Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 353(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“I’m going to eighties night later. I brought you a sweatshirt so you can join me.”
I couldn’t stop staring. “You look gayer than a rainbow unicorn.”
“Women love this shit.” David twirled around, showing off the ridiculous outfit.
I snorted. “On gay guys or when it was 1986, and I am not wearing a neon sweatshirt.” The green garment in David’s hands was burning my retinas.
David stuck out his lip.
“I’m not going to eighties night, so don’t worry, I won’t hamper you.”
David gave me a mock glare. “How can I fix your social life if you won’t work with me?”
“As it happens, I have other plans tonight, and—” I paused. Was I really going to admit to David what I was doing? “I need your help.”
“Seriously? You never ask for my help unless you’re really desperate. At least I know it’s nothing to do with sitting around reading dusty old books.”
I scowled. “Don’t you dare mock me.” David was irritating me already, and I hadn’t even told him about Connor yet.
David’s expression brightened. “Oh my God! You’ve found a man, haven’t you?”
“Please don’t.”
David dropped the sweatshirt onto the counter and settled on a stool. “What’s wrong?” His tone was more serious now, but that was subject to change at any second.
“It’s Connor,” I confessed.
David narrowed his eyes. “The hot Marine? The one who’s cleaning your house?” He glanced around. “He’s doing a damn fine job, by the way.”
"Yes, but he—”
“Did he give you shit? I’ll—”
I held up a hand. “No. It’s not like that. It’s—”
“No way! Connor’s your new man?”
“Not exactly. We were talking, and he brought up some of the crap he went through in the Marines. He looked sad, so I… I tried to comfort him.”
“Like with your dick?”
I failed to suppress my laughter. How could David be such an inappropriate ass and still entertain me? “By saying something nice and putting a hand on his shoulder. I thought he might get pissed off. Instead, he almost kissed me. At least, I think he did.”
David studied me for a few moments. “I’m not going to ask for details on that. I really want to, but I’m not. What happened after he didn’t quite kiss you?”
I sighed. “He ran. Literally. He left so fast that he forgot his bag of cleaning supplies.”
“And this is what you want advice about? Connor?”
I nodded. “I want him.”
“Let me get this straight—no pun intended. You want me to help you get together with a former Marine—you’ve never liked military guys, just in case you’ve forgotten—who’s in the closet and freaks out even when he doesn’t kiss you?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Jer.” David's disappointment was palpable.
“I didn’t think you’d approve, but—”
“Look, come with me tonight. There’ll be plenty of hot ass at eighties night. Find a man to help you forget about Mr. Disaster-Waiting-To-Happen.”
Typical David. It was all about a piece of ass to him. “Connor isn’t just some random hot guy.”
David goggled at me. “Holy fuck, you’ve fallen for him!”
“He’s not my usual type; you’re right about that. And clearly, he’s not comfortable with whatever is going on with us, but…” What could I say to justify myself? I wasn’t even sure why this mattered so much.
“Oh, Jeremy, what am I going to do with you? I’ve been saying you need to get laid for ages, but this? Are you sure?”
I took a slow, deep breath. “I am.” I was sure I was an idiot who was going to get his heart broken. “At least it’ll be fodder for some fantastically depressing break-up poetry.”
David scowled. “That’s not funny. And why does poetry have to all be depressing anyway?”
“It doesn’t.”
David raised his brow. “Name some cheerful poetry.”
“Dr. Seuss.”
David started to say something. He closed his mouth. Then he finally responded with, “Fine, you got me there. I was, however, referring to poetry for adults.”
“Must we divide literature in such an ageist fashion?” I asked.
David simply flipped me off.
“Are you going to help me or not?”
David shook his head. “This feels way too much like high school.”
“You mean when I was trying to like girls, and you were trying to set me up with men because for some reason you thought having a gay friend was cool?”
David gave an exaggerated sigh. “I’ve told you a million times, it’s a great dating technique. Girls love gay guys.”
“Yes, but they don’t fuck them.”
David seemed to consider that. “Mostly true, but… You’re really going after a straight guy?”
“He’s not straight,” I insisted. “No straight guy looks at another man the way he looked at me. Can you just trust me not to be an idiot?”
“In most areas, yes. In this, not so much. I mean seriously, a Marine? It could only be more clichéd if he were a cowboy.”
Why couldn’t David just take my word for it? “It doesn’t have anything to do with his being a Marine.”