Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75699 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Well, that sucks.” Rowan pouted as he returned from the kitchen with glasses and the bottle of local sparkling cider. “I wanted him to stay for midnight at least.”
Oh, Rowan. I made a sympathetic noise and gentled my voice. “Isn’t Declan a bit older than most of your crushes?”
“Age is but a number,” Rowan said airily as he poured the cider. “However, I’m not crushing. Or at least, not much.” He offered a sad, crooked smile. “Sean got me hooked on watching motocross over the summer. All the dudes are so hot. Cocky swagger. Muscles. Dangerous occupation. What’s not to like?”
“Indeed. But—”
“I know it’s not happening with Declan.” He sprawled back on a pile of cushions. “But maybe if I make friends with him, he can introduce me to some of his hottie friends.”
“Are there any out motocross riders?” Declan’s expression while watching the movie flashed in my brain. Maybe…
“Dunno.” Rowan shrugged. “Probably not. It’s a macho sport like football, but a guy can dream.”
“Surely there’s high school-aged fish for you to catch?” I hated the idea of Rowan being disappointed.
“None worth frying.” Rowan huffed as Oz came to settle next to him. “Gotta get out of this town.”
“College will be better.” I offered up the old platitude, hoping I was right.
“Maybe.” Eyes taking on a faraway cast, he gave a sad smile as he petted Oz before standing. “Time to toast! Make a wish!”
As the clock counted down to midnight, I couldn’t think of any resolutions or wishes that didn’t involve Declan. My own crush was likely as hopeless as Rowan’s, but tell that to my fickle heart. After all my failed relationships, I really should know better. And I’d hoped for a partner for too many years to make that midnight wish one more time. Nope. My only New Year’s resolution needed to be keeping my distance from Declan.
Said resolution lasted precisely through shooing the kids off to bed, cleaning the kitchen, putting away the fancy glasses, and walking past Declan’s door. He’d seemed pained. Maybe I should check…
And before I could stop myself, I knocked on the closed door.
“Come in,” he called. I opened the door to find him in bed, and as he sat up, the covers pooled around his waist. His very bare waist, no hint of boxers or pajama bottoms. And no shirt either. Bare chest, a surprising amount of auburn fuzz, fading bruises on his torso, lickable pink nipples, and…
Stop it. I forced myself to look away. Oz had no such modesty and went to settle next to Declan. Traitorous dog.
“Sorry. I should have known you’d be sleeping.”
“No, I wasn’t asleep. My mind doesn’t want to shut down even though I ran out of energy to dress after I showered. Fucking showers. Who knew they were such energy thieves?”
“Fucking bandits,” I agreed. “Want me to toss you your pajamas?”
“Nah.” He looked entirely too comfortable with his nudity.
“I should let you rest or…whatever.” A strangled cough escaped my throat as I envisioned whatever. “I only wanted to see if you were okay. I thought you might have been in pain after the movie. You mentioned your head?”
“When am I not in pain?” Groaning, he gave a dismissive wave. “Head. Back. Leg. My other leg from too much work moving the scooter. All of it.”
“You could take something.”
“The pain meds were torturing my stomach and making my nausea way worse, so I weaned myself off them at the rehab place. Besides, it’s not that bad tonight. I mainly just needed away from the New Year’s Eve festivities and the movie.”
“That grossed out?” I hadn’t yet figured Declan out. He seemed to want to prove a point that he was cool with queer content, despite his obvious discomfort. And then there was that longing in his eyes, which left me with more questions.
“No. You don’t get it. I’m angry.”
“Okay.” I drew the word out as I headed for the door. “It’s late, and I’m too tired to unpack your homophobia—”
Declan cut me off with a frustrated noise. “Not at them. The characters were amazing. Who wouldn’t love that duo? No, I’m mad at the producers for making it seem like coming out is as easy as kissing in front of the whole neighborhood. As if.”
“Sometimes it is that easy,” I said gently, studying the array of emotions on Declan’s expressive face.
“Not in my world.” He shook his head, tone turning mournful as he buried a hand in Oz’s soft fur. “My first pro race, one of the older riders made sure to let me know there was no place for gay riders, only he used a far worse word. And that was okay because I’d already learned that lesson as an amateur. And how.”
“Wanna tell me about it?” I stepped closer to the bed.
“Not particularly,” he snapped. “This is the life I chose. End of story.”