What Love Means by F N Manning

Author:F N Manning [Manning, F N]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Gay, Glbt, MM, romance
Amazon: B07BHV92F6
Published: 2018-04-14T23:00:00+00:00

pa-nə-ˈjir-ik or pa-nə ˈjī-rik, noun

oral or written expression of formal praise

The emotional and physical developments were worthy of a pa-nə-ˈjir-ik.

Chapter 10

P-A-N-E-G-Y-R-I-C

Max

When I reminded myself to keep things light between Cal and I, it was because I’ve been dangerously close to feeling things around him for a while. I didn’t expect him to initiate a serious conversation. I probably reacted the wrong way.

His confrontation with that other douche rich kid wasn’t great, but I was a little proud of him for standing up for himself. He shouldn’t let anyone hold that over his head. It was nothing to be ashamed of. Why hadn’t I been able to tell him that? Cal was stuck up, too serious, a million other things, but they didn’t deter me. No, worse, I liked those things about Cal. He was so cute when he was being an uptight nerd, and it was fun to get him to loosen up. Shit, I had it bad.

No, I’d done the right thing. We’d been doing well with our fooling around. We could tolerate each other, and I didn’t want ruin that. Joey said I had ‘trust issues’ and was just afraid to let Cal in. He really needed to lay off the Dr. Phil.

Then he’d mentioned my dad, and I really did not want to get into that. The only thing worse than my complicated relationship with my dad interfering with my relationship with Cal was if it didn’t interfere. Maybe I didn’t open up or whatever because I’m just messed up and stupid. God, that was depressing. Where had that self-defeating pessimistic attitude come from?

“We never talked about the day your dad came in.” I’d clocked out and was done for the day but couldn’t retreat from the conversation because Tony had to hand over my paycheck first. Sometimes I thought he was a secret genius. I walked in to his office, moving away from the outdated, million-year-old time card system I always begged him to let me update.

“And we never have to talk about it,” I assured him, holding out my hand expectantly. I didn’t bother closing the door behind me as I hoped I could get out of this conversation without too much trouble. Hey, maybe I was an optimist after all.

He stared down at my palm and then looked at me evenly. “Should we talk about your academic pursuits instead?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Academic pursuits? How scholarly.”

He straightened his shoulders. “I read.”

“Don’t start leaving me pamphlets about school,” I warned. “I already get that from my sister.”

Tony made a noise of acknowledgment and inclined his head. “Does April know your dad’s back?”

If he was a genius, he wasn’t subtle. “This is a trap,” I realized out loud.

Tony laughed. “No, I’m just hoping you’d rather talk about school than your feelings.” He gestured for me to have a seat and smiled kindly. “Man, I wouldn’t force you, but you gotta keep me in the loop so I can plan either way.”

I winced. “You’re right, sorry. I’m wasting both of our time by even applying—"

“Hey, that’s not what I said,” he interrupted.

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