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)
We were both grinning and adjusting the tight fit of our pants as we faced forward. As Ryder pulled the Range Rover away from the curb, he rested his right arm on the center console. Without thought, I reached out and threaded our fingers together. He flicked his gaze my way with a smile, then tightened his grip. The need to touch him, to be connected physically, rode me hard, and if we couldn’t get naked and have some fun, at least I could hold his hand, something I’d never done with another man. Not even Jared Poznic.
We passed the twenty-minute drive to the community center, chatting about our favorite television shows. It turned out we had similar tastes in comedy and drama, but Ryder loved horror, whereas I tended to nerd out over science documentaries.
“Aww,” he teased with a chuckle as I shuddered over his recounting of Terrifier. “Is it too scary for you?”
I flipped him off. “No. It’s not too scary. It’s too dumb. I’m too intelligent for that shit.”
He laughed harder. “Don’t worry, big guy, you can snuggle up close when we have a marathon of the whole trilogy.”
“Fuck that.” No way, no how.
“Come on.” He slowed to a stop at a red light, then leaned over and whispered in my ear. “How about a trade? For every horror flick you watch with me, I’ll geek out on a documentary with you.”
“Not hap—” Huh. That wasn’t a bad deal. “Throw in a blow job, and I’m in.”
“Well, fuck yeah. I’ll take a BJ from you any time. You don’t need to watch a horror movie to blow me.”
What? Was he for real? I scowled. “That’s not what I meant!” I glared at him only to find his stupidly handsome face screwed up as he failed to hide his laughter.
“I knew what you meant,” he finally managed after the ridiculous guffawing ceased. “I just enjoy flustering you.”
“Really?” I asked as I rolled my eyes. “Never noticed.”
The light turned green, and he drove two more blocks before veering into a small parking lot in front of a one-story cement building.
A large hand-painted rainbow arched from the ground on one side of the door to the ground on the other side, originating and ending in a painted fluffy cloud. To the left of the door, a sign read True Colors LGBTQA+ Youth Center. All Welcome.
“How’d you get involved here?” I asked as he backed into a spot as far from the entrance as he could pick.
“A friend of mine volunteered here in college.” His face lit up as he spoke. “I tagged along one day when I was bored and have been coming ever since. Missed the fuck outta this place while I was gone.”
It didn’t mesh with the high school boy I’d known who called me freeloader, but it jived with the man I’d come to know today—the generous, non-judgmental man who’d helped my family and me without question. Despite living in wildly different tax brackets, he hadn’t batted an eye at where I lived and didn’t seem to think less of me today. It was exactly what I needed to shed any lingering hold our past had on me.
He killed the engine, which I had no idea how he remembered to do since his electric vehicle didn’t make a damn sound, then turned to me. “Ready?”
A sudden drenching wave of nervousness washed over me. “Yeah,” I said with all the confidence I could muster. I was shit with kids—wait, was I? Maybe not, but I had less than zero experience with them, so who knew? But I’d basically raised Kenny, and look how he turned out. He certainly wasn’t a ringing endorsement of my skills in mentoring the youth.
“Ready.”
“Great. Let’s do it.” He climbed out of the car as comfortably as if he were heading into his apartment. I followed suit with a bit less enthusiasm, but I tried to keep the terror off my face.
“Alex, relax,” he said with a chuckle. “You’re not going in for a root canal. They’re just a bunch of kids.”
“That might be easier,” I muttered.
Laughing and shaking his head, he took my hand and tugged me across the parking lot. “Come on, Mr. Anti-Social, imparting some wisdom to the youth of our city will be good for you.
“I’m not anti-social,” I said, refusing to melt over the way he still held my hand. I guess this was one of the perks of having a boyfriend. “I socialize my ass off four nights a week.”
“That’s not socializing. That’s work.”
Touché.
As we reached the door, I wondered what he’d do if I dropped his hand and raced back to the car like a world-class pussy. But as I prepared to loosen my grip, Ryder abruptly stopped and turned to face me. “Thanks for coming with me, Alex. This is… well, this is important to me, and it means a lot to share it with you.” A lightning-quick flash of uncertainty crossed the face of this self-assured man, whose confidence frequently crossed the line to blatant arrogance. “Even my family doesn’t know I volunteer here.”