Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 37793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 189(@200wpm)___ 151(@250wpm)___ 126(@300wpm)
“Wow, Vince,” I teased him. “Turning all the boys on, huh?”
He rolled his eyes. “Ridiculous.”
“Nope,” Carson was adamant. “That’s the God’s honest truth right there.”
“But you got to him first, huh?” I asked Carson.
“No. Kurt knew Vince before I did. I just got lucky that he liked me better.”
Vince was shaking his head again, letting me know that the man he loved was an idiot.
“No?” Carson gave an over-the-top mock gasp, clutching at his heart. “It was Kurt?”
“You’re such an ass.”
“Whatever do you mean?”
“Once you steamrolled into my life, I couldn’t see anyone but you.”
Carson kissed his husband on the temple. “Yeah, well, what can I say. I knew who I needed to make my life perfect.”
“Perfect is laying it on a bit thick.”
“Not to me,” Carson said sincerely. “I knew you were the one.”
“You’re unbelievable,” Vince muttered, reaching up to take hold of Carson’s face and ease him down for a quick kiss, after which he asked, “May I go and get you some ice for your shoulder? Do we think that would be a good idea?”
“Yes, please. And maybe get some for Baylor as well.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“What?” He cackled. “He’s dyin’ out there.”
“You wait right there!” Kurt threatened him as he and Baylor took the stairs toward us, a dog in front and one behind.
“Can’t,” Vince replied. “My husband needs to ice his shoulder.”
“So do I!” Baylor yelled.
“This is what I said a second ago,” Carson declared innocently.
“Well, he wouldn’t have to ice it if he didn’t throw the goddamn ball.” Kurt sounded both indignant and accusatory.
“C’mon. That was an accident,” Vince deflected. “I dared him to hit the tree, and he missed and hit Baylor.”
“That’s your story?” Kurt thundered at him. “It was unintentional?”
“Of course, that ball wasn’t even traveling that fast. If he’d hit him with his full power from back in the day, that ball would have been moving at between sixty-two and sixty-five miles per hour.” Vince sounded so matter-of-fact. “Now that would have stung a bit.”
“No shit,” I said to Carson.
He waggled his eyebrows at me.
“Stung a bit?” Baylor was still yelling, even though we were all together on the deck now. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? That, what he did, hurt like a motherfucker, Vince!”
“I could see that if he’d hit you in the head.” Vince shrugged. “But it’s just your bicep, isn’t it?”
“Is there ibuprofen in your medicine cabinet?” Carson asked me.
“Yes, there’s—”
“I’m going to sue you,” Baylor told Carson.
“For what? An accident? A tap with a ball?”
“A tap?” He was incredulous. “You hit me with a football in the arm. I might have nerve damage.”
“From a ball thrown by me?” Carson mocked. “Me?”
“Yes, by you. Are you kidding? I know how hard and fast you—”
“Not anymore,” Carson said with an evil grin. “Not for years. I mean, c’mon, Baylor, every one of my doctors will tell you I can’t possibly throw with any real power. Those days are long gone.”
“You’re insane! I felt how—”
“No, you’re mistaken,” Carson mollified him. “That’s impossible, and everything about my throwing arm is documented.”
“The hell are you talking about?” Baylor sounded worked up now.
“It’s no big deal.”
“No big deal!” His face was getting red.
Before Carson could say anything else, Vince took hold of the arm that was a miracle of modern medicine and rehabilitation, and led him toward the house.
“I think maybe you should be happy it was a tap with a football and not a tap with a bullet,” I warned him.
“What?” Baylor gasped.
“You had to have heard me,” I goaded him.
“Is that a threat?”
“What else could it possibly be?” I sneered at him.
When he took a step toward me, Geri was there so fast, head down, teeth bared, a low warning growl in the back of his throat.
Baylor made the mistake of wheeling on Kurt then, and Freki pushed between them, same stance, unsure of Baylor’s intentions.
“Ohmygod, your dogs are insane! That’s why I told you they had to stay in the house.”
“C’mon let’s—let’s just go in. Javi will check you out.”
“He’s an ear, nose, and throat specialist, Kurt. What the hell is he going to do?”
“He’s still an MD, Bay. He can at least tell you if you should go to the ER.”
Go to the emergency room for what?
Baylor charged toward the sliding glass door that Vince and Carson had purposely not closed, leaving me and Kurt alone on the patio with the dogs.
I squinted at him, and he shook his head.
“Carson overreacted,” Kurt said. “It was nothing.”
“It was obviously something.”
“Baylor and I knew each in college—he actually played on the team with Carson back in the day.”
This was old news I already knew from Vince, but I said nothing.
“We were also in California at the same time, after my run-in with Wellesley.”
I remained quiet, listening.
“He moved here a couple of months ago and was happy to find out I did as well, and—”