Open Road Read Online Free

morning was painful. To say the least. He and Angus had finished off two bottles of wine between them, and Reece wasn’t a big enough drinker to have that kind of night wash off his back. His head was pounding when his alarm woke him up, and his mouth felt like sour sandpaper, if that was even a thing. Only seconds after he silenced his alarm, his mother called. Of course. He picked up the phone with a groan. Reece loved his mother more than just about anything in the world, but talking in his current state was going to be a problem.
    “Hi, sweetheart.”
    “Hey, Mom.” Reece tried to make his voice sound like anything but tired and hung-the-hell-over. Didn’t work. Even the pale yellow of his bedroom walls hurt his eyes. The thought of putting his feet down on the cold wood floor made him cringe.
    “You sound a bit rough. Didn’t you sleep well?”
    Sure, for the four hours he’d even been asleep. He and Angus had stumbled into his room and passed out at about two. He looked over and saw Angus snuffling into Reece’s second pillow. Brad was going to be extra pleased about that.
    “I’m on my way to go pick up Kelly and Peyton. Do you want me to pick up Angus before I head over? Cherry’s going to meet us at your house at eleven.”
    “Oh, no. I’ve got Angus. He’s here.”
    “Really?” His mom sounded awfully excited about that.
    “Ma, no. Why do you guys always start with that?” Reece didn’t have the mental energy to have the millionth conversation about how he and Angus had always belonged together. It was awkward. He was too hungover for awkward.
    “You know me and Kelly—”
    “And Cherry,” Reece muttered.
    “Yes, and Cherry—”
    “And Peyton sometimes too.”
    “All of us. We just want you boys to be happy.”
    “I am happy.” Sort of. “And Angus is happy with Brad.” Again, sort of. And most of the time Reece wasn’t that into guys at all beyond a glance or two. Except sometimes when Angus stretched and his shirt rode up to show pale skin and a cluster of tiny multicolored stars tattooed on his hip and Reece had to stop himself from wanting to taste the soft skin. Or when Angus laughed and threw his head back and his dark hair shone, or when he sucked on— fuck . It was so useless. So very useless.
    “I know, dear. I’d better get off the phone, but I’ll see you at eleven. Be ready and make sure Angus is too.”
    “Okay, Ma.”
    “And Rich says hello.”
    Reece smiled. He liked his mom’s second husband. He had since the day he’d met the guy. “Tell Rich hi from me too. And thank him again for the Trail Blazers tickets. I had a blast at the game.”
    “Did you take Angus?” his mom asked. Seriously. Nobody in the world was as persistent.
    Reece had to chuckle. “No, I took Carly. You know the woman I was dating? Because I date women ?” Which was true. But still there were those moments… the ones where he wanted to kiss Angus more than he’d ever wanted to kiss anyone else in his life. Plus, the reality about the basketball game was, Angus had been planning to go until Brad threw a fit about him hanging out with Reece again. Didn’t mean he had to tell his mother that.
    “I know, darling. I know.”
    His mom sounded like she knew a lot more than just what he’d said. Shit. Why did moms have to be psychic?Reece hung up the phone with his mom and slipped out of bed to retrieve Angus’s mostly dead phone from the cabinet on top of the fridge. He tapped in the passcode and saw a veritable mountain of texts from an irate Brad. He called Brad right away. Reece didn’t love the guy, but he was probably worried.
    “Angus,” Brad barked when he picked up the phone. “Where the hell are you?”
    “Brad, this is Reece. Angus is fine, but he’s asleep. He got a bit upset last night, drank too much, and passed out on my couch.” Not exactly true. But Angus had a big night that night. Reece didn’t think starting World War Brad was a good idea.
    “I’ve been