Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75496 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“I am eating!” he countered. “And I don’t know why you give me shit about it. I don’t starve myself. I don’t binge and purge. I watch my weight like the rest of us.”
Corbin had been heavy as a kid. He hadn’t quite grown into his looks yet at the time, some of his features more exaggerated than they were now. Coupled with being queer and how he’d been teased, it was the perfect storm to create his low self-esteem issues at a young age.
He’d done everything he could to change the exterior—weight loss, skin care, a little surgery, fillers, and just growing up and changing—but none of that had altered the pain inside. It was why he sought attention.
“You’re beautiful, Corb.”
“I know.”
“You always have been.”
He rolled his eyes without agreeing with that part. “Crushing on your roommate is making you mushier than usual.”
“I’m not crushing on him.” Fuck, had I ever crushed on anyone in my whole damn life? I wasn’t sure I had.
“Yeah, okay. I suppose you don’t have trust issues too? Oh, and you’re not a workaholic!” He laughed, and damned if I didn’t as well. There wasn’t anyone I’d let get away with the shit Corbin, Declan, and Parker said to me, but then no one loved me the way they did either.
And I couldn’t deny I let Kai get away with a whole lot too.
We chatted while we finished eating and then walked back to the lot where my car was. Corbin lived in a building not too far away, so he didn’t drive here. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.
Kai’s car was in the driveway when I got home, but I didn’t see him in the living room. I went over to his tank, watched the fish swim around, the two clownfish staying together, one always following the other.
Somehow, I didn’t hear him on the stairs, and then he was standing beside me. “Did you know all clownfish are born male? They can change due to their social environment. They pair up, and the dominant one becomes female. If the female dies, then the most dominant of the males left becomes biologically female and the alpha. It’s crazy-interesting.”
“No shit?” I turned to him, quirking a brow.
“Seriously. I wouldn’t lie to you.” He bumped my hip with his. He was wearing shorts, without a shirt. Corbin had been right—his nipples were pierced, a barbell through each. I wanted to tug on them with my teeth.
“You know a lot about fish.”
“I was always interested in marine life.”
“Is that something you want to do?”
“Do I have to want to do something other than be a bartender?”
Shit. I hadn’t meant it like that, but I could see why he asked. He was always challenging me on things. “No.”
“I know. But…I do…I think. I just haven’t figured out what. Have you always wanted to be in real estate?” He sat down on my cream-colored couch and pulled his legs up under him. I found myself walking over and sitting on the opposite end.
“I have a degree in architecture. It’s what my parents do. Alston Architecture.” Kai shook his head as if to say he hadn’t heard of it. “It’s their baby. Neither of my parents came from shit. They worked really hard to succeed. When they did, they kept working, kept wanting more. It was never enough.”
“They’re still together?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if that’s the right word for it. I assume they were passionate about each other at some point, but never in my lifetime. Sometimes I think they can’t stand each other, or at least, they seem indifferent to each other. But they both love making money, and they’re both good at it.” Jesus, what was wrong with me? I couldn’t believe I’d just said all that to him.
I was about to stand and go upstairs when Kai said, “Are they good to you?”
Shit. No one had ever asked me that. “They love me.” And I knew they did. “I’ve never lacked for anything in my life. They opened a lot of doors for me, paved my way. The most sought-after architecture firm in California is Black-owned, and it’ll be mine one day.”
“That’s not what I asked.” He looked at me with that familiar challenge in his eyes, daring me to answer, telling me he would call me out if I didn’t.
I didn’t know how to back down. It wasn’t how I was built. “Work always came first and always will. I’ve adjusted and understand.”
He nodded, seemed to ponder that. “Is it enough for you?”
“Is what enough? My relationship with my parents? It doesn’t matter how I feel. What matters is reality. I don’t really do that—wish things could be different. Life is the way it is, and you adapt.”
“I didn’t mean that. I meant this.” He made a sweeping motion, encompassing my house.