Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119011 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 595(@200wpm)___ 476(@250wpm)___ 397(@300wpm)
“No.”
Leo took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, thought so.”
Chapter 7 - Leo
Leo hadn’t been invited to the poker game, but it hardly mattered, since he didn’t like gambling anyway. He’d asked Zolt if it was even a good idea to host the game when they had ten kilos of coke stashed in the building, but Zolt claimed it would have been more suspicious if he backed out of his usual routine. Which, Leo had to reluctantly agree, did make sense.
So there he was, sitting on the sofa and trying to work out how to play Grand Theft Auto V while Zolt and his three buddies sat around a small table in the other part of the room, smoking cigars over cards.
Leo still couldn’t tell what had possessed him in that moment of madness when he’d volunteered to stay at Zolt’s. He might have to endure the uncomfortable tension for weeks on end, forced to be around a guy who’d taken his rejection pretty hard. But then again, what did he expect? No one liked being rebuffed.
His attention kept shifting between the screen and the conversation going on in the other corner, and by the time he realized his character was in the middle of a shootout, he didn’t manage to save the situation and died.
With a quiet curse on his lips, he put the control pad down as he waited for the game to reload, and his gaze wandered to the tiny pocket of the Old West in the other corner. If it weren’t for the clothes worn, he could have sworn the scene belonged in some old-timey movie where cowboys spent their evenings gathered in the glow of a small, dim lamp and surrounded by smoke.
Zolt was frowning, and his sensual lips briefly closed on the end of a fat cigar in a way that had heat gathering inside Leo. He shouldn’t have been admiring another man’s looks so much. This unexpected infatuation was freaking him out, but he could no longer deny it was there. He remembered how that thick, dark beard had felt between his fingers, how their kiss had tasted of whisky, and how different it had felt to be backed against a counter during a kiss. By a man larger than him, at that. Leo was used to being the one doing all the chasing, so the shift in sexual dynamics confused him to a point where he was mentally stuck. Just like when Mike had pranked him by swapping his peanut butter for almond. And just like that time, Leo didn’t know what to do, because he kinda liked the new thing, even if it was different.
Swirls of smoke danced when Sidell, a tall, bald man with a wide, chunky jaw, put his cards down and drank the whole glass of whisky in one go. “Damnit.”
“Don’t be such a sore loser, or we’ll have you sit with the straight guy,” said Neil, a handsome guy whose scruff was weirdly symmetrical and cut in straight lines instead of fading like on a normal person’s face. He chuckled, rolling ice cubes in an otherwise empty glass.
Zolt’s gaze darted Leo’s way for a split second, but that moment was like a hot spike pushing into Leo’s flesh to sear it.
Despite Zolt’s earlier declaration about having straight friends, all of his poker buddies were gay, which brought the total number of gay men Leo knew from two to five. The only other gay guy Leo had met apart from Zolt was an aerobics instructor at the gym Mom owned, and he was nothing like the four buff guys seated at the table.
Leo glanced their way. “Very funny. I’m good here. Don’t wanna lose money for a short-lived burst of adrenaline.”
Anders, a blond guy in his thirties with a distinctly Scandinavian accent, whistled. “Look at him, smarter than he looks.”
Leo frowned. “Zolt, if you don’t keep your friends on a leash, I’m gonna have to muzzle them myself.”
Zolt leaned back and poured himself another drink. “I’m not their keeper. You Hellers banter all the time, so why are you taking this so personally?”
“He’s one of those Heller boys?” Sidell asked and looked over his shoulder, acknowledging Leo’s existence for the first time since his arrival.
Neil rolled a pen in his hand, staring at Leo with a wide grin, eyes fishing for something to pick on. This one was a real douchecanoe. “Be careful, or he’ll sic his whole family on you for acknowledging that he was staring at you.”
“I can manage on my own, thanks.” Leo shook his head in frustration. The last thing he needed was the attention of not one but four gay guys.
Neil snorted. “That’s what he said.”
Leo stared back at him. “Yeah, that’s definitely what he said, because he is straight.”
But Neil wouldn’t give it a rest. “We know a few guys like that at the gym, huh, Zolt? Very straight. They just like a good pounding every now and then.”