Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Knox was his best friend. There could be no maybes.
Knox looked up, and… was it an illusion or had he briefly peeked at Liv’s goods? Whether he had or not, he was naked. Wet. And kneeling right in front of Liv, close enough to play his flute if he fancied it.
But Knox didn’t take another glance. He picked up the shampoo, put it away on the shelf, and stumbled out of the shower so fast he slipped on the way. He had a great figure. Overall slimmer than Liv but packed with muscle. A damn fine specimen of man, and not particularly hairy at that.
“Sorry! Coming!” Knox yelled, drying himself with a towel.
Snapping out of the sudden daze, Liv grabbed the shampoo, squeezed lots on his head. and massaged it in before stepping back under the shower while the unexpected arousal subsided. Maybe he shouldn’t think about this too hard. They were friends. The best of the best. He’d run into a burning building if Knox were inside. The last thing he needed was a weird erotic brain fart about him.
Maybe he really shouldn’t have watched gay porn.
Knox smirked, already putting on the set of loose sweats they got from their hosts. “If you take too long, I’ll be eating both pizzas.”
“Oh come on, I gave you my last protein bar,” Liv complained before he could have caught himself. Mortified, he switched off the water and rubbed his head with the towel in hope Knox didn’t catch that.
"What? You forgot you only had one?” Knox rolled his eyes. “We could have shared it. Let’s go, I can already smell food. And look, they even gave us socks.” He smiled up at Liv as he sat to put them on. It was a relief to see him so happy over little things. He looked so cute in the oversized clothes and with wet hair sticking to his forehead.
Really damn cute in a way Liv never noticed before this stupid day, the hugging, the peck on the lips, the “babe”—
But this confusion had to stop, so he put on his own set of clothes. They fit him better than Knox’s and Liv faced him with a smile, glad Knox waited for him instead of going for the pizza slice with the most pepperoni. Liv intended to give it to him anyway, but it was a nice gesture.
His stomach rumbled as if a teen garage band had made it their home. A weird impulse told him to let Knox through the door first, but he stopped himself in time. The stray thought was forgotten anyway once they reached the kitchen and saw Frank sitting in front of two massive plates of pizza.
Ezra leaned against the kitchen counter behind Frank with his arms crossed, like an elegant shadow.
“Liver? What kind of name is this?” Frank asked, glancing at their IDs, which he’d set on the table in front of him. He raised his eyebrows as they sat down like two dogs tempted by a fresh bowl of food.
Gah.
Liv scowled as he dropped into the chair, smelling the dough, the oil, the melted cheese… His stomach growled again, sounding as if a drunk man had fallen into a set of drums. Ezra placed a massive green salad between the steaming pies, unaware that his guests weren’t interested in rabbit food. After a moment’s hesitation, he also pushed the pepperoni pizza toward Liv, who tore off two massive pieces and folded them into a cheese and meat sandwich.
Biting in was bliss.
This damn pie was the best he’d ever had. But with Frank ogling him as if he were toxic waste about to infect the love of his life, Liver swallowed the first bite to speak.
“Yeah. That’s my name. And yes, everyone asks.”
“So good!” Knox mumbled with his mouth full, eating so fast it made his ears tremble.
Frank squinted. “Your parents got together, brainstormed, and decided that Liver was the best they could come up with?”
With his mouth stuffed full of greasy deliciousness, Liv nodded. He was tired of this damn story, which only proved that even his own parents thought he wasn’t worthy of real consideration, but he met Frank’s gaze.
“Dad really liked liver. Fried with onion, and shit. They actually decided to call me River, which would have been the coolest name ever, right? But when I was born and Dad went to register me, he thought calling me Liver instead would be funny.”
Or he’d been too drunk to spell right that day, which would have been a much less entertaining story.
Frank hummed. He was a strange mixture of calm and danger. Liv couldn’t decide yet if he could trust the guy, but his partner definitely softened Frank’s image.
“Offal is very healthy,” Ezra said, taking a seat in the chair next to Frank’s. He put some salad on his plate, and then a single slice of pizza.