Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Jamie kept reading his phone, his eyes going wide. “Oh, God. Someone tweeted, ‘Looks like Victoria’s not the only one who has a secret. #gay.’”
“Jamie, put the phone away.”
“Only a few people are making gay comments, though. Most of them are saying it’s a joke. One of them pointed out that Vanessa is sitting right there beside you and rolling her eyes, so it’s obviously a joke.”
“Obviously. Put the phone away.”
“This one is a guy. He says, ‘You can choke me anytime, daddy. #gasper’ Apparently he doesn’t mind if you’re gay.”
Instead of ordering Jamie to put the phone away, I took it from him. He made a whimper and nearly lunged for it, but I tossed it onto the seat beside me. Then I grabbed him and pulled him onto my lap, facing me, and positioned his thighs on either side of mine so that he was riding my legs.
“What’s a gasper?” he asked, and I had to shake my head at his innocence.
“That stuff is not real,” I told him. “It’s just noise. What we have between us is real. You can’t let that noise interfere with this, okay? We’ve got enough people trying to tell us we can’t be together, or putting rules on when or where we can be together. My uncle says we can never be together because it will destroy my career. Your parents say we can be together, but not under their roof unless we’re married. There’s constantly someone calling us down and telling us we’re taking risks, or telling us not to show affection in front of them even though they do it in front of us. It’s all bullshit.”
Jamie leaned in to me, and I took his mouth in a kiss. His lips were so soft and plump, made just for me to suck and abuse. I worked them apart with the tip of my tongue, licking into his mouth and tasting the bite of whisky. He opened up, and everything faded away until there was only him and me and the subtle hum of the engine as we moved through the city. And then Aldo had to go and ruin it.
“Hey could you two knock it off back there? Nobody wants to see whatever kinky shit you guys get up to.” I didn’t point out that Aaron had turned half around in his seat and was glancing into the backseat often enough to call it watching.
“Fuck you, Aldo. You should be used to seeing it by now with all the spying my uncle has you doing.”
“Hey, I don’t do no grunt work,” he said. “You’ll have to take that up with somebody else.”
“So no X-rated films starring the two of us have made it into your hands? Is that what you’re telling me?”
“I ain’t telling you nothing. But I will give you a word of advice. Conduct yourself properly, and nobody has a reason to mess with you. That’s something you never could understand.”
“I haven’t done anything wrong, Aldo. I just want to live my life.”
“Your life ain’t really yours to live, kid. Never was.” He laughed. “Hell, mine ain’t either. You know that.”
“You may be right, Aldo. Maybe my life hasn’t been my own up until now, but I’m done living for someone else. For the first step, I had someone sweep my apartment for surveillance equipment. It’s all gone now, and it had better stay gone. No more spying on me, and no more Kage and Jamie porn— though I would actually like a copy of anything you already have. Especially that first one.”
Aaron squirmed in the passenger seat, and Aldo grunted.
During my argument with Aldo, Jamie had curled up against my chest and gone still. I knew he wasn’t asleep, because his breathing wasn’t steady enough for that. But he was content, and it felt good to hold him close.
STEVE greeted us when we entered the Alcazar.
“What are you doing working night shift?” I asked, noting his unusually unkempt appearance and weary eyes.
He yawned. “Filling in. I’m pulling a double, and I am not fucking happy about it. I hope they fire the girl who’s supposed to be working this shift, because she didn’t even bother calling in. Now I’m missing a hot date with a member of that wedding party that checked in yesterday. He’s a fireman, Kage…. A fireman. And I if I don’t get a do-over on that date, I’ll kill that lazy bitch myself.”
“Nice to see you, too, Steve.” Jamie walked around behind the desk to give the stressed out clerk a hug.
“I’m sorry, Jamie. I’m just not in the best mood right now.” He ruffled Jamie’s hair and smiled. “It is good to see you again, though. I expect to see even more of you after you graduate.”
I couldn’t help smiling when Jamie turned shy. “Oh, I don’t know what I’ll be doing.”