Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“You realize this only makes me want to do it more,” I said.
“Suit yourself,” he said. “You might regret it.”
“You never told me you were a regular at a bar,” I said. “I thought you hated that kind of place.”
He looked up at me, shrugging. “I usually do. But Red’s is different.”
“Different because it has the highest chance of you finding a boyfriend?” I asked.
He snorted. “It has the highest chance of me finding someone who’ll actually want me to suck his dick,” I said. “Not a lot of opportunities for that in Amberfield.”
I was now picturing Evan on his knees for a guy. I knew deep down that Evan was probably really good at sucking a guy off.
Evan had never been shy about telling me he was, for lack of a better term, a really horny person. I’d always liked that because I was insatiable, too, but I didn’t have the confidence to admit it like Evan did. In high school I’d always thought it was funny that someone so nerdy was so sexual, but now I realized how silly that was.
I heard the sound of the shower turning off from down the hall. “Zach’s going to be out here soon,” I said, shifting on the couch.
“Should I freak him out? Tell him there’s going to be a pop quiz on the quadratic equation the second he steps out here?” Evan got a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“I didn’t realize you were that evil of a math teacher.”
“I’ll go easy on him,” Evan said.
When Zach finally came out—in jeans, thankfully—Evan was nothing but polite, though. I loved seeing the two of them together, my two favorite people in the world. As they talked about an upcoming project I just watched how Evan spoke, the way he excitedly bounced his leg when he talked about anything that made him happy.
“I’m going to try to group up with Matthew Evanson for the project,” Zach was saying.
“Oh, that would be unfair. He’s the only student that’s almost as good as you are. Let him work with somebody who needs the help.”
“But we could be a dream team,” Zach protested.
“I’m sure the two of you would knock it out of the park, there’s no denying that,” Evan said.
“Mom always used to help me with projects, but I’m going to have to Skype with her now,” Zach said.
“I’m sure she’ll be happy to do that,” Evan said, giving me a subtle glance.
“You can Skype with Mom anytime you need to,” I said. It was something I tried to reassure Zach about whenever he brought it up. I wanted the divorce to be as painless as it could possibly be for him, even though I knew it was never going to be perfect.
“This plant is weird, by the way,” Zach said, walking over to it and touching one of the mottled leaves.
“Hey, be nice,” I said. “That’s a gift from Evan.”
But Ev was smiling. “It is weird, isn’t it?” he asked. Evan stood up, walking over to the plant next to Zach. “I thought you guys might want something nice to decorate the place with, but it looks like you’re doing pretty well already. I like that framed map.”
“We’ve been doing our best to make it a home,” I said.
Zach was giving me a skeptical look. “Dad, you did all of this today,” he said. “Just because he was coming over.”
Christ, my kid was as blunt as Evan was, sometimes, and it was going to give me an aneurysm. “Not all of it,” I said.
“Today was the first time you didn’t just work out then lie on the couch for the rest of the day and order Chinese takeout, actually—”
“All right, all right, that’s enough,” I said, walking over to Zach and giving him a tight squeeze of a hug. I ruffled his damp hair, then set him free. “Go play Fortnite or something in your room. I need to talk about stuff with Evan.”
“Oh my God, I don’t play Fortnite anymore,” he said.
“My bad.”
“Definitely Apex Legends, right?” Evan asked.
They may as well have been speaking a different language.
Zach’s eyes lit up. “I play Apex sometimes,” he said. “My new favorite is this flying simulator, though. I was supposed to log on today for an achievement—crap, I’ve got to go—”
Evan laughed. “Go ahead.”
“Nice to see you Mr. Bailey!” Zach called back as he bounded back down the hallway.
I met Evan’s gaze, and that damn mischief was back in his eyes. Why was that kind of a turn on?
“What?” I asked.
“Oh, nothing…” he started to say.
“You’re gonna kill me.”
“Just surprised to hear that Mitchell Price has been ordering Chinese takeout and lying around on the couch,” Evan said. “What happened to your days of protein shakes and green juice, huh?”
“For the record, I still have a protein shake every morning,” I said.