Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103918 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 520(@200wpm)___ 416(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
"Yeah, sure. I can pick you up some stuff. Just let me know what you want."
Another moment of silence. "I was hoping you could take me to the store. I know this sounds weird, but I've been practicing trying to move around a bit and I just… I want to get out there and see what it's like…"
When he didn't say more, I said, "Absolutely. I can pick you up in fifteen minutes. Will that work?"
"Yes, that would be great, thank you."
I felt ridiculously giddy at the prospect of seeing the young man again. How the hell had I gone from enjoying the solitude of my life to being excited by the prospect of seeing one particular person who I’d only just met and who was stirring up feelings within me that I never would've expected?
I considered what he'd said about wanting to get out there. I wasn't sure if he meant that he wanted to see how people would react to him and his limitation or if he just needed to get out of the cabin for a while. God knew it was easy to go stir-crazy after being cooped up for even a few days in a cabin that had no internet and limited television channels. And since reading wasn't an option, I wondered what Lex had been doing to entertain himself for the past week.
I reminded myself that it was none of my business and went to the kitchen to pull on my boots and shrug my coat on. Today was supposed to be a relatively mild day, but it was still only in the low forties. Once outside, I called for Brewer with a sharp whistle. The husky mix bolted out of the tree line and was in the back of the truck before I even reached the vehicle. I gave him a pat and then quickly got underway.
It took just minutes to get to Birch Cabin. As soon as I saw Lex waiting outside, something inside of me lifted. I shook my head because I just didn't get it. I thought back to when I’d met my wife. There had most definitely been an instant attraction there, but I couldn't remember having had this sensation of rightness every time I'd seen her. I couldn't help but wonder if maybe that had been a sign of things to come.
Thoughts of my ex immediately crashed whatever high I'd been riding and by the time I got out of the vehicle and near the porch to where Lex was waiting, I no longer felt like doing anything but going home and crawling into my bed or, better yet, to the bottom of the bottle of whiskey I’d bought but hadn’t consumed the day Lex had apologized to me.
Brewer reached Lex before I did and as soon as the large dog licked Lex's fingers, he smiled widely and greeted my dog with excitement. As I climbed the porch steps, my eyes dropped to where Lex's hands smoothed over Brewer's body. My dick reacted to the sight and that only served to darken my mood even more.
"Are you ready to go?" I asked gruffly.
I saw Lex's hands come to a stop on Brewer's body and his whole frame went stiff. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said. I could hear the confusion in his voice, and I wanted to kick myself for being such an asshole. It wasn't his fault that I was so messed up in the head about him… about everything. I wanted to just get back on track to the way life had been before Lex had arrived. I missed my mundane days where routine was my best friend. Where keeping busy kept me from having to think about things.
Moving up the steps, I reached for Lex's arm. He followed without hesitation and when I called out each step to him, he took them with confidence. His trust in me was humbling.
Once we were settled in the truck, I said, "Is Merv's okay? It doesn't have a huge selection, but it's got some decent stuff. Otherwise we have to drive over to Bluewater Ridge to go to one of the grocery stores there."
"Yes, that should be fine. Thanks for doing this, Gideon. Andre wasn't able to make it yesterday because of the weather and then today the car broke down, so I was running a bit low on stuff. I didn't want to risk going another day living off granola bars."
"Granola bars? Why in the world didn't you call me sooner?" I asked angrily. The idea that Lex had risked a diabetic crisis by eating foods that were only meant to supplement his diet made me crazy. "Did you have any episodes? How are you feeling right now? Did you test your blood sugar?"
"First off, I'm fine and my blood sugar is fine. Second off, why are you getting so upset?" Lex asked. Even if I hadn't heard it in his voice, the anger in his expression was clear.