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)
“Want to?” Gage asked me like we were a unit. My eyes flickered toward Katie. The idea of being a third wheel…well, it fucking sucked.
“Nah, you guys go. I don’t want to intrude.”
“You wouldn’t be intruding.” She gave me a strange smile. “You know what? My cousin Mike is here from out of town, and he’ll probably want to go with us—he’s nineteen. I think you’ll like him.”
I frowned. Why would she think I’d like him?
“Come on. Go with us. I’m supposed to hang out with Mike anyway, and he’d be just like you and not want to go with a couple, so you guys can hang out.”
Gage looked at her, his brow furrowed, clearly as confused by this as I was.
“Okay…sure,” I replied.
“Awesome! He’s from San Francisco. He’s great!”
We hung out a little while longer before Gage and Katie took off in her car, and me, Mouse, and Romeo in Romeo’s Jeep.
“I can’t believe you’re going to the movies with them,” Mouse said. Honestly, I couldn’t either, but it was what it was.
“Why wouldn’t he?” Romeo asked before saying, “Oh.”
“Wait. What do you mean, oh?” My heart sped up like a professional race car.
“Well…because…well, you know. You’re in love with Hero.”
My eyes shot to Mouse. “You told him!”
“I didn’t tell him shit!”
“Um, no offense, but it’s pretty obvious, at least to your friends. I don’t think the whole school knows, but…we’re always together, the four of us. I’d have to be stupid not to know.”
Falling against the back of the seat, I crossed my arms and grumbled. My stupid eyes started to sting. I hated being so transparent. If Romeo saw it too, Gage definitely had to know.
“Did I say something wrong?” Romeo asked. “It’s just me. You know I don’t care, right? You could fuck every guy in the school for all I care. You’re Joey and he’s Gage. It just…makes sense, ya know?”
My insides jolted, and I almost asked him if Gage knew. The way it sounded…like maybe he did, and maybe Romeo thought we were a thing, or one day we’d be a thing… But I didn’t. If Gage felt the same about me, he would have said so when we acknowledged I was gay.
Romeo dropped me off first. Dad wasn’t home, so I got to chill in an empty house for a bit. About half an hour before Katie and Gage were coming to pick me up, I started to get ready. I came into the kitchen just as Dad got home.
“Where you headed?” he asked.
“To the movies and to grab some dinner.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “With who?”
“Gage…and his girlfriend, Katie, and her cousin.” I purposefully didn’t say whether it was a girl or a boy, hoping he assumed the first and that I had a date. The way his smile grew, I could tell he did.
“Good man. I was starting to worry about you. Not just scrawny and soft, but I thought you might be a girlie boy too.”
It felt like a fist closed around my heart, squeezing the life out of me. I tried not to flinch, not to cry. “No, sir,” I managed to say, even though the voice in my head was screaming, Yes! I’m gay, and I love Gage, and I hate you!
“You should try and get your dick wet. Maybe it’ll make a man out of you.” He hit my chest with the back of his hand, adding, “I’m gonna take a shower.”
“I’m, um…I’m supposed to meet them at the end of the driveway so we’re not late. I’m gonna go outside and wait for them.”
“Have fun. Maybe next you’ll find some better friends than the kids of the town slut and drunk. It’s embarrassing, Joe.”
Ugh. I hated being called Joe.
“I should go,” I said, not trusting myself to stand there a second longer. I went out the door and started walking down the driveway. The conversation kept running laps in my head, this loud echo I couldn’t quiet or force off-track.
Why did I have to be the way I was?
Why did he have to be the way he was?
I hit the end of the driveway right when Katie was about to turn her Honda toward my house. Gage was in the passenger seat. All it took was one look to see he was annoyed. His shoulders were set, his jaw tight.
I frowned, tried to get him to meet my gaze, but he didn’t. I went to the car and opened the back door. “Hey…” Oh. Wow. Mike was gorgeous, with blond curls and brown eyes. The perfect boy next door, and that had never been my thing, but he smiled at me, and weirdly, my cheeks got warm.
“Hi. I’m Mike.”
“Joey.” To my surprise, he reached over and hugged me.
“Katie was right. You’re adorable.”
My stomach plummeted. It hit me then what was happening, why Katie said I’d like him, why she thought it was a good idea that the four of us went together.