Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97836 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 489(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
She rolled her eyes and turned to Sheridan. “Help me out.”
Sheridan shook her head. “No can do. Besides, they know you’re not twenty-one, and Foster sure as hell knows it. Don’t put anyone in the position of having to call you out.”
ZuZu turned her puppy eyes at me. “First Gentleman Fletcher, will you please get me a drink from Dos Beckys? Pretty please with sugar on top?”
I glanced at Way, expecting to see a warning glare. Instead, he laughed. I stepped closer to him and placed a hand over each of his ears while I winked at ZuZu. “What if I get one for me and let you have a sip?”
She clapped and bounced on her feet while Way rolled his eyes, looking surprisingly like his sister. “Bad influence,” he muttered, but I could tell he didn’t really mind.
I moved off to the side to buy the drink, adding a bottle of beer for Way, a bottle of water for Sheridan, and a small order of nachos to share. By the time I rejoined them, I’d had several mini conversations with locals I did and didn’t recognize, and I’d sucked down half the margarita.
“Take the rest of this,” I said as I handed the cup to ZuZu. “It’s too good, and the First Gentleman can’t afford to go tits-up on tequila at First Night.”
“Final Night,” they all said, correcting me in unison.
“Still ominous,” I muttered before taking a nacho off the plate Way was now holding.
Several people came up to say hello, ask Way questions about the AdventureSmash exhibition, and politely request to meet me. I’d met many of them, either directly or indirectly, by being so present in town all week, but I was finally able to meet a few of the other people Way and Sheridan had mentioned as being friends or neighbors.
Everyone was friendly for the most part. A few older men seemed awkward around us, as if they didn’t quite know how to communicate with a man who had a husband instead of a wife, but I was relieved to see no one was outwardly rude to Way, and his sisters did a good job at smoothing things over.
Bo approached us from the Love Muffin tent, where Way’s Aunt Blake was clearly holding court. “Hey, your aunt wanted me to tell you all to be sure and stop by and take some pictures with her. She wants to put one on the wall of the cafe.”
Sheridan leaned over and kissed her husband on the cheek. “What he’s not saying because he’s too polite is that Aunt Blake wants to show off the new couple. Mayor and First Gentleman of Majestic. Her precious boys.”
Both sisters broke down laughing again, and Bo joined in.
Way groaned and turned toward me, his face flushed with embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”
I wrapped an arm around him and pulled him against my side, a kind of half hug of reassurance. He surprised me by wrapping his arms around me and tucking his face against my temple so only I could hear him. “We don’t have to stay if it’s too much.”
I pressed a kiss against his ear. “I’m having a nice time. Besides, I like seeing you blush.”
A few people around us tittered as we inadvertently displayed public affection. Even though we’d deliberately held hands and kissed a few times in public to help sell the ruse of our relationship, that wasn’t what this was.
As he pulled back, I reached up to cup the side of his face. “Is it too much for you?” I murmured.
He had gorgeous blue eyes I wanted to dive into and swim as deep as possible.
“Not this. No.”
It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that his odd phrasing came back and niggled at me. If the Final Night wasn’t too much, then what was?
This? Us? Our relationship? My public display of affection? Any display of affection?
On the quiet drive home, when Way fell asleep with his head against the window, I thought about what a different life I was suddenly living compared to the one I had back in the city.
The scent of sage and horses, pine and freshly mowed grass floated in on the cool night air. The silence was cut by the sound of bugs and birds or maybe frogs. There was no stench of garbage, no traffic noises or blasts of random music or shouting. I took a deep inhale and savored the fresh air, the chill across my skin, and the quiet company of the sleeping man next to me.
It wasn’t anything I’d ever thought I wanted. But maybe that was because I’d never imagined it before, never experienced it.
I glanced over at Way as I pulled off the highway and onto the ranch road for the second time that day. It was becoming familiar, the turn made almost by muscle memory and the curves of the graveled drive already burned into the rhythm of the final stretch before pulling up to the little gray-blue house that Way had built.