Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81423 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 326(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
We all laughed. Poor Griff. Even though he was cool with it, he was still getting used to his longtime best friend being all mushy and in love with his little brother.
“So like, are you saying Chase should take me home and do bad, bad things to me?” Kellan teased Griffin.
“I hate you,” Griff replied.
“How about we end this conversation?” Chase added.
“Speaking of dirty, sexy things,” Josh said, “I have a hookup in Stevensville, so catch you guys later.”
“Do you even know this guy?” Griffin asked him.
“Why do I have to know him to fuck him? It’s not like I wanna marry the man.”
Kellan cut in before Griffin could reply. “You don’t, but some people do. To each their own. Let’s play nice, boys. Live and let live.”
Josh kissed Kellan’s temple. “See ya later, babe.” Then he said bye to Chase and the rest of us and was gone.
“I think I’m going to head out too.” Knox stood and stretched. His T-shirt pulled up, showing his muscular stomach and the trail of hair leading below his jeans. My dick twitched a bit. Not because I wanted Knox. He was a friend, and straight as far as I knew, but because, again, it had been a while for me. It wasn’t that I hadn’t had any men since Remy, but they were few and far between.
Shaking thoughts of him from my head, I turned to Knox. “Is it past your bedtime, old man?” He was older than the rest of us, around forty-two, I thought. I got a kick out of teasing him about it.
“Suck my cock, Grant,” he said, grabbing his dick.
“Here?” I joked, and his eyes went a little wide. I could feel Griffin looking at me too.
“I knew it!” Kellan screeched.
“You and me both,” Chase replied.
“Wait. Why is it that Knox can joke about dick-sucking and it’s not taken seriously, but I do it, and everyone suddenly knows I’m into dudes too?”
“Because I have excellent gaydar—well, bidar, in your case,” Kellan replied, and I didn’t deny it.
“Well, shit.” Knox rubbed a hand over his dark beard. “I’m feeling a little left out. Just you and me, buddy,” he said to Griffin. Our two resident straight guys.
It felt good to get it out to them, though I wasn’t sure why. Somehow it felt like putting more of my past behind me, where it needed to be.
“See ya later, man.” Knox squeezed my shoulder in support, then said goodbye to everyone else. It seemed Natalie had left after the pool game, and Chase and Kellan took off next, leaving only me and Griff. Well, and a bar full of people.
“At least I don’t have to worry about you dating my brother, since he and Chase are head over ass in love with each other,” Griff teased.
And they were. It was obvious the two were crazy in love. I knew what that felt like, though my shit hadn’t lasted and I had no fucking plans to ever go there again. Still, I found myself asking, “What about you? Have you ever been in love?” Griff didn’t even date, or not often, in any case. I wasn’t sure what that was about.
“Who the hell would I have ever been in love with?” he asked, and I shrugged. “Nah, not sure it’s my thing. Got my bar and my family. That’s all that matters.”
“I hear ya, brother.”
When a song began playing and I heard the familiar husky rasp of Remy’s voice, I shook my head and tossed some money on the bar. “I’m out of here. I’ll see you later.”
On my way home, I texted Cynthia.
Want some company?
Sure. I can spare about an hour. Work early tomorrow, she replied.
Spare an hour. Don’t make it sound like a hardship, I teased. Then, Be there soon.
Cynthia and I hooked up every now and again. She’d recently moved to Havenwood to be closer to her cousin, Becca, who grew up here and used to have a thing with Chase. Neither of us was looking for anything serious, but we were able to scratch an itch. I made her come twice in that hour, then went home, showered, and fell into bed.
For the first time in a long time, I lost myself to memories of the past.
Before
“Let me record you,” I told Remy.
We were naked, in our hotel room, the one we always went to when we wanted to spend a whole night together. I wasn’t ready to take him back to my dorm, and he sure as shit wasn’t ready for anyone to know about us. He still lived at home with his mom and siblings, so we couldn’t go there. This hotel had become our place, where we could simply be. Some of my best times were there, with him. He’d gotten under my skin that first night and hadn’t left since. I didn’t want him to ever leave.