Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 341(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
All he could do was hold on.
Whatever journey they’d begun, it was thrilling and whimsical and everything he’d been too cynical to dream about as a child. He never wanted to get off this ride. As long as Driver was with him, nothing else mattered.
He still had issues. Maybe he’d never get over the nightmares or work past his fear of certain positions, but he wanted to try. He wanted to heal. Getting through each day had once been the greatest triumph he could imagine. But not anymore. Driver had given him his dreams back, had shown him what was possible if you were willing to fight for it. He was no longer content with surviving.
He wanted to thrive.
And like Dr. Lee said, when he put his mind to something, nothing in the world could stop him.
* * *
Driver was strangely nervous about his first Sassy Boyz show even though he wasn’t the one who’d be dancing. Which was probably why he’d been nursing the same beer since he’d arrived. And also why he hadn’t moved from the stool he’d claimed thirty minutes ago.
“Hey,” Fitch clapped him on the shoulder. “Wasn’t expecting to find you here.”
“What’s hanging?” He raised his voice over the club music.
“Thought you left town?” Fitch waved to get the bartender’s attention.
“Came to my senses.”
Examining him from bruised face to the cast-locked foot, Fitch leaned against the bar. “Sometimes it takes getting run over by a semi for people to see what’s right in front of them.”
Driver laughed. “It was just a Prius, but yeah. Point taken.”
“Seriously? I was just joking. Shit, man.” The bartender came over and Fitch ordered a soda.
“I think the bike got more scraped up than I did.” He’d picked her up that morning and paid the outrageous bill for tow service and storage. Once he was back on both feet, he’d start the long process of fixing her up.
“Ouch.” Fitch’s drink was delivered and paid for with his thanks. “So, you and Tam?”
“Let me guess, Ansel hates me?”
The chuckled answer was overflowing with devotion. “He’s protective.”
Driver nodded. Tam had told him everything that had happened the day he took off, including coming clean to his friends and their successful audition. He expected distrust and animosity from the rest of the Sassy Boyz and was ready to take whatever punishments they dished out. Of course, that didn’t mean he’d been looking forward to it. Tonight was the first time he’d see them since Tam’s housewarming party. The first time he and Tam would officially be a couple. The first time that Driver would be in the audience for one of their shows.
Tonight he’d apologize to the whole group, and tomorrow he’d spend Thanksgiving with them.
This was a big night for the Sassy Boyz. It was their only guest performance at this club before they started their exclusive contract at Switch in the new year. Exclusivity meant, starting January 1, they couldn’t perform anywhere else without the owner’s permission. It also meant they were guaranteed six performances a week and got steady paychecks.
About five minutes before the boys were scheduled to take the stage, Connelly arrived.
“Whoa, are we holding a club meeting and no one told me?” Connelly asked.
“More like a support group,” Fitch said with a smile.
“Sassy Lovers Anonymous?” Connelly put in.
Driver laughed. “Not so anonymous.”
Connelly shook his hand. “How you doing—Driver, right?”
“Good. Yeah. What’s new?”
“Heard you took off.”
Fitch waved a hand. “We’ve been through this already. He was being slow and stupid, but he’s seen the light.”
Connelly made a gotcha sound like that explained everything. “Z was pissed.”
Great, Z was even scarier than Ansel.
The lights dimmed, along with the house music. Both the guys patted his shoulders as they focused on the stage. They knew something he didn’t and were preparing him like bros did. They sandwiched him on either side and settled in with curious half grins on their faces to watch the Sassy Boyz perform.
Whatever secret they shared, they weren’t giving Driver any clues about what to expect.
He knew Tam could dance. Tam was mesmerizing when he moved, but Driver wasn’t prepared to see the five of them together, costumes, heels, and all. They came out like warriors made of sexuality and sparkle. Their long hair whipped out behind them like capes, except for Z, whose short locks were still fierce. Hands on hips they stomped across the stage as if it were a runway.
Gloriously seductive and powerful.
They all wore faux leather leggings in their individual styles with accessories to match. Tam had on a pair of silver arm cuffs that shone under the stage lights, and nothing else above the waist. His torso was lean and sculpted, covered in glitter that made his muscles twinkle.
No wonder Fitch and Connelly acted like kids in a candy store. They got to go home with their boyfriends after this and yeah, it didn’t take much imagination to know what would happen as soon as the bedroom doors closed. Driver’s blood heated as he thought of doing the same thing with Tam.