Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91864 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“How did I know what?”
“That you’re bi.”
“Because I wanted dick, ass, and pussy?” he replied and we both laughed. “I’m simplifying it, of course. I was just…attracted to both sexes. People thought it was a stepping stone to admitting I was gay, but they were wrong. That’s BS, by the way. But yeah, it was a little confusing in the beginning, but not the hardest thing to figure out, either.”
I nodded, unsure why I’d brought it up. “So…karate. How’d you get into that?” I asked. I tried to take a drink but realized my glass was empty and signaled the bartender for another.
“Part of it was because I wanted to be able to take care of myself. The rest…” He shrugged. “My brother, I guess. It was something we did together for a while. He was protective and worried about me. He was my best friend and so yeah, that’s that.”
I felt an ache in my chest. I could hear the love he had for his brother, could feel how much he missed him, and damned if it didn’t make me think about my parents. If it didn’t make me wish I’d had more time or wish I’d had someone I loved like that growing up. Someone who’d loved me like that.
“What about your parents?” he asked.
“What about them?” I shifted uncomfortably.
“Tell me something you remember about them.” When I froze, he said, “Shit. I’m sorry. I get deep when I’m drunk.”
I wanted to make a sex joke but I wasn’t real sure how to go about it with him, so I didn’t. “No…it’s fine,” I said which was fucked up because it shouldn’t be fine. Normally it wasn’t fine at all. “I remember we used to have family day every Sunday. We’d go do something together, come home, play a game, and then the three of us would make a big pallet on the floor and watch a movie together.”
I rubbed a hand over my chest, trying to loosen up the feeling there. Maybe it wasn’t fine, after all.
“I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. Why did the skeleton cross the road?”
“Um, excuse me?” Had I missed a step in this conversation?
“The skeleton. Why did it cross the road?” Sean asked as we received our new drinks.
“I don’t know…why?” Okay, so Sean might have been a little crazy, but he was fun.
He picked up his drink, smiled at me over the edge before he said, “To get to the body shop. Get it? Body shop. Skeleton.”
A laugh burst from low in my gut. It was the worst joke I’d ever heard but I knew why he’d said it—to lighten the mood. To make me laugh. It wasn’t often that people did those kinds of things for me. They typically wanted something from me instead.
That led into entirely too many minutes of laughing and sharing bad jokes. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had so much fun.
We drank more, and I noticed the more Sean drank, the more touchy-feely he became. He was the type of guy who held onto your arm to talk to you or leaned in to hear you and I realized he smelled like Irish Spring soap, and some kind of spicy cologne. It was a good scent. I found myself inhaling every time he got close enough for me to do it.
His hand was hot on my arm when he’d touch me, and he licked his lips a lot when he laughed, and Jesus Fucking Christ, I was noticing a whole hell of a lot of things about Sean.
We discovered we both liked skydiving and hiking and the ocean. I joked about girls in bikinis and he talked about how a dick filled out a Speedo.
I realized I wanted to be friends with him. That I truly enjoyed spending time with him. That Sean and I had things in common I didn’t typically have in common with people.
It was dark outside by the time we stumbled out of the bar.
“Holy fuck, we had to have been in here for a long time.”
“Good observation, Captain Obvious,” he teased.
“Oh, you think you’re funny, huh?”
“I know I’m funny.”
“You wish. I’m the funny one here.” I was hilarious as fuck.
“Whatever you say, Straighty. I figure I have to let you win a few.”
Because of course, he had to remind me of how he continued to get the best of me. Sean’s foot caught on a crack in the sidewalk then. He stumbled and I helped catch him and somehow, we ended up with his back against the building and my hands on his hips, my body flush against his. I smelled his soap, tinged with his cologne and alcohol and goddamn if I didn’t lean in, wanting more.
We were so fucking close and he was still laughing and I suddenly wanted to shut him up with my mouth. Wanted to get the best of him in a way that would declare me the winner once and for all. It was crazy. Ridiculous. Really out of character…but I did it. Fucking went for it. I licked at his lips and pushed my tongue inside his mouth. Sean moaned into the kiss and I swallowed it down and tightened my hold and fuck, he tasted good. In one second flat, this wasn’t about getting the best of him, but about tasting him.