Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
It matters because I like you too much.
Arden avoided having to answer by fleeing to another picture. Mike followed relentlessly, but something sank inside Arden and tied his feet to the floor.
In the drawing, one of the characters just had a bottle broken on his head and bled. The memory of Luke on the floor, red flowing out of a gash in his forehead was like a bad dream come to life. A reminder of why Arden shouldn’t trust boyfriends or boyfriends-to-be.
“Hey, you’re not offended, are you?” Mike asked and tapped Arden’s cheek with the back of his fingers.
“No, I just… I’m not ready. Luke messed me up,” he said, unable to take his eyes off the blood in the picture. “We had a big fight before I left him.”
“Messed you up?” Mike asked, but he didn’t try to touch Arden this time, as if he realized it wasn’t what Arden wanted or needed. He was good at reading cues like that. Maybe that was why women fell for him so easily?
“I don’t mean fight as in we yelled at each other. He got violent with me, and I saw no other way but to fight back. I fell over, he was dragging me by my leg. I grabbed an electric cord attached to a lamp. The next time he tried to hit me, I pulled it to me and broke it on his head. There was so much blood, and he stopped moving. I thought I killed him. That’s why I told you the police could be looking for me when we first met. I don’t know what’s worse anymore. I kinda wish he was dead, but I’m also relieved I didn’t kill him and won’t go to prison…” He had to take several deep breaths, because he’d forgotten to inhale while speaking and exhausted what he’d had in his lungs.
Mike watched him, his chest rising and falling at an accelerated rate. Blots of red spilled over his cheeks, his brows lowered, and he slammed his fist into the wall right next to the picture.
“How dare he!”
The movement must have come too close to the artwork, because something beeped, and one of the uniformed staff approached them while speaking to someone through a mic attached to her uniform.
“Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave,” the woman said with a stern expression.
“He won’t do it again,” Arden whined, but he didn’t expect understanding.
Mike stuffed his hands down his pockets. “Yeah, sorry. It was just the wa—”
She wasn’t having it. “Security already knows. If you refuse to leave, we will be forced to call the police.”
Mike stilled. Swallowed. Glanced at Arden like a dog who knew it had fucked something up. “I’m sorry. You’ll find me outside, once you’re done here.”
“No, let’s go together,” Arden said right away, sensing numerous gazes licking them in judgment. He wouldn’t ditch Mike. Even for Tom of Finland.
Mike stilled, as if he wanted to repeat himself, but grabbed Arden’s hand instead and went straight for the exit, ignoring the people, who at this point were staring at them openly. At least the alarm had been switched off.
“Sorry,” he mumbled as they entered the corridor under the scrutiny of a male staff member who not-so-discreetly followed them to the elevator.
“It’s okay,” Arden whispered. “Maybe I shouldn’t have been talking about it here. Spoiling your date.”
“It’s our date,” Mike mumbled once they stepped into the elevator.
“Our date.” Arden repeated, fighting the urge to hug Mike. His heart was frantic, knocking on his breastbone with ever more power, and he couldn’t even tell why. Was he so into Mike? Was this because they’d been removed from the gallery? Or was he nervous about having told Mike such painful, private things?
If this angered Mike so much, what if he decided to take revenge in Arden’s name? And Arden had barely scratched the surface of what had happened that night. Images of Mike punching his abductor’s face into a pulp, passed through his mind, stirring a warm sense of satisfaction, but he didn’t want Mike to go to prison. And if he found out the truth about Luke, he might end up doing something rash.
Mike was completely quiet until they left the museum and faced the green open space again. He exhaled as if he’d been holding his breath that whole time. “What kind of scum does things like that? He never deserved your attention."
Arden led him to a nearby bench where they sat together, facing an abstract sculpture. “I didn’t know that at the time. Guess I was thinking with my dick. I may be feminine, but I get as horny as any other guy. More even. Sex clouds my judgement.”
“Sometimes I think girls have another, stupider head somewhere too,” Mike said, flinching when the hot wood touched his bare arm. No wonder. It had been so, so hot since morning.