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)
I catch Noah’s eyes several times, and when he looks my way, he smiles, appearing happy.
I think we both needed this.
“What about you, Teej?” asks Anthony from his inflatable lounger, giving TJ a nudge with his foot. “You got yourself a chick hidden away on campus?”
TJ flicks his eyes at me once, then shrugs at Anthony. “No, I’m too busy to date.”
“C’mon, we’re all friends here, we’re all bonding. Tell us. You are one good-lookin’ young guy. I’m sure you got a chick’s number in your phone you’re gonna call the second you go to bed.”
TJ laughs him off. “No, really, I don’t.”
“Don’t lie.”
“And what about you?” TJ suddenly retorts, adopting a funny smirk and crossing his arms on the edge of the pool. “You have so many jobs around town. Don’t you get hit on by girls all the time?”
Anthony bristles and shrugs. “Sure, yeah, can’t keep them off of me. What about it?”
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend yet?”
He blows air out his lips and shrugs again. “None of them can keep up with me. I’m a lot to handle.”
“So you think the special one is gonna appear at the pageant and bid on you?” asks TJ. “Y’know, the one who can keep up?”
“Dunno, guess we’ll see,” he mumbles.
Dean, peering up at the stars in wonder, asks, “Can we even still properly call it a pageant if the real purpose is to auction each of us off for a date?”
“Is it even a real pageant without judges?” asks TJ in return.
“There aren’t judges?” asks Anthony, his face wrinkled.
“Nope,” confirms TJ. “Just the lovely emcee Frankie Lopez and Mayor Nadine herself.”
Dean starts to laugh. “Then what in the world did we actually sign up for?”
“A circus,” mumbles Anthony, then reaches for his beer—and the whole inflatable flips over without warning, dumping him into the water. Dean bursts into laughter, soon followed by TJ, Noah, and myself. After Anthony clambers his way out from underneath the giant floating lounger—which in and of itself is a hilarious scene to witness, inspiring even deeper laughter from all of us—he shouts out, “Fuck y’all!” before joining in the laughter, wiping water out of his eyes.
Our time at the pool is followed by an hour lounging on the couch watching TV and carrying on with conversation. Soon, Dean tires out and says goodnight before departing to his room. TJ is the next to head off, leaving the three of us on the couch to enjoy the rest of our night. Anthony doesn’t even make it to his room, nodding off on the couch during a commercial break and snoring. I shut off the TV, tuck a blanket over Anthony’s snoring body, and head off to my room with Noah.
It’s well after midnight when we’re lying on my bed. “Brought it with me,” I tell Noah when he asks about a colorful nightlight I plugged into the corner of the room by the window. “Just in case you did follow through in staying here with me.”
Noah’s eyes warm as he gazes at me. “You’re so thoughtful. I don’t know what I did to deserve you.”
“I could say the same damned thing.” I put my arm around him on the bed and pull him close to me. We’re both wearing just gym shorts, otherwise shirtless and barefooted on the bed, which has a fluffy comforter and sheets that feel like liquid silk against our skin. “You’re my favorite thing in the world, Noah.”
He cuddles against me, his head on my chest, remaining quiet.
Even after our fun night with the guys, he still seems like part of his mind is somewhere else. I stroke his hair and decide to tread lightly. “What’re you thinking about?”
He doesn’t answer.
I keep stroking his hair. “Noah …?”
“I’m counting your heartbeats.”
“Oh.” I can’t help this uneasy feeling. Something is wrong. Yet still, I treat him with sensitivity and patience. “How many are you up to?”
“It’s beating fast.”
Must be my anxiety, wondering what’s wrong with you, I’d say, but instead I just chuckle. “Guess my heart rate always picks up when you’re near me.”
“Hmm. That doesn’t sound healthy.”
“Oh, it’s very healthy,” I insist. “Cardio does a body great. If I keep you in my life, I won’t ever have to touch a treadmill again.”
He lets out a halfhearted titter, then draws quiet.
I lean my head against his and close my eyes. In a quiet, gentle voice, I tell him, “You know I care about you, right? More than this pageant? Oh, sorry, I mean circus we’re part of.” He remains silent. Even the joke doesn’t land. “Remember, I even wanted to drop out of it several weeks ago. The only thing that matters to me is you.”
“You know what’s strange about the paladin?”
I open my eyes, confused by the random question. “What?”
“The paladin was so focused on his mission, the movie never showed the bigger picture … that there were other demons all over the realm, and sorcerers who practiced illegal magic … all of them needing just as much of the paladin’s attention …”