Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66516 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66516 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“I’m not drunk.”
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Abe said under his breath. Then he nodded and squared his shoulders. “Okay.”
A yes was a yes. Wanting to get out of there before Abe changed his mind, Jason rested his palm on Abe’s lower back and steered him out of the bar. “I’m parked right over there.” He pointed his key fob toward his Mercedes and unlocked the door.
Most guys had some reaction to his car. If not an outright compliment, then at least the appearance of being impressed. It was why he’d bought a car that cost more than some houses. Abe didn’t seem to notice.
“Your place or mine?” Abe said once they got into the car. He grinned and waggled his eyebrows, his expression playful. “I never thought I’d get the chance to say that.”
Jason found himself laughing, which was rare in general and never happened with tricks. Maybe it was because he was completely sober.
“Yours. I live pretty far.” The familiar lie came easily. “Where are you staying?”
“Staying?” Abe buckled up his seat belt.
“Uh-huh.” Jason backed out of the parking space. “Which hotel?”
“Oh.” Abe shook his head. “I live here. Well, not here, but in Henderson. Is that too far?”
At that time of night, it was less than half an hour. A fact Jason knew because he lived in Henderson too.
“No. It’s fine.” He pulled out of the parking lot.
“So,” Abe said.
Jason jerked his gaze over to Abe and then back to the road.
“I don’t usually do this sort of thing. Want to tell me how it goes?”
Furrowing his brow, Jason tried to think of how to respond and came up empty.
“No? All right.” Abe cleared his throat. “Small talk, then. Did you grow up in Vegas or are you a transplant?”
Small talk. That was new. Then again, they had some time to kill.
“I grew up in Reno,” Jason said. “How about you?”
“I’m from Utah originally. Salt Lake. But I moved here for school.”
And with that, Abe was off, chatting about where he went to college (UNLV), his parents (divorced), his sister (four kids, lived in Idaho), why he moved to Las Vegas (good weather, less conservative than his hometown), and other equally mundane topics. Jason was able to ward off most personal questions with a grunt, so the conversation wasn’t painful. Actually, if he was honest with himself, it was nice. Listening to Abe chatter allowed him to focus on something other than work or the state of his own life, which was relaxing. Before he knew it, they were getting off the freeway and Abe was giving him directions to his apartment interspersed with tidbits about the area.
“Pass the grocery store. Doesn’t it look great? They just remodeled the whole strip mall and the inside of the store. They added a nut bar with all sorts of different nuts that you can grind to make fresh nut butter. The honey-roasted peanuts are my favorite. I go through a jar every couple of weeks.”
Jason glanced at Abe, dragging his gaze up and down his slim body. “Really?” He looked at the road again.
Abe shrugged. “Fast metabolism. Plus, I swim.”
“Well, it’s working for you,” he said, looking at Abe appreciatively. It was getting harder and harder to focus on driving.
Though it was too dark to know if Abe blushed at the compliment, Jason noticed him ducking his chin and biting his lip.
“Make a left at the light after the Roasted Bean. Oh my God, they have the best chai lattes there. I know it seems like they should be the same at every coffee shop, but theirs is special. Plus, refills are half price and they have a bunch of comfy couches and chairs. I’ve spent many weekend afternoons and evenings camped out there with my laptop or a book.”
Jason got an image of Abe curled up on a big sofa, his hair flopping over his forehead, a steaming mug in front of him and a book in his hand. “That sounds nice.”
“It is.” Abe pointed to an apartment complex just ahead of them. “That’s me. Building C.”
Jason drove in, parked in front of the building, and turned off the ignition. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was a little anxious about going to bed with someone. Though he hadn’t shared anything about himself and he didn’t know all that much about Abe, he no longer felt like a stranger. The last time he’d had sex with someone he knew in any sense of the word, he had been married and trying to convince both himself and his wife that he wanted to stay that way.
“This is kind of weird, isn’t it?” Abe asked as they sat in the quiet car.
“No,” Jason assured Abe and himself. It was sex. That was a basic bodily need. In, out, done. That was his motto and he followed it religiously. There was nothing weird about it that couldn’t be attributed to his current state of sobriety. He made a mental note to never again pick up a guy until after he’d had a couple of drinks. With that decision made, Jason grabbed the door handle. “Ready?”