Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 102282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102282 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 511(@200wpm)___ 409(@250wpm)___ 341(@300wpm)
“Why would I laugh? One of my good friends is a medic. Dude has more smarts than just about anyone else on the team. Boatload of training too.”
“Some people—my friends even—are weird about male nurses. Stupid stereotypes.”
“Well, fuck them,” Renzo said firmly. “What do you want to specialize in?”
“Geriatric medicine. I like older people.” Canaan still had some kind of attitude, so Renzo quickly gave him a pat on the knee.
“I think that’s cool, man. There needs to be more people like you.”
“Thanks.” Canaan’s voice softened a little.
The GPS directed them off the highway and onto a large road in a commercial area. Lots of strip malls and businesses, many with names in both English and Asian languages.
“Dude. Are we in a Chinatown kind of area? Please tell me you’re taking me somewhere with noodles. Pho?” He knew he sounded hopeful, but if there was one thing he missed about Philly it was noodles—pasta at the places his family liked, ramen, pho, and udon at the Chinatown spots he and his friends dug. He hadn’t had much of that sort of cuisine since being in California.
“You’re cute.” Canaan shot him an indulgent look. “And close. Ramen okay? There’s pho around here too if you’re jonesing more for that.”
“Ramen’s awesome. I try to limit white carbs, but noodles are my major weakness.”
“At the place we’re going, if you ask nice, they’ll do half noodles and half extra veggies and meat. My friend at school who power lifts gets the miso ramen with extra egg and extra pork. Best part? They’re open till eleven thirty.”
“That sounds amazing.” Renzo paid attention to the GPS directing him to the strip mall to turn into and found a parking spot. The simplicity of the nondescript white exterior with simple red-and-black sign contrasted with the complexity of the heavenly aroma that greeted them. Despite the late hour the place was at least half filled, people from many ethnicities at simple wooden tables with giant white bowls of steaming soup in front of them.
“I’m getting tonkotsu ramen, but it’s spicy,” Canaan said as they looked at their menus after being seated.
“I love spicy. I think I’ll do that with extra egg.”
It occurred to Renzo after they ordered that maybe he didn’t want to do spicy if they were hooking up later. Canaan had made it pretty clear back at the smoothie place that he’d be down for a hookup but Renzo still wasn’t sure whether he was. On the one hand, Canaan was cute as hell what with the lean, compact body and meaty ass that Renzo had definitely noticed on their mad dash back to the truck, and Renzo’s dick had most definite opinions about those full lips. On the other though, sex didn’t always go so great for him, and he didn’t want to complicate what had otherwise been a most enjoyable evening.
Maybe they were better off as buds. But telling himself that didn’t stop his brain from taking note of how Canaan looked digging into the soup. His lips parted, a sigh escaping, and his eyes went soft, happiness smoothing his features. The sound of pleasure he made at the first taste of the broth had Renzo shifting in his chair.
To distract himself, he asked Canaan all about his favorite foods while they ate, and he liked discovering that they had a lot in common with a taste for all things Asian, a dislike of beans, and a high tolerance for spicy foods. Hell, he liked just hanging with Canaan in general. He was fun and spontaneous and easy to be around.
The food was as good as Canaan had advertised—well worth the drive—spicy broth balanced with sweet barbecued pork, loads of delicious noodles, and crisp veggies. Heaven.
“Good thing this isn’t closer to base. I’d lose all my ab definition in a week,” he joked.
Canaan gave him an appraising stare that made Renzo’s face heat. “I don’t think you have much to worry about there.”
“Ha. You have no idea how hard I work for this body.”
“I think I speak for all your admiring fans when I say it is well appreciated.” Canaan gave him another of those looks that made Renzo think about sex again. Damn it. Just buds was hard.
“You need me to take you home?” Renzo asked as they split the check. It was getting late, but he really wasn’t ready for the night to end, and he couldn’t keep the regret from his voice.
“Nope. I’m not sleepy yet.” Canaan tipped well, which Renzo noticed because people like Shiny or Bullets who did the math in their head to not go a cent over twenty percent needed to work a few years in food service, see how it felt. “One more stop? I’ve got a super-secret spot with an incredible view of the city.”