Total pages in book: 66
Estimated words: 61591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“I don’t think I screwed up, I know that for a fact.”
“Okay, but we all have the ability to evolve, and grow, and learn from our mistakes. That’s what you’ve been doing ever since I’ve known you. When we met, you were totally closed off, but bit by bit you’ve been learning to let your guard down and open up.”
“I’m still a mess.”
“Well, who isn’t?” When I glanced at him, he said, “You have to let go of the past and learn to trust yourself, my friend.”
“You might be right, but even if I decided to give a relationship a try, I doubt Ever would want that. Pretty soon, he’s going to be putting every waking moment into launching his new business. He won’t have time for anything else.”
“Then what’s left for the two of you?”
“We could hook up.”
Vee perked up. “That’s something at least, and it could be awesome! Weeks of wild monkey sex, with the added convenience of your sex partner living under the same roof.”
“Actually, I think it might be a one-time thing, a do-over after that huge disaster back in February.”
Now he looked frustrated. “There’s the possibility of dick on tap with an incredibly hot guy for weeks on end, until he moves out and gets busy with his new business, and you only want to do it once?”
“I’d be happy to keep it going for a while,” I admitted, “but I don’t think we’re, um… sexually compatible.”
“Is that your shy way of saying you’re both tops?”
If that was our only problem, we could still find ways to have fun. The bigger issue was that we both wanted to be the one in charge. That was just who Ever was. I’d played at giving up control the night I went to his hotel room, and I could do that again, but it wasn’t something I was comfortable with on an ongoing basis. Given that, it was easy to imagine it turning into a power struggle and totally falling apart.
That was more than I wanted to share with Vee right then, so I mumbled, “Something like that,” and changed the subject. “We should go back inside. Ever’s probably looking for us.”
As soon as we returned to the party, someone immediately pulled Vee into a conversation, and I looked around. I grinned when I spotted Ever on the far side of the room, chatting with JoJo and Yolanda. Then he caught sight of me, and his handsome face lit up in a smile as he gestured for me to join him.
When I reached him, he handed me a mug. “I thought you might be thirsty, and this hot apple cider smelled wonderful.” He was right. I thanked him and breathed in the comforting aroma of cloves and cinnamon as I took a sip.
It hadn’t escaped my attention that he’d been taking care of me all day, including loading my plate at dinner to make sure I ate. It wasn’t something I was used to, but it felt good.
When we got home a few minutes past midnight, Phil was waiting by the door. Ever tried to pet him, but he shunned us by turning his back and striding away, to make sure we knew how he felt about us being out all day.
Ever called after him, “I’m sorry, Phil,” before turning to me and saying, “Thank you for today. This was the best Thanksgiving ever.”
“What did you do last Thanksgiving?”
“I spent it in my office, going over the gym’s financial records.”
“That sounds lonely.”
“It was by choice. One of my colleagues had invited me to join him and his family for dinner, but I declined. It was one of the few days the gym was closed, so it was the perfect time to get things done without interruption.” He took off his jacket and draped it over his arm as he asked, “What did you do last Thanksgiving?”
“Same as this one, I worked at the shelter. Two senior staff members were running the show, and I helped out. It was fun to get to coordinate everything this year.”
“You knocked it out of the park. Seriously.”
“I tried my best. Now I have to think about ways to make Christmas special.”
“You’re working?”
I nodded. “I offered to cover both the overnight shift on Christmas Eve and to work on Christmas Day, so my coworkers can spend time with their families.”
“In that case, I’ll volunteer to work the same shifts.”
“You don’t have to do that. There’ll be a lot of parties and get-togethers on the holiday, and you might not want to miss those.”
“I’ll have a better time at the shelter with you and the kids—unless you don’t want me there.”
“No, I do.”
“Okay.” We stood in the foyer for a long moment, as if we weren’t quite sure what the other was going to do next. Finally, he said, “It’s been a long day, and you’re probably exhausted.”