Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25937 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 130(@200wpm)___ 104(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
“Bite your tongue!” Derek screeches. “I’m not old, and you’re not hotter than me!”
“I’m younger than all of you, except Zane,” Evan adds. “And twinkier than you, Derek.” Frankie is standing beside him with a hand on his nape, scratching at the back of his head.
“Someone’s a feisty little pup today,” Frankie says, and Evan damn near melts.
Before I know it, Zane is off talking to the kid, who can’t really be a kid since he’s in the bar, and the rest of us are drinking and laughing. We can’t have too much, considering we’re ice-skating tonight, but it’s good to take the edge off. Derek is his normal self, making me wonder if I imagined his worry from earlier. I know I didn’t, but maybe it was just because of the pants?
I try to force those thoughts from my head. It’s not often that we all get together like this. Derek and I have our own house, which is full of dogs and cats, and we have a pet sitter there watching. Derek has always loved animals, but it wasn’t until we got our house that he got more pets besides Charlie-Boy.
Gary, Travis, Cody, Hayden, Frankie, and Evan are still living at Metropolis, but between marriage, Cody’s comic books taking off, and everyone becoming more settled, days like this are rarer.
Everyone is busy chatting and laughing as Derek turns on my lap so he’s facing me. My hands find their home at his waist. “How’s my boy?” I ask softly so only he can hear.
“Perfect. I’m going to marry you.”
I cock a brow at him, and he sighs.
“I was just worried about my pants. It’s my wedding. I can’t look anything less than amazing.”
“Not possible.” I slide a hand up and wrap it around the back of his neck, tugging him forward and taking his mouth. Derek moans into me before giving me a soft little whimper that goes straight to my dick.
Someone clears their throat, and we pull away. “It’s time to head out. We have a tight schedule to keep,” Gary says.
“Agreed,” Evan adds.
“I want to check on my cake too,” Hayden says. He’s been baking more and more lately, and we had him make the cake.
“Why isn’t my side of the wedding party as put together as his?” I look at Travis, Cody, Frankie, and Zane, who made his way back to us, and they all shrug.
“Sucks to be you,” Travis says.
“Wait. There’s a wedding?” Frankie replies.
“I’m just here for the free beer,” Cody adds.
“Fuckers.” A laugh tumbles from my lips, but really, I couldn’t be happier.
I pull Derek to me and kiss him again, mumbling, “Mine.”
3
Derek
Frankie guides a trembling Ev onto the ice.
“Come on, Runt. You’ve got this.”
“Go Runt!” I shout from the middle of the frozen pond. “Woo-hoo!”
Evan glances over, beaming, clearly appreciating my support, when he loses his footing and slips toward Frankie.
“Oh shit,” I mutter to Jackson, who watches from beside me.
Fortunately, Frankie catches Evan, keeping him on his feet.
“Oops,” Evan says with a laugh as he steadies himself.
“Bet he did that so Frankie could save his ass,” I joke, which makes Jackson smile. “Maybe I need to slip around a little more.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Jackson says. “Frankie and I are off the clock right now.”
“Don’t worry, Daddy. I won’t make you work tonight. Not for that, at least.”
I wink before continuing along across the ice, Jackson keeping pace at my side. My legs are a little sore, in all the right ways, from how my daddy took me earlier.
I enjoy the sensation maybe more than I should as we glide across the pond, having a fun night with our buddies. It reminds me of a place not far from Metropolis where we’ll sometimes ice-skate, but it’s never as decked out in such festive holiday decorations. White lights cover the trees surrounding the pond, and between them, some lawn ornaments—snowmen, giant snowflakes, polar bears—help transform the place into a real holiday spectacle.
“Hey, man,” Hayden says as he and Cody pass me from the opposite direction. “You seen Gare and Trav?”
Huh. I haven’t seen them in a while, actually. I search around the pond once again. “No clue where they are, but I have a good idea what they’re up to,” I shout back to Hayden, who spins so he’s skating backward.
“Cool,” he says with a smug grin as he continues showing off.
“Braggy motherfucker,” I call out to him. As I turn back to keep on going, I see Evan heading right toward me, his wobbly arms assuring me he doesn’t have a good handle on his movements.
“Shit,” I say as I dodge him, fairly effortlessly, but just as soon, I hit someone else and—
PLOP.
We both fall right onto the ice.
“Motherfucker,” I mutter.
“Holy shit!” Evan calls out. “I’m so sorry!”
“You guys okay?” Frankie asks, sliding down on his knees beside us.