Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 139186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 696(@200wpm)___ 557(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
Vars sighed and nuzzled the back of Jake’s head, yet another one of those small tender gestures that confused the hell out of Jake. What were they to each other? He was afraid to ask, because what if he didn’t like the answer?
“I get that. Mine pretended I was an upstanding citizen when they were still around. But they knew. It’s a shame they couldn’t be proud of me. I never told them I was gay.”
Jake leaned back more, to the point where he rested his weight against Vars. “I feel much closer with like, Fox’s kids than I do with my own niece. The Kings are my new family. I can be myself here.”
Vars sighed and met Jake’s gaze in the mirror. “I never thought I’d end up in this kind of place. That the guys would be fine with me the way I am. They can be assholes sometimes, but they mean well.”
“How was it at… Magpie’s?” Jake was sure the wedding reception would be all sorts of fun long into the night, but this moment of honesty with Vars was worth it even if he missed out on cake.
Just like Jake had missed a few appointments with Gray. He hadn’t meant to, and he had told Gray about it in advance most times, but when Vars had been told to plow the snow around the premises, Jake wanted to not only help him out but also grasp at this opportunity of being alone without anyone disturbing their peace. They’d ended up driving around in the plow together, and then fucking in a pile of snow. The quickie ended up with Jake’s fingers blue, and the front of his clothes soaked, but it had still been worth it. Vars was the best fuck ever, and Jake could hardly keep his hands away.
Vars tightened his arms around Jake and rubbed his beard against his cheek. “It was good. Magpie’s a fair man. He doesn’t discriminate in any way. The only downside is that one has to get used to him. He isn’t like most people.”
“Yeah, but that’s just him. How about the other people there? You must have made friends, right?”
Vars laughed and looked at Jake in the mirror—a handsome mature man with the kind of beard Jake would likely never grow. “I had friends in my gang, but I needed to be out the moment they found out I was gay. I was a member in a biker club in the meanwhile, but they weren’t one percenters, so my job was a problem. And then Magpie scouted me before I could find another family. As much as I enjoyed working with him, it was hard to make friends among his crowd. They all drink expensive wines, eat lobster, and wear shoes that cost so much you could feed a family for months for that price tag. Maybe I’m too simple.”
Jake kissed Vars’s cheek with a smile. In the past two weeks, he’d been kissed more than in his entire lifetime before that, and he’d realized that actually he fucking loved making out. He couldn’t get enough of it and found it just as good as getting down to business.
“You prefer pizza and beer with me?”
Vars remained still for several seconds and finally smirked, glancing at Jake from the corner of his eye. “I’d even eat that expensive sea insect everyone likes so much if you asked me to.”
Jake laughed. “Do you mean lobster?” He pulled Vars’s hand to his lips and kissed each knuckle, rubbing his mouth against some of the hair at the back of it. He’d never felt like this before, not this close, this intimate. Vars had these ways of squeezing everything out of Jake, but then handing the delicious juice right back with extra sugar. With Vars, Jake really felt like his comfort and opinions mattered to someone.
Vars grinned. “That’s exactly what I mean. Don’t understand how anyone could see that thing and go ‘I wanna eat this’. There’s reasons why it used to be the food of the poor before all that hype started.”
“I don’t think Laurent’s chosen lobster for any of the courses. Let’s go or we’ll miss out. I think he’s ordered some traditional French food from his region or something. Let’s just hope it’s not snails and frog legs.” Jake made a gagging sound and pulled on Vars’s hand.
“Admit it, you just want to show off how handsome you look in a suit.”
* * *
“And here Beast is teaching Laurent how to use Excel.” Nao laughed and clicked on the projector for the next photo to appear on the wall. In the image, Laurent was frowning in front of a computer while Beast stood behind him with his face hidden in his hands.
Knight had been laughing at the set of photos Nao prepared so hard he was on the verge of crying. The slideshow was called “Love is learning from each other”, and included such precious moments as Beast teaching Laurent to drive, and Laurent explaining to Beast how planting aloe vera and peace lilies around the clubhouse would make the air cleaner at night—a piece of trivia he’d found on the Internet after learning its basic premise.