The Bloom Series Box Set: Bloom & Fade Read Online Free PDF Page A

were his last. Usually, that meant throwing as
many parties as possible and drinking himself into unconsciousness,
but every once in a great while he did something really stupid just to
mix things up.
    Colton had barely been able to
tolerate that crazy lifestyle before he got his new job at the
shipping depot and was even less tolerant afterward. The long hours
left him exhausted and the only thing he wanted to do when he got
home from work was sleep. Reece had done his best to be respectful,
which for him meant one or two halfhearted attempts to keep the
noise level to a minimum, followed by willful ignorance that there
was ever a problem in the first place.
    It was getting to the point where
Colton was seriously considering moving out and finding his own
apartment. There was no way he would find a place anywhere remotely
as nice as where they were staying now, but he could see himself in
a mid-grade studio apartment with a decent view of the city
sometime in the very near future.
    He probably would have moved out a lot
sooner, but he and Reece had been friends for almost five years and
Colton felt like he owed him a little more time to get his act
together. In high school, Reece had jumped on the back of a bully
that was standing over Colton and kicking him repeatedly in the
stomach. The bully—Kyle Hanoway, the biggest linebacker on the
school football team—easily plucked Reece off his back and threw
him to the ground. Reece shouted insults at Kyle the whole time the
gorilla of a football player was kicking the two skinny kids lying
on the ground. Eventually a teacher saw what was happening and ran
over to separate the flailing mass of arms and legs.
    Colton and Reece became quick friends
and stayed close throughout high school. They had their fights, as
all friends do, and when Reece moved to New York City right after
graduation, he left an open invitation for Colton to come join him.
After things with his own father had deteriorated past the point of
repair, Colton took Reece up on his offer and moved to Parkchester,
bearing witness to his slow but steady decline into alcoholism and
self-loathing.
    Colton was just opening the front door
to his apartment building when Reece walked out of the lobby
elevator. He was wearing tennis shoes—a rarity, since he almost
always wore sandals—and runner’s shorts.
    “ Uh-oh,” said Colton as he
walked into the building.
    Reece smiled and spread out his arms
so Colton could admire his new clothes. His blond, messy hair hung
down over his eyes and stuck out in random clumps. “Uh-oh?” he
said. “I don’t think that’s what you meant.”
    “ You don’t
exercise.”
    “ It’s never too late to
start.” He walked past Colton and slapped him on the back. “Come
on, I need your help with something.”
    “ Man, I’m tired and I need
to eat. I just want to go upstairs and relax.” He tried to keep
walking toward the elevator but Reece grabbed his arm and steered
him back to the front door.
    “ Plenty of time for that
later, amigo. This is important. You only live once,
right?”
    “ The last time you said
that you went missing for three days,” said Colton.
    “ And I have one of the
best stories in the world because of that experience. No regrets!”
He pushed Colton through the doorway. “Come on, this way,” he said.
He made a laughable attempt to stretch his arms and legs before
walking away at a brisk pace.
    Colton sighed and jogged to catch up.
“I hope we’re going to get food,” he said.
    “ In a bit. First there’s a
little project I’ve been working on.”
    “ Can you at least tell me
what it is?”
    “ If I did, you wouldn’t
help me.”
    “ Probably not,” said
Colton. He sniffed the air. “Are you wearing cologne?”
    “ Half a bottle. Nice,
right?”
    “ You smell like gasoline.
And your hair looks ridiculous.”
    “ It’s called ‘bedhead’,
genius. It’s a real thing and chicks love it.”
    They turned onto Third Avenue