Total pages in book: 49
Estimated words: 48146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 48146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 241(@200wpm)___ 193(@250wpm)___ 160(@300wpm)
“No family is perfect.” I swallowed, feeling vulnerable right then, but Bones had shared a lot with me, so why not? “All right, fine. My dad…is not my biological father. He’s my stepdad, and he’s great.”
“Where’s your biological father?”
I felt a flash of discomfort. “In prison…for insider trading.”
I had no contact with him, and it was better that way. He’d never been a real father to me. My stepfather had become everything he wasn’t.
“No way!”
His voice carried, and I shushed him.
“Also, I’m not from a legacy family like you are. I auditioned for band and dance and worked my ass off.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m on the football team because I suck.” He made a frustrated sound. “They scouted me.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make it sound that way. My point is, I wasn’t given a leg up the way some legacy families are.”
“Okay, sure, you’re right, I’ll give you that,” he replied, then muttered, “I almost wish they’d do away with that whole tradition anyway.”
I lifted on an elbow. “Why?”
“Maybe I would’ve ended up at a different university and wouldn’t have to live in my brother’s shadow.”
Well, damn. The air felt heavy between us, so I tried to lighten the mood. “But then you wouldn’t have met your awesome roommate.”
He huffed out a laugh. “True.”
My stomach swooped. Bones was sweet underneath it all.
“So there. We’re even,” I pointed out. “I know something about your background, and you know something about mine.”
“I suppose now I can’t blackmail you with anything. Bummer.”
“I’ve kept our facials under wraps, so you owe me,” I teased.
“Speaking of which…” I could hear him adjusting his covers. “You really didn’t do anything with that guy?”
“Well, maybe there was a kiss or two, but that was about it.”
That heaviness clung to the air again.
“What’s it like…to kiss another guy?”
“I swear to God, if this conversation is going to veer into mocking territory, I will put a pillow over your face and snuff you out.”
“I…no. Jesus, I was only curious.”
Holy shit, what did he mean he was curious?
My pulse throbbed as I asked, “In what way?”
“Is it like, better with a guy?”
“Obviously, duh. Because I’m gay. Women don’t do it for me.”
“What if someone’s bisexual?”
This felt like a twilight-zone moment.
“Then you probably like aspects of each gender for different reasons. Or maybe it isn’t that at all. Maybe it just comes down to the person and what you find attractive about them.”
Why the heck was he asking these questions?
“That makes sense.”
“If you’re curious what it’s like, go kiss a guy.” I felt hot all over, so I slid the covers off my legs. “It’s not rocket science or a big deal.”
“It is to a lot of people,” he countered.
“Well, sure. But those people are either ignorant or bigots.” This conversation was working me up. I threw up a hand. “What does it matter who you kiss?”
“Okay, in that case, come over here and kiss me,” he joked.
I lobbed a pillow at his head.
He laughed as he deflected it. “What? You said it was no big deal.”
I gritted my teeth. “You know what I meant.”
“Oh, I see. You don’t practice what you preach.”
Now, he was just pushing my buttons.
“Good night, Bones.” I huffed and turned toward the wall.
“Good night, hypocrite.”
“Screw you!” I knew he was only kidding, but somehow, that really got to me. There he went, sticking his foot in his mouth again. Just when I thought he’d turned the corner from all the jerkiness last year.
“Kissing may not be a big deal in the general sense, but it is personal and does depend on the situation,” I said. “If I’m gonna kiss someone, it won’t be for a dare or to prove something.”
“Never thought about it that way,” he replied in this contemplative tone. “Guess I never really cared about kissing one way or another.”
“Maybe you didn’t, but you have no idea if the person you kissed might’ve.”
He gasped. “Damn, you’re right.”
“Aw, my little roommate is growing. I can actually see the beginning of a heart forming.”
“Shut up,” Bones said, lobbing the pillow back at me.
I was just beginning to get settled in the quiet of the room when his voice rang out. “I can’t sleep. Interested in watching another episode of Slay?”
“You’re like a toddler. Let me go grab your pacifier.”
“You mean your computer?”
“Ugh, fine. Get your butt over here.”
“Yay, I won.” He scooted over to my bed as I lifted my laptop from the floor, then pulled up the show.
We were both under my covers this time. He smelled faintly of campfire, and the hairs on his bare legs were prickly against my skin. But I thought it best not to mention it. Halfway into the episode, he fell asleep again.
Would he yell at me like last time for not waking him up?
I gently shook his shoulder. “Hey, B, you gotta move to your bed.”