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)
“I was at Flirt the other night. I miss the old neighborhood,” he says.
“I’m sure you do. It’s a whole lot easier to stumble down the block with a trick than it is to come all the way out here.”
He smiles. “Are you calling me a slut?”
“Fuck yeah,” I reply.
“Just making sure.” We laugh. I finish packing my shit, and then I’m on my way. I have three more massages today. Luckily, those are all near one another.
Still, all I can think about is how much easier this would be if I had my own place.
***
By the time my day is over, I feel like shit. I make it back home, take a shower and then realize I haven’t eaten since breakfast. After grabbing my cell, I head for the door. For some reason, I don’t feel like eating alone. I start to head for Cody’s unit but then keep going and make a call instead.
“Hello?” Gary asks timidly.
“You have my name in your phone. Why do you sound like you’re not sure it’s really me whenever I call?” It makes me chuckle.
“Because I’m still getting used to the fact that you call?”
“Are you hungry? I need dinner. Let’s grab dinner. That’s what boyfriends do.” Stopping at the elevator, I push the button and wait.
There’s a pause before he asks, “Has Steven called yet? I feel bad. You’ve been meeting me at the gym for the past few days, and now you want to go out to eat. I mean, it’s working for me. Peter keeps trying to call, so he must be annoyed as fuck now that he thinks I’m actually moving on, which is awesome. But I feel like I’m just wasting your time. We don’t have to make an appearance together every day. People aren’t paying that much attention. They have a life outside of us.”
“Fuck that. No one has a life outside of me,” I tease. The elevator doors open, and I step inside, realizing that I want to meet Gary for dinner. It’s fun trying to figure him out, trying to discover how he can be so wild in the sack and timid in his daily life.
And it’s also easier to focus on Gary’s shit than driving myself crazy and wondering why Steven hasn’t called. “Just eat with me. I’m heading down.”
“You’re bossy.”
“You like it.”
“Ugh. I’ll meet you downstairs.” He hangs up the phone, and I realize another smile has spread across my lips. I don’t know why he fights himself so damn hard or why I seem to be making it my business. But he does, and I am…and yeah, I’ll scratch those thoughts too.
It takes him about ten minutes to meet me. When he arrives, I realize his hair is wet. He must have either just gotten out of the shower or he wet it to meet me. He’s got this shy, unsure look on his face that presses my buttons in ways I wouldn’t have thought. “You’re cute,” I tell him when he stops in front of me.
“I’m…” His brows pull together, and he gets this twitch under his right eye. “Why?”
“Don’t ask why if someone says you’re cute. Own that shit, Gary. Let’s go.” I open the door for him. He doesn’t move, just stares at me before I signal for him to go out. When he does, I’m right behind him, and we’re making our way down Cypress Street.
“Is Mike’s okay?” I ask him. It’s only about a block up the street. “We can eat on the patio up front. We’ll be sure to be seen.”
“Yeah, that works. I…thank you for doing this. You’re going above and beyond.”
I shrug, don’t tell him that part of the reason we’re heading to Mike’s right now is because I find him intriguing. I’ve never known someone like him before, and the thing is, it’s obvious he’s a good guy. It pisses me off what that fucker Peter did to him, and that he’s so in denial when given a compliment. He deserves better than that. “No problem.”
It doesn’t take us long to get there and be seated. We both order sweet tea before the waiter has a chance to get away from us, and then we’re browsing the menu.
“You didn’t answer my question on the phone,” he tells me.
Without taking my eyes off the menu, I ask, “What question?”
“If Steven has called.”
My stomach clenches tight. No…no, he hasn’t called, and it’s driving me out of my fucking mind. What if he doesn’t? What if he changes his mind? “Nope.” My eyes are still browsing the sandwiches.
Gary has a concerned tone to his voice when he speaks. “He will. Try not to worry about it. I’m sure he’s just been busy. It’ll all work out. It’s obvious he wants to give you the money.”
It’s impossible to keep my eyes from darting his way now. I want to tell him I’m not worried because I hate feeling out of control, like I’m being given some kind of test to tell if I’m good enough because that’s always what my parents did. But the truth is, I’m really fucking worried it won’t happen. That I’ll fail. There’s also a part of me that wants to know how in the hell he realized I’m bothered, but I don’t say that either. Instead, I answer with, “I’m thinking about getting the roast beef sandwich. I deserve some bread today. What about you?”