Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 321(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64238 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 321(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 214(@300wpm)
I shot him an irritated sideways glance. “You’re a new queer. Should you be noticing other men already?”
Riley nudged my ribs. “I’d have to be pretty obtuse not to notice him.”
“Hmph.”
“Ahh, I thought so,” he singsonged.
“What does that mean?”
“He’s another ex of yours, isn’t he?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, not an ex, but we did…fool around a couple of times.”
Riley opened his mouth in an exaggerated wide O. The little shit was teasing me and enjoying it. “Ex fuck-buddy? That definitely doesn’t sound boring to me. What happened?”
“Nothing. We had…you know…”
“Sex,” he deadpanned.
“Yeah. A few times. But it wasn’t special. It was just…sex.”
He snickered. “Got it. Still not sure why you’d say he’s boring. Unless that’s a personal defense mechanism to convince yourself he’s not great, even though he’s clearly not so bad.”
“Whatever. You win.” I threw my arms in the air like a white flag. “Bryson is perfect, but perfect is boring. Perfect hair, a perfect body, perfect car, perfect kid, perfect relationship with his ex…how is that fun? I’m mostly joking when I give him a hard time, but I’m also honest, you know?”
“Mmhmm. So basically, you’re attracted to hot messes like me.”
“Yes, that’s it,” I agreed, looping my arm over his shoulder and kissing his cheek.
He buried his face in my neck with a laugh, sighing as he looked out at the water, still leaning against me. “Perfect always backfires on me. I’m getting the idea that it’s better to embrace my flaws.”
“Flaws? You? Qu’est que c’est? What flaws, other than not speaking French, do you have?”
“I understand a little,” he commented defensively. “But…I wasn’t a good student, and I haven’t retained much of my high school French. When did you learn English?”
“I’m still learning,” I replied. “As a kid, I copied what I heard on television. As an adult…it was sink or swim. I picked up necessary phrases so I could communicate with my American teammates. I do okay now, but I struggled a lot in the beginning. My translations were painfully literal.”
“Give me an example.”
“Uh, okay. Easy. If I wanted to tell someone ‘Hold on tight,’ I would say, ‘Attache ta tuque.’ The literal translation is ‘Attach your beanie hat.’ ” I waited until Riley stopped chuckling and added, “I know you could say ‘Hold on to your hat,’ but you begin with what you know, so in my head, I’d say it in Quebecois and translate to English. I was sledding with my American teammates down a steep hillside on what was supposedly a day of bonding. The snow was icy and slick. It was dangerous, and I could see the toboggan in front of us keeling to one side. So when it was our turn to go, I yelled, ‘Attach your tuque!’ ”
Riley hooted. “I love it. What did they say?”
“They laughed. The joke is that they were from California and no one knew what a tuque was, so it took forever to explain that a tuque is a beanie and…aye, too much work. Thankfully, there was alcohol at the bottom of the hill.”
“That’s funny.”
“And it’s not the first or last time that happened to me. It’s safe to say, I’ve caused a lot of confusion.” I shrugged good-naturedly. “Maybe I’m doomed to be misunderstood.”
Riley shook his head. “No, you communicate very well. Better than me, that’s for sure.”
“You’re reserved. That’s different.”
He stared at the horizon where wisps of fog clung to the water’s edge in shimmery shades of gold and muted blues. “Not with you. If anything, I’m painfully honest when I’m around you.”
“Oh? Let’s take a test. What’s your sexiest fantasy?”
He widened his eyes as he shifted to face me. “Are you for real? Who casually discusses sexy fantasies while freezing their ass off on a rock?”
“We do. You go first.” I bit the inside of my cheek in an effort to keep a monster grin from spreading across my face when Riley snorted derisively. “No? Okay, but I have to say, you’re surprisingly prim and proper for a guy who’d begged me to fuck his hole this morning and—”
“That was in the heat of the moment. Totally different,” he interrupted hotly.
I held my arms up in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll go first.”
“No, that’s not necess—”
“I insist.” I squinted as if deep in thought. “I have a lot of fantasies to report—the pirate and the cabin boy, the CEO and the intern, the sexy delivery man.”
“Oh, boy.”
“But right here, right now…I like the idea of fucking you on this rock. You could sit on my lap and watch the sunset while you ride my dick. Hot, yes?”
Riley cleared his throat and licked his lips. “Yeah, but no condoms.”
“Hmm. We don’t technically need them. You get tested often and…I’ve recently been tested too. Plus you’re the only one I’ve slept with in a long, long time. But I’m sure I have supplies in the glove compartment too. Which reminds me…I also have a cop fantasy. A police officer asks for my registration, and when I reach for it, a condom falls out and—”