Total pages in book: 157
Estimated words: 145088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145088 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 484(@300wpm)
He didn’t like the silence that followed, though it wasn’t too jarring since Wolfgang kept on playing. What had he said wrong now?
Peter raised his eyebrow at Dex. “It’s ‘Für Elise’. By Beethoven,” he added when Dex wasn’t sure what he was supposed to gather from the title.
“Oh. Still very talented,” he mumbled. At this rate, Hammer would soon realize he’d plucked Dex out of the junkyard like the piece of trash he was, and discard him at the nearest Dumpster.
“Only one of the most known piano pieces,” Cynthia said as Hammer tensed.
“People don’t live to fulfill others’ expectations of them.”
“You never did,” Peter quipped, pretending to be entranced by the music with his arms folded on his chest.
Oh no, this was going downhill fast. “But he has so many other talents than piano,” Dex said quickly.
Cynthia sent a sad glance Hammer’s way. “Have you even heard him play? Before the whole debacle at his high school, he was excellent.”
“Because you made me do it. I never wanted to in the first place,” he said, raising his voice when Wolfgang banged the piano keys harder, as if trying to drown out the noisy conversation.
Dex stepped between them, desperate to make things better. “Everyone had different talents, but you also get better at the things you practice. I know I’ve already made an idiot of myself here. I don’t know the piano songs, and I can’t eat pasta right, but for example, I’m a really great shot. Sounds like I’m blowing my own horn, but it’s true. Even Hammer says so. What I’m saying is that everyone has something to offer. Maybe I could show you, or even teach Wolfgang a thing or two,” he said and pulled out his zebra striped gun with a smile.
The kid stopped playing. “Is that real?”
“Go to your room,” Cynthia said, and dragged him from the piano, frantic as if Dex had pointed the firearm her way. Reality was spinning on its head, and Dex stepped closer to Hammer, who remained quiet as everything around them crumbled.
Peter was red as tomato juice when he whispered as soon as his young child was out of the door. “You have no sense of boundaries. There is no shooting training in the suburbs. And you can’t just offer it to someone else’s child without asking!”
Cynthia stormed back in, holding one hand on her chest as if she were assessing her heartbeat. “What was that? Floria—”
“Hammer.”
She sucked in air and shoved a wooden box of paper tissues off a sideboard. “How dare you correct me after your guest did this!”
Dex swallowed. "I'm sorry. I thought we were doing, like, a skills thing? Where everyone shows off their best talent…"
Peter gestured at him. “How did you end up dating someone so unpolished? When you showed up here, we hoped you really did turn your life around, that maybe you just had a sexuality problem, but the company you keep shows your true colors!”
“You don’t even need intellectual stimulation from people anymore,” Cynthia added. “You two are a danger to Wolfgang.”
Hammer sniggered. “And we wouldn’t want to spoil your good child.”
Dex ran his fingers through his hair, at loss, but then remembered to put the gun away. This was a disaster. He was a disaster. Sure, he knew that Hammer was a smart guy, and liked that about him, but Peter and Cynthia’s reactions stripped away any hope that the two of them were a true match. There was only so much sex could patch in the long run, and one day, Hammer would decide Dex was not an adequate boyfriend for him.
“I’m sorry. I was taught how to shoot early on, so I didn’t think—”
Peter raised his finger in the air. “That’s the thing! You didn’t think!”
“He is trying,” Hammer said, stepping in front of Dex like a wall of muscle and leather.
“It’s not enough,” Cynthia said. “His behavior is completely inappropriate, and you should have known better than to come here with him. Maybe house-break him first before he comes to my table talking about condoms in front of a ten-year-old!”
Dex’s ears burned. She was right. He should have been more careful with words, yet, like always, he got so ahead of himself he blabbed inappropriate shit. Hammer’s parents seemed interested in rekindling familial bonds and accepting their son for who he was, bounty hunting included, but Dex spoiled it for them.
Like he always spoiled things.
Hammer growled. “You’re so fucking judgmental. So maybe he shouldn’t have showed Wolfgang the gun, but you’ve been against him before that already. What does it matter that he doesn’t have the knowledge some people arbitrarily decided people need to have in order to sieve out undesirables? This is exactly why I left,” he said and grabbed Dex’s arm, pulling him toward the door.
Dex didn’t have the strength to fight him, but Peter followed them down the corridor.