Page 18 of Switch Pitching

“You’re a true country boy with this truck setup, aren’t you?” James says, flashing me a half-smile as he hoists his stuff into the truck bed.

I raise an eyebrow at him, smirking while loading my stuff. Country? I’ll show him country.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, I give James a cheeky side-eye, fire up the truck, and hit the power button on the multimedia console. My country playlist blasts out of the speakers at an obnoxious volume.

James’s expression falters momentarily, but he recovers. “Oh, you think you’re funny, don’t you?”

I chuckle, pulling out of the parking lot. “I’m just giving you the full country boy experience.”

James doesn’t beg me for aux like I’d expected. Instead, he smiles lazily and leans back in his seat. “I vibe with this. My boys back home would always play this stuff up at the cotty.”

“The what?”

“Short for cottage. You go up in the summer, it’s on a lake…” James trails off, waiting for me to understand. I don’t.

James gives up. “It’s a Canada thing. Think of it like a cabin.”

“Well, I’m sorry I don’t understand your Canadian nonsense. You think Iparlez-vous françaislike you moose people?”

“Moose people?” James scoffs. “Buddy, you’re fromMaine. You’re more of a moose person than I am.”

He’s got me there, so I roll my eyes at James, letting him win this one.

A couple of hours into the drive, we switch drivers at a gas station right across the Georgia border. I lie back in the already-reclined passenger seat and buckle in, preparing to relax for the next few hours.

James gets over his initial giddiness at driving a pickup and we settle into a pleasant silence, but he randomly decides to speak up. “There’s something you need to know.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I ask, opening an eye.

“I’ve made it my mission to get you out of your shell.”

“What, is getting drunk and sleeping in your bed not enough for you?”

Heat flashes in my core as I think of all the different ways that James could interpret what I just said.

Unfazed, James keeps his eyes fixed on the road. “You’re a little reserved. Nothing wrong with that, but since we’re living together, I’ll keep trying to open you up.”

I laugh. “It’ll take time. I’ll warm up eventually.”

“That’s exactly why you need me,” James says. “I’ll speed things up with a little exposure therapy.”

“Exposure therapy?” I repeat, my curiosity prickling. “What does that involve?”

James flashes me a mischievous grin. “It’s simple, man. We’re gonna ask each other uncomfortable questions right off the bat so we don’t have any walls around each other.”

I chuckle nervously. Those walls are useful because they keep me sane. “Are you serious?”

“Oh yeah. I’m persistent. By the time this road trip ends, we’ll know each other’s deepest, darkest secrets.”

“What is this, a sleepover?”

“Nah, we already had that. Just a little bonding between two dudes.”

I sigh. “Sure, I’m good to try out this ‘exposure therapy’, but don’t expect anything groundbreaking.”

Without missing a beat, James gets right into it. “Tell me about the best sex you’ve ever had.”

I choke on my breath as a laugh bursts out of me, and I can’t stop. My body curls up in the seat as I keep giggling uncontrollably. Trying to catch my breath, I wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. “Dude, why do you even want to know?”

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