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)
“And yet here we are.” Dex caught Hammer’s gaze and smirked despite his heart dancing wildly. “I have this one ex who wouldn’t even admit he was bi, but I let it slide because he was super-hot and raced cars. The adrenaline of riding shotgun with him made for the most intense sex after.”
Hammer stared at him with emotion passing over his features. “So… how was that?”
Dex’s pulse picked up. “Fast and rough. He had a kink for doing it outdoors. We might have still been a thing if I hadn’t crashed his car. But it’s for the better, because I wouldn’t have met you if that was still going on.” A weird tension curled in his stomach. He was saying these things to tease Hammer in front of Cora, to get at least a reaction out of this boyfriend-actually-hostage situation, but that didn’t change the physicality of their closeness. Hammer’s wide-shouldered frame felt so solid against him, and smelled like a fucking honeypot. He wished to get drunk and for a moment believe that a guy this fine might ever want to claim him for real.
“That’s right. But I bet there were many others before you met me,” Hammer said and pulled Dex close with one arm.
Dex’s brain became frazzled when he sensed the heat of Hammer’s armpit against his nape. “Things never really worked out with anyone else,” he mumbled, beginning to wonder whether Hammer wasn’t genuinely interested in his stories. He hadn’t gagged him after all, and he could have. “I guess I’m a handful, so it takes someone special to handle me. I would try to make it work with guys who seemed to live on the edge like me. There was this graffiti artist—he did the art on my car actually—but he was such a rebel that he wasn’t happy about me not having a stable job.” Dex rolled his eyes at the bitter memory but consoled himself by stroking Hammer’s thigh. “Then there was this guy who was a DJ at a nightclub. He was really outgoing so we got along like two raccoons in a trash can filled with marshmallows. I moved in with him within a week, but then all of a sudden it wasn’t enough that I gave him great dick three times a day, because apparently I’m messy and talk too much. Well, Hammer loves it, so his loss.” He smiled up at Hammer with a lovey-dovey expression, but in his heart he wasn’t sure if Hammer even tolerated his presence, let alone liked that Dex’s mouth worked overtime. An unnecessary insecurity to have in his precarious position, yet here they were.
His whole being whispered, Say you like it, even if it was to just be a lie for Cora’s benefit.
Hammer’s gaze was cold as steel, but he did pull Dex closer and, in a gesture straight out of a romantic movie, pushed a strand of Dex’s hair behind his ear, triggering an unexpected jolt of sensation that went straight to Dex’s groin.
Wow.
Fuck.
He’d have given Hammer his car in exchange for a single ride on his dick and likely regretted that decision later, but hey, a man only lived once!
The stern features relaxed, and the dimples, which had been tiny so far, deepened when Hammer smiled at him. “I’m only pissed off at all the fuckers who didn’t see you as the nugget of gold you are.”
Fireworks made of caramel popcorn exploded in Dex’s brain, and he munched on this treat, pretending it was real. So maybe Dex was a sucker, but how was he to resist when Hammer acted like the best boyfriend on the planet? But the keyword was: acting. None of this was real. Hammer wasn’t Dex’s boyfriend and didn’t even want to get his dick sucked by a guy.
Still, Dex was free in his mind and wished a guy like Hammer could find something special in him, something that made him worth keeping around. To, for once, be more than a liability everyone had to deal with, and that for this one person, his flaws wouldn’t be a deal-breaker. That he wouldn’t be thrown out like a used condom after he burned a pot while cooking or forgot to refuel the car.
Cora chuckled, unaware of the sudden tension filling the air between her two guests. “Bet you already murdered them all in one of your stories. I should go back on that website of yours sometime.”
Hammer’s smile froze, and he looked at the TV, ignoring Dex again.
No. Dex could not be left hanging like this!
Cora spoke before he could have, her green eyes sparkling with the desire for drama. “Oh, this is juicy! You haven’t told him?” she asked, clapping her hands.
“If that’s what you suspect, why are you still talking about it?” Hammer growled and shot her a stare that did absolutely nothing in terms of intimidation.