Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83085 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
“Leave it alone, Griffy.” He’d returned my sentiment from earlier, and I had no option but to respect it the way he had, but I couldn’t get it out of my head.
Josh was running from something.
There were even more ways Josh felt lonely like me.
“There’s a small waterfall not too far in. Race you to it,” Josh said, then damned if the bastard didn’t start running. It was impossible not to do the same. There wasn’t a bone in my body that could ignore a competition with him.
I caught up with him quickly as we weaved our way around trees and down the trail, before we hit a creek and a waterfall.
We stopped, both breathing heavily.
“Tie, damn it,” Josh said.
“And you cheated.”
“I didn’t cheat,” he countered.
“Um, yeah you did.”
Then he tugged his tee over his head, and I found myself doing the same. We took our shoes and socks off and walked through the creek a little, chatting and enjoying the scenery.
We weren’t there long before we took the trail again and kept going. We didn’t stop until it was time for lunch, which we ate on a large boulder a few feet off the path.
From there we headed back the way we’d come and toward my vehicle. We didn’t talk about anything important. Josh was just Josh, and I spent half the time either laughing or wanting to strangle him, so I guessed we were us. In a strange way, over time, Josh and I had become an us, which felt different from the us I had with any other friend.
“Let’s go swimming.” Josh was nearly bouncing in his seat as I pulled back up at our cabin.
“That water is cold as fuck.”
“Come on, Grumpy G. Don’t be a baby.” He started poking me in the side like a ten-year-old.
“You’re so immature.”
“You like it. You think I’m fun. I dare you to go swimming with me.”
I swatted his hand away and turned to look at him. “That’s not going to work.”
“Yes it is. Get your ass out of the truck, and let’s go get changed.”
Fucker. He was right. It was so going to work.
We went into the cabin. Josh grabbed his trunks and tossed them onto the bed. He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans, tugged them down. “Do you think there are going to be little fish that nibble our toes?” he teased.
I glanced at him, and he grinned. “You’re such a dork.” My eyes found their way down his body, taking in Josh’s muscular pecs, the barbells through his nipples, his flat, defined abs, and then landing on the bulge beneath his tight boxer briefs. Lust shot through me, potent and quick, desire burning low in my belly. I turned around quickly, trying to get myself under control.
I wanted him. Christ, I really fucking wanted Josh. A man. My brother’s best friend.
One of my best friends too.
Part of me wanted to celebrate, to revel in the desire coursing through me. It wasn’t a biological reaction to being touched or kissed or sucked; this was bone-deep longing in a way I’d never experienced.
Josh seemed oblivious, rambling on about our limbs getting eaten and his balls shriveling up in the cold water.
I found my board shorts, and by the time I turned back around, he was dressed. “I gotta take a leak.” I pointed to the bathroom and went in there to change. My dick was half hard, which was exciting but also confusing and scary. Josh was not the right person for me to feel this way about. He fucked a different guy every week, and that was the complete opposite of who I was or what I wanted.
I tried to shove those thoughts away as I got dressed.
When I got back to the main room of the cabin, Josh was waiting for me by the door. “Get your ass out here, Grumpy G.”
He wrapped a hand around my wrist and tugged. Then, just like earlier, we were racing, only this time it was toward the dock. We ran down it, then jumped off the end, splashing into the cold water that felt like ice against my skin.
“Holy fuck, this is cold. Why did I listen to you? I’m never listening to you again. Motherfucker, I’m freezing.”
Josh’s hair was plastered against his head, his teeth chattering, but still he lunged for me. I dodged him, but just barely. “What? I’m trying to keep you warm. Come here,” he teased, swimming after me as I swam away.
I was laughing, and he was too. I turned around and splashed him, pure joy surging through my chest in a way I hadn’t felt in forever. I had no idea why playing in the lake with him was so damn fun, but it was, and I didn’t want it to stop.
I splashed Josh again, and he did the same. We chased each other back and forth, ducking underwater, then trying to splatter each other with it.