Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 72362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
“You can have the side next to the window.”
“I promise to protect you from the storm.”
“Thanks, friend.”
Heavy footsteps follow me through the apartment. I leave on the lamp. A little illumination is good on a night like this.
There’s nothing particularly sensual or erotic about my boudoir. Just a big bed with sensible cotton sheets, a duvet, a couple of throws, and a varied selection of pillows and cushions. Comfort matters.
He pauses. “You like a lot of stuff on the bed, huh?”
“Do you want to go back to the floor? Is that what you’re telling me?”
He mutters something about me being mean as he rearranges the cushions before stretching out on his allotted section. Then he lies flat on his back with his hands behind his head. The way this makes the muscles in his arms pop is impressive. Same goes for what the pose does for his chest. There’s just a whole lot of seductively smooth skin on display. Even the tufts of hair in his armpits seem soft and inviting.
I must force myself to look away. My hormones are out of control and the shame I feel is immense. The moment he and I are done with our deception, I’m going to find me a hookup and get some.
“Your bed is soft,” is his next comment.
“Is that good or bad?”
“After the floor, it’s good.” He turns his head to inspect the pillow some more. “Very good.”
“Okay. Are you…are you sniffing my pillow? Stop that.”
“It’s a normal thing to do.”
“Not really.”
“Smells like you.”
No idea what to say to that. I climb on the bed and get comfortable on my side. All the better to watch him. Rain crashes against the window and a tree limb, waving about in the storm, casts spooky shadows on the curtains. But it’s fine. I am not alone. I can ignore the strange noises coming from the building holding against the storm. It’s just going to take some practice. Or another distraction.
The sudden groan coming from the man at my side seems dredged up from somewhere in the depths of his soul. Way down deep amongst the mire. He opens his eyes and stares at the ceiling. “Truth is, there’s a couple of reasons for the way I reacted at the party. The first one we talked about. I’m not used to them having my back. It’s nice, but it’s new, you know?”
“Right.”
“But mostly, I just still fucking hate that you and me and my family have to make a big deal about this in public for anything to change.”
Nothing I say can make it better. Best to keep my mouth shut and listen. I also don’t want him to stop talking.
He turns to me and says, “It’s not easy being a reformed people pleaser.”
When he goes no further, I ask, “Is that what you used to be?”
“Yeah.”
“Why was that?”
“It’s complicated,” he says.
The sounds of the storm own the room for a while. It seems the rumbling thunder is moving away from us. Heading farther out to sea.
“My father was an asshole who hurt people,” he tells me in a low, quiet voice. The kind meant for sharing secrets in the small hours of the morning. “Stealing, cheating, getting into fights—it was all fun for him. Then one day he disappeared, and it was the best fucking day of our lives. Mom stopped crying herself to sleep. Stu and I didn’t have to keep watching out for his fists.
“I was only twelve when he left, still just a kid. But my brother was older. He had a growth spurt that summer and suddenly, he was tall and broad and looking a hell of a lot like our old man. Folks started watching him when we went places. Whenever he walked into a store, someone would follow him around to make sure he wasn’t stealing. Parents warned their kids to keep away. I saw that and I didn’t want it happening to me. Though there was nothing I could do about the principal at our high school. He put us in detention just for breathing.”
“That’s awful.”
“Dad had slept with his wife and one of his daughters looked an awful lot like Stu and me.”
“Whoa.”
“Yeah,” he says. “The family left town a couple of years later. I don’t know what happened to her. But she’s probably not the only half sibling we have out there. Dad couldn’t keep his dick in his pants if his life depended on it.”
“That’s a lot for you to deal with at such a young age.”
“Stu got angry and leaned into his bad reputation. He was always smoking pot and drinking out at the old lighthouse on the point. Nic and him got into all sorts of trouble. Then she was pregnant and decided to keep the baby.”
“Good that she had a choice.”