Homemade Kisses – CW Gray

But then, he was getting used to those eyes. “Hey, you okay?” Demarien’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. When Boone popped back to reality, the men from the sawmill were already pushing some tables together, eager to get some good food in their bellies. “Feeling better than I have in years.” Boone leaned back in his seat. “Just the events of the night catching up with me.” “Now you sound like Dad.”

Demarien crinkled his nose. “Next, you’ll be complaining that the weather hurts your joints.” “Well, it does.” “See? What’d I tell you?” Demarien sighed. “Now, what’s really wrong? Your smile dropped faster than double-struck lightning.” Boone forced a smile. “It’s nothing. Really.” “Demarien narrowed his eyes. “Anyone ever tell you the right corner of your mouth twitches when you lie?” “What’re you doing looking at my mouth, Mr. Watts?” Boone smirked. “Can you blame me?” Demarien snorted. “Anyway, fess up.” “It’s the way people look at my wounds,” Boone said quietly.

“I don’t understand why they suddenly don’t know how to talk to me. Do these scars really change me that much? I sure as hell don’t think so.” “Fuck no.” Demarien scoffed. “They’re just so used to you being the perfect boy next door. And you are because you’re you. So what if you have a few scars? Time will remind them that you’ve still got that golden heart, a never-ending well of kindness, and so much more.”

Demarien took a small bite of his food, his eyes dropping to the table. “Your perfect lips.” “You think my lips are perfect?” Demarien flushed and choked on his food. “Shit, did I say that out loud?” “Loud and clear.” Demarien hid his face behind his hands. “Hell, you’re everything is still perfect, Boone. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve always caught my attention, ever since Freshman year when we met. You defended me from Doug Marsh. You didn’t have to, but you did. You even kicked his scrawny ass one time.”

“And it felt damn good, too.” “You could’ve gotten in so much trouble if you got caught.” Demarien bit his lip. “Yet you did it anyway.” “Because I couldn’t stand back and watch him harass you.

Copyright © 2026 C.W. Gray and Marianna Forrest All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [email protected] Cover Design by Fantasia Frog Designs Edited by Tanglewood Press OceanofPDF.com “W CHAPTER 1 JUNE orst day ever.” Demarien Watts downed the last of his whiskey and slammed his glass on the table, startling his three best friends. “Did it really have to rain? All month, there’s no rain, but today it just had to pour.”

The rain pounded against the glass panes of the windows of the bar. It was only early afternoon, and Portland was bustling with the late lunch crowd, umbrellas and raincoats included. Milo sipped his drink, dark eyes dull with grief. “I can’t believe she’s gone.” “Fucking cancer is fucking stupid,” Puck muttered. Demarien’s friend wore his usual scowl, his blond hair pulled into a loose bun atop his head. Puck raised his hand and signaled the bar for another round.

“Dahlia deserved better than that.” Milo nodded, trembling. “I always thought she’d go down swimming with sharks in Australia or something.” Felix sniffled and rubbed his eyes. “I thought she’d go out exploring Antarctica. You know how she felt about polar bears. She would have tried to adopt one and gotten eaten.” Puck snorted. “Polar bears don’t live in Antarctica. There are just penguins.” Felix gasped, eyes widening.

“She should have gotten eaten by penguins. That would have been a death worthy of her.” Milo smiled reluctantly and laughed. “She would have liked dying by penguin.” Demarien wrapped his arm around Milo’s shoulder. They had all loved Milo’s great-aunt, but his friend had always had a special relationship with Dahlia.

She had taken care of Milo for most of his life. “Did you see my dad?” Milo asked, face growing hard. “He talked on the phone for half the ceremony. I almost turned around to thank him when he finally stopped.” Felix leaned across the table and grinned.

“You were hugging Demarien, so you didn’t see Puck take his phone and throw it toward the back of the room. One of Dahlia’s book club friends caught it, then glared at Alonzo as she stomped on it.” “It was a little scary but really hot.” Puck took his new drink from their server. “I think I’m in love with her.”

Demarien chuckled. “Mrs. Holliday’s husband may object.” Puck shrugged. “It’s okay. We can be a throuple.”

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 89d8823b606caa66
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 990,394 bytes (0.945 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 133
• Language: English (en)

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• Estimated Reading Time: 194.72 minutes
• Total Words: 38,943
• Total Characters: 222,533
• Average Words per Page: 292.8
• Average Characters per Page: 1673.18

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