The Best Friend Read online Raleigh Ruebins (Red’s Tavern #1)

Categories Genre: Gay, GLBT, M-M Romance, Romance Tags Authors: Series: Red's Tavern Series by Raleigh Ruebins
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Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 87392 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 437(@200wpm)___ 350(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
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“God, Ev, I wish you could stay the night all the time,” I said. I didn’t realize how true the words were until they’d escaped, but telling him felt like unburdening myself of a gigantic secret. “I hate sleeping alone. I get all fidgety. You calm me down.”

“Tell me about it,” he said. “I’ve never really felt comfortable around someone else like I do with you.”

I swallowed. “And…” I started to say, trailing off when it felt like my words were getting jumbled in my head.

Shit. Now I was being the shy one.

“What’s up, Mitch?” Evan asked.

“I was just going to say I like certain things, too. More than I expected.”

The side of his mouth quirked up in a smile. “Certain things?”

“Yeah.”

“Come on. Spill.”

“I really like sucking dick, okay?” I said. “At least, when it’s yours. God, it feels good. Powerful, almost, which I never would have expected. It’s like I can give you the best feeling in the world when my lips are wrapped around you.”

He bit his lower lip, nodding slowly. “You have no fucking idea how hot that is,” he said softly.

“I know exactly how hot it is to me, and it’s making me want to call off this party and drag you home right now,” I said.

“Fuck,” he murmured. “Let’s make an effort to mingle for another hour, and then please, please drag me back. Deal?”

I squeezed his hand. “Deal.”

19

Evan

Turns out Mitch is okay with kissing me in public. And fuck if that doesn’t spark a big, glowing ember of hope inside me.

Even if I know it shouldn’t.

One hour turned into three. As soon as Mitch and I had agreed to spend the night together, Red and four other guys had started up a karaoke machine in the living room, and the margaritas kept flowing. Mitch was my designated driver, so he stopped drinking after one—but I accepted every drink that Red pushed into my hands.

It didn’t matter that Mitch wasn’t drinking much of anything, though. He still was turning out to be more of a party animal than anybody else in the place. Mitch and I shared the microphone for a rendition of My Sharona, and the rest of the room had erupted into a round of applause when Mitch started doing air guitar moves.

It was the happiest I’d seen Mitch in years. Maybe the happiest I’d seen him in over fifteen years. He was truly letting loose, and it made my heart soar.

By the time it was midnight, I was very pleasantly drunk. Mitch came and found me after he’d gotten caught up in a football-related conversation with some other guy.

“You ready to head back?” he asked, snaking his arm around my waist again. He was wearing his leather jacket and I tucked my hand inside it.

For fuck’s sake, it was criminal how good it felt when we touched.

“I’m so fucking ready,” I said, twisting in his grasp and planting a kiss on his lips. Earlier I’d kissed him and he’d kind of stiffened up, clearly shocked at the public display of affection. But this time, he didn’t flinch. He kissed me back, soft and slow, looking in my eyes when he pulled back.

“Let’s go, weirdo.”

“I hate how sexy it is when you call me that,” I said, rearranging the front of my pants as we walked out the front door of Red’s house.

“Oh, yeah?” Mitch asked, a grin appearing on his face. “What’s next, are you going to ask me to call you my weirdo in bed?”

“Lord,” I said. “I don’t think I could even stoop that low.”

“Right when you’re about to come, I’m just going to whisper it in your ear,” Mitch said, leaning in toward me. “Come for me, weirdo…”

I laughed, giving him a shove as we made our way to his Jeep. “I definitely liked the first part of that sentence,” I said. “You can whisper that in my ear anytime you’d like.”

He leaned against the side of his Jeep, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets. “I plan on whispering it to you tonight.”

He looked too good leaning against the car like that, with one leg crossed in front of the other. Like he didn’t have a care in the world. He reached one hand out and clasped my hand, pulling me in close to his body and wrapping his arm around my waist again.

“I thought we were supposed to be heading back,” I said softly, tucking between the open sides of his jacket, seeking the warmth of his chest.

“We are,” he said, kissing the top of my head. “I just needed to hold you again for a second.”

The front of Red’s house was arguably as cabin-like as the inside. There was a curved dirt driveway and a faint orange glow from the lantern light outside his front door, but other than that, the only light was from the moon hanging in the sky above.


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