instead you’re complimenting me.”
“Sure, maybe you’re like an alien. But in a good way,” I said. “The best way. Just like Superman. You’re smart, sexy, hilarious, charming, kind to everyone…”
“Now I’m the one who needs to hide under that blanket.”
“Never,” I protested, tossing the blanket away and leaning over Adam’s body, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. I nuzzled near his neck, pressing kisses onto the spot just above his collarbone before moving up to his lips.
He kissed me back softly, his hands skating toward the small of my back.
“I see how it is,” he murmured. “You think you can get out of the superhero argument by kissing me.”
I hummed, leaning down to nibble on his earlobe. “Maybe.”
He sighed. “It’s working.”
“Did you shower right before I came over?” I said softly, burying my nose in his lightly scented hair. “God, you smell so good.”
“You smell good, too,” he said, stroking his fingertips along the small of my back. “You always do, though.”