Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Ros laughed out loud, pushing some hair off his face. “You did not! Then again, my dad’s in prison too. Imagine them meeting?”
Knox shook his head. “Nah, mine’s back in California. He’d be so pissed off if he knew what I’m doing.”
Liv twisted in his seat as he put both his arms around Knox. “He’s a shithead. Bad fucking person all around. Forget about him. He doesn’t matter.”
Knox had to take a deep breath, but it only made him want to cry again. Liv was so sweet. So understanding. Always on his side. Always had been, even before everything had changed. Knox was just finding it easier to accept now.
Ezra put down his glass and rose. Knox half-expected him to disappear to the bathroom, but he returned with a massive, unopened jar of chocolate cream. He put it right in front of Knox, along with a box of vanilla wafers and a spoon.
Shane whistled. “Dirty secrets?”
Ezra’s face twisted as he rejoined Frank on their side of the table. “It’s not mine. Dex left it here, but I think Knox might… need it,” he added, hiding behind the glass as if this small kindness was something to be embarrassed about.
“I’m fine,” Knox muttered, but greedily pulled the jar close. “He was just so shit to me, you know? No matter how hard I tried, I was always too weak in his eyes because of my stupid heart thing. I even won a kickboxing competition at one point, and he said it was because I was in the lightweight category.” Just thinking back to it made Knox stuff his mouth with a whole spoon of chocolate cream.
The collective groan shook the room, and Frank shook his head with bitterness curling his lips. “Some people should not have children. Pity it’s not hard to make a baby. My father beat me until I proved that I could strike back.”
Ezra kissed his shoulder, his beautiful face full of understanding. “I’m not in touch with my parents either. They both failed me.”
Knox’s throat tightened. He didn’t expect his hosts to open up like this so soon. Maybe it was just the booze, but maybe the common thread they shared crumbled walls that would normally stay in place. If that was the case, could he leave his own down too? And going by these confessions about parents, most of them had found family here, with each other, instead of trying to please society.
Knox leaned into Liv and put his arm over his shoulders, but watched Ezra. “I’m sorry.”
Ros snorted and winked at Ezra. “Don’t be. He found himself a daddy.”
Frank rolled his eyes, and Ezra shook his head in disapproval. “Wow. Next you’ll say his magical dick healed my daddy issues.”
Ros, who was now drunk enough to find that funny, broke into a long giggle. “I’m s-sorry.”
“No, you’re not,” Ezra said, and when Ros stirred, it became clear he’d gotten a playful kick under the table. “Full disclosure, I do not need a father figure. Just a man who has enough emotional intelligence to be an excellent partner,” he said, facing Frank.
Frank’s self-satisfied smile was all the answer needed as he put his arm over Ezra’s shoulders and stroked his ear.
Seeing two men interact like this still felt a bit odd. Would Knox act like that around Liv in a year or two? Like a married couple with a house and their shit together? It was hard to imagine such a future. Sure, they’d lived together before, but like two brothers, not a couple, and they’d skipped all the transitional steps, going from nothing to fucking and cuddling within less than a day.
Would the sex change everything? He loved the relationship he had with Liv, their stupid jokes, and teasing, and didn’t want to end up being treated like Liv’s girlfriend. Liv romanced women intensely only to fly off to another pretty flower that caught his attention. But for Knox, he’d always seemed to have endless understanding and patience. If Knox did indeed have daddy issues, he did not want to lose his best friend trying to heal them through sex.
Shane yawned, but even he had red cheeks from the booze. “Jesus, Ezra. We know, Frank is perfect husband material.”
“What is this daddy thing anyway? I see it everywhere recently,” Liv said, slurping from his bottle as he stroked Knox’s arm, happy as ever. It was hard to look away from those beautiful tattooed hands that had held Knox with such confidence just a few hours back. “If I’m to get a bit of an incestuous vibe in bed, I’d rather have Knox call me stepbro.”
Knox’s cheeks flamed, and he laughed, remembering how he once got stuck under a car, and they made the help-me-stepbro-I’m-stuck! jokes for at least an hour. That situation might have escalated in a different way now.