Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
His cheeks grew warm. “Oh, wow, that’s really nice.”
Trevor tilted his head. “Not buying it.”
“Huh?”
“Your reason for moving here is bullshit. What’s the real reason?”
Snorting, JD shook his head. “You’ll have to excuse him. Trev was born without a filter.”
“Excuse you,” Trevor said as he smacked JD’s arm. “Ooh, you’ve been doing a little extra lifting, haven’t you?” His voice turned syrupy as he squeezed JD’s bicep with his pink-tipped fingers. The man didn’t seem to mind, flexing and winking at Trevor.
“Ain’t our business. You don’t gotta answer him.” Murphy had a deep voice that fit his huge stature.
He considered taking the out Murphy offered, but if anyone would empathize with his reasoning, it’d be these men, right?
“Um, no, it’s okay.” He fiddled with his straw. “When I was a teenager, I was in a traveling ballet troupe. We, uh, came here and performed at the state fair. Afterward, I was attacked and assaulted, beaten pretty bad.”
Trevor gasped and pressed a hand to his lips. JD and Jonah stared at him with wide, enraptured eyes while Murphy’s facial expression remained the same scowl.
“After that, I decided that someday I’d come back and give kids like me an opportunity they might not have. I’d give them a chance to be themselves and have a gay male role model.” He cleared his throat. “So here I am.”
No one said anything for a moment, and he started to squirm under the attention of their stares. Finally, JD spoke. “Well, shit. That’s deep for this time of day.”
Thank God for him because it broke the thick tension. They all chuckled.
“I remember when that happened,” Trevor said. “I was about thirteen and already fabulous.” He winked. “My parents forbade me from going to the fair that year. I acted surly the way any teenager who was told they can’t do something does, but I was secretly relieved. It was hard enough growing up a gay kid in Culpepper. I can’t imagine how horrible it would have been in Swan.”
“How’d you get away?” Murphy asked.
“Uh, another kid jumped in and tried to fight off my attackers. Got his ass kicked as well.”
Jonah whistled. “Brave guy.”
A smile spread across Liam’s face. “Yes, very brave. He, uh, he’s actually my boyfriend now.” And that was the first time he’d said those words. God, it felt good to tell people about Tate and how wonderful he was.
Trevor’s jaw dropped. “You lucky bitch.”
“Seriously,” Jonah said with an exaggerated pout. “All I meet are pieces of shit, and you’re with your actual knight in shining armor.”
Laughing, Liam shook his head. “I don’t know how shiny it is. His style is a little more like Murphy’s.”
“Oooh.” Trevor bounced in his seat and clapped his hands. “We’re going clubbing in Tulsa this weekend. You should totally come and bring your stud.”
Tate is a stud, isn’t he?
“Um, yeah, I’ll ask him. He isn’t exactly the clubbing type.” Though, of course, that’s where they’d met, but Tate had only been there to scratch an itch, not experience the club.
“That’s fine. He can sit at the bar, drink beer, and glare at people with Murph while we dance! This is such a good idea.” Trevor seemed so excited Liam couldn’t do anything but agree to go.
He stayed way too long, laughing and getting to know the guys who he could see becoming his go-to group of friends. By the time he left, he had three new numbers on his phone, plans for the weekend, and less than one hour until his first class of the day.
As he speed-walked down the street toward the meter where he’d parked his car, he noticed a white pickup truck parked a few spaces behind him. The familiar logo on the back had him grinning and picking up his pace. Had he realized Tate would be in the area, he’d have at least grabbed him a coffee.
He practically threw himself against the open passenger side window. “Hey there, you sexy… oh, shit.”
Instead of Tate, Randy sat at the wheel, texting away on his phone. As soon as he heard Liam’s voice, he jerked his head up and glared. “The fuck?”
“Sorry. Thought you’d be Tate.” He stepped back from the truck, but instead of continuing to his car, he tilted his head and studied Randy.
“The fuck you staring at, perv?”
“What is it?” How many times had he wanted to ask someone those three little words throughout his life? “What is it that you have such a problem with?”
Randy’s eyes, the same pretty blue as Tate’s, only full of hatred and disgust, narrowed. “My brother’s a fag. Do I need more of a reason?”
“Yes.” He folded his arms across his chest. “You do. And you need to stop using that word. Why the hell does it matter to you what your brother does with his dick?”