This little excerpt comes
from the Pickleville series. This will be the 8th book in the
series. It will be out September 15th of this year.
I’m just finishing up the
ending of this story, but this excerpt is from the middle.
**Also, please keep in mind
that this is an unedited version.
WIP-Untitled
(Pickleville #8)
Chapter Five
Two
Month Later
“Is that the last box?” Robyn asked Mike was he set the box
on the kitchen counter. It was still early in the morning and already Robyn was
exhausted.
“For this load, yeah. God, I never knew I collected so much
shit.” Mike fell back on the couch. The plastic covering it made a crinkling
sound under him.
Robyn fell beside
him, shutting his eyes. “How many
more loads do we have?”
“A billion. Feels like anyway.” He could hear the plastic
under Mike’s head crinkle, indicating Mike looked at him. “I owe you, man. A
lot.”
Robyn smiled. “Your welcome, Mike. You’d do the same for me.”
“Yeah,I would. Which is why I got Caden’s number from Owen
and asked him to help us.” Mike said the last sentence really fast, letting the
words come out in one short breath of air. Robyn opened his eyes and looked at
him then. Mike pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “He should be here
in just a few minutes. Don’t kill me.”
“Oh my God. Why would you do that?” Robyn was so shocked.
Never before had Mike blatantly stuck his nose in Robyn’s love life before.
Okay, well, Robyn never really had a love life before and he didn’t really have
one now. Still, though.
“Close your mouth, Rob.” Mike said and sat up turning on the
plastic covered couch to face him. “You’ve been moping around and miserable for
two months. Plus, every time he sends you a text or whatever you do this.” Mike
held the phone in front of his face and got this sad puppy-dog look on his
face. He sighed so loudly it made Robyn laugh.
“I do not do that.”
“Oh my God, yes you do and it’s driving me crazy. Especially
since he texts you twenty times a day. And I swear he knows when we’re in the
bus together for hours on end.” Mike rolled his eyes. “Of course you could just
answer his texts and thank him for the millions of dollars worth of flowers and
other girly crap he has sent you over the last two months.”
There was a knock
on the door and Mike stood up to answer it.
“You know that girl you went on a date with last week,”
Robyn said, smiling as sweetly as possible.
“Yeah. We’re going out again tomorrow, if I’m not passed out
from exhaustion by then.” Mike got this goofy look on his face. “She’s totally
stacked man.” He made a hand gesture in front of his chest as if he had grown
boobs and was feeling himself up.
“I’ll tell her that you love the disney princess movies as
much as Alexis does.”
“So, that makes my adorable.” Mike shrugged.
Yeah, Robyn had
to agree with him. “Fine, then I’ll tell her not
to let you eat broccoli because it makes you fart. And I’ll tell her not to
have sex with you and fall asleep afterward
because you snore.”
Mike’s eyes got really big and then he opened the door. Robyn’s
thoughts fled the second he got a look at Caden in that blue shirt. Robyn stood
up and came around the couch.
“Hey, man,” Caden did this one armed hug thing with Mike but
kept his complete focus on Robyn. He pulled away. “I brought Carter and Seth
with me. I figured they could probably be more help than I will be.” Caden
patted his shoulder as he finally looked at Mike.
Robyn walked over
to them just as Carter and Seth walked through the door. Carter drew him in for
a hug. “How is my long lost sorta, kinda,
but not really brother? Pops is so pissed that you haven’t called him this
week.”
“Shit, I forgot. Between work and helping Mike pack.” Robyn
looked at Caden who was eyeing him like he was a popsicle he wanted to lick.
“Among other things.”
“Hey, don’t explain it to me. Just make sure you call Pops
before he hunts you down. Now, lets get moving,” Carter said as he release
Robyn and turned from the doorway of the small house Mike was renting.
Robyn tapped Seth
on the shoulder and hugged him breifly when he turned around. “Thanks for coming, Seth.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Seth said and gave him a shy smile.
Something about the kid that always pulled at Robyn’s heart strings and Robyn
had no idea why. Maybe it was that hero worship look he gave Carter. Robyn
could definitely identify with look. He just hoped the kid knew what he was
doing.
Robyn understood
in that moment that Seth could disappear in Carter’s
shadow, just get swallowed up in his hero worship. Robyn would have been
swallowed up the same way if Caden hadn’t of left. Caden had been his whole
world towards the end of their relationship, just like Carter was Seth’s.
God, Owen had
been trying to tell him for years and Robyn never once fully got it until this
moment. He remembered Owen telling him to get a life within the first few
minutes of meeting. Robyn hadn’t wanted
to hear it then though. Caden leaving had still been a fresh wound.
How dense he had
been. It was like getting hit in the head with a hammer to make him see things
in a different way. Caden was trying to find himself and he had to give Robyn
up in order to do that. Robyn had been holding on so tight neither one of them
could breathe.
Now, Robyn had to
decide if he wanted to have Caden back in his life.
Robyn turned to
Caden. “Thanks for coming all the way here
for me. And for the gifts you’ve sent the last couple months.”
Caden’s eyes widened with surprise and he nodded.
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