Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84195 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“Ten,” Clark replied.
I took a little longer than I needed to look around for a pair before handing them to him. “Close enough.”
Once we were ready, I went for the door. Clark followed easily without asking again where we were going.
The park was about a block away. We chatted as we walked, and I found a nice, grassy, open space for us to practice again. “We’re going to do gymnastics,” I informed him, and his reaction made me chuckle. “Oh my God. You should see the way your eyeballs nearly popped out of your head.”
“Well, that’s because there are”—he waved his arms—“people around, and I haven’t done this in years. I’ll probably break my neck.”
“You won’t break your neck. I promise. I won’t let you.”
“How do you expect to save my neck?”
“I’ll figure it out. Come on.” I reached out for him, but he didn’t lift his hand. I could tell by the flare of panic in his eyes that he really was nervous to do gymnastics in the park. “Shit. Sorry. Again. I didn’t mean to push. I thought it would be fun.”
“No, no. Don’t be sorry. I’m being stupid. I don’t know why I’m acting weird. It was a good idea. I’m just…”
When he let his words trail off and didn’t continue, I added, “How about you be my cheerleader? You can watch me break my neck.” Though I wouldn’t. “And we can work up to you getting back out here with me. Deal?”
Clark’s bow-shaped mouth stretched into a wide smile, one I could swear I damn near felt. “Deal.”
He found a place to sit in the grass.
“Turn on some music,” I told him, and he settled on a pop mix.
I stretched and warmed up, then started with a cartwheel, followed by a roundoff and a roundoff back handspring.
“Holy fuck. You’re still amazing.”
I winked. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” Damn it. I was flirting with him again. I needed to cut that shit out.
We spent a good hour in the park. I did some gymnastics, with Clark playfully cheering for me. In between exercises, I lay in the grass beside him, and we chatted about…well, nothing in particular really. It was cool when you could be with someone and talk about nothing but it somehow didn’t get awkward. I didn’t understand how or why it was so easy with Clark. It simply was. But then, it always had been, and it had never made sense. Nothing about the two of us being friends had.
When we were done, we walked down the street to this juice place, got lemonades, and sat at the table on the patio. “So…I know you said you’re hoping for the whole marriage-and-two-and-a-half-kids thing—which is weird as fuck. I’m randomly picturing half a kid.”
Clark laughed. “Okay, so that paints an odd picture.”
“Any prospects, though?” Hello? Why was I obsessing about his love life?
“No, not right now. Like I said, I had a boyfriend a while back. We broke up. You mentioned your mom still picks the wrong men…?”
“She legit showed up at my work in tears the other night because the latest love of her life broke her heart. There’s a reason why I’ll keep mine to myself, thank you very much.” I loved Mom, but sometimes it was exhausting. I felt like the parent, and then I felt guilty for feeling that way.
“I’m sorry. That has to be hard.”
“It’s the way it is, so there’s no point worrying about it. Are your parents okay with…well, everything?”
It took Clark a moment to reply, but then he said, “As okay as they can be, I suppose. I mean, they know I’m gay, and they didn’t disown me or anything. They would’ve preferred me to settle down with a nice woman, but since that’s not going to happen, they expect the same with a ‘nice, upstanding young man’…” he said, using air quotes. “And I’m okay with that. You and I…we’re not built the same that way, I guess.”
Those words hung in the air between us. Yeah, we were built differently that way. “So we’ll have to make up for it by being extra kickass friends instead.”
Clark gave me another of his megawatt smiles, just as sirens began to fill the air. A fire engine raced by us, then another.
I held up my lemonade. “To old friends.”
Clark clanked his cup with mine. “To old friends.”
6
Clark
If my parents could see me now. Not only because I was out in public with Skylar Davison, but also because I’d changed out of my nice outfit and expensive shoes and into sweat shorts and a T-shirt with some bling—not sure he owned anything different—all because Skylar asked me to. But that was Skylar, so engaging, charismatic, and fun that you followed right along, even if you had no clue what you were getting yourself into. It reminded me of how he’d coax me to try something new on the vault or uneven bars, all the while cheering me on.