Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82250 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
He doesn’t grasp my hand right away, looking at Gary and then back at me. Jesus, this guy is a stuck-up motherfucker. Is this the kind of dude Gary is into?
Finally, he grabs my hand and shakes it. “Peter. This is Evan. How long have you known Gary?”
This gets Gary’s attention. “It’s none of your business, Peter.”
“Yeah. It’s none of your business, Peter,” I add and wonder what in the fuck I’m doing. I sound like I’m twelve.
Just then, I see movement out of my periphery. Instinctively, I know exactly who it is, and I’m caught between wanting to pull away from Gary because the last thing I need is for Steven, who already has questions about my character, to think I’m randomly fucking Gary, but also not wanting to hang Gary out to dry.
“Travis, I was looking for you.” Steven zeroes in on the man beneath my arm. When Gary nudges my side, I realize I’m squeezing his shoulder.
“You know him?” Peter asks, and fuck my life for trying to help Gary out. All it’s doing is creating a mess for me.
“Peter. It’s good to see you.” Steven holds his hand out for Peter, who shakes it a whole hell of a lot quicker than he did mine. “Travis and I are considering doing some business together.” He turns his attention back to me. “I didn’t realize you had a…friend here.”
My pulse begins to slam against my skin. A bead of sweat rolls down the side of my face and stings my eye, but I force myself to ignore it. What are my choices here? If I say Gary is just a friend, then I give Peter’s smug ass the satisfaction I don’t want him to have and also, risk him telling Steven that basically I’m using Gary as a fuck-toy, which he no doubt believes. And no, there’s nothing wrong with fuck-toys if both parties want to play, but it’s not something that’s really going to make Steven confident in dishing money out on me.
And I really want this fucking money. I need it.
So…I wing it. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t sure if it was appropriate for Gary to be around while we spoke. Gary, this is Steven, the man I told you about. Steven this is my…” Oh fuck. I am so screwed. How did I get myself into this situation? “…My boyfriend, Gary.”
Gary doesn’t move. Doesn’t breathe. Doesn’t respond. I’m going to fucking kill him if he calls me out on this lie after I came over to save his ass. This is basically all his fault.
Speaking of ass…I lower my hand again and give his a gentle pat that I’m hoping says, Play along. You owe me. “Sorry. I think I rendered him speechless with the kiss I gave him a few moments ago. He does that to me every time I look at him.”
That seems to shock Gary into action. “Don’t be ridiculous, Travis. You’re the one who nearly knocks me on my ass every time I see you.”
Once. He fell on his ass once and that was Derek’s fault for sending me to his bed.
“Hi, I’m Hayden,” the other man, who I’d forgotten was there, speaks up. “Peter, Evan, you guys look great,” he adds, and I’m pretty sure he’s trying to take the attention off us.
“You get speechless when you look at me? Laying it on a little thick, don’t you think?” Gary whispers tersely out of the side of his mouth.
“Fuck off. I’m going off the fly here.”
Steven’s attention zeroes back in on Gary. This time, he manages to shake the other man’s hand. Peter’s got his arms crossed, giving me a hard stare, and I really think I fucking hate this guy.
“Peter, let’s go swimming,” Evan tells him, which is a great idea if you ask me. I want them to get the fuck out of here as quickly as possible.
It’s Steven who speaks next. “How would you and Gary like to have dinner with my partner and me next week, Travis? There are a few things I’d like to think through, and then the four of us can meet again and take it from there.”
He’s testing me. Not because he thinks I’m lying about being with Gary because who in the fuck really does that? But I think he’s trying to see how much I want this. If I’m willing to be patient. Hell, judging by what he told me about his relationship, maybe being with Gary shows him I have some kind of stability that he thinks I’m lacking. “Yeah, that’d be great. What do you think, Gary?”
I look down at him and see a wild, sort of frantic look in his blue eyes. Luckily, he recovers quickly. “Of course. That’d be great. We’d love to.”
“Good, good,” he replies. “I’ll get in touch with you on the date. Now have fun; go swimming, you two.” Steven turns toward Peter. “I wanted to run a few fundraising options by you when you get a chance, Pete,” he says, making it painfully obvious the two know each other well, at least through their fundraising work.