In the Middle of Somewhere Read Online Roan Parrish (Middle of Somewhere #1)

Categories Genre: Angst, College, Contemporary, Drama, Erotic, Gay, GLBT, M-M Romance, Romance, Tear Jerker, Young Adult Tags Authors: Series: Middle of Somewhere Series by Roan Parrish
Advertisement

Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 153871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 769(@200wpm)___ 615(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
<<<<7989979899100101109119>160
Advertisement


Last night, Rex came over carrying something that looked like the beautiful piece of wood I’d seen him working on in his woodshop a few days before.

“What’s this?” I asked him.

“You needed a new kitchen table,” he said. His posture was comfortable and commanding like usual, but I could see uncertainty in his face, no doubt because of my totally ungrateful response to his previous efforts regarding my table.

I took a deep breath. No one had ever made anything for me before, and I couldn’t even imagine how many hours it must have taken Rex to craft this piece. Rex doing that—showing up like that—was a test. Not that Rex engineered it as one; he’s not manipulative like that. But it was a test of whether or not this could be okay between us and I knew it. This was Rex showing me that he cared.

I smiled and stepped aside. Rex fitted in the legs and skimmed the wood with a tender hand. The table reminded me of him: sturdy and comfortable and welcoming.

“It’s amazing,” I said, and Rex’s smile told me I’d passed the test for sure.

So, now, here I am at Mr. Zoo’s because I wanted to get Rex a record or something to say thank you.

“He made me a new kitchen table,” I say. “Mine broke.”

“Whoa! That’s amazing.”

Yeah, it really is. Leo looks at me and then down at Emmylou and gets a weird look on his face.

“What?”

“Um, no offense or anything,” he says, “and I’m sure it’s a good album and all, but that’s kind of a lame present for someone who, like, carved you something out of a tree with his bare hands.”

Shit. Shit, he’s totally right.

“Sorry!” he says.

“No, you’re fucking right,” I say, letting out a breath.

“You swear a lot.”

“Yeah, I guess I do. Sorry.” He just smiles. “So, you got any better ideas?” I ask. “And if you insinuate anything to do with sexual favors, so help me….”

“Well, what have you already done for him?”

“Done?”

“Yeah, like, what nice things, so I don’t repeat them.”

Nice things. What nice things have I done for Rex? Fuck all, that’s what. Better question: what nice things has Rex done for me? Rescued me after a car accident and given me a place to stay for the night even though I was a total stranger. Saved the dog I hit with my car. Fixed the desk in my office when he barely even knew me. Warned me about the weather. Come to pick me up in the middle of a snowstorm when my car died. Cooked for me. Taken me to dinner. Given me a massage. Gotten the Internet at his house for me even though he doesn’t use it himself. Made me a kitchen table even after I yelled at him the last time he brought it up.

And me? I took his fucking dog for a walk when he had a debilitating fucking migraine. I fucking disgust myself.

I drop my head down onto my arms on the counter and groan.

“Shit, Leo!” I say.

“What? What’s wrong?” Now I’ve scared the kid.

“What’s wrong is that I’m a shit boyfriend. Absolute shit. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no fucking clue.”

Leo is wide-eyed, staring at me with his mouth half open. God knows why he liked me in the first place, but whatever hero worship he had is, I’m sure, dying a writhing death on the counter between us as we speak. I’m a grown man and I have no idea how to date someone. No idea at all.

“Um,” Leo starts, with a mommy-and-daddy-are-fighting expression. “Well, my sister always says she’ll forgive a guy anything if he buys her flowers.”

“Uh-huh, and how old is your sister?”

“Sixteen.”

“Yeah. Well, you should tell your sister that’s a crap policy.”

“Okay, well, why don’t you take him on a really nice date? My sister says—”

“No offense, Leo, but I’m going to go ahead and say I don’t care what your little sister thinks about dating.”

“No, no, this is a good one. She says a well-conceived date shows that you pay attention to the person. That you know what they like to do and you want to show them a good time.”

That makes sense. I was probably supposed to ask Rex out on a date after he took me to dinner, so things were equal. I’ve never asked someone on a date before. Never planned one. But I know what Rex likes. Old movies and good food. This will be fine.

“Right, okay.” I tell Leo. “A date. I can do that.”

But he doesn’t look totally convinced.

ON FRIDAY, I pick Rex up at his house because it seems a date-like thing to do. He looks amazing in tight black jeans that mold to his muscular thighs and round ass and one of those thick oatmeal-colored sweaters that I associate with ski lodges and Irish whiskey ads. The thick sweater makes him look even larger than usual, like if he held me I’d be warm and safe forever.


Advertisement

<<<<7989979899100101109119>160

Advertisement