Boston Boys [01] - A Life Without You Read Online Free Page A

after my nasty little joke, is all I ever think about and it’s driving me nuts.
    “Mh,” he mumbles and sighs before he pushes his books away. “I’m sick of being cooped up all day. You wanna go out and shoot some hoops?”
    Of course I do. I’ll do anything to be near him.
    I help him stand up, and we go to the cafeteria to grab a couple of drinks before going to the park close by. The whole way over Jesse rants about how his basketball coach won’t let him play for another week because of his injury. Jesse claims that his muscles are going slack, but I’ve done enough eyeballing to know that’s not true.
    “Why don’t you try for professional basketball as a career?” I ask as we set down our drinks and shrug off our sweat shirts.
    There are only a handful of people around this late in the afternoon, mostly little kids running around the playground with 18 Erica Pike
    their mothers or fathers watching.
    “Because that would be difficult on Anne,” he answers while he dribbles the ball in a way I never could. I used to play basketball in high school, but the only reason they let me play was because I was taller than the rest. I wasn’t much good at the passing and shooting, so I was mostly used for blocking.
    But my heart drops at the sound of Anne’s name. I know I’ll never have a real chance at Jesse. Knowing it, however, doesn’t make it hurt any less.
    “We’d have to move around a lot and there’d be this whole uncertainty if I’d get signed or not, and then when you’re too old or get injured you get dumped like a piece of burnt bacon. It’s more practical to become a physical therapist, or even a trainer. I know I could get a job at the high school back home.” He shoots from the middle of the court and lands the ball smoothly in the center of the net. I grab for the ball and dribble with lack of rhythm.
    “So, you’re gonna marry her?”
    Jesse shrugs. “Yeah. I mean, we’ve been together for three years already. We’ll probably get married after I finish college.
    We’re already engaged.”
    I shoot for the basket. The ball bounces off the red rim and spirals through the air towards the far end of the court.
    I didn’t know they were engaged.
    “What’s she studying?”
    Jesse lifts the hem of his t-shirt to swipe away a bead of sweat forming under his lips. The nice glimpse of his rippled stomach taunts me.
    “She doesn’t know what she wants to do yet, so she’s just sort of doing nothing at the moment. I think she just wants to be a homemaker. It would suit her; she’s a great cook and likes the whole tidying up and stuff like that.”
    “Yeah,” I say after a while, watching Jesse go after the ball and jog back, dribbling like a pro. “You’ll need someone to pick up A Life Without You 19
    after you, I guess.”
    He grins and tosses the ball at me. I barely manage to catch it before it hits my head.
    “But you don’t mind being the only meal ticket?” I ask and manage to land the ball in the basket.
    He shrugs with a smile before grabbing for the ball. “Nah, it’s common back home for women to be homemakers. My mom and step-dad live on a farm just outside of Silver Mountain, though, so they both work hard. We’ll start by living there and then Anne’ll probably have to help around, but she’s okay with that. She wants to live in town though, so we’ll move there when we have enough money saved up.”
    “You have it all planned out, huh?” I say with a half smile that probably looks more sad than not, sauntering over to take a drink from my bottle.
    “Well, I’m just a normal guy who wants a normal life,” he says with another shrug and scores a basket.
    We play for a while. At first it’s just lazy shooting, but then I start blocking him and we dance around the court with boyish grins on our faces and playful taunts while he tries to get past my defenses. He gives me a run for my money with his strong body when it’s my turn to shrug him off, but even