Uncut (Unexpected Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

little of everything,” he says, shrugging it off and turning around. “My father Chris used to take me out on hikes when I had a bad day.”
    “You had a bad day?”
    “Everyone has struggles, Tristan,” he says, spinning around and starting to walk back toward where we came. “I learned to live with them and not let them define who I am. It’s easier when you have family and friends to lean on. Maybe it’s time to let someone into your life. Let someone know why you struggle.”

W hy I struggle?
    Because I can’t be myself. Because being myself goes against my family and my own beliefs. I’ve lived with a continuous fight since my parents caught me kissing another boy.
    What if someone saw me?
    What if I’m condemning my soul?
    Will I burn in hell?
    According to my father, my sexual “depravation” would prevent me from being successful and happy. My therapist had insisted I’d only been acting up, rebelling. If I liked women, there wasn’t any possibility that I liked men too. They promised I’d grow out of it. However, nothing they said or anything I’ve tried has stopped me from lusting after men.
    For all I know, my parents wasted their money to have a team of professionals bully me. Torment me while I tried to find my place—a place I’d rather avoid. Those three months of intensive therapy, where they drilled inside my head that looking at a man with lust was a sin as bad as murder, only brought confusion and shame. I fought my own nature on a daily basis until senior prom.
    Blake, the QB of our football team, and I are shooting some hoops instead of dancing with our dates inside the gym.
    “Heard you’re going to Stanford,” I say, throwing the ball and missing the basket. “Congrats, maybe you’ll make it to the NFL.”
    He shrugs, casually considering this. “Sucked that you were out of the country and couldn’t train with us. I needed my running back for the last season, Cooperson.” He grabs the basketball and his dark eyes concentrate on mine. “You and I . . . we had a connection.”
    A connection. Shivers race down my spine at his words. I take a step back, watching him, taking him all in. He’s taken his jacket and shirt off, wearing only the undershirt that fits tight against his muscular stomach. His pants hang low on his hips . . . I notice the outline of his erection through them and move my eyes away. Fuck. No, I can’t go back to camp. God will punish me, and my father will beat me for committing a sinful act. For thinking about touching another man, but I want to touch him so bad.
    “Like what you see?” he asks, cocking a brow and flashing a wide smile. “Because I’m liking what you have.” I follow his gaze to find him focusing on my bulge. Shame overtakes me, and I take a few steps back from him, suddenly needing to put some space between us. Like maybe a football field. “Hey, if I’m misreading you, I apologize.”
    “I was sent to a camp,” I blurt. His eyebrows draw together. “To reverse my sexuality. According to my parents and the therapists, being attracted to women and men is a sin.”
    He shakes his head. “I can show you how great it is to like men,” he whispers, a whisper that numbs the voices telling me that being attracted to him is wrong. In this moment it is only Blake and me. The rest doesn’t matter. For a few breaths we study each other. His eyes fill with lust mirroring my body. I give him a slight nod.
    That’s all he needs to take my hand after he grabs our jackets and dress shirts. “Follow me,” he orders and I obey blindly.
    Young, stupid, and in lust, I do as he says, jump into his car, and let him take me wherever he wants. He drives us to a Residence Inn located outside of Hartford, the place where he had planned to take his date after the prom. When we step inside the room, Blake is only mere inches away from me. Slowly, he raises his hand, touching my cheek. My body shakes as his fingers trace my jaw. Then, with