Total pages in book: 152
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140629 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 703(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 469(@300wpm)
He hit the roof of his truck a dozen times, but that didn’t quite take the edge off his anger. Apparently, he was now too intimidating for real-life hook-ups, so Grindr it was.
And he was hungry. Again.
He could only think of one place in Grit where he’d get a plateful of filling food on the cheap and have the peace and quiet to browse a dating app.
And yes, he’d have peanut butter, because he now wasn’t allergic to it.
Chapter 7 - Gunner
The new clothes hugged every line of Gunner’s body. He hadn’t been sure about the sizes at first, but Alex had insisted that they fit so much better than the baggy outfits Caspian had always hidden behind. It only made sense to listen to the advice of a man who looked so good himself. Because what did Gunner know about fashion? He wore the safest possible options and clothes that showed off his muscular form, but the body he now occupied was short, slender, and would be complemented by different styles.
Most of the load he now carried in several plastic bags came from the teenager ranges of popular brands. All of it, really, apart from the high-tops in a pretty lavender hue, which were the smallest men’s size in the large store specializing in sneakers. Their color had intimidated Gunner at first, but Alex convinced him it was okay to wear for young men, and he’d ended up putting them on right away.
The shade of the trainers went surprisingly well with his new green tie dye T-shirt and jeans, both of which were a skin-tight fit. Walking around in such snug clothes made Gunner self-conscious, but the longer he wore them, the more he liked his own reflection in shop windows. He was getting some eyeballs from strangers, even a couple of smiles, and when Alex suggested that he should think about getting his hair done in order to match the new style, Gunner didn’t hesitate and reached for Caspian’s credit card.
Alex had to be a very good friend of Caspian’s to be so supportive and spend so much time on the wild shopping spree. When Gunner wasn’t sure about going blond, Alex reassured him about it, and then talked Gunner into being bold, grabbing life by the balls, and so… Gunner now sported a crystal stud at the top of his ear. Because it was his body now, and since he was no longer an imposing, hulking presence, no one would care that he experimented with his looks in a way that would have made people in his past life question his masculinity.
There was only one question left to answer—was he as fuckable as he considered himself to be?
He was almost regretful when Alex needed to go home, but maybe it was just nerves. With his new/old friend gone, Gunner no longer had an excuse to delay the planned visit to Mike Choi’s store, but maybe his worries were unwarranted now that the new style had transformed him into someone this sexy. And the bright hair color made his face so much perkier than Caspian had ever seemed.
There was no point in overthinking all this when he knew for a fact that Mike was gay and therefore up for what Gunner was currently offering.
Gunner walked into the store stocked with shelves of energy bars and protein shakes with confidence, but his energy depleted with each step, because the customers, who were mostly buff gym bunnies, gave him curious glances. He didn’t belong here anymore, and his skin crawled with the realization that he was no longer sure where he belonged.
In his old body, he’d felt right at home here whenever he shopped for supplements, or just stopped by to chat to Mike about his workout routine. But he was a different person now—not the regular known to all the staff but a pretty thing with a juicy ass presented in tight jeans, and a face to turn heads. He hadn’t come for healthy snacks or advice. He was here for Mike.
The familiar tattoo of a stylized dragon crawled up Mike’s arm as he leaned over the counter at the back of the store, writing something down in a large notebook. He wasn’t very tall, and in his own body Gunner easily towered over him, but still seemed like a giant compared to Caspian’s form, with thick biceps, a big chest pushing at the front of the black muscle shirt, and smooth black hair pulled into a ponytail at the back of his head.
Gunner felt as if he were in a video game, wearing a full-body VR set. How should he act to attract a man like Mike? In porn, guys always went straight down to business, and while Mike never hid his sexual preferences, it wasn’t like he ever talked about that side of his life in Gunner’s presence. But he was a business owner, always well-groomed, and drove a nice car. Gunner would be intimidated approaching a guy like him if he didn’t know that Mike was cool, and mingled with all kinds of people.