Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111089 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 555(@200wpm)___ 444(@250wpm)___ 370(@300wpm)
“I definitely have plenty. More than I ever thought I deserved.”
What had an asshole like me ever done to deserve guys like Tex, Taryn, Ben…James…in my life?
“You’re a sweet kid, Kyle. Trust me, anyone who gets to have you in their life is the lucky one.”
He offered me a hug, that familiar warmth that could only have come from the sort of hug Tex gave.
I wished I could tell him all about James. It killed me to keep something so important from him, but I reminded myself it wouldn’t be much longer.
We were so fucking close. In less than a month I would graduate, and as we’d planned, we’d have only the summer to go through before leaving behind all our fears. After that, things wouldn’t be the same, and one day they would all be talking about James Warner and Kyle Forsythe of Wyachet, Georgia.
Speculating about the school year when we first met…
The summer after…
And how it all came to be when we began our public life together.
They’d wonder when it began, and some of our trusted friends would know, but only James and I would ever know our truth.
Uncle Tex finished helping me get ready before demanding plenty of pictures, if not for my future, for his own. Then I headed over to Taryn’s, where Ben was already waiting. We went out to dinner and then to the hotel hosting the event. En route, I passed the alley where I’d rescued James from that asshole scum…before James rescued me from myself.
It was strange to think about the angry kid who’d saved him, and now the kid who’d finally worked up the strength to talk to his therapist about his father and so many years of pain.
As soon as we entered the ballroom, I noticed the lights spread around the room, made to look like a starlit sky. It reminded me of the nights when James and I slipped away to our private hideaway.
We greeted some of Taryn’s and Ben’s friends while I searched the room for James. I caught him chatting near the punch fountain with Kendra and a few other faculty members. His gaze shifted around the room, and I knew as soon as our eyes met that he’d been looking for me too.
We shared knowing grins for a bittersweet moment where we both seemed to know the truth—that moment was all we could have tonight.
I took a breath, refocusing on my friends, who were on their way to the dance floor. I forced myself to enjoy the moment, keep myself from spending the whole dance pining over a man I’d not only seen plenty throughout the year, but who I’d get to enjoy plenty of moments with after. Tonight needed to be about Taryn, Ben, and our last school dance together.
I managed to succeed in having a good time, not just with Taryn and Ben, but with our classmates, many of whom I’d spent several years seeing around but never really chatting with. The way we laughed and busted silly moves let me know what a night like tonight was all about.
As soon as we started slowing down, despite the pop remixes the DJ had been playing, the beat faded into a much slower song. The lights dimmed to a dark-blue shade as white specks of light traveled around the ballroom, looking like stars shifting along the wall. All of time seemed to move with the music as I searched for James, who stood at the edge of the dance floor. God, he couldn’t have looked more beautiful in his suit, the lights traveling over him, sparkling off his glasses.
Ms. Eiken approached him, I was certain for a dance, as Taryn said, “Come on.”
“What about—” I looked for Ben, noticing him already coupled off with one of the guys I recognized from around the halls, always wearing his football jersey.
Go get him, kid.
I took Taryn’s hands.
She had this magical glow about her, looking radiant as ever, but even though I was with the most beautiful woman in the room, I couldn’t keep from looking over her shoulder when I was facing James’s direction.
There were brief instances where we’d catch each other’s gazes at just the right moment. It felt so cruel for us to be so far away on what, as James had noted, was supposed to be a special night. There we were, in the same room, during a magical moment, but one we couldn’t share because of our circumstances.
Taryn looked over her shoulder. “Where are you off to?”
“Huh?” I asked, trying to play it off unsuccessfully.
“Everything okay? You seem awfully…distracted tonight.”
Fuck, I was.
As much as James had wanted me to have a good time, this was just…torture.
I felt bad even thinking that, since I’d never want him to feel responsible for my not having a good time. I wanted him there, yet having him so close and so far away all at once was excruciating.