Total pages in book: 31
Estimated words: 29464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Liam lifts his head. The hat slides off into his lap. “Today?”
“Yep.”
He shakes his head, baffled. “But it … it isn’t on the employee calendar. I check. Every day.”
“Guess they haven’t added it yet. Me being a new hire and all. And I don’t really like to make a big fuss about it, y’know? Never did in the past. Why start now?”
“But …” Liam sits up fully. “It’s still your birthday. You only get one a year.”
Teague shrugs. “Hopefully I’ll have many more.”
Liam appears surprisingly annoyed at Teague for not making a big deal out of it. “You should’ve asked for today off! You would have easily gotten it. Mr. Michelson loves you.”
“He’s not the one I want loving me.”
Liam rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Forget I said anything. Happy birthday.” Then he slaps the hat over his face and slouches back in his seat once again. Teague smirks to himself, satisfied with that last little poke at Liam’s cute heart, as they continue on down the long dirt road.
Upon arriving at Gary’s ranch, however, they are confronted by another issue. “Oh, shit, my bad, what day is it? I don’t think y’all’s order’s ready,” says one of the ranch hands, who introduced himself as Hoyt. At least Teague thinks it’s a ranch hand. He’s some fit guy around their age decked out in tight booty-hugging jeans, boots, and a t-shirt with the sleeves ripped off showing his guns. The mud splotches spackled over his left side indicates they caught him in the middle of his work. “Gotta ask my man Harrison about it when he gets back, which I hope is soon, ‘cause my ass has to be at my other job by four, and I smell like a yeti’s armpit. Hey, you guys wanna, like, come back in maybe an hour or two? These bozos should have it ready by then, or so help me.”
Teague and Liam are walking back to the truck across the hot, dusty lot, sun blaring at an angle over the backs of their necks. “An hour or two??” groans Liam in disbelief. “They’ve had all day! It’s, like, the afternoon! How’s it not ready yet?”
“Wires got crossed,” suggests Teague, hands in his pockets, walking alongside Liam. “People run on their own time out here.”
“That guy didn’t even know what day of the week it is.”
“When does anyone, really?”
“Now what’re we gonna do? Wait around in this blazing heat? He didn’t even invite us to wait inside Gary’s huge house. Rude.”
Teague stops. “You haven’t had lunch yet.”
Liam stops, too. “Are you calling me hangry?”
Teague chuckles. “I’m just saying we’re basically halfway to Spruce. Why not go all the way to Spruce and grab ourselves a tasty bite somewhere we’ve never been? I heard about a popular burger joint owned by the Mayor’s in-laws. Burger Bites, or … or Billy’s Burger Bits … Bites … uh, something Bites, I think …”
“I don’t feel like … I’m not …” Liam visibly squirms in front of Teague, now hugging himself and scowling. “I just want to—”
“—bake yourself inside my truck? Hey, we’ve got an hour or two to kill. We’re still on the clock. Why not enjoy it? Besides, isn’t it someone’s birthday?” Teague then reminds him with a playful smirk. “We oughta celebrate!” He grins as he saunters toward the truck, whistling, while Liam stares after him with a glower.
The two are soon back on the dusty old road. Spruce looms in the hot afternoon haze like a town that’s existed forever, and the closer they come, the more colorful the buildings grow, until the boys are driving down Main Street passing every mom-and-pop, family-owned, one-of-a-kind store they can imagine. An old movie theater with a tired man sweeping out front, sleeves rolled up. A church with a sleepy-looking parking lot where a circle of kids are kicking a ball. A park where a couple of men are walking their dog.
And those men are holding hands.
“Wow,” says Teague, slowing down as he watches them.
Liam shrugs. “So? You’ve never seen two men holding hands while walking their dog in a park in a small Texas town in broad daylight before?”
Teague gazes back at him. “No.”
Liam starts to say something else, realizes he has nothing else to say, then scrunches back into his seat.
The burger joint is Biggie’s Bites—“I was so close!” announces Teague as he parks the truck—and the two enter and are seated at a booth by the window. Business is slow today, so the atmosphere is peaceful and calming, which Teague notices that Liam seems to appreciate, appearing relaxed for the first time since they left the Fairview city limits. They each order a classic burger from a sweet lady in an apron who, after bringing them glasses of water and staying for some small talk, seems pleased to hear they came all the way from Fairview. Despite there being no one within earshot, she leans in and quietly whispers, “If you two are in the market for movin’ out here so you can, ah, stretch your legs more, I know a gal who knows a guy, and he will set you up with a cute lil’ house just like that,” with a snap—and a wink—before she heads back to the kitchen with their order.