Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 435(@200wpm)___ 348(@250wpm)___ 290(@300wpm)
JB’s heart skipped a beat and he nearly tripped over a rock. Busted. “What?” he croaked.
“I fucking know you, JB. You think I can’t tell when something is gnawing at you?”
“What?” This time the question came out a little high and squeaky because his brain wasn’t keeping up.
“Plus, I might have talked to Cole at the beginning of the week when the man was in a panic over kissing you.”
Oh, fuck.
“I figure I’m looking at one of three scenarios. One is that he’s stopped talking to you completely…” Noah paused, leaving the statement to hang in the air.
“No,” JB muttered.
“He’s tried to kiss you again, and he’s not taking no for an answer.”
JB nearly choked on a laugh. “No.”
“Ah, then we’re at scenario number three. We’ve moved beyond kissing and now you’re panicking.”
“Thank you, Dr. Freud,” JB grumbled, hating how right Noah was without JB needing to say a word.
“Zee problem we are having iz zee lack of zee communication,” Noah quipped in an exaggerated Austrian accent.
“Holy fuck. You’re such an asshole.”
Noah cackled. “You have no idea how long I’ve waited for this phone call. I was beginning to doubt it would ever come.”
“You’ve been waiting for me to call about Cole?”
“No, I’ve been waiting for you to call about some guy who’s got you all tangled up and frustrated.”
“Gee, thanks. I’m hanging up now.”
“No! Don’t!” Noah shouted between the laughter. “I’m sorry. I’ll be serious. Talk to me. Tell zee Dr. Noah what zee problem is.”
JB kicked a rock and then dropped onto the grass on the side of a small hill. The herd was a short distance away in the field, lazily chewing at the grass, tails swinging to bat away the flies. Blue sky and warm sun shone down on him. It was a warm, beautiful spring day and all he could think about was a man hunkered over a computer.
He drew in a breath and slowly released it. Through all of this, Noah patiently waited, not saying a word, as if he had all the time in the world for JB to pull his shit together.
“This went beyond kissing,” JB finally managed.
“Like how beyond? Some grinding? Heavy petting?”
“I sucked his dick, Noah.” JB said flatly.
Noah huffed out a soft laugh. “Gotcha.”
JB groaned and shoved a hand through his sweaty hair, knocking his hat back. “I sucked his dick, and now I don’t know what the fuck to do. Shit’s all awkward. Part of me keeps thinking I’m gonna walk into that house and find his stuff packed up. And I’m constantly worried that Rowe’s gonna call him to Cincinnati at any second. There’s this giant ticking clock over my head, and I don’t know what the hell I’m doin’.”
“Whoa. Whoa. Just take a deep breath. Forget about Rowe and the ticking clock for a second,” Noah instructed in a calm, soothing voice. “Do you want him there? If you’re feeling a shit-ton of regret, then we can pull Cole out. Rowe’s got a cabin in Colorado. We’ve both got friends all over the country. And if we must, we can protect him fine in Cincinnati. We thought your place would be easiest and give him a break from everything.”
JB’s heart rate instantly spiked at the thought of Cole boarding a plane today. “No! No, it’s fine.” He scrubbed a hand over his face and dropped it by his side. “I don’t want him to leave. But what if he wants to leave? What if he regrets it all and needs to get away from me?”
“Cole is not the type to sulk silently. If he wanted out of there, I would have heard from him already. You need to stop worrying about Cole for a second. Do you know what the hell you want? Was this a one-off? A little fun?”
“I mean, it happened so fast. Not like either of us planned it. Definitely fun when we were together,” JB babbled while trying to get his thoughts in order. “But after, I definitely wasn’t thinking, ‘Gee that was fun. Thanks. Have a nice life.’ You know, like the normal hookup.”
Noah made a sound of agreement, but he didn’t prod at JB. He let him talk his way through it, which JB appreciated more than words.
“I…I mean, I want to do it all over again and a whole lot more. But it’s not just sex. I look forward to eating with him at lunch and dinner. We talk about what’s going on with the ranch, and he tells me about crazy things happening at Ward or stuff he’s doing on the computer. I don’t understand most of it, but I swear, it’s my fucking favorite time of the day. Is that weird? That I want to listen to him talk and see his face light up when he’s telling a story?”