Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
If I’m being honest with myself, despite everything I’m telling him, there’s a part of me that is nervous about the show. A part of me that totally lacks confidence. Things could go wrong. Lighting instruments could fall on my head. My clothes could magically fall off, exposing me to the insurmountably large audience that will no doubt fill that pavilion from end to end.
Do I even believe my own words about confidence?
“What are you guys doin’ way over here?”
Noah and I turn to find Anthony at the mouth of the hallway, his eyes red from crying, his robe hanging open to reveal that he’s wearing nothing but a pair of tight white boxer-briefs.
I realize belatedly I’m still caressing Noah’s face. For whatever reason, I don’t drop my hand.
Anthony looks back and forth between us. “So you guys gonna finish makin’ out or whatever the hell y’all are doin’ and come join us? Dean and I are takin’ a dip in the pool. TJ’s with us.”
Noah and I glance at each other.
“Or don’t. Y’know, whatever.” Anthony leaves.
After a second, Noah smirks. “You did say you wanted me by your side until ‘all of this madness is over with’ … I believe were your exact words.”
“I trust the guy who quotes people for a living,” I say.
“Then I … guess I’ll stay here with you,” he decides with a nod. “I’ll stay and be the person you can depend on. And when this is over with, we can …” He nods again with more certainty. “… we can go back to being ourselves.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.” He lifts his backpack off the floor and sets it between us. “So which one of these twenty rooms is yours?”
I fling his backpack over my shoulder. “I’ll show you.”
The room I took is down the hall a little from the lounge, right across from Anthony’s. It was the only room that lacked a view of the pavilion. Something about it being out of sight helps me relax more, which is the purpose of us staying here. I help empty Noah’s backpack into a couple of drawers, though he didn’t seem to bring much with him. Just before we leave the room, I can’t help myself and tackle Noah onto my soft, springy, oversized bed, surprising him. After just one kiss, we become lost in each other, and soon, we’re grinding against each other’s bodies, our hands all over each other as we lose our breaths, making out.
“I’m so happy you’re here,” I moan against his lips.
“Me, too,” he moans right back.
It must be half an hour later before the pair of us arrive at the swimming pool behind the guest wing. Considering the size of the entire estate, the pool is proportionately quite small, but circled by a lot of large paved areas with coverings, lounge chairs, sofas, and even a tiny dining section complete with a grill and outdoor sink. Dean looks like an actual king seated in the circular hot tub attached to the pool, a wineglass in one hand with a bottle sitting next to him on the edge of the tub. Anthony floats in the center of the pool on an inflatable lounger, arms behind his head, chatting away about something to do with Reverend Trey’s most recent advice to him and how it’s helping him “manage his unaddressed anger”, with Dean interjecting a word of wisdom now and then. TJ swims around casually, appearing relaxed and content, now and then floating on his back. He looks over upon our arrival and calls out for us to join them. Noah and I end up sitting by each other near the hot tub with our legs dangling in the pool. TJ and Anthony gravitate toward us, and before long, all of us become engrossed in relaxed conversation under the stars. Dean tells us some funny anecdotes about babysitting Tyrone “centuries ago”. TJ tells us all about life at his university and the odd (and slightly self-entitled) peers and professors he deals with, about whom Noah seems to be particularly intrigued. One of his professors has the last name of Myers, which sends Anthony into a venting spiel about his own parents and how they’ve been putting so much pressure on him to make something of himself, which in turn only makes him feel like “more of a loser”. Dean, who has come up to the front of the hot tub where it meets the pool, shakes his head in pity and says, “I’m telling you, Anthony, you’ll find your right time, you’ll find your moment to shine. Don’t you dare give up.” And Anthony, who has apparently become Dean’s apprentice and number one fan, nods at once and says, “You better bet I won’t give up. I’ll prove them all wrong about me. Fuck yeah, I will.”