Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79319 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“That sounds like Denny’s grandma, all right.”
Jake had smiled. “She’s awesome. Anyway, it was the first time I realized we were being judged, and it frightened me. For Dad and me. So the day I put on two nonmatching shoes on his watch, I was a fucking basket case…scared out of my mind that someone was going to take me away from him.”
“I’m sorry. That sucks.”
“Yeah, but it was a long time ago. It’s just one of those odd memories that pinballs into other ones that make you sad, though. I’d been so distraught that the school called my dad at work. He’d brought the other half of each shoe for me to choose from and he’d smiled indulgently, as if it were kind of funny. But Dad’s sort of shitty at hiding emotion, and I could tell that episode freaked him out too. He went through a period of being Super Dad—more so than usual. He served only the finest meals, arrived early for carpools and practices, and I think that was when he started volunteering at church. I think he wanted to befriend the enemy after I told him what Mrs. Alberts had said. I sensed his fear and I just…wished I could do something for him. Anything.” Jake had shaken his head as if to clear unwanted images.
“I don’t get it. What was he afraid of? No one was really going to take you away, were they?”
“No, but raising a kid in a small town where everyone fucking knows what you eat for breakfast, and your first-grade teacher still recalls an embarrassing event that took place twenty-five years ago makes you feel like a fish in a glass bowl. There’s a decent chance my neighbor, my old hockey coach, and the kid who sat behind me in geometry in junior high heard that story too. It’s not a bad thing, but it’s a thing. There’s nowhere to hide in Elmwood.”
“Maybe not, but it’s still a good town,” I’d said after a moment.
“It is, but it’s not perfect. Everyone’s fighting their own battles…same as in the suburbs or the city.”
I’d dug my toes into the sand and probably changed the topic. I didn’t do heart-to-hearts well. I could listen and sympathize with other people’s stories, but I didn’t share my own, mainly because my life wasn’t relatable.
There was no overly involved dad, no amicable divorce, or cute hometown shenanigans in my past. Not even close. There was a time I’d have laughed at his version of a tough memory. Must have been nice to have two pairs of shoes to mix up.
But I didn’t have to compare notes or win a contest here. I could picture a six-year-old Jake scared shitless that his mistake would cost his father something irreplaceable. Moreover, I could tell that the experience had possibly been one that had shaped Jake’s persona on and off the ice. He was measured and controlled like no one I’d ever met. He was a fierce protector who gave everything he had to the people and the sport he loved.
Huh. I supposed this was me, setting aside my preconceived notions regarding the guy I couldn’t in good faith refer to as my nemesis anymore.
This was me realizing I wanted to know more about what made Jake Milligan tick.
This was me hoping for something I couldn’t quite label. For now, I’d call it discovery.
And since this chapter in my life was destined to be a short one, I wanted to make it count. I wanted to explore every inch of Jake…and his body. I just wasn’t sure how much he’d give me. Till he went home to Elmwood or after summer camp was over? The way I saw it…I either had two days or six weeks.
And how far was Jake willing to go?
The past seventy-two hours had been…magic. He’d let me map out every inch of skin…every nook and crease and secret place, including his hole.
As I’d explained to him, I’d had anal sex with women and I’d given and received a rim job or ten. The action was familiar. It was doing it with or to a man that was new. I wasn’t sure he’d be willing to let me do anything that intimate, but I was a big fan of taking chances.
So yesterday, when I’d pushed Jake’s knees to his chest to feast on his cock, and had somehow ended up licking his entrance, it hadn’t been an accident. It had been a calculated risk. I’d wanted him to know how good it felt. And if it interested him in the idea of going all the way…even better.
Time was ticking. If we were going to fuck, it was gonna have to happen soon.
But we were discussing BJs and whipped cream now…not my dick in his ass. Damn.
“Everyone needs BJ practice,” I replied, waggling my brows lasciviously.