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)
I went home to exactly what I knew I would—beer bottles, a bong, passed-out bodies.
I took a shower and went to my room but didn’t go back to sleep.
At noon I called Katie. “Can we meet up?”
She hesitated, then whispered, “Yeah, of course.”
We met at the park. I had to ride my bike there. It felt wrong to ask her to come and get me. We sat at the same picnic table we had all been at yesterday…how could it only have been yesterday? It felt like everything had changed since then, like my world had expanded and grown into what it was always supposed to be, and I’d been blind to it before.
“You’re breaking up with me, huh?” she asked.
“I’m sorry. It’s not you. I just…got a lot going on, and I never really wanted to get serious in high school anyway.”
“That’s a lie and you know it. You’ve always belonged to Joey. You just didn’t let yourself see it.”
My eyes darted to her, panic taking root in my bones. If she knew, everyone would know. I didn’t care about me; I cared about him. He wasn’t ready. People would tease him in a way they wouldn’t me. His dad would kill him. “No, it’s not…”
“It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone. Mike’s my cousin, but he’s also my best friend. I know what it was like for him. Our family was okay with it, but he had a boyfriend…in secret, in high school, and when the guy’s parents found out, they sent him away to some kind of camp to make him straight. It screwed with his head. I would never do that to anyone.”
For the first time since she mentioned Joey, I breathed. Katie was great, and I really did like her. “If there wasn’t a Jojo, then it’d be you. There’s not another girl in town I could say that about.”
She gave me a small smile. “Thanks, but who says I’d want more with you anyway, Gage Beaumont. I start college next year. College boys are hot.”
We both laughed. When she dropped her head on my shoulder, I leaned in and rested mine on hers too, letting myself see what I’d kept buried, hear what I tried to silence. Joey was it for me. He was always supposed to be it for me. Nothing would ever change that, and I didn’t want it to.
CHAPTER SIX
Joey
“Hey, Dad. Can I borrow your truck for a little while?”
Gage had called me, saying we needed to talk. We could have walked, or ridden our bikes, or even called Romeo, but I wanted to be alone with him. Last night still felt like a dream. I couldn’t believe it happened, that we’d slept in the same bed and held each other. I wasn’t sure what it meant and was scared he would tell me it meant nothing, while at the same time knowing Gage wouldn’t hurt me that way.
“How was your date last night?” Dad asked instead of answering, because of course that had to be what was important.
“It was good.” Not a lie. Well, the first part hadn’t been great, but it ended well.
“Going to see her again?”
“Yes, sir.” Okay…kind of a lie? Obviously, there was no girl, but I would see Gage again and who knew if I’d see Mike again. “I like her. She was really nice.”
He nodded. “Too bad she doesn’t live here.”
As soon as he said it, I realized it was the perfect cover story. Katie’s cousin could be my girlfriend. It would keep him off my back and maybe, just maybe, it would make him less disgusted with me. “Yeah, but I still might…ya know, ask her to be my girlfriend. We have a ton in common, more than I do with anyone around here. Plus, she comes here pretty often.”
Dad smiled at me in a way he never had—like I made him proud. All I had to do to make him proud was have a girlfriend? “Maybe you’re finally catching up with your peers.” He laughed. “When I was your age, I was chasing every piece of tail I could.” Dad pulled his keys from his pocket and tossed them at me.
Luckily, I caught them. He would have made some kind of comment if I hadn’t. “Thanks, Dad.”
“I’m proud of you, son.” While his words should have felt good, they just…hurt. He was proud of me because he thought I met a girl. He wouldn’t be proud if it was a boy. He would lose his mind if it was Gage. It was one thing for us to be friends, but if he knew I loved him… I didn’t want to think about what would happen.
I went for the truck. Once inside, I called Gage to let him know I was on my way. We tried to avoid texting as much as we could.