Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83586 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 418(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Hey, brother, that ain’t cool,” Duke said, putting a hand on his arm, but Clyde ripped it away.
“No, they ain’t cool. I’m tired of this shit. It’s everywhere you look nowadays. Men wearing fuckin’ makeup and prancin’ around in dresses and shit.”
People around us started noticing. I pushed off the stool, taking a few steps toward Jasper, who was a whole lot closer to Clyde than he’d been a minute before. Jasper’s gaze snapped to mine, and it was filled with a look that made my whole body rigid.
“Jasp, let’s get outta here,” I said, knowing this couldn’t end well.
“Clyde, man. Cut that shit out,” Earl told him. “This is Jasper and Sutton. Who gives a fuck?”
Clyde sneered at Jasper. “Why don’t you get on outta here like your girlfriend said, unless that’s you. You ain’t a real man. You the girl in this relationship? I bet you are.”
I lunged for Jasper but knew it was too late. He was already out of reach, his arm flying backward, and then his fist flew forward and connected with Clyde’s face. Clyde’s head snapped back, and then he was the one to swing, his punch connecting with Jasper’s cheek. The whole bar was paying attention now, Chet and Earl both grabbing hold of Clyde while I grabbed Jasper.
“Fuck you!” Jasper shouted at Clyde, trying to pull out of my hold. It was chaos, everyone crowding around, trying to figure out what was happening.
My heart banged against my chest. “Jasper.”
“Fuck you, Clyde. Don’t you ever say that shit to us again.” He tried to get away from me, but I held on tighter, tugging him away, but Jasper was having none of it. “I’ll show you how much of a man I am!”
And suddenly Larry was there, yelling at us. “Get the hell out of my bar with that shit! You don’t fight in my place!”
“Me? Did you hear what he said? He should be the one getting kicked out.” Jasper gave his attention to Clyde again. “Fuck you, Clyde.”
“I heard him, son, but you’re the one who swung first. I don’t give a shit who you sleep with or who you love, but if you’re starting a fight in my bar, you’re the one getting kicked out.” Larry turned to me. “Get him out of here, Sutton, before he gets himself into trouble. I’ll deal with Clyde.” He gave me an apologetic look that said Clyde wasn’t his favorite person and that he was doing this mostly for Jasper’s own good.
“Let’s go,” I said tersely, pulling him with me, and this time Jasper came. Paula and Lacey both tried to talk to us, to apologize, but I just said, “We gotta go. We’ll talk later.”
Once outside, Jasper tugged out of my grip and spit blood. “Fuck him. I can’t believe that shit. He’s a homophobe and we get kicked out? You shouldn’t have held me back.”
“Get in the fuckin’ truck, Jasper.” I jerked the passenger door open, my whole body vibrating with anger and sadness.
Jasper cursed but got in, the side of his face already red and swelling.
I slammed the door behind him before going to the driver’s side and getting in. I didn’t say a word and he didn’t either, his leg bouncing as we drove.
The second we got into the house, Jasper plopped down on the couch. I went to the kitchen, filled a bag of ice, and brought that and a towel to him.
Jasper put it on his face, dropped his head back, and closed his eyes. He looked…fuck, so damn defeated, and I knew if I stayed there any longer, I’d always keep the shit I needed to say bottled up, that if I didn’t sort through my thoughts, I’d continue to bury them so I didn’t rock the boat and lose him. Because the truth was, I felt defeated as well. There were all kinds of thoughts swimming around in my head that I needed to make sense of.
“I gotta get outta here,” I told him. “We’ll talk after I think some.”
Jasper shot forward from where he’d been leaning, panicky in a way that broke my damn heart. “What do you mean? Where are you goin’?”
I shoved a hand through my hair. Why the hell hadn’t we just stayed home and celebrated together? But then, if this hadn’t happened tonight, it would have happened some other night. “I don’t know, Jasp. Kendra’s? Uncle Brian’s? I just need to sort through shit before I say something the wrong way.”
“Sort through what? Say what the wrong way? I was defending us! Who we are together. Why are you pissed at me?” Jasper pushed to his feet. “You should’ve stuck up for us too!”
I sighed, bile climbing up my throat. Was that really what he thought? That I wouldn’t stand by us? “That ain’t what that was about, Jasp. You weren’t stickin’ up for us. You weren’t protecting what we have, and you know I would always do that. You were ashamed. You heard what he said about fuckin’ and which one of us is the girl, and all that got in your head and you reacted. That sure as shit wasn’t about you and me. It was about you provin’ you’re a man because it bothers you that you like me to fuck you, that you like me inside you. That you’re with a man and what that means for your masculinity. I knew it before, but…seein’ it was different.”