Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
He surprised me by hugging me, his touch gentle, and he avoided my injured shoulder. I sighed and hugged him back, the anxiety I’d been dealing with since that morning finally loosening. When he stepped back, he grabbed Rico’s hand and linked their fingers together. I straightened, swallowing down my wince and my groan of pain. I couldn’t show Anurak that I was hurting. He would just worry even more than he already was.
“Ace and I will be going into town tomorrow evening to give out candy at the Trunk or Treat event. Will you come with us?”
Niran pressed his hand to my lower back. “Afraid Bento is unavailable,” Niran told him. “We have other… business to attend to.”
Rico nodded once at Niran, understanding what Niran meant, even if his husband was a little clueless. “I’ll go with you,” Rico told him before Anurak’s face could fall again. And fuck, the way the boy brightened at those words… He was so in love with his Papi.
“Really, Papi?” Anurak asked as Rico led him from the room.
“Really, perrito,” Rico assured him, their voices fading as they walked further and further away.
“Do you think they know what happened in here?” I asked, staring at the still-open door.
“Everyone knows,” Alfonzo said as he walked past Niran’s office, his eyes locked on his phone. “You’re loud, Bento.”
“Oh, my God,” I groaned, my head falling back on my shoulders.
Niran snickered from beside me, then patted my sore ass. “Help me clean up this office, then we need to sort the papers that can be saved and the ones that can’t so I know what to reprint. After that, you need to sit your ass in that chair and do what I told you to do earlier.”
“You better be glad you’re hot when you boss me around,” I muttered as I began sorting through the papers on his desk while he gathered what’d fallen to the floor.
Niran snorted. “You keep saying that, kon-dii.”
I winked at him when he glanced up at me. “Well, it’s true.”
He shook his head. “Focus. We don’t have all day.”
I gave him a mock salute, and in return, he landed a smack on my ass so hard, I yelped.
19
Niran
When I woke on Halloween, Bento was passed out beside me on his back, his lips parted just the slightest bit as he snored. Lifting myself to rest on my elbow, I tracked my eyes over his face. In sleep, Bento looked calm and serene. He wasn’t trying to live up to my expectations, and he wasn’t trying to impress Rico. He wasn’t worried about saying the wrong thing to Anurak and making the poor boy burst into tears. When Bento slept, he was able to just be.
And while he was already a damn good-looking man when he was awake, seeing him so at peace was almost breathtaking.
His breathing pattern changed, and his eyelids slowly slid open. Turning his head, he let his eyes meet mine, arching a brow at me. “You’re such a creep,” he rasped, his voice still thick and heavy with sleep.
“Just admiring what belongs to me,” I told him. A stupid grin tilted his lips, and I chuckled, unable to help myself. He got happy over the simplest things. It was one of the things I adored about him.
“You’re so corny,” he groaned, then stretched his good arm over his head before wincing. “Why are you up so early?”
“Why are you?” I retorted. I actually thought the pain pills would’ve kept him knocked out half the day since he’d taken them so late last night.
He huffed in annoyance. “Because I could feel someone staring at me, and it was disturbing my sleep.” I reached out and lightly thumped his nose. He smacked at my hand, shooting me an annoyed look. “Again, Niran, why are you up so early?”
“Because I have things to do,” I reminded him. “Like taking care of the two men down in the basement. You were the one who suggested we should deal with them on Halloween for the irony of it.”
He grunted and threw his good arm over his eyes. “I didn’t think you’d be up at this ungodly fucking hour though.”
Reaching up, I moved his arm, laying it across his abdomen gently so as not to hurt him. I knew his torso was still tender and bruised. Without pain meds, it was still hard for him to do something as simple as breathe. I couldn’t wait to do the same to those assholes currently residing in the basement. I wanted them to suffer for what they’d done to Bento.
“I’m always up early.” He grunted. “Been doing this for years. My body is now on an automatic time clock.”
“I’ll never get used to getting up early,” he groaned. “Ten years of doing this shit, and I still sleep in every fucking chance I get.”