Sawyer (Torey Hope: The Later Years #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

tear-stained face up to gaze into her beautiful eyes. Rubbing a soft finger along her bottom lip, he leaned in. His eyes clouded as his lips grazed hers, “I could do this, we could make this work. I love you, Katie, it wouldn’t be a hardship to be with you.” She allowed him to capture her lips in his, sighing into his touch. Gently pushing him away, she smiled sadly at him.
    “Yes, we could make it work. We love each other dearly, and we’d have a nice life. But, I’d always know what you long for, and you’d always know I was missing the passion, the spark, the heat. We’re too good for that, Sawyer. I won’t let you hide; one day, you’re going to find a man who challenges you, makes your heart beat faster, and wants you for you. Until then, I’ll stand by you as you work your way through the ass hats.” She kissed him gently and held him quietly for a long time. “And, I want it noted, your parents and brother would stand by your side as well.” She felt him take a deep breath and knew it was a subject he wasn’t ready to tackle.
    When her belly growled, they both laughed.
    “Come on, Katie-girl, I think it’s time to get you some tacos.” Sawyer held her hand as they made their way to Grandma Cindy’s infamous Taco Night.
     

Chapter 4
    Sawyer, college
    College was good. Sawyer loved being out on his own, living with his brother and cousins. Classes were mostly fun and interesting; school had never been difficult for him. He and the guys were getting closer to their goal of graduating and returning to Torey Hope to expand The Center where many of his family worked or gave of their time, efforts, talents.
    Sawyer never lacked for friends; he always had Decker, Zach, and Kendrick. He and Katie kept in touch, but he missed seeing her on a daily basis; he was sad to know that she wasn’t planning to return to Torey Hope. He had male friends and female friends; he “dated” some women, but it never went further than recreational sex. Usually, Sawyer and the woman would hook up, and then she’d figure out he was gay. Some of the women stormed off, some of them stayed in the friend zone. Sawyer felt shame that he used women as substitutes; he wanted men, but having sex with women was expected and more accepted. He had slept with a few men since coming to college; none of those men were ones Sawyer was all that attracted to, but they provided him the connection and release he was longing for, even if just for a night.
    Surrounded by his brother, cousins, friends, and lovers, Sawyer had never felt more alone.
    Meeting Adam in his summer dance class opened Sawyer up to a completely new world. Adam was as obviously gay as a man could get; he was the epitome of the stereotype. He wasn’t Sawyer’s type and Sawyer wasn’t his type, but they clicked as friends.
    Kendrick had dubbed them “the odd couple.” Adam was short and thin in stature, dark skinned, dark haired, and an absolute trope, which Sawyer had learned was slang for a stereotypical gay. He wore bright nail polish, tied most of his shirts at his waist, and walked around in shorter shorts than many women on campus wore. He was the exact opposite of Sawyer’s tall, fit build. Sawyer was mostly comfortable in jeans, sweats, basketball shorts. But, Adam was a lifeline for him; through Adam he found a world of gay men he’d known had to exist, but he had no clue how to go about discovering it.
    “So let me get this straight .” Adam put a hand to his lips to suppress a smile about his little joke. “You’ve just been searching with no guidance? Sawyer, sugar, finding a gay in the wild is tricky. Sometimes I wish we had a hand sign or signal to alert gay men to other gay men, but until that happens, you’ve got to be careful. Oh, honey, I’m so glad you’ve found Adam. Adam is going to show you the way.”
    The first thing Adam did was set Sawyer up with gay dating apps on his phone. He used these to find anything from a random hook-up to