Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 31591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 158(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 31591 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 158(@200wpm)___ 126(@250wpm)___ 105(@300wpm)
My mate chewed on his lip for a moment before nodding. “I’m a little nervous; I’ve never shown it to this many people.”
“You don’t have to be nervous around us,” Cedric told him with a pat to his shoulder. “We’re all family here.”
Brandon’s blinding smile made my heart flutter. “Okay, I’ll go grab-”
“I’ll get it,” I offered, jumping from my seat again. “You just sit down and relax, sweetheart.” My mate’s cheeks blushed slightly as he slid into a chair, but he was still smiling. Felix moved his hand in a motion as if he were cracking a whip, so I flipped him off behind Brandon’s back before hustling to the entryway to get his box of comics.
When I re-entered the dining room, I placed the box on the table and rested my hands on the lid. “I got to see Brandon’s work earlier, and you are going to be amazed.” His blush deepened as I opened the box and lifted out his sketchpad. “First, check out this drawing he did of me.”
“You brought that?” Brandon asked with wide eyes. I nodded; I’d slipped it in the box while he was in the restroom at his dorm. He looked a little uneasy and realization struck me like lightning; there’s no way in hell I’d let someone see a picture of my naked mate, even if it was just a drawing. Maybe Brandon didn’t want to share the image of me either.
“I’m sorry; I won’t show it if you don’t want me to. I’m just so damn proud of you and wanted to show off your work.”
“Don’t be sorry,” he waved me off. “It’s just...you’re not shy about them seeing your…?” His eyes tracked down to my groin and I snorted a laugh.
“Nah, these guys have seen me naked more times than I can count.” Brandon’s shoulders slumped, so I quickly added, “Not in a sexual way!” The rest of the pride echoed my assurance, and Enzo even threw in a retching sound, which I felt was unnecessary.
“I don’t mind if you don’t mind,” Brandon shrugged, so I flipped the book open and passed it around the table.
“Ah, geez, couldn’t you have warned us that you’re hard in this?” Felix whined, making Grady roll his eyes.
“You’re very talented, Brandon,” the big man complimented as he looked over the portrait. “I’ve visited many museums, and I believe your work could hang in any of them.”
“Oh wow. Thank you,” Brandon replied, placing his hand to his chest. “That means a lot to me.”
“If you’d told me this was a black and white photograph, I would have believed you,” Hunter added, and I thought my sweet man would burst with happiness, just as I believed I could burst with pride.
“It’s very well done,” Enzo agreed, “But I’d love to see something besides Talon’s dick.”
Brandon chuckled and lifted out a handful of comic books to pass around. “These are my passion. I’ve worked on them for years and I hope you guys like them.”
My friends handed back the sketch of me like I was chopped liver before excitedly diving into Brandon’s books.
“These are so cool!” Cedric explained, flipping through one of the more recent issues. “Did you write the storylines too?” Brandon’s pink cheeks shone as he nodded.
“I love the animals,” Grady gushed. “They’re lifelike but cartoonish too; you’ve got a unique style.”
“Did you notice that the hero looks like me?” I pointed out eagerly.
“Nah, he’s way cuter than you,” Hunter teased with a wink. “Especially in those tights.”
Brandon huffed a laugh. “Not gonna lie; all of the muscles and spandex in comic books definitely helped me realize that I was gay.” The whole group laughed, easily charmed by my man.
And then everyone fell silent as they became enthralled in the books, trading and passing them around when they finished one, just to devour another. After about half an hour, Felix finally spoke up.
“Okay, hear me out; what if Zero had an animal sidekick? Like, he can speak to every type of animal, but this would be his little buddy that stuck around all of the time. I’d be happy to pose for inspiration.” I gave him the stink eye, but he was undeterred.
“Ooh, me too!” Enzo agreed enthusiastically.
Brandon nodded along. “I think it would be fun to write you all into a book; a special issue featuring animal friends inspired by you.”
Cedric clapped his hands. “Yes! This is so exciting. What kinds of animals would you make us?” It was an interesting question, considering he had no idea that he was surrounded by lions. All of our eyes fell to my mate.
“Oh, um...I’m not sure,” he replied as his cheeks flushed again.
“I promise you won’t offend us,” Hunter smiled. “We’d love to hear.” The rest of us nodded along and Brandon took a deep breath.