Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83394 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 334(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
My chest was tight. I couldn’t breathe as I clutched the edge of the counter. “He shouldn’t ever put his fucking hands on you. Please, Jojo. Let me tell.”
“No. You can’t! You promised, Gage. It’s only a few more months, and then I never have to see him again. They won’t believe me. Faded finger marks on my arm aren’t proof. They’ll take his side. They’ll say it’s something we need to figure out as a family. You know how it works.”
I did. My dad was right in that someone like Jojo’s father could always get away with anything they wanted. “I hate that he’s hurting you. I hate not doing anything. I feel like I’m letting you down.”
“It’s not your job to protect me or anyone else, Gage. You can’t be everyone’s hero.”
It was crazy how I hated that name—Hero—when Romeo and Mouse used it, but part of me wanted to be exactly that for Jojo.
He added, “I’m fine. I don’t want this to ruin our day.”
I nodded, still not liking it. My erection had gone down but started to plump up again as I watched Jojo finish undressing. We got in the shower together, and it was…different and good. He pushed up on his toes, kissed me, wrapped a hand around my shaft, and fuck, it was amazing.
I did the same to him, kissing him and stroking him until he pulled his mouth away and made that sucked-in-breath sound that told me he was going to come. I joined him, following him right over the edge, the evidence going down the drain.
We pressed our foreheads together and breathed, letting the water wash over us.
“I love you, Gage.”
“I love you too.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Joey
It was a little awkward between us after the shower. I hated that my dad and the stupid bruises had almost ruined the fact that, oh my God, I’d taken a shower with Gage and we’d jacked each other off. Because, oh my God, I’d taken a shower with Gage and we’d jacked each other off.
How had this become my life?
We got dressed and met Mouse and Romeo in the living room. We made soup and sandwiches for lunch, then played video games for a while. I happened to be an excellent player and kicked all their asses more than anyone else. Then we went outside again but didn’t stay out as long and didn’t roll around in the snow as we had been before.
We’d brought frozen pizzas for dinner, which Romeo put in to bake while Mouse started a fire in the fireplace. After dinner we all changed into night clothes, roasted marshmallows, then turned out the lights to watch scary movies. Gage sat at one of the corners of the couch, me curled up beside him, my feet on the cushion. His arm was warm around me. I nuzzled into his chest, breathed in the clean scent of his white T-shirt.
My eyes flickered around the room as the movie played. Mouse’s gaze kept getting drawn to Romeo, but then she would turn away. She noticed me catching her once. I cocked a brow and she shook her head, but there was a small smile on her lips.
The day was perfect. Probably my favorite one ever. I was so lucky to have these three people in my life—and Mouse and Romeo hadn’t even blinked when they realized my relationship with Gage had changed. All three of them would do anything for me, and I would do anything for them.
We watched two movies before Gage asked, “You ready to go to bed?”
“Yeah.” I still couldn’t wrap my brain around Gage being my boyfriend. We were going to bed together, the way people did when they were a unit.
We all said our good-nights, Gage and I going to our room, Romeo and Mouse going to separate ones. I closed the door behind us, and Gage ran toward the bed, dive-bombing into it like he was twelve.
“You’re such a dork,” I teased.
“You are what I am,” he replied softly.
Yeah, yeah I was.
A few minutes later, after we’d used our hands on each other again, we lay in bed, naked together, with the lights off. Gage curled into me, his head on my chest, me with my arm wrapped around him. His hair tickled my neck. “Why do you think it’s like this between us?” I asked. I wasn’t stupid. Most seventeen-year-olds didn’t fall in love. They didn’t love each other their whole lives the way I had Gage.
“I don’t know.” His breath danced over my chest, making me tremble. Luckily, the heat kept it nice and toasty in the room. “It always has been, though. I wonder about it too sometimes. How I knew. That moment when you asked me to be your friend, I knew it was right. It was like something shifted inside me, which I get is fucking stupid. God, I sound like an idiot, but…”