Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 56560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 56560 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 283(@200wpm)___ 226(@250wpm)___ 189(@300wpm)
“Marcello.” Uncle Alonzo nearly purred out the name as he gave me a flirty grin…but I wasn’t sure who Marcello was.
I’d never heard stories about a Marcello.
That was bad. They only hid the really good stories from anyone they considered too young to expose to his nonsense.
“You haven’t introduced me to your new friend.” Uncle Alonzo was in full Romeo mode and was giving Terrence a look like he wanted to eat him up.
God.
My family.
“I’m Terry. I’ve heard so much about you. Alonzo, right?” Flirting and giving Alonzo a coy smile, Terrence stepped closer. “Marcello said you’d be the most handsome man here.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about Terrence flirting with my antique uncle, but Alonzo gave him a beaming smile before the flirty one came back. Terrence was definitely eating up the wicked attention. “You’re the handsome one, my dear. Handsome and such a flirt.”
Yes, but just for Uncle Alonzo, it seemed.
My Terrence was adorably awkward and giggly, but Terry was a smooth talker.
It was weird and I hoped he didn’t do it when we got home. But for the time being, it could be fun to watch.
“Oh, I bet you say that to all the boys.” Giving Alonzo a coy smile, Terry shifted it to a hurt frown as he slipped his hand through Alonzo’s arm. “But I’ll let you make it up to me. This is a wonderful party but no one has gotten me a drink yet.”
As Alonzo made a tsking sound and frowned, he nodded at Terry. “We’re going to have to fix that, my sweet. We can’t have you parched.”
Watching my boyfriend give my uncle an innocent smile as they wandered off together, I almost jumped when Carlo stepped beside me. “You know that’s creepy, right?”
“Yep.” But they seemed to be having fun. “The only good part is that he doesn’t have to talk to anyone else while he’s pretending to let Alonzo seduce him.”
Managing to hide his laughter, Carlo let out a slow breath to keep from giving the game away. “Your boyfriend is really smart, you know that? They have to leave them alone or risk upsetting Uncle Alonzo.”
“Yep. He’s brilliant, and I’m pretty sure he’s loving the fact that he’s fucking around with their plans.” They were never going to be able to get one over on my very smart cutie…especially when he was in full professional whatever the fuck he did mode.
“That’s going to drive half the party nuts and half are going to be rooting for him to take them all down.” Carlo couldn’t help grinning that time. “The moms have pushed their luck a little too far lately.”
“Terrence said they need hobbies and I think he’s right.” I just wasn’t sure how to do it.
“Oh.” Carlo looked like a light bulb should’ve gone off over his head. “I know how to fix this. Father Matthew.”
Huh?
“He’s…oh…” He was in charge of all the community service the church had done lately. Just because I didn’t go anymore didn’t mean I hadn’t heard all the local gossip. “You’re going to sic him on them?”
“Better.” Looking devious, Carlo almost rubbed his hands together in glee. “I’m going to tell him that I overheard the moms talking about not doing enough for the church but they’re not sure how to help and don’t want to step on his toes. They’re so take-charge, you know.”
Amazing.
“You’re just as smart as Terrence in your own way. He’s going to be impressed.” I’d thought my family was immune to his everyone has something they’re smart about philosophy, but I might’ve been wrong.
“Thanks.” Bumping his fist into my shoulder, he nodded. “But you might want to go remind Uncle Alonzo he can’t grab his new friend’s ass in public.”
Fuck.
****
“So, does Terry think his evening was a success?” Grinning as Terrence giggled, I pulled him against me as soon as I locked the door. “He seems to have found an interesting new friend.”
It’d taken Uncle Alonzo half the night to shift from trying to seduce Terry to telling everyone war stories I couldn’t decide were his or not. But Terrence had been having fun and loved being able to play pretend around my family without having to worry.
As his giggles got worse, he buried his face into my shoulder and finally sounded like my boy again. “He’s so nice, Daddy. And he grabbed my butt. A lot. He told me how handsome I was and a few other things that I think were compliments but I don’t know the slang.”
It seemed like he’d found something to research as well as something fun to do at family get-togethers.
“You helped him have a lot of fun too.” Kissing Terrence’s head, I didn’t gloss over that part. “Most of the family doesn’t have the patience to live in the same reality he does, so you were amazing.”