Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
I roll my eyes. “As if that’s anything new.”
“Oh, really?” Gary asks. “Do you dance with everyone in your living room the night before you fuck around with them? We’re your friends. We’re not stupid. We’ve been patient with this one because we figured you’d start blabbing at some point, but dancing, Derek? It’s time to be honest with us…or yourself…or both.”
Fuck, why is everyone figuring out all my business this week?
“It’s not what it looked like,” I say.
They glare at me in unison.
“God, the fucking uni-glare? You guys, that’s not the prettiest of faces. I’d avoid making those for your Grindr profiles.”
Gary’s eyes narrow. “We don’t need Grindr anymore. Stop stalling. We want deets.”
“His name is…Jackson.”
“And why were you dancing with him?” Hayden asks, his tone serious, but the playful expression on his face letting me know just how much he’s enjoying this game of third-degree.
“Jig’s up, I guess,” I say. And now that I’ve talked to Jackson about Uncle Randy, I realize that at a time like this, honesty is definitely the best policy. “You remember that night when I snuck off and you guys got so mad at me…”
I tell them about how we met and how we started hanging out, leaving out the part about Uncle Randy. I’m not ready for that yet. It’s not that I don’t love them or don’t trust them or think they would be anything short of amazing, but at least for now, it’s something I’m not ready to share. Something that can stay between Jackson and me.
“So what about the gay cruise?” Hayden asks as I finish my story.
“Oh, shit.”
“You paid a lot of money for that, so if anything does get serious, just remember, I don’t think he’s going to want you on some boat filled with hot daddies.”
“No, I agree, but it’s in October. Who the fuck’s to say this will even last a few weeks? I can cancel if I need to. Hell, Daddy Jackson might even want to go on the cruise with me. Who knows?”
Gary’s smirking.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re already talking about potentially taking a guy on a gay cruise that’s like three months away.…You got it bad.”
“Shut up. And can we get to working out? I’m not going to be able to keep any man around me if I don’t work this body out.”
“True story,” Hayden says, petting my head.
“Hey, hey! Watch the hair!”
19
Jackson
“How’s your mom doing?” Frankie asks as we make our way back to the fire station to clean the bus after our last call. It was a thirty-three-year-old, otherwise healthy woman who suffered from a stroke, which I’m assuming is the reason he asked about Mom. Jesus, this woman was so fucking young and now her whole life is going to be different.
“She’s doing okay. The rehab is helping some. She’s gaining a little more speech back. The rehab unit at Cypress Grove is the best.”
“I know it is. That’s why you’re paying the big bucks so she can stay there.”
I don’t bother with a reply because who wouldn’t do that for their parent? Who wouldn’t want the best for them? I’ll always find a way to take care of my family.
“I need Saturday off. Jenkins is being a dick, and he won’t trade me a shift, but I can’t be at work that day.” I’d been so surprised when Derek asked me to go with him that I hadn’t thought of how I would make that happen. He’d put himself out there, and after what we’d experienced, there was no way I would let him down. I know how hard it had to have been for him to ask.
“What’s Zane got going on?” Frankie asks.
“Nothing.”
“Oh, something at Cypress Grove then?”
Fuck. He’s not going to let this go. “No, it has nothing to do with Zane, Mom, or Steph.”
“I’m a little confused then, Grumpy Bear, because as long as I’ve known you, you’ve never needed a day off unless it was for one of those three people.” He pushes his beanie up on his head and scratches before lowering it again.
“I have a thing…with this guy, you nosy bastard.”
Frankie glances my way with side eyes. “What thing with what guy? You don’t have things with people.”
“I do now, fuck you very much.”
Frankie pulls the bus into the station and parks.
“Can we just do this? You know my ass won’t leave you alone until you tell me and then I’ll just piss you off more. We need to stock and clean up and I’ll fucking ramble about it the whole goddamned time, so save us the back-and-forth and tell me now.”
I can’t help but chuckle. Frankie is equal parts entertaining and frustrating…but he’s also a good man. “You’re making a big deal out of nothing.” He doesn’t have to reply for me to know he’s going to call me on the lie. This is a big deal for me.