Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 104498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104498 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Miller’s naturally olive-skinned, but even he looks a little burned.
“We didn’t realize it’d take three hours to get back to the island,” Talon says. “Probably should’ve reapplied.”
Jet snorts. “No shit. Soren’s practically glowing.”
Here we go.
“Aww, maybe he’s pregnant,” Noah says.
Maddox cuts in. “Now, we know that’s impossible, guys. Come on, don’t be silly ...” I’m about to thank him, when he continues. “You have to have sex to get pregnant.”
Hosers. All of them.
“Unless his hand counts,” Ollie says. “Which, by the way, if Soren’s ever late again, dibs not being the one to go get him. I’m scarred for life.”
I feel Jet’s burning gaze on me. Or maybe that’s the sunburn, I don’t know.
“Why’d I get out of bed for this again?” I complain.
“Because we have something to tell you.” Matt reaches for Noah’s hand on top of the table.
“Yeah,” Noah says. “Speaking of babies ...”
“You are one,” Damon says. “Not at all an announcement.”
Noah flips him off.
“There’s a pregnant girl in Indiana who chose us to adopt her baby,” Matt says.
The room falls deathly silent as if they announced one of them has terminal cancer.
“Wait, what about your brother?” Miller asks.
“Uh, I’m sitting right here.” Jet raises his hand.
Miller waves him off. “Not you, the little one.”
Noah laughs. “Little? Wade is taller than everyone in this room. And he’s still coming to live with us too. He’s got three years before college, and after that, he’ll be at Harvard or Yale or any other Ivy League. The kid is super smart.” There’s pride shining in Noah’s words already.
Damon’s expression sobers. “Hold up. Let me get this straight. We’re living in a world where not one but two people have granted Noah custody of a child.” He feigns real concern until Noah rolls his eyes at him.
“Okay, okay, fine, serious time. Congratulations. You two are going to make great dads.” Damon stands and lifts a drink for a toast, when we all freeze at what’s on his ring finger.
“What the fuck is that?” Noah asks.
Damon glances at Maddox with wide eyes. “Shit.”
Maddox stands too. “We have an announcement as well.”
Whoa, they’re getting married?
“We’re not getting married!” they say together.
We all open our mouths to say congrats, but then we must register what their words. They’re both smiling, they have their arms around each other, but ... did I hear it right?
“You’re not getting married?” I ask.
“Maddox proposed,” Damon says. “I said no.”
“But you’re still together?” My head hurts.
“I told Damon I wanted to marry him, had a full-on romantic proposal planned out, and then ...”
“Then I found the ring and said no.” Damon smiles lovingly at his boyfriend. “He only wants to get married because I thought it was important. Turns out, it’s not a big deal to me. I’m just happy I get to wake up next to him every day, and I don’t need a piece of paper to remind me of that. I have the most important thing right here.” He pulls Maddox close and kisses him softly, and my chest lurches while longing fills my veins.
Not for marriage, not for kids, but for that—a loving relationship that’s so emotionally secure that nothing, not a piece of paper, not what anyone else thinks, not anything, can create doubt. Not even a rejected marriage proposal.
“Wait, why are you wearing the ring then?” I ask.
Damon shrugs. “He’s every bit my husband already but without the title.”
“So, no wedding, but you’re going to live like husbands?” Miller seems as confused as I am.
Damon looks as if he’s wondering why we’re not getting it. “Exactly.”
Miller turns to Talon. “Maybe we should do that.”
“No wedding?” Talon exclaims. “No way. We’re doing it and selling the pics for a shit ton of money.”
“Like we need more money.”
“Fine. Then we’ll do it to inspire all those scared queer kids out there and reassure them that the world is changing.”
A light bulb practically goes off above Miller’s head when he realizes what his fiancé’s up to. “You just want a bachelor party, don’t you?”
“Duh. Is that so much to ask?”
Miller laughs. “Fine. We’ll do it your way, but just so you know, the kid thing was the swaying factor, not the bachelor party.”
Jet remains unusually quiet beside me.
Noah says some smartass comment to Ollie and Lennon, but I tune out and shovel food into my mouth. It’s the only thing I can do to try not to think about being here alone. Chasing Jet for twenty-four hours has distracted me from everything I’m here to forget, but even my pull toward him isn’t enough to drown out the happy couples surrounding me.
It’s not that I’m not happy for them. I love these guys … maybe not like brothers like everyone else sees the group, but definitely cousins of sorts. Wait, if Matt was my cousin, that would mean Jet would be too, and that’s not cool. Then again, if I saw these guys as brothers, that would be even worse.