Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Mike couldn’t take the stupidity of that argument. “Those two things aren’t similar at all! Are you saying sucking Arden’s dick would permanently change me? How? I can go back to pussy any time I want. What did you want to achieve here? You think threatening him would change my mind? That I would stop protecting him because of money? Come on, Dad! You know me better than this.”
Dad exhaled, shutting his eyes as if he wanted to forget about the inferno he’d caused. "People will talk, Mike. They already do. Right now, you can still go back on this shit and be the prankster of the century or whatever you want to achieve. But if people realize you’re serious, women will look at you differently. We all know Leo’s bisexual, but you still call him gay. I don’t even need an answer right now. Just think about it without being all defensive. You’ve been through a lot, and I want the best for you.”
Mike took a deep breath, trying to clear his brain of all the latent anger. Arden was safe, and Dad’s annoyance was focused on Mike’s behavior rather than the boy. “Dad, I know you mean well, and you… I guess you said it yourself that you think we’re alike. I get it that it’s hard to see me not acting like you’d expect me to, but believe me when I say I don’t care what people think. I really don’t. Remember when people said I could have a prettier girlfriend than Leah? I didn’t care either. I don’t live to satisfy other people.”
Dad lowered his eyes at the mention of Leah, and he nodded. “Fine, but keep me informed on what’s going on. It’s enough that the Jarens are trying to push their bride on us. We don’t know this Luke guy well, so it’s hard to say when or if he’ll stop being a danger to the boy. I agree to stop taking Arden’s money, but if you want to give him back what he already paid, dig into your own savings. You live here for free and don’t have kids. You can afford it.”
Mike scowled. “Fine. He’s mine, and I’ll take care of him.”
Dad had nothing to say to that, so Mike walked out, but the storm raging in his head was still there. As much as he didn’t care how other people felt about him, the problem lay in how he understood himself. Because as much as he liked to look sturdy and relentless in front of Dad, he wasn’t sure how he’d feel if girls started shunning him. His relationship with Arden wasn’t even real, proven by their sexless bed, and if Arden didn’t want to take things further unless they were really an item, and Mike didn’t want a relationship, then he shouldn’t drag this out. Maybe Dad was right after all?
He should find a girl to have fun with, because the current limbo wasn’t good for anyone. Not him. Not Arden. And when something at the back of his mind whispered he’d miss the sight of a cock pushing at lace, he waved it off, and wiped his face with his forearm, leaving the building in a somber mood.
Was he into girly boys? Was that it, and he’d just never met any before Arden? Or was he straight and therefore liked feminine people, regardless of their junk? He wasn’t sure it mattered when people like Arden were so few and far between.
His feet dug into the dirt when through the open door of the bar, he spotted one of the strippers rubbing herself against the pole, and realised he hadn’t had sex in two months. Two months!
When was the last time that happened?
The answer choked him, because it had been after he’d lost Leah and couldn’t look at other women for a while. But once he was out of mourning? It had never happened since. Mike had always been hypersexual, eager to find new partners, but he’d been so absorbed with Arden’s presence of late that he hadn’t sought out willing girls, or agreed to liaisons when they were proposed.
He’d been too enchanted, too focused on this incredible creature to even think about anyone else. And that one time the two of them had sex? He’d exploded. What did that say about him?
All he knew was that he wasn’t gay. The idea of kissing a man like Zolt, one sporting masculine cologne and scratching him with stubble made Mike gag. But Arden wasn’t like that. Arden was… somewhere between genders in a way that completely preoccupied Mike. No wonder Dad was worried. Was it possible that his interest in Arden did in fact numb him to womanly charms? He hadn’t been worried before, but now that the seed of doubt had taken root in his brain, he needed to know for sure. And Arden didn’t have a reason to be offended. It wasn’t like they were having sex…