Daniel > Recent Status Updates

“Oh, fuck,” I moan.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he prompts, breathing hard.

What I’m thinking? My thoughts are background music. They’re there, but I can’t catch them. They’re running a million miles a minute but aren’t in a rush to get anywhere. I can’t stop them. I can’t even remind them to make themselves clear and obvious. They’re there, alive and thriving, but I’m not actively thinking about them.

“I won’t touch you,” he promises.

Then his hands are moving up my thighs and his fingers are popping open my fly, contradicting his words.

His eyes meet mine and the backs of his knuckles graze my hard cock.

“Will you touch yourself?” he asks, moving my hand to rest on my dick.

Despite how intimidated I am, I’m even more frantic to have this experience.

Well ...
oh, my ...
just ...
🥴...
fuck!

I’m the weird guy around town. He’s the former cool guy. What sort of pairing do we make? I’m cool with being weird, but is Gage cool with me being weirdly cool? We aren’t wine and cheese or peanut butter and banana. We’re more like the egg white and the yolk: we belong in the same shell but are made up of completely different compositions. He’s the yolk.

“Don’t let me hurt you.”

“Give me credit, Gage.”

“Alexei.”

“Gage.”

His tongue swipes his lip and mine mimics the motion. We’re six inches apart, breathing like we share his bad lungs, both resisting a temptation we want to give in to but are too afraid to submit to. I don’t want to push him, and he doesn’t want to ruin me. We need to learn to trust each other first. I’m awesome at pretending I’m patient.

He sees me and isn’t trying to change me. He pokes fun at my quirks without having a problem with them. That’s friendship. But… boyfriend material. That comes from the way he makes me feel so comfortable under his attention that I’m uncomfortable in the comfort because I’ve never experienced it before. No one has ever sat with me and been content in my judgmental silence. That’s what attracts me to Gage.

“What’d your therapist say about sex?”

There’s that thwack again. “Which part specifically?”

“Can you have it?”

“Alexei,” I groan.

“I’m curious. I’ve never met someone with that kind of addiction. One that isn’t quit altogether. I’m not asking because I want to have sex with you. I’m just an inquisitive person.”

I stop and look at him.

“And okay, I kind of want to have sex with you.”

"Do you have someone you’re thinking about socializing sexually with? Because, while we don’t typically recommend hook-up apps and one-night stands, we can offer tools for that as well.”

I lean forward, elbows on my knees. “Not planning on random hook-ups. Trying to steer clear of that whole scene. And no, not really anyone in particular. Yet. No. Not at all. There’s this guy…”

“I make mistakes, too. I don’t realize they’re mistakes until someone tells me I didn’t follow social protocol or I acted rudely because I was honest. So, you can expect mistakes from me as well.”

“Are you neurodivergent? On the spectrum?”

“No. I was tested. I’m just weird.” I shrug.

Gage looks up at the stars. “A neurotic rambler and a neurodivergent recovering addict walk into a friendship…”

“I’m going to fuck up a lot. You should know that.”

“With your addictions?” If he has intentions of relapsing, I will walk away. I’ll think about him, feel sorry for him, worry about him, but it won’t be enough to draw me back.

“I hope not. I just mean, like, as a person. I make a lot of mistakes, and I’m still getting used to how that feels while… sober.”

“Oh, well, yes. I expect that. No one is perfect.”

"I'm thinking about this life of ours. It's beautiful. It stings. It's astonishing. It hurts. I often wonder what the point of it all is...
This. You. Me. The pack. This place. The people of Green Creek. We love because we can. We live because we've fought too hard to stop. We'll go inside to join the others. We'll eat. We'll laugh. We'll tell stories. Things that mean little to anyone else. That's the point."

Okay ... THIS is how you tell me a story! Only read the prologue and I'm already in love with Gage and totally invested! 👍😁👍

Okay ... let's reboot and give this one a 👀.

“Are we allowed to have all this here? Aren’t there rules about chain of custody?”

“I’m not sure, with it being a cold case.”

“There has to be something here that will help us.” Dan held up four floppy disks. “Like on these? Except where are we supposed to find a machine that can read them? A museum?”

Gary laughed. “In the basement. I’ve got an old laptop with a floppy disk drive.”

“What powers it—steam?”

“The way you sounded just now… the warmth in your voice, the conviction.” David smiled. “That’s how people should sound when they’re in love. It doesn’t matter if he and Nina talk all night about Cory. When the night is over, you go home together.”

“In a way I’m grateful to Cory. He opened Gary up to the idea of being with a guy. He paved the way for me.”

He nodded. “And you walked straight into his heart.”

Gary’s chest tightened at the sight of tears sparkling in Dan’s eyes, and he knew it was a reaction to whatever he’d felt during their contact. Gary might not have Dan’s gift, but he felt Pete’s grief as deeply as he felt his own. They had both lost someone precious. No, lost was the wrong word. They’d both been robbed of someone they loved.

"Men in safety hats and reflective jackets stood around talking in low voices, and Del counted about four police officers."

How exactly does one count "about four police officers"? 😂
Yep ... I'm that guy! 😝
Let's do this ...

Okay ...
I've finally decided ...
Rico is my favorite.

Right?!?

I think so.

Maybe?

At the very least,
he's my spirit animal!