Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101764 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 509(@200wpm)___ 407(@250wpm)___ 339(@300wpm)
He snorted. “Okay, not exactly, but my point stands. We pick a major so young and expect we’re going to stick with it. There’s nothing wrong with changing your mind and nothing wrong with wanting something different as you grow and mature.” He shuddered dramatically. “Ugh, mature, what a word.”
The attempt to lighten the mood worked for a second, eliciting a small laugh from me, but I quickly fell back into a contemplative mood. “You didn’t change. You’ve known you wanted to be a robotics engineer since before I met you.”
“Yeah, well, my situation is a little different. I need a secure future for my family more than I need a career passion.”
“What do you—”
He waved the hand holding his tumbler. “We can dissect my problems another night. I take it the conversation earlier was your dad flipping out about the major change?”
Of course, I knew he’d received scholarships and financial assistance for both the summer session where we met and for college. Hence, the whole freeloader nickname that got me on his most-hated list, but did his family’s financial situation go deeper than not being able to pay for college or pricy summer programs out of pocket? I wanted to press, but the set of his jaw told me I’d get nowhere tonight.
Another time.
Did he mean it? Would there be other times when we hung out and talked? Touched? Got each other off?
“Ryder?”
“Uh, sorry.” I shook my head and then stared down into the still amber liquid he’d poured me. “He doesn’t even know yet. All I said this afternoon was that I wanted to discuss my future career plans. He flat-out refused to discuss it and threatened to cut me off.”
“Shit,” Alex said on an exhale. “That’s… a lot.”
I snorted, then tossed back the rest of my drink in one gulp. “Yeah.”
He still had half his drink left, which he sipped much more slowly. “Remember Andy from the summer session? The guy who had six toes on each foot.”
I chuckled. “Yeah. Though I never saw his feet, so I’m not sure he wasn’t lying.”
Shrugging, Alex grinned. The smile transformed his whole face from unapproachable to open and warm. This wasn’t the first time I’d seen that smile from him, but it had never been directed at me. Trevor, plenty of times, even Dom and Luke, but never me.
I liked it.
“No idea. Anyway, he volunteered at the LGBTQ+ youth center downtown.”
“Oh yeah, you’re right.” He’d volunteered a few nights a week, just for that one summer as far as I knew.
“Whenever I would complain about how much I hated you…” Alex said with a wry smirk that had me chuckling, “… he’d tell me you weren’t the asshole I thought you were, that you spent all your free time at the youth center, and you were fantastic with the kids. I remember him being frustrated that he couldn’t connect with them the way you could. Once, he told me he wished he’d had someone like you in his life when he was younger. A mentor or a teacher he could trust.”
My chest tightened as all the moisture in my mouth evaporated. I swallowed in a vain attempt to correct it. “Wow,” I croaked. “That’s… thank you for telling me that.”
Alex huffed a light laugh. “At the time, I told him he was delusional, but now…” He pushed his glass away. “Well, it sounds to me like you’re making the right choice.”
This time, his words caused a fluttering in my chest. When was the last time someone believed in a choice I’d made? Hell, I couldn’t remember ever making my own significant life choices. This was a first, and the support came from the oddest place.
But I liked it. Alex’s simple encouragement without fluff or blowing smoke up my ass finally released the sick tension living in my gut since he caught me speaking to my father.
He stood and reached for my glass. “Fuck your father. It’s your life. You gotta live it.”
I couldn’t help but stare at the way his ass moved beneath his soft sweats as he walked over to the bar. Then there were his arms beneath his T-shirt, not huge, but toned from lugging heavy bottles for hours on end. They rippled and flexed as he washed and dried the glasses.
Occasionally, his gaze would drift my way and linger for a second, crackling with heat, before he seemed to realize where his attention had settled. I felt a twinge in my gut each time he ripped his focus away.
He strode over to me once the glasses were back on the shelf, and fuck, if I could look anywhere but at the swell in his sweats. He’d sucked me off, listened to my problems, and provided advice, all without an ounce of relief for himself.
I stood and stepped in front of him before he could reach for his coat at the table, palming his hard dick through his sweats.