Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 60418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60418 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 201(@300wpm)
“You’re absolutely right about that.” He kissed my forehead and said, “I’m looking forward to continuing this conversation in the morning. For now, I’m going to say goodnight. You should pick me up at eight, since we have a long drive ahead of us.”
“We do have a long drive, so I’ll pick you up at seven.”
He asked, “Are you sure the frankencar will survive another trip?”
“Don’t diss Bernice. She’s built like a tank.”
“Probably literally. I wouldn’t be surprised if the mechanic used some tank parts when he was cobbling it together. But sure, if you want to drive we can leave Casey’s car here.”
I drew him into an embrace. It felt so damn good. “Thank you for coming back early and giving us a chance to talk.”
He held me tightly and said, “You mean everything to me, Seth. I know I messed up, but I’m totally committed to doing whatever it takes to get us back on solid ground.”
All of a sudden, the front door flew open. Nana and Ollie rushed onto the porch, and Nana shouted, “Ah ha!”
She held her arms over her head and squirted us with two big squeeze bottles of some kind of thick liquid, and I yelled, “It’s me, Nana!”
The porch light came on—just in time. Ollie was holding a big box of glitter, and he’d been about to fling it at us.
Josh and Darwin appeared in the doorway, and Josh asked, “What’s going on? Why did you lube up Seth and his friend, Nana?”
Nana said, “Oopsie,” and relaxed her fighting stance. She was wearing pink flannel pajamas with rainbows on them, and I noticed her husband was wearing a matching light blue pair.
“Our bad.” Ollie looked contrite. “We heard something and thought Humpington was out here messing with our shit, so we tried to get the drop on him. Sorry, Seth, and whoever you are.”
“This is my boyfriend, Eden,” I said, and he gave a little wave before wiping a dollop of lube off his forehead. “Sorry to wake everyone. Um, why do I smell bacon?”
Nana held up one of the large squeeze bottles. “This lube is bacon flavored. I buy it by the case because a little cutie I know is the spokesperson for it. It’s good for stuff like slicking up my flag pole, so no one steals my Pride flag.”
Josh shepherded Nana and Ollie toward the door as he said, “Let’s all go back to bed and give Seth and his boyfriend some privacy.”
I called after them, “I’m going on a road trip bright and early tomorrow. I just wanted to let you know, in case you’re still asleep when I head out.”
Darwin told me to drive safe, while Nana called, “Be sure to invite your boyfriend for dinner when you get back! He looks like a real cutie under all that lube.”
Once they were gone, Eden turned to me, and both of us grinned. “So, that was Nana and the gang,” I said. “I’d been wanting you to meet them, and you really do have to come for dinner when we get back. I’m not sure what day that’ll be, because I don’t know my new work schedule yet.”
“When do you start?”
“Next weekend. The current assistant manager’s last day is Friday. She’s starting her own sex shop with a feminine focus and calling it Cliterati.”
“Nice.” He kissed my cheek—the one that wasn’t covered with lube—and said, “I’m going to go home and burn these clothes, because I just know this smell is never washing out. See you in the morning.” On the way to the curb, he wiped and shook off as much lube as he could, but Casey’s car was definitely going to smell like bacon for a long time to come.
I went inside and locked up before heading upstairs. The dogs were suddenly very interested in me, so I had to bob and weave while saying, “No, guys. It’s not real bacon, so quit trying to eat my pants.”
Josh and Darwin intervened and called off the dogs, and then I told them the details of my road trip as they walked me to my room. I thought it was adorable that they were dressed in Batman and Superman pajamas.
“Sorry about Nana the lubinator,” Josh said, when we paused at my door. “She gets a little carried away sometimes.”
“Actually, that’s one of my favorite things about her,” I said. “And there was no harm done.”
Darwin grinned at me. “So that was Eden, huh?”
“Yup. He came back early, because he knew we needed to talk.”
Josh asked, “So, are you two okay now?”
A smile spread across my face, and I told him, “We’re well on our way.”
Chapter 12
The next morning, I pulled up in front of George’s house at seven sharp and found Eden waiting for me on the front steps. He was dressed in gray sweat pants and an oversized pale blue hoodie, and he was looking sexy with his three-day-old beard.