“But…is he really gonna work here? Is there anyone who’d pay to get needles stuck into them?”

Josh had no idea. The guy had been ready to bolt, so maybe it didn’t matter. Rubbing his chest, he looked out the window again. There had been hurt in the guy’s eyes, not that Joshua had any plans on doing anything about it. Same as there was a pain in Andre’s eyes that he didn’t have any plans to try to soothe. He was here if Andre wanted to talk, if he wanted to get drunk and sob on his shoulder, but fix it? Nah, people needed to fix their own shit. Josh had his life under control, and he expected everyone else to have theirs under control as well.

Cute? Had he said cute? He was cute, looked like he’d slept in his car. His dishwater-blonde hair was a mess and he wore a day or two worth of stubble. Joshua turned to Andre with a blank face. “Small, a little twitchy, much like Aiden, actually. Not your type?” He knew it wasn’t. There was nothing small or twitchy about Zachary Fane and apparently, he was the only guy who could get Andre hot and bothered. Josh didn’t see the allure, but to each their own.

Oswald drove and drove, and then he drove some more. Going off the main road might not have been his smartest decision, but the narrow gravel roads had begged for him to come. All around there were trees, one more colourful than the other, and for the first time since Aiden had managed to get hold of him, he could fill his lungs with ease—well, maybe not ease, but it was easier.

It would be easy to lose himself in the woods. Give up. Fade away. No one would miss him if he weren’t to be anymore. He’d held on for two hundred and seventy-three days; maybe it was all right to let go. It was fitting, decomposing together with the leaves falling off the trees.

Frowning, he drummed his thumb seven times against the steering wheel. He needed out of the car. Needed to think away from the sad reality of the mattress and the pile with a few sets of clothes that were all he owned.

Having Oz walking next to him now made him realise small really was small. The top of his head didn’t reach Joshua’s shoulder. He almost wanted to test and see if Oswald could walk under his arm without having to duck. The sound of teeth chattering made him push away all thoughts of size.

“Okay, good. Keep on talking.” There was a growly edge to Joshua’s words, and Oswald’s mind blanked. Talk? About what? “I’m not hearing you, Oz. Keep up the chatter.”

“W-why?” Oswald wasn’t interesting enough for someone to want to listen to him. Guy had always said it was mind-numbing to hear him talk. His mouth was made for sucking cock, not talking.

“If you go quiet on me, I’ll assume you’re hurt and take you straight to the hospital, and if your speech turns slurred, I’ll know you’re hurt, and I’ll take you straight to the hospital.”

“Is there any way I can avoid the hospital?”

“Of course. All you have to do is keep talking.”

Oswald’s heart began hammering, and he drummed his thumb against his thigh seven times. Josh would be bored out of his mind before they reached his car. “This feels like blackmailing.”

Joshua laughed softly, way closer than Oswald had believed him to be. “Then we understand each other. Now, talk.”

Spreading more book love!
Here are more of my…

✓ recent reads
✓ current reads
✓ re-reads
✓ want-to-reads

(all genres included)

About My #Treadmill / #AmReading Posts

I started out with this being a Sunday thing, but sometimes I’d rather not mash multiple books into a single post, so now, you never know when you might see one of these posts.

Rather than give a true “review,” which I’m not entirely comfortable doing as an author myself, I share snippets from books I’ve read and enjoyed, letting the authors’ words speak for themselves.

As you’ve possibly noticed, if you’ve been following along, I highlight snippets for reasons of my own which might veer from what is often seen. Sometimes my highlights have more to do with a paragraph simply impressing the heck out of me for its fabulous writerly technique, other times it has to do with the lovely way it gives subtle insight into the story/characters. Still other times simply because it made me laugh.

Anyway, I sometimes add a little commentary, but not always, which is not in any way, shape, or form, to be taken as unwritten commentary. Most likely it just means I’m short on time and/or context isn’t needed to understand what’s happening, and/or my brain doesn’t feel like putting out the effort in that particular moment.

Also, I’m going to try to spread the book love by tacking on covers of more books at the end of the post that I’ve either recently read, am currently reading, or want to read. Not seeing a full post with snippets for any of these books is not a commentary on anything other than how much time I have available in a day either to read or to create a post about what I’ve read. It might also mean I listened to the audiobook only or that it’s a reread that I’ve featured previously, or it’s not M/M so probably not a good fit for featuring on this blog.

Happy reading!