Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84289 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“What is this, a teen comedy? Sure, baby. I’d fuck you if you were a pie.”
“Would you fuck me if I needed to be fucked twelve times a day?”
“Your ass would be aching if I gave you my cock that much, but yes, I’d try my absolute best.”
“Would you still love me if I was a worm?”
“Too easy. Obviously.”
He’s smiling as he takes the final turn onto my childhood street, and I can see my house off in the distance.
He’s in a light grey hoodie and his dragonfly necklace is out in front, glinting in the sun.
“Is it weird that I’m nervous to take you home again?” I ask him.
“You’ve got zero reason to be nervous.”
I reach over, squeezing his leg. “I’m taking my boyfriend home for the first time.”
“Ollie, I know we’ve been through a lot, but I didn’t think you had memory loss. I’ve been home with you before.”
“Not as my real boyfriend.”
He bites his lip, then slowly lets it go. “I’m nervous about something, too.”
The car pulls up outside the front of my parents’ house and he cuts the engine, taking a deep breath.
“Oh no,” I say. “What is it?”
He turns to me, running his hand along mine. “I got an email this morning, and I’ve been too afraid to open it. It’s from that agency in New York City.”
I lift my eyebrows. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah.”
Over the past month, Niko’s finally had the courage to start reaching out to agents, going out for model casting calls, building a new professional portfolio, and contacting independent professional editorial photographers, without any help or connections. At times it’s been brutal. He’s gotten rejections, from people saying he has the perfect look, but their roster is completely full.
He had a very promising call last week with an NYC agency, but didn’t want to get his hopes up.
I glance down at his phone, currently lodged in the upper console where we used it for GPS directions.
“Do you want me to read it first?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “No. It’s got to be me.”
I pull in a breath. “Well, take your time. We can go inside first, if you want to—”
He reaches up and pulls the phone down, navigating to his email app. “I’m ripping the Band-Aid off.”
I watch his eyes scan the email as he reads it.
“Fuck. Fuck, Ollie, they… they want to set up an initial shoot with me.”
“Let’s fucking go!” I shout, leaning over toward the driver’s seat and wrapping my arms around him in a hug. “This… this doesn’t mean you have to quit school, right?”
“They said I can go out to the city as needed. I could probably get more gigs if I quit school, but I’m not doing it. It’s a non-negotiable.”
Something smolders in my heart.
I know that at this point, Niko doesn’t need the degree from Crimson. He doesn’t need the money, and he mostly wants to be there for me.
Because I matter that much to him.
And I have no clue why or how, but I’m not going to question my luck.
“You’re fucking incredible.”
I watch as he leans his head back on the headrest, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opens them again, he almost looks like he could cry.
“I never thought I could do anything without connections to the industry,” he says. “Fuck. Fuck, this is insane.”
“And I’m so proud of you.”
He smiles again and takes off his seatbelt. “Let’s go inside. I love you so goddamn much.”
As soon as we’re out of the car he stops me on the walkway to kiss me.
And then he kisses me again in the garage, before we push open the door to head inside.
Everything feels new, all of a sudden.
Like finally, Niko got the complete fresh start that he’d been searching for. And nobody deserves that more than he does.
“Boys!” Mom calls out from the kitchen as soon as she hears the door open. It smells like orange in the air, and as usual, Mom and Dad are cooking something together.
We head in and greet everyone, exchanging hugs.
But I’m also noticing things I wouldn’t usually notice.
I purposely look down, checking to see that my parents are still wearing their wedding rings.
Of course they are.
It’s silly to think they wouldn’t be… right?
“Niko, they just came out with a new racing game,” Aaron’s already telling him, showing him a video on his phone.
Emily looks a lot happier than the last time we saw her. I talk with her a little bit and find out that she’s seeing a new guy, and it sounds like her frenemy Cheyenne and her last crush are old news, by now.
We’re swept into helping out with dinner, then eating and getting stories from Aaron and Emily. My siblings drag Niko out into the living room afterward while I stay with my parents in the kitchen, helping to clean up.