Hands Down

Zac didn’t hesitate. “Yeah. I should’ve told you when I realized it. I didn’t expect it to happen, but it did,” he told him steadily. “I fought it, I swear, but I didn’t have a goddamn chance, Boog. It was like fightin’ the inevitable. Tryin’ to fight a brick wall. I swear on Paw-Paw’s life, I had zero chance. She came up behind me when I wasn’t expectin’ it and gave me the beatin’ of a lifetime.”

“Somebody beat you up?” I asked in confusion, looking him over but finding no bruises on any of his exposed skin.

Came for the baking, left needing to masturbate

To my greatest friend

and teacher.

The absolute love of my life.

Dorian,

this book and my whole life

is dedicated to your memory

Hey, you’re the one throwing yourself a pity party for one. It felt like an invitation. You’re the one implying you’re an old man and all that.”

. “It is. It’s a reverse osmosis machine-thing. It filters everything out.”

You reap what you sow.

“You’ve popped up into my life when I’ve needed you the most so far, and I’m gonna need you to stick around for the rest of it.” He paused. “We’re in this together, understand me?”

“I’m hopin’ to get her to come back to Houston,” a different but very familiar voice said.

“Maybe I fucked up and had my head up my ass there for a minute, but I’m always gonna worry about you. For the rest of my life. I’m never gonna be too busy to be there for you.

“You’re the Bianca?”

The Bianca?

“Yeah,” Zac was the one who answered. “The one I was tellin’ you about.”

He was talking about me?