Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69895 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Wes and Adam weren’t in costume, and neither was Bram, so he supposed they were the assholes that Rye had been referring to.
Bram regretted not dressing up, but he’d been so busy lately he hadn’t thought of a costume until today, at which point it was too late.
When he’d mentioned it to Zachary and asked if he had a costume planned, Zachary had sniffed, as if this were distasteful, and said, “I am not the attraction; the house is.”
So that was that. But Bram decided that the next year he’d plan to dress up in harmony with whatever design scheme he and Zachary decided on for their houses.
Next year.
He hoped there would be a next year.
It was the most fun Bram had had since leaving Olympia. Somehow, he had managed to find a group of friends that he couldn’t wait to get to know better. He loved the natural beauty of Wyoming and all it had to offer. He had the beginnings of a job doing something he truly cared about and would dive excitedly into running the catch and release program for Rye in November. He was learning that with a little space from his family, he was better able to pinpoint what he wanted, rather than depending on their responses to tell him.
And he had fallen in love with the sweetest, hottest, most brilliant, weirdest person.
The exact lines of the future might be up in the air, but finally, Bram knew what he wanted. And it turned out that having the blueprint for what you wanted and maybe being disappointed if you couldn’t have it felt a hell of a lot better than the muddle of not knowing at all.
* * *
Five hours, ten pounds of candy, three temper tantrums, and one episode of vomiting later, it was time to bestow the award for best decorations.
Zachary had been in his glory all night, explaining their concept and decorations to anyone who asked with utter patience and as much enthusiasm the fiftieth time as he did the first.
Gus had begged to be allowed to stay until the announcement of the winner, and had happily stalked around the street with a notebook, refining her own metric for evaluation and hiding it from anyone who tried to peek. Wes had taken Bram up on his offer of sanctuary after an hour and when Bram had gone to check on him, he’d found him fixing his broken toaster with Hem looking on.
River had taken off after an hour to go tend to the kittens, but before they left they said, “What would you think about putting a camera up in one of the cat shelters and getting pictures and video for social media? It might encourage donations.”
“That’s such a good idea! I can rig a little stand for it that a won’t be in the way if you let me know what kind of camera we’ll be using.”
River had smiled and ducked their head, eyes already full of ideas.
Henry and Cameron had left quickly, too, since there was an 8:00-p.m. double feature of classic horror films at the Odeon they needed to prepare for.
“Come if you dare,” Henry had said with a rather chilling laugh. Bram shuddered. He was sure Zachary would be delighted.
Jack and Charlie Matheson had spent a long time walking up and down the street, heads close together, discussing something in low voices.
“Jack just signed a contract for a new graphic novel,” Simon said quietly when Bram couldn’t help but try and overhear what they were discussing.
“Oh wow, that’s great.”
“It’s kind of about Charlie and Rye. Not like that,” he said quickly when Rye raised an expressive eyebrow.
“It’s really about Charlie more than me,” Rye said.
“Maybe,” Simon allowed. “It’s about a man who loves to fix things and a man who has a house in need of fixing. And how they end up helping each other fix themselves.”
Simon smiled a soft, proud smile.
“It’s called Best Laid Plans. Jack just wants to make sure Charlie’s okay with everything he plans to include.”
“Just make sure Jack draws me super-hot, okay?” Rye said dryly.
“I’ll make sure and pass that along,” Simon said with a smirk.
Zachary had insisted that Bram stay in his yard for the duration of the trick-or-treating so that they could properly represent their houses and give out candy in a fair and balanced way (his words, obviously). Now, though, Bram crossed the street to where Zachary was standing, Adam by his side and Gus lying on her back in the tarp ocean, staring up at one of the creatures in the tree and trying to take pictures with Adam’s cell phone.
“She started an Instagram,” Adam said fondly.
“You should follow me!” Gus called. “I post the best pictures of tarantulas and snakes and...”
She rattled off a long list of things, but Adam whispered, “It’s like ninety percent creepy bugs.”