Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“A lot? I thought it was only the once,” Marcus said.
“Wait. I thought we hated him?” Elliott asked.
“We do hate him,” Kai concurred. “We named him Asshole Spencer for a reason!”
“He’s not an asshole,” I said, and they all looked at me, confused.
“Are you kidding me right now?” Marcus asked. “The man said shitty things to you.”
Kai put his arms around his boyfriend. Marcus was seething. The thing about Marcus was he needed to be needed. It was one of the things that had connected us. I’d really fucking needed him, and that had given him something he needed in return. I still did in so many ways. Marcus would forever be my person, and because I had depended on him so much, he took his role as my caretaker seriously.
“What Marcus is trying to say is, we worry about you. We don’t want you to put up with someone who treats you badly,” Kai said, trying to smooth things over.
“He doesn’t. He’s my CB.”
“Cock and balls?” Elliott asked, and Parker swatted him on the arm.
“Cuddle Buddy.”
“Excuse me, what?” Declan asked.
I sighed. “We met before. I didn’t recognize him. It was the beginning of college, and I was trying to fit in at school and missing Dec and Parker. I saw Marcus a lot less at the time too, and hadn’t yet found my footing. We met at a beach party and talked for hours. We really connected, but then a group of guys I was trying to impress showed up, and I bailed on him right when we were about to kiss. He went to find me, heard the guys saying fucked-up things about him and his weight, while I didn’t counter or defend him in any way, so he left. He had a lot of feelings about that, which was why he made his assumptions about me. We had a long talk about it and sorted through all that. He’s not an asshole. If he’s an asshole, so am I. None of us are perfect.”
“Well, shit.” Marcus pulled me close and kissed my temple the way he did. “You’re not an asshole.”
“Neither is he. He’s my friend.”
“Can you fill us in on the cuddle-buddy thing?” Declan asked, making me chuckle. It sounded ridiculous when he said it, but it didn’t feel that way when Spencer was holding me.
“The subject came up about me being a cuddle slut. I don’t even know how, but he just…hugged me…and held me…and now it’s a thing we do…every single night.” I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for a group of voices to chime in with a ton of questions. When it didn’t happen, I opened them again.
“What do you mean, every night?” Parker asked.
“I mean, I sleep at his house, in his bed. It’s not sexual. We’re friends who cuddle, hence cuddle buddies. And that’s not all we do. We went to the arcade, and spent time together at the LGBTQ center where he works. I met this great kid who is suggesting books for me to read. His name is Gael…tiny little thing and all heart. Spencer says he doesn’t have a lot of friends and was surprised that he connected with me instantly. Apparently, that’s not something Gael does often, but it’s me and I’m charming, so it makes sense. They need romance books in the library, so I said I’d ask Parker if he’d be willing to do a book drive. Oh! And we went to this party at the center too. We played charades with the kids, and then Spencer danced and—”
“All this happened in a couple of weeks?” Declan interrupted.
“Yeah.”
Marcus said, “And the same motherfucker who said fucked-up shit to you is cuddling with you every night out of the goodness of his heart? With no expectations? I don’t trust it.” Marcus’s voice was tight, his eyes narrowed.
“Marcus…”
“I think it’s sweet,” Sebastian said.
“Seems like he’s realized he was wrong about Corb, and clearly, he enjoys spending time with him.” Parker gave me a tender smile. “I think it’s good for you.”
I stepped closer to Marcus. “It’s not like I never hurt him.”
“What you did is completely different from what he did. He had you second-guessing who you are as a person, saying you wouldn’t be into someone who looked like him. I can’t forgive that shit.”
“Baby…” Kai started. “I love you for your fierce loyalty and pure fucking love of your friends, but you’re being a little unfair here. Corbin is an adult, and if he forgives Spencer and says he’s a good guy, it’s our job as his friends to support and believe him.”
“Unless Spencer fucks up again,” Declan said. “Then he’s dead to us.”
God, I loved them all so fucking much. There wasn’t anything in the world they wouldn’t do for me. The people in this room were my family. No one would ever love me the way they did, and I still didn’t understand how they could, but I was so fucking thankful for it—especially Marcus.