Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117574 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 588(@200wpm)___ 470(@250wpm)___ 392(@300wpm)
“I don’t remember the choreography,” he insists. “This was, like, seventeen years ago.”
“So, make something up on the fly. I won’t know the difference.”
“I tell you what. When we reach our goal, I’ll do a performance for you as a reward.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Do you promise?”
“What will you give me in return, as my reward?”
“A kiss?”
“Sold.”
“Well, damn, that was easy.”
He shrugs. “I really, really want to kiss you.”
“Okay, fine. You drive a hard bargain: I’ll throw in the fuck of your life, too.”
He bursts out laughing. “Double-sold.”
Auggie holds up his beer to me, so I hold up my wine.
“To reaching our goal in record speed,” he says.
“Yes. And to kissing and fucking and making my tweener fantasies come true as our rewards, in addition to not getting killed or maimed.”
“Hell yeah to all of it. Cheers.”
“Cheers.”
We clink glasses, and while we’re still sipping our respective drinks, Auggie’s phone on the coffee table buzzes. He looks at his screen and tells me the charging cord for the video camera has arrived. Apparently, it downstairs in his mailbox.
“Lucky probably needs to go out, anyway,” he says, rising from the couch and stretching. “I’ll go get it now and take him out.”
“Bring it to me when you come back up,” I say. “I’m dying to see if the camera works, once it’s plugged in.”
“I might walk Lucky around the block. How late will you be up?”
“I’m a night owl. Come by whenever you’re back.”
We head out of Auggie’s place with Lucky hopping at our heels, and while Auggie and Lucky head down the long hallway, I slip through my door. Once inside my condo, I close my door and exhale loudly. Damn, damn, damn. Did Auggie have that much big dick energy at Captain’s? If he did, and I missed it, then I was blind. I have to assume this crazy situation has brought out something new in him—something unexpected that’s exceedingly attractive to me. Otherwise, the fact that I didn’t smile back at him at Captain’s was proof positive that I’m an epic dumbshit.
I head to my bathroom and do my nighttime routine. When that’s done, I grab a glass of water and sit at the folding card table in my living room and wait. When there’s a knock at the door, I peek through the peephole to confirm it’s him, and when I open the door, I’m shocked to feel my heart fluttering. Jesus. I’m fluttering like a teenager being picked up for prom!
“Long time, no see,” I joke.
Auggie hands me a padded envelope—the charging cord for the video camera. We stowed the video camera, cassettes, and documents at my place after coming back from the storage facility.
“Let me know if it works,” he says. “Hopefully, we got the right one.”
“Why don’t you come in to see?”
Auggie takes a deep breath like he’s bracing himself for something, but, ultimately, he follows me inside. While he waits in the living room, I grab the video camera from my bedroom and come back and plug it in with the new cord. But nothing happens.
“Maybe it needs to charge fully to start working?” I suggest.
“Nah. Once it’s plugged in, it should be fully functional.” Auggie takes the device from me and monkeys around with it for a bit. But when he’s done, he concludes we’ve got the right kind of cord, but the camera itself must be broken somehow and not able to receive the charge.
“What a bummer,” I say. “How are we going to watch all those cassettes?”
“We’ll find ourselves a working camera, that’s how.” Auggie pulls out his phone, runs a couple searches, and finds the exact same model of video camera for a cheap price. “New camera on its way,” he says with a wink. “We should have it in less than a week.”
“Sorry for the delay. I know you’re super stressed about what might be on those cassettes.”
Auggie flashes me a crooked smile. “I’m mildly stressed about that. I’m super stressed about getting the money we need.”
“It’s funny how a person’s priorities can change, huh?”
“Life is funny that way, for sure.”
Something passes between us. A nonverbal recognition, perhaps, of how much has changed between us in only a few short days.
“So, what’s your schedule tomorrow?” I ask, and Auggie replies that he’s got class in the morning, but he’s free to do shows with me after that.
“Do you want to bring Lucky here on your way to school tomorrow? There’s no reason for him to be left alone while you’re gone.”
“Really? He’d love that.”
“Great. I’d love the company. I’ll even take him for a walk.”
Auggie thanks me profusely, and we talk about timing. He tells me about a little park, on-campus, where Lucky loves to play ball, and I say I’d be happy to take him there. Auggie says he always grabs coffee and an egg sandwich in the morning when he takes Lucky out first thing, so I give him my breakfast order. And through it all, sexual energy is crackling between us. It’s undeniable.