Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Right.” Tam lowered his head again and his hair fell to hide him. He fled to the privacy of the bathroom to brush his teeth and take care of business while Driver finished getting ready. Before Tam was done, there was a soft knock on the door.
“I’m gonna head out. I’ll call you later, okay?”
Tam froze with suds of toothpaste in his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut against the pang in his heart. He spit, then answered, “Okay.”
He didn’t move again until he heard the soft click-click of his front door opening and shutting. Then he gripped the edge of the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
It would be okay. They just needed the chance to find their way again. It would come back in time.
Unfortunately, time was the one thing they didn’t have.
* * *
Driver fell onto Harrison’s couch with an exhale so strong it ruffled his hair and slammed his head back against the chilly leather seat.
What the fuck was wrong with him? Hell, what was wrong with Tam?
Why had things seemed so weird?
He hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on, but it didn’t matter because the room faced the east anyway and sunlight made the warm yellow paint glow. Of course, it was cold enough he could see his breath, but hell if he was ready to deal with that problem just yet.
One thing at a time and the strangeness of the morning was taking all his focus.
From the moment he’d opened his eyes, everything had been off. Which bugged the shit out of him because they’d been so in sync since the beginning. Even their very first meeting had been easy. So damn easy.
Driver remembered the way his stomach fluttered the first time Tam laughed.
He wanted that easy feeling back more than anything else in that moment. He wanted to hear Tam’s laugh for the first time all over again. He’d been a hero then, or at least it had felt like it. Triumph had lit him up inside all because of Tam’s smile.
This morning, there had been no smiling. No laughing.
Nothing but awkwardness.
Spilling his guts hadn’t helped a damn thing between them. It hadn’t cleared the air and it definitely hadn’t made him feel any better about the situation. In fact, he kind of felt like shit.
In the corner, Mikey peeked his head from his shell and gave him the evil eye.
“Sorry, buddy.” Driver dumped an extra-large helping of food into the habitat then crossed to the thermostat on the wall. How the hell did he turn the heat on?
He checked the clock on his phone and did a quick calculation of the time difference before dialing Harrison.
“Are you seriously awake before eight?” Harrison said as a greeting.
“How the fuck do you turn on your heater? I’m freezing my balls off.”
Harrison laughed. “Jesus, you are a lost cause. I left you a list on the fridge. Have you eaten anything at all since you’ve been there?”
Driver scratched his head as he went into the kitchen. No, he hadn’t. He’d been eating with Tam this whole time. No way in hell he was telling Harrison that, though. “You’re an asshole.”
“Takes one to know one, my friend. Find it?”
“Yes.” He squinted at Harrison’s awful handwriting trying to understand the directions.
“Anything else you need?”
Driver perked up at Harrison’s tone. Usually his friend was ready for a chat, but now he was rushing to get off the phone. “Did I interrupt something?”
“Yep, now go fuck off.”
“Oh! A date? Who is she?”
“Since when do you want to hear about my love life?”
True. Driver never had any interest in what his friends did in their private lives, but he was desperate for a distraction. “Fine, be that way.”
“I’m alone. It’s just late and I need to be up early for work.”
“Hey, um, any word on when you’ll be back?” Why did he ask that? He didn’t want to know. Fuck. “Never mind—”
“End of the month,” Harrison answered at the same time.
And now Driver felt sick. One more week to go. “Great.” Not meaning it. At. All.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, man. Always. I’ll let you go to sleep. Thanks for the list. Sorry for bugging you.”
They hung up and Driver took the instructions to get the heat going. When that was done, he got his phone out again and checked his messages. After hearing Brandon’s threat, he sent a quick text.
It wasn’t enough.
The day stretched out before him, empty and torturous without anything to keep his mind off things.
He was desperate for a distraction. But he wasn’t sure if it was the desperation that made him call his grandparents or the residue of his confession from the night before.
As soon as Gran answered, tension leaked from his shoulders.
“Sorry, Gran. I shouldn’t have left like that.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
By midafternoon, Tam was well and truly into his mad. The students in his first class had stayed clear of him as if they sensed how dangerous he was. Tam didn’t mind. Actually, it made him feel mildly better. At least someone thought he was a threat.