Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88218 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
His aqua eyes hold firm even though he sucks his bottom lip into his mouth. He always does that right before he tells a lie. “I’ve had plenty of time to get over you. I’m not that sad.”
My heart stutters because I want to believe he’s telling me the truth even though the signs say otherwise. I love Denver so much, and the last thing I want to do is hurt him.
“Can we sit?” I gesture to his white dining table that looks like a glass bubble. God, he really has bad taste in furniture—that hasn’t changed. “Maybe if we talk it all out, we won’t have to walk on eggshells around each other while I’m here.”
Denver relents and takes a seat at the head of the table. It could be a power move. This is his house, I’m the one who needs a place to stay, and he’s in charge.
I’m okay with that. He can have whatever he wants. I want to fix him and make him happy any way I can. If he asked for the world, I’d find a way to give it to him.
I purposefully sit next to him in the closest spot possible, and then silence filters through the room. I guess I need to start this off. “Can I ask … have you ever been with a guy before?”
“Never.”
“Not even after …” I roll my hand in a “you know” kind of way for him to get to the conclusion himself. I’m sure he doesn’t want me bringing up the kiss between us a million times.
“Nope. No other guy has ever caught my interest.”
“Did you try?”
“Really? You think I was going to risk going on any gay dating apps or hooking up with guys to test a theory? My career—” Denver’s mouth slams shut.
“Your career, what?”
“You know what it’s like for Harley and Ryder. They’ve kept their secret for a freaking decade. Knowing my luck, I’d meet some guy and then bam, front-page news the next day is a picture of me and him kissing.”
“So, it’s still entirely possible that it’s not a me thing, and that you could possibly like men as well as women, but you haven’t given it a chance.”
“Possible, but not likely.”
“Why not?”
His mouth drops open. Then closes. “No, you’re right. It’s entirely possible.”
“Do you have any gay friends you can test that theory on? You know, ones you trust or maybe have an NDA? Like someone from the show?”
Denver huffs. “Uh, hooray, sexual harassment case?”
“Damn. You’re right. I was looking more for the whole contracted to stay silent about your sexuality thing, but now I realize how creepy it sounded. What about Harley or Ryder?”
“Hell no. Even if they weren’t both in serious relationships, that would still be a hell no.”
“What about—”
Denver’s eyes narrow. “Are you seriously telling me to go proposition guys to see if I like it? That’s … weird.”
I run my hands through my hair. “Sorry, I’m trying to problem solve here.”
“Thanks, but it’s my problem to solve.”
“I don’t like this,” I say. “The whole, you being smarter than me thing.”
A genuine smile crosses Denver’s face, and I think it’s the first time I’ve seen it since we reconnected.
“I’ve always been smarter than you,” Denver says. “You just think because you’re so much older than me that you know better.”
“What’s with the so much older? Three years is nothing.”
He fake coughs in between saying, “Four.”
“Hey, according to the world, it’s only three.”
“Yeah, but I know the truth. I know you’re …” He sucks in a breath. “Thirty next year.”
I glare at him. “Low. Blow.”
Denver bursts out laughing into an actual, uncontrollable laugh, and I realize how much I’ve missed the sound.
Seeing as I’m obviously shit at gay dating advice, I switch topics in hope I can keep getting him to smile and laugh like that. “What’s the reality show like?”
“It’s fucked-up.”
“How so?”
“Okay, so you know all the different talent shows that have been around? The Voice, American Idol, X Factor …”
“Yeah.”
“The producers of Fandom want to mesh them all together. We have teams, we have knockout singing battles, but most importantly … we have people with hardly any talent. So extra bonus fun.”
I shudder. “Sounds like torture.”
“It is. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I have one or two people on my team who I think have potential, but the rest are too green to try to fix all their bad habits in weeks. It would take months to retrain them.”
“Whoever’s on your team is lucky. If anyone can be supportive and encouraging, it’s you.”
“Ugh, way to make me feel guilty. I should be looking at this from a mentor’s perspective instead of the giant waste of time I think it is. I signed on with good intentions, but …” He presses his lips together.
“You can tell me anything, Denny. I mean that.”