Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Cody frowns at me.
“Why are you frowning?”
“I don’t know. You’re being weird. Why are you being weird?”
“Oh, Jesus.” I roll my eyes at him. “Always seeing shit that isn’t there. I’m not being weird.” But for some reason, I don’t want to hang out with both Cody and Gary at the same time. Honestly, I can’t say why. Cody’s my only real friend. Gary is…well, my new friend, but it almost feels like mixing two worlds.
“Fine, I’ll go, but you and me?” He points to me and then himself like he’s a fucking cartoon character or something. “We’re talking later.”
Just then there’s a noise down the hall. I look up to see Gary standing a few feet away as though he’s not sure what to do.
“I’ll let you two get on with it.” Cody winks at me and then turns toward Gary. “Sorry, your guy is ready for you now.” He heads into his condo, but Gary still hasn’t moved.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” I ask him.
“No…I hope I wasn’t interrupting anything, though.”
I wave him off. “It’s just Cody. You know Cody, right?”
He finally gets his ass in gear and comes into my condo. I close the door behind him. “I’ve seen him around.”
“He’s like my Derek.”
Gary seems to loosen up.
“Sit.” I nod toward the couch.
“You’re getting bossy again.”
“I’m a bossy motherfucker, and it makes your dick hard, remember?” I wink at him and head toward the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I’d offer you something good, but unfortunately, I’ve eaten too many carbs lately.”
When I glance over, I see Gary roll his eyes. “Like you have to worry about that.”
“Everyone has to worry about that. Everyone but you, Superass.” I grin at him.
“Yeah, right.”
“Beer?”
“Wine?”
“Shitty wine.”
Now it’s he who smiles at me. “My favorite kind.”
I grab the bottle, uncork it and pour us each a glass. This time when I nod toward the living room couch, Gary walks over. “Your ex is a dickhead, by the way…I fucking hate him.” I hand him his glass and we sit down.
Gary’s eyes go wide in this adorable, panicked look. “Why? What happened?”
“You’re freaking out inside, aren’t you?” I sit down beside him, not sure why I find him so amusing.
“Yes. I am. And you’re enjoying it. Now, tell me what happened.”
“What will you do for me if I do?”
“Suck your dick?” he replies.
“You’ll do that anyway.”
“True.” He shrugs. “Tell me!”
For some reason, I want to keep it going, but instead I tell him about our run-in. His response is immediate. “Oh fuck. You really called him Petey?”
“Yeah. Cocky prick. I thought his fucking head was going to explode.” We both laugh, but as I watch him, as I think about the things Gary has told me, I realize how different they are. Gary would never do the shit Peter has done or treat people the way he did. He’s a genuinely good man. “What did you see in him?” I ask.
He sighs, taking a sip of his wine. “He didn’t use to be the way he is now…well, I guess that’s not true. Maybe I just didn’t always want to see it. I’d never been in a relationship before. Like I said, I’m not out to my family, so I met this smart, attractive, older man who I thought accepted me in a way no one else had, and I fell in love. And I guess sometimes we wear blinders when we’re in love.”
There’s a sadness to his voice I haven’t heard much from him before. Peter doesn’t deserve Gary’s sadness. “Do you still love him?”
He takes another drink and pauses before saying, “No. I think I stopped a long time before we broke up. I just didn’t let myself realize it.”
I don’t know why, but my chest gets lighter hearing that.
“What about you? Have you ever been in love?” he asks.
I can’t hold back the laugh that jumps out of my mouth. “Fuck no. I would never give someone that kind of power over me.”
He looks at me over the edge of his glass, curiosity in those expressive eyes of his. “Interesting…tell me more.”
Not happening. “That would be another fuck no.”
“What? I just admitted something to you!”
“I admitted something to you too.” When he frowns, I add, “I’m mysterious. Mysterious is hot, right?” And then I down the wine in my glass. “Now what the fuck are we going to do about this fundraiser?”
17
Gary
“That’s not really fair, is it?” I say, not trying to hide my annoyance.
His eyes widen with surprise.
“When you asked me a very personal question, I answered it,” I continue. “When I asked you a personal question, you told me ‘mysterious is hot’?”
He shifts on the couch beside me and cocks his head back before saying, “What’s eating you tonight?”
I take a gulp of wine. I know this doesn’t have anything to do with his response to my question, and I need to get this off my chest.