The Arrangement: Gay Contemporary Romance by Felice Stevens

Author:Felice Stevens [Stevens, Felice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: M/M, Romance, Fiction
Publisher: Felice Stevens
Published: 2016-07-19T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

‡

He might have meant it when he told Carter they were finished, but that didn’t make Reed any less miserable for having said it. And as the days went by and Reed’s life slipped back into its usual monotony of school and work, he wondered what Carter was doing and if he missed him. Every morning he checked his phone, foolish with hope that he’d see a text from Carter with an I miss you and I want to see you. His phone remained depressingly blank, and Reed lectured himself to stop acting like a lovesick jerk.

Once again he’d fallen for a man who didn’t have a heart to give. And while Carter wasn’t cruel as Mason had been, their tentative relationship, for want of a better word, proved much worse. He’d treated Reed with tenderness, making him feel wanted and special. Reed fell for him, without realizing until he stepped off the ledge that he was plummeting headfirst toward earth without a safety net.

Even his father noticed his miserable emotional state and brought it up when he came to the bar for dinner one night, about two weeks after his confrontation with Carter.

“What’s wrong? You look like shit. Do you feel okay?”

Reed reached over and pinched a few fries off his father’s burger plate. Because he hadn’t been sleeping well, Reed decided to halve his medication the past few days, and his appetite came roaring back to life; he’d already plowed through a towering pile of nachos yet the emptiness remained inside.

“Yeah, school and stuff.”

“Ask him about the stuff,” said Vernon, joining them. “He’s doing great in school, told me he got all A’s on his tests. It’s that bastard he was seeing.”

His father turned a curious eye on him, and like he was four again Reed squirmed under his regard. “You didn’t tell me you were seeing anybody. What happened?”

Everything. I fell in love, then told the guy I didn’t want to see him again.

“Nothing.” Taking time to decorate his French fry in a patina of ketchup, Reed avoided looking at his father. “I saw someone a few times, but it didn’t work out.” He glared hard at Vernon, daring him to contradict what he said.

“Why are you bullshitting your father?” Obviously Vernon didn’t put much stock in Reed remaining angry with him. “This guy kept coming into the bar, and he and Reed began seeing each other. Then one day he shows up with his fancy clients or somethin’ and pretends like he don’t know Reed. Piece of shit, I say.”

Reed groaned his frustration and gulped down his club soda. Angry as he was with Carter, he’d begun to wonder if he’d been too quick to break it off with him. From the beginning Carter had made him no promises. If he wanted to keep his business and personal life separate, he had that right. The times when it was the two of them had been pretty damn special. He chewed on his fingernails and stared off into space, recalling how Carter’s mere voice and touch broke him down to the core.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.