Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77269 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Pang, pang, pang. It felt like my whole body was yearning for that same kind of feeling with Roman.
“We all need a good friend, sometimes,” Donna says. “To show us our own potential. And, of course, sometimes that friend becomes a fuck-buddy that becomes true love, right?”
“Mom!” Brody protested as the rest of us burst out laughing. “I don’t think I need to hear you use the term ‘fuck-buddy’ ever again.”
“What’s wrong with a fuck-buddy?” Donna said, shrugging emphatically as she took another sip of her margarita. “We’ve all had ‘em.”
Brody and Roman groaned while the rest of us kept laughing. I turned to my side, catching Roman’s glance. He bit his bottom lip as he looked at me, and I hoped he was thinking the same thing that I was.
It almost felt painful to hope that he might want more—so much more—with me, too. The conversation lapsed into a brief, happy silence as we all kicked back, enjoying our full bellies and our tipsy buzz, and I couldn’t stop watching Roman, so fucking sexy and everything I would want in a boyfriend.
For a moment, I half expected him to say it, right then and there. Actually, Theo and I are fuck-buddies, of a sort.
Of course, he would never say anything like that. Even putting aside how awkward it would be, I still knew, in the back of my mind, that Roman had never told his family about being attracted to men, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to just blurt it out here.
Christ, I could barely think about anything else.
I wanted so much more with him, and for some reason, that feeling had completely solidified in my brain, tonight. Being here among Roman’s family just felt right.
“All right, all right,” Donna said, breaking the silence. “Let’s clean up this carnage and then set up the fire pit. We’ve got to relax and digest a bit before I make you all try my different pies.”
We formed another little assembly line with cleaning, wrapping up leftovers, and hauling dishes back inside. Logan, Brody, and Donna started up the fire pit while I poured another round of margaritas for me and Roman. I handed him his glass while the others squabbled over which kindling was better for the fire.
The chickens clucked lightly nearby in their coop, and Cheeky lay lazily on the grass, occasionally wagging his tail when we threw him scraps of food.
“This margarita is the best I’ve ever had,” I told Roman.
“It’s pretty damn good, isn’t it?” he said. The two of us were over at the little cart by the side of the house where Donna had set up the mini blender-and-bar station, and for the first time in hours, we were out of earshot from everybody else.
“I’m… I can’t tell you how good tonight has felt,” I told him. “And not just because I’m getting drunk on good food and liquor.”
“I’ve loved tonight, too,” Roman said. “Even if it was a little awkward with my mom, earlier.”
I let out a breath. “Oh, thank God you thought that was awkward, too.”
He chuckled. “My mom is hilarious, but I—well, I didn’t know if she was trying to insinuate that we were fuck-buddies?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Do you think she would even know that was a possibility?”
Roman looked all around. “I have no goddamn clue. I didn’t know if I should say anything. I mean, just because I want something doesn’t necessarily mean you would want something. You know?”
My heart thumped in my chest. Suddenly I realized what Roman might mean.
“If you’re asking if I want to be… more, with you?”
“I’ve had too much to drink,” Roman said. “I don’t want to put you on the spot, Theo—”
“Because I definitely, really, really fucking do,” I blurted out. “I was going to wait until we were alone to ask you, but I can’t help it anymore, and I might make the rest of tonight really goddamn uncomfortable if you say no—which you’re totally allowed to do, of course—but I want you so badly, Roman. I’d want just about anything with you. Including being your boyfriend.”
His eyes were wide as he just stood there for a split second, staring at me. “My actual boyfriend?” he finally asked, dumbfounded.
“I know that’s asking a lot, considering you haven’t come out to anybody before. We can talk about this later. We can go slow, if it’s even something you want—”
He cut me off by crushing his lips to mine, as he wrapped his arms around me, actually leaning me backward a little, like the famous photo of a sailor and a nurse.
It was as if the wind had been knocked out of me.
I was breathless.
He was kissing me, right here in front of everyone, without a care in the world. It was like I’d been asking him for ten dollars and gotten a million dollars instead. I had won the fucking lottery.