Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110671 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
The women bemoaned in unison.
“Can you tell Darius I like this one but not this one?” Jayden pointed to the two sliders on his plate. “This one was the best ever.” He bit into one, his fingers sticky with grease and ketchup.
“You like the one without the spicy dressing,” Gray confirmed with a nod. “I’ll let him know.” He swayed Justin a bit to the country song playing in the background and brushed away some hair from his forehead. “You wanna eat some more, buddy?”
He shook his head but pointed to his soda.
Gray handed him the glass.
“Wait!” one of the women exclaimed. “You know, I heard once that bartenders sometimes say they’re gay to ward off women. Is that true?”
Good fucking God. If that were true, wouldn’t it be a good reason to back off?
“I wouldn’t know,” Darius chuckled. “Wearing a wedding ring doesn’t work, so I don’t see why lying about your sexual orientation would have a different result.”
The woman pouted. “So, you’re really not straight.”
“Nope. Got my eye on someone else.” Darius let out a whistle and jerked his chin in the direction of Gray, who tried not to look like he’d been watching the whole thing unfold already. “You wanna go out to dinner this weekend?”
Gray straightened and cocked his head. “Like a date?” He smiled unsurely, wondering what the man was playing at.
“Yeah.” Darius left the women behind and walked toward him. “Like a date.” When reaching their corner of the bar, he leaned forward and planted his forearms on the bar top. “I’ll even ask all the right questions. Favorite color, favorite band, and what your sign is.”
Gray laughed and shook his head. “Sounds perfectly cheesy.”
Darius’s hazel eyes glowed with warmth and amusement.
Jayden was watching them like a tennis match. “I like green.”
“Green is a good color,” Darius agreed.
Gray reached over and squeezed Darius’s hand. “I’d love to have dinner with you.”
“Fantastic. I’ll find a good place.” Darius slid his gaze to Jayden and his plate. “You want some more fries with that ketchup, small fry?”
“No,” Jayden laughed, “but I need more ketchup, I think.”
“Or you can finish the ketchup lake you already have on your plate first,” Gray suggested with a chuckle.
Darius glanced at Justin. “He okay?”
“Yes. He’s just processing.” Gray combed back the boy’s hair, and Justin leaned against him and played with one of the drawstrings of his hoodie. “You feel all right, don’t you? You just want some downtime?”
Justin nodded and buried his face against Gray’s chest.
Darius smiled faintly. “Let’s see if we can have the boys overnight soon. I reckon it’ll help them get settled up in the cabin.”
“I’ll talk to Adeline.” Gray picked a leftover shrimp from his plate and stuck it into his mouth. “By the way, did you get the rattlesnake story from Ryan?”
“I did.” Darius smirked. “He trampled one, and it tried to bite him. But he’d stepped far enough up its body that it only got leather. The snake couldn’t reach past Ry’s boot.”
“Jesus. Good. That could’ve ended badly.” Gray shuddered. “Is he a magnet for these things? First a shark, now a rattlesnake.”
Darius’s shoulders shook with laughter.
“Does he have a snake? Is it vemenous?” Jayden asked.
“It’s not his.” Gray handed the kid a napkin. “He was out camping and accidentally stepped on it. But yes, it was venomous.”
“That’s so cool.” Jayden wiped his mouth quickly. “Snakes are badass.”
“You hear that, knucklehead? Snakes are badass.”
Gray rolled his eyes.
“It’s true.” Jayden took a gulp of his soda. “Ryan is your brother, right?”
Darius inclined his head. “Aye, and it’ll make him your uncle. He’ll come up to visit soon with his own kids.”
Jayden blushed and grinned goofily.
Gray was just so fucking in love.
Gray grimaced when he read Mom’s text. “It’s never a good sign when my mom calls me son.” He tossed the wet towel into the hamper and trailed toward the bed. “Listen to this. ‘I’m glad you’re feeling better. Which I heard from Adeline, by the way.’”
Darius chuckled, already comfortable in bed. “Nice little dig to get in there.”
“Right?” Gray continued reading the text. “‘Speaking of, there are a lot of things I have to hear from her nowadays. I wasn’t born yesterday, son. You may not have outright told me that you and Darius are a couple now, but I’m not blind. Therefore, you and Darius will stop by for dinner on Sunday, and you’re welcome to bring your future children you’ve also neglected to be forthcoming about.’”
“Ooof.” Darius winced in sympathy. “Therefore, forthcoming, and son in the same text.”
“She’s never this formal.” Gray put his phone on the nightstand and snuck under the duvet. “So…you got plans on Sunday?”
“Aye. Looks like I’m having dinner with your folks.” Darius crawled half on top of Gray and kissed his chest. “I’m so fucking tired, but I gotta have you quick. It’s been too long.”