Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
“Err, okay. I’ll be in my room if you need me,” he said, rising from the seat, on the way to the open door, but Dad pushed him right back down.
“Sit and listen.”
“What is this about?” Mike asked and hugged the bottle, weirded out by the subdued glances he was getting.
The way his family sat around him in a circle of chairs reminded Mike of that one time he’d taken Granddad to an AA meeting, and he didn’t like that fact one bit.
“Zolt told me about last night…” Leo started, rubbing his hands together with a worried expression.
Of course Zolt would have told him.
“Is that it? You want to talk me out of my misguided gay relationship? Weird for you to do that, Leo, but okay, whatever. You’ll be happy to know it’s over,” Mike said, pouring out the bitterness boiling inside him.
Rain shook her head, leaning against Mom’s armchair. “No, we all care about you, and Arden seems more important to you than any other partner in a while. Actually, you’ve only had flings, as far as I recall.”
The silence after her comment was almost eerie, but maybe it was because only his parents and siblings were there. Nothing was ever quiet in Kane’s presence, or when someone from the old guard was around.
“What’s it to you, Rain? All of you spent two months discouraging me, and making fun of me, and now you’re on board and actually want me to be with Arden?”
“We just didn’t think it was serious. It’s never serious with you,” Dad said, raising his voice, but Mom quieted him with a squeeze to his hand and cleared her throat. She hadn’t washed her hair today, which was a ritual of hers, and that prompted Mike to sink deeper into the chair. Shit was about to get serious.
“Your dad means that it took us a long time to realize that whatever was happening between you and Arden was different. But then I saw you during that tear gas attack and I knew how deeply you care for him.”
“Why are we having this conversation?” Mike asked, agitated like an injured animal prevented from hiding in the safety of a den where it could have licked its wounds. “I told you it’s done. I don’t want to be dissected, so leave me the fuck alone!”
Jack squinted at him. He might have taken after Mom’s family in terms of features, but the stern expressions often appearing on his face made him resemble Dad more with each passing day. “Stop being a big baby. You can’t stay away from the boy, and everyone can see that. So you’re afraid of commitment. Boo hoo. Get your shit together and stop being so wishy-washy. You’re lucky a pretty thing half your age even wants your sorry undecided dick!”
The silence extended, but even though Mom cleared her throat, she didn’t say a thing.
But Jack had no fucking idea what he was talking about.
“Of course he wants me. I give a mean blowjob and fuck like a machine. What more can a boy want?” he asked, challenging Jack with a sharp gaze in hope it would send him out the door.
But Jack took a deep inhale of air and rubbed his face. “Can somebody get through to this idiot? Mike, you’re not getting any younger!”
“So what?” Mike snapped, avoiding all the invasive stares by watching the bottle in his hand. “I don’t want kids anyway. It doesn’t matter.”
Mom put her hand on his forearm, and he itched to shrug it off, but had too much respect for her to do that. “You know we support you in whatever decision you make, but you don’t seem happy, Mike. Jack is trying to ask if there’s something else going on? Why did you break up with Arden when you clearly like him so much?”
“You know what I think?” Axel spoke out, drawing everyone’s attention to his somber features. “You’re wasting your life. All those girls throw themselves at you, and you just go through them without ever considering that there will come a time where you won't be able to attract them at the snap of your fingers anymore. And you’ll be alone, because you won’t have anyone to love you. And this thing with Arden? I also thought it was crazy at first, but you really like him, man. I know you do. What the hell are you doing with your life? Do you know what I’d give for someone to look at me the way he looks at you? And you just turned him away.”
That was the longest few sentences Axel had willingly said in his entire life, but the jabs pulled at all the wrong strings in Mike, triggering an explosion of anger. He tossed the bottle at the wall, standing up just as the glass broke. “You don’t fucking know anything! Yes! Yes, I like him! I want him! If I was someone else, I’d have taken him in a heartbeat, but I won’t put his life at risk!”