Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79314 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
His hair was always quite tidy, but he’d been to the barber’s before coming over to steal Ros’s heart once again.
“You made it!” Rosen’s legs took him to his friends, and he welcomed them with a big smile.
Dex grinned, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt. “This is the gayest event I’ve ever been to. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Frank cleared his throat and released another button of his shirt, as if he had trouble breathing in anything that wasn’t loose-fitting, but he excused himself and ventured toward the refreshments. Shane brushed the backs of his fingers against Rosen’s and greeted Harlene with a smile.
“After this is over, let’s all have dinner. Dex found some fancy place and booked it for us. My treat.”
Ros smiled and kissed Shane, not caring that they were out in the open, because neither of them was willing to hide their sexuality anymore. “And there I was, thinking I’d never taste luxury again in my life.”
Shane gave an awkward laugh, but squeezed his hand, going red. “Well… you know… it’s fancy but not like… millionaire fancy.”
Which probably meant they’d go to a nice independent restaurant, but Rosen would even take a cheap fast-food place over living off his dad’s money.
He gave his man another kiss and gestured to his sculpture. “How do you like it in all its glory, my Hades?”
Shane cleared his throat and glanced at Harlene. She must have gotten the hint and excused herself, leaving them to face the towering form of the God of the Underworld. Shane had seen it many times before, and had even helped adjust the workshop’s ceiling to create more space for the head, but its majesty hit differently here, among beautiful paintings, sculptures, and other works of art, admired by people who earned Shane’s yearly wage in a week.
His hand was sweaty in Rosen’s, but he didn’t let go and took in all the intricacies of Hades’s steel-and-tyre robes. “This is what you want,” he whispered in the end.
Ros stroked Shane’s arm, feeling all mushy inside. “This is what I want.”
A soft gasp escaped Shane’s mouth, and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he regarded the sculpture for the longest time. “I was worried that you had to give up on so much for me. And that you would end up regretting it. But maybe it’s gonna be all right after all?”
Ros took his time to answer because he didn’t want to offer Shane empty words. “There’s been hard times along the way, but I chose you, and I keep choosing you every day.”
A soft shiver passed through Shane, but he smiled, watching Ros with eyes shining like two copper coins covered with patina. “And I will spend every day of my life trying to be the guy you want to choose.”
Ros’s heart couldn’t have been fuller.
The end