Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 396(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
As does sitting around this table with all of them. Doc is at the far end, trying to talk Gary into a tattoo. Travis swaps between thinking it would be hot as fuck and telling Gary he’s perfect as he is. He’s so head over ass in love with Gary, it’s crazy.
Derek animatedly flops his arms around as he tells Hayden a story about some guy he met the other night. Hayden drops his head back and laughs. I watch his Adam’s apple move when he does, wondering why I feel so fucking obsessed with him all of a sudden when I feel a small hand on my arm.
“Thank you for letting Hayden move in with you. He’d never tell me, but I know it was killing him to be back home with me.”
My eyes dart back to Hayden as he talks to Derek, and then I give his mother my attention. “No need to thank me, ma’am. I needed a roommate, he needed a room, so it worked out well for both of us.” I wink at her, and she smiles.
“Please, call me Julie.”
“Julie,” I say but then add, “it’s been really nice having him around. I have fun with him. You raised a good boy. You should be proud.”
Her eyes light up as though I just offered her the moon. “Thank you. That means a lot to me. It wasn’t always easy, but I love him more than anything in this world.” She shakes her head and for a moment, I think a tear might leak from her eye. “What about your family? Do they live around here?”
There’s no thought, no regret when I say, “My family is in this room.”
I can see that she can tell there’s a story there but doesn’t know if she should ask. “It’s okay. I don’t mind talking about it. My parents kicked me out. I lived on the streets for a while.”
“Oh, Cody. I’m so sorry.”
I shake off her apology. “It’s okay. It is what it is. Eventually, Doc found me and took me in. He showed me that family isn’t about blood. Took care of me like I was his own. I got my GED, and he taught me to tattoo, and I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
I jump a little when there’s a hand on my leg. Just as Hayden squeezes in support, I look over and wink at him, trying to ignore the flutter in my chest.
It’s then that I realize everyone at the table stopped speaking. They’re all looking at me, were all listening to me as I spoke to Julie. Doc gives me a quick nod, then Hayden picks up his glass of wine, and says, “To being exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
One by one, everyone holds a glass in their hand. I’m the last one to raise mine as I repeat, “To being exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
As the yappy little dog barks in the background, we take a drink.
***
I stand in the kitchen as Hayden talks to his mom by the door.
“Are you sure I can’t stay and help you guys?” she asks for about the tenth time. Everyone else left a while ago. They offered their services as well, but Hayden and I told them no.
“It’s fine, Mom. Let me walk you down real quick,” Hayden tells her.
“Let me say good-bye to Cody,” she replies then walks to me and pulls me into a hug. “Thank you for hosting Thanksgiving.”
I squeeze her back, appreciating the fact that she’s been so kind to me. “It was all Hayden’s idea.”
“Maybe, but you didn’t have to agree or be such a good host, so thank you for that. I can’t wait to see what you guys have planned for Christmas!”
The three of us laugh as she pulls away. It means a lot to me that even though I know she’s kidding, I can also see her enjoying the holiday here as well. For years, I’ve only had Doc. Sure I have friends, Travis being one of them, but we weren’t really a spend the holidays together kind of crew. Doc and I have always been together, but this is the biggest holiday I’ve celebrated since I lived at home.
“You hear that, boo? You better start planning now,” I tease Hayden, and he and his mom laugh again.
She leaves after that. I open the dishwasher and begin rinsing dishes and loading them. It’s only a few minutes later that Hayden comes back inside.
“Look at you, such a fucking gentleman, walking your mom down.”
“Aww, you’re making me blush.” Hayden steps up to the sink beside me, and the two of us wash dishes and load the dishwasher. The air around us feels heavier, not like tension or anything but almost like neither of us knows how to act or what to say, which is a first for us.