Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 79183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79183 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Dad grabbed me by the arm and pulled me in close. “But you aren’t right?”
I was so disgusted I almost puked. “Why would it matter. I would still be your son.”
“No,” he whispered. “You wouldn’t.”
“Message received,” I said. “Message. Fucking. Received.”
“What did I say about language?” Dad stood head to head with me, chest to chest, and I just wanted to push because I was so offended, so pissed that he would say those sorts of things.
What century was he even living in?
“Yeah,” I finally said. “I’m gay. Deal with it.”
I wasn’t. But I was too pissed to think.
He slapped me across the face so hard I fell to the ground, my hands collided with the chair, one of my fingers broke on impact, and still, he stood over me.
Mom came in minutes later only to hear Dad announce to her that I was gay and I was dead to him.
“But he has a girlfriend,” Mom said.
Dad looked down at me. “That true?”
“Whatever.” I pretended that it didn’t matter when I got up and went to my room.
I pretended that I wasn’t crying when I texted Tessa and asked her to delete the video, and I pretended that it was all okay that my dad was just overreacting when I texted Quinn.
He came over and was promptly turned away by my dad because he wrongly assumed that Quinn was my boyfriend.
That was the day it all ended.
When I admitted to something that shouldn’t be a crime and wasn’t even me—and when Quinn went to the dark side and started dating Tessa the next day.
I clear my throat as the movie turns on. MB is sitting between Quinn and me. Quinn’s on his third drink, I’m on my fourth, and MB just sits there like it’s not weird she’s between us.
I take a deep breath and wait while Johnny Depp appears on the screen. No clue why I chose Pirates of the Caribbean. I think I was too distracted by the fact that Quinn was so close to MB and looking at her like a tasty snack.
I get it.
She’s beautiful, but that doesn’t give him the right to hit on her. Part of me wonders if he’s serious, and the other part wonders if he’s just trying to get back at me after I cut him out of my life all those years ago.
He hasn’t brought it up.
Neither have I.
But I know we both feel it, this awkwardness of what went down, how it ended, and why it broke.
She’s sitting between us like nothing’s wrong, like it’s normal, though I do see her fidget a bit and wonder if that’s because she’s uncomfortable.
I adjust my body and lean in closer, and her breaths come faster. Quinn’s looking straight ahead at the movie and starts popping in Mike and Ikes like it’s his life’s work.
“Be right back.” MB jumps to her feet and scurries away like she’s afraid of candy. Quinn looks over at me while popping another into his mouth. “Still hate me?”
“Pretty much.”
He laughs. “She’s cute.”
“She’s mine.”
“Caught that,” he says. “But what if she chooses different?”
“What if I kill you?”
“That’s super aggressive.” He looks down at his hands and puts down the box of candy. “I’m not okay anyway.”
Not what I expected. “What? What do you mean?”
“I miss my best friend. I know what I did was shitty, but everyone has their reasons.”
I roll my eyes. “What? You wanted sex, so that was your reason?”
He’s quiet. “You have no idea, what I wanted, and what I did to protect us.”
Chills run down my spine. “Protect us? We already paid her family off. What more did you need to do?”
“Give in,” he finally says, then looks at me. “I had to give in… trust me, I would have rather written a check.”
He gets up and grabs another drink, then another. By the time MB is back from wherever she went, Quinn is pretty much wasted, he’s leaning on the armrest with his cheek and closing his eyes more than opening them.
“He okay?” MB asks.
The movie is halfway through. I just sigh and get up and pour myself and MB shots, we each take two, probably not the best idea, but I’m done, so done.
I get up and take another, then another. Quinn gains his second wind, and suddenly, he’s grabbing a shot with us.
MB kind of stumbles toward me.
“Just like old times, yeah?” Quinn slurs. “Us with one girl, fighting over her, grabbing our dicks like we’re so hard.” He bursts out laughing. “And does it even matter in the end?”
“Stop,” I say, taking my shot.
“No, it’s true.” He grabs MB’s arm and pulls her against him. “Wanna make out? We used to share. Did you know that? One time we were filmed, but we shared more than this.” He crushes his mouth against hers.