Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121990 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
He grabbed the long-awaited Coke as soon as the waitress put it on the table, and topped it with some bourbon from his flask.
“Sex points? You put out for apple pie?” Roach smirked.
There was no shame in Zane as he leaned back, picking up the menu. “And burgers. And a bed. Life on the road’s hard when you’re single. Not that many hot gay guys at truck stops.”
Roach cocked his head and cooled his sizzling head with the drink. “Are you saying you moonlight as a hooker?”
Zane snorted and smacked Roach’s head with the menu. “Nah. It’s not about an exchange. If I like a guy, and he likes me, we have some fun. And since I’m hitchhiking, they always know I need someplace to crash. What’s the harm?”
“I guess.” Roach shrugged. “I’d rather not owe anything to anyone. Since we’re stuck together, the least you can do is tell me what your deal is. You really from Georgia? Got any family?”
Zane had a sip of water and leaned back, watching Roach as if he suspected they were being recorded. “Six siblings. Mom and Dad are still around too. You?”
Roach flinched. “What the fuck? You know where my family is.”
“And I’ll forever look back at that with a smile.”
They eyed each other in silence as Zane stuffed his face with pie, and Roach wished he’d choke on it. He might have hated his father and brother, but Zane’s smile was still a disturbing sight. Roach had put an end to several lives, helped dispose of bodies, but he’d never found any joy in it. Zane didn’t know the extent of Hulk’s cruelty, even if he had beaten Zane up. A few broken ribs and a chipped tooth were nothing to what Roach had endured for years.
“You love your family?”
Zane stopped chewing, and he scooped up some of the melted ice cream to watch it drizzle back on the plate. “We don’t really have that much in common, but they’re always there when I really need them. And I’d be there for them too if push came to shove.”
“Not afraid I’d take my revenge on them instead?” Roach asked, just to get a reaction.
“You don’t know where they are,” Zane said calmly and waved at the server.
“I could find them. After all, unlike some people, I can use the library.”
Zane snorted. “You’re so lame. Stop trying to make me laugh.”
Roach exhaled in frustration. He’d hoped to scare Zane a bit, to get some kind of upper hand and keep a lid on the crazy. At least his chicken and waffles arrived, and he took a big gulp of his impromptu cocktail on top of his meal.
“So this family of yours, they know you’re gay?”
“Did yours?”
Roach would never forget how choked up with panic he’d been when Zane had outed him to his club. They didn’t live to let him know whether they’d believed it or not. “No, they’d beat the shit out of me.” He challenged Zane with his gaze and bit into his chicken. The buttermilk batter was thick, crunchy, and went great with the waffle. He’d have to let Marty know he liked it.
“Mine do. When you have six other kids in the house and nobody pays you any attention, coming out is as good a way as any to get it. But they didn’t appreciate my honesty,” Zane said and picked up a bowl of salad, shoveling half of it onto Roach’s plate.
“What? I don’t get it. Are you dieting? You just had pie.”
Zane frowned at him. “Jesus. You’ve got to eat vegetables whether you’re dieting or not! And until our health remains tied, you’ll definitely have your greens too,” he said and started to chew on a large salad leaf. “Besides, getting enough fibre is especially important when you bottom.”
Fibre. Zane knew one important word and thought himself so smart.
Roach stopped chewing, and even his ears went aflame. No matter how much he’d enjoyed being under Zane and getting pounded, talking about it at lunch was another matter. “S-say what?” He wished he’d added more bourbon to his drink.
“You know, so that you’re regular. Then there’s douching, but I’m so regular I’m usually not bothered,” Zane said with a grin. He clearly loved torturing Roach, because he had to see him squirming.
“So you’ll b-bottom for me?” Roach tried to snap back the ping-pong ball of awkwardness Zane’s way, but stumbled over words, and only sighed in relief when the server arrived with an extra portion of fries ‘courtesy of the chef’.
“In your dreams,” Zane said, taking a bite out of his cheeseburger. He wasn’t at all bothered, as if sex talk… gay sex talk was the most normal thing to him, akin to discussing apple pies and music. “You had your opportunity two years ago, but you didn’t take it.”