Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83340 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“I sure as shit hope not.”
I lay down and pulled him with me so Hutch was on top of me. He opened my shirt, licking and kissing my chest, before resting there. “Maddy’s leaving.”
“She told me…but I think…I think it’s a good thing, yeah?”
“It is.” He nodded. “I should see a therapist.”
Pride ballooned inside me. This man never ceased to amaze me. “I think that’s a good idea.”
“You wanna know what I think?” He sat up slightly, mischief in his eyes.
“No, but I’m hoping you’ll tell me.”
“I figure we’ve gone over enough of the important stuff for tonight. I really want to get you out of these clothes, lick you from head to toe, then take your ass.”
My dick began to plump just at the thought, but still I said, “Yeah? I’m not gonna make it easy on you. I’m kinda feeling toppy myself,” I teased.
“I’d be disappointed if it was any other way,” he joked back.
We scrambled to our feet then, tearing at each other’s clothes, kissing and touching and grabbing while we stumbled to his room.
Hutch won his prize, but later that night, he gave himself to me too.
I couldn’t wait to spend the rest of my life loving this man.
31
Hutch
It took a few days, but I made sure to go over when I knew Mom wouldn’t be home. She was shopping with Maddy, and Dad was off work.
I rang the bell, nerves twisting and turning in my gut. I hated that I felt this way when it came to my own family, but I supposed that was life sometimes. Everything wasn’t always perfect, even in a person’s own family, the way we wanted to believe.
Dad answered, wearing pressed jeans, a button-up shirt, and a frown. “Your mother’s not home. She’s with Madison.”
“Are things really so bad between us that I can’t come here to talk to you?” But then, had I ever done that? There were times I stopped in to talk to Mom for no reason, but I never did that with my father.
He sighed and stepped back to let me in.
He went straight to the living room, and I followed him. “Drink?” he asked while pouring a Scotch, but I shook my head. “Your sister is leaving.”
“I know.”
“Doesn’t that worry you? Her taking off to another country?”
“Yes and no. I guess I’d worry about it with anyone I love, and I’d miss them. But I think this will be good for her. I know it’s what she wants, and if anyone deserves to get what they want, it’s her.”
“Are you suggesting I don’t want my daughter happy?”
“No, Dad. We all know how much you love Maddy. I’m just… Cancer kept her in a bubble off and on throughout her childhood, and when it didn’t, well, the rest of us did. Maddy’s finally trying to figure out who she is on her own. And I’m trying to love her the best way I know how.”
He stood behind the bar, and I was next to the piano. Dad took a drink of his Scotch, didn’t speak. Years of silence hung in the air between us before I finally said, “I’ve spent my whole life feeling like you love Madison more than me.”
“Don’t be absurd, Grant. All siblings feel that way when they’re kids.”
“When was the last time you told me you’re proud of me? That I did well? When have you ever worried about me? And I don’t mean because you don’t think I’m living up to my potential or doing what you want me to do. I mean true concern.”
“I…” He sounded shocked, like he didn’t know what to say. “You don’t need that. You’ve never needed me. That’s not the way the men in our family have ever been.”
I frowned. That was part of what this boiled down to? Me being a son? “I needed it, Dad. Maybe you don’t think I should, but I still do. And maybe it’s time the men in our family start changing how they do things.”
“I can’t imagine what your grandfather would have said to me if I’d told him that. Things are so different now.”
“And they should be. Maybe if he’d been different with you, you would have been different with me. We can’t go back and change the past. And I know I’m not innocent myself, that I’ve…I’ve tried to hurt you in some ways—distancing myself, quitting piano—but you have to meet me halfway. This has to be something you want too. I can’t keep feeling like I do. I’m tired of hurting and pretending I don’t. I’m tired of feeling guilty for living my life the way I want to live it. I’m tired of feeling like a failure if I don’t fit exactly into the box Grandpa built for you and the one you duplicated for me. It’s time we broke that cycle.”