Take My Body (Curse Bound 2)

Caspian wouldn’t have gone to find another hook-up, just to go against Gunner’s wishes, would he? It wasn’t like he’d have that much stamina left after coming three times already.

“So who’s the other guy?” Noah asked, pulling Gunner out of his chaotic, needy thoughts.

“Caspian. I knew him back in high school.”

“Oh… so he was the one who paid Snowman. And… this swap thing… how did it happen. Why him?” Noah asked, watching Gunner as if he really expected a coherent answer when the situation Gunner was in had no place in the real world. It was some movie shit, but he hadn’t accidentally broken an ancient statue, or whatever else caused people to swap bodies in wacky comedies. He’d met Caspian at the gym, then had beer with the guys, and fallen asleep.

"I don't know. He doesn't either. But maybe it's some kind of punishment from the universe. I… might have done a shit thing to him yesterday.” He blinked, staring ahead as the car passed trees on the way to the trailer park at the edge of town. “Oh. Maybe I need to redeem myself somehow.”

Noah leaned back in the seat. “Gunner… no.”

“No?”

“Why do you pick on people?”

The judgement in Noah’s voice made Gunner shrink. “I don’t know. I got caught up in it, and Todd was there, spurring me on. I didn’t mean to hurt him. If anything, I kinda just wanted it to be over, so I went with it. Okay, maybe I was a bit—” curious to see his dick. “Never mind. What’s done is done. The universe is telling me to live a day in his shoes. That’s it. We’ll be back to normal tomorrow. For sure.”

“So how was it?” Noah asked as they drove past all the fast food joints and toward the scorched remains of the Rabid Hyenas biker club.

“Hm? How was what?” Gunner looked at the road in front of him to avoid the dreadful memories of the fire that had taken their father. He’d been a bad man, but their financial situation had been better when he was still around.

Noah cleared his throat. “You know, touching another guy.”

Gunner’s face went aflame. Everything I ever wanted and lusted for. “Weird. Especially since it’s my body.”

“So a bit like masturbation?”

“No! Jesus. I guess… I kinda felt free to go with it, since this isn’t my body, my life, you know?”

Gunner drove past the sign welcoming them to the trailer park and headed for the bungalow where Noah lived with his mom, Zahra. Their home was only a fifteen-minute walk away from the trailer park, but any reason to avoid confronting Caspian just yet was good enough.

Noah licked his lips. “So it’s something you might do again? Once you’re back in your own body?”

Gunner scowled. “You’re such a fucking smartass. No, it’s not, and I won’t. Don’t you ever do shit in a dream that you wouldn’t do in real life, but then you wake up and think to yourself, oh, okay, so that was a thing?”

Noah shrugged, in no rush to leave when Gunner stopped in front of the white bungalow. What could he possibly be thinking about? “Depends on the stuff. I guess if I had like… a sex fantasy, I’d like to try it out in real life.”

“Well I don’t. End of story. You don’t always get everything you want in life, and you should know that.”

Noah slumped against the door, making Gunner regret his words. Maybe he’d been too harsh, but it was for Noah’s own good. Living in fantasy land of big dreams was what had gotten Noah into his car accident in the first place.

Noah chewed on his lips for a while. “And you’ll be going back to his house?”

Just thinking of the mansion of a house made Gunner relax. His life in Caspian’s body might be temporary, but he’d enjoy it for as long as it lasted. “Yeah. I’ll just go check on Fluffer.”

“Okay, but I’ll see you tomorrow, and if nothing changes, we’ll investigate, right?”

Gunner didn’t want to think that far ahead when his life was already chaos. “Yes, Noah, you can become the paranormal detective tomorrow. If I’m not back to normal. Which I will be.”

Noah hesitated but then rolled out of the seat and waved. “Need to go. Mom’s gonna be mad if I’m late.”

Gunner waited until Noah disappeared from sight and let out a scream of anguish while banging the steering wheel.

What a fucking mess.

It took him several moments to calm down, and once he felt ready to face the world, he headed for the trailer park. Sandy wasn’t always responsible enough to feed Fluffer, and even though he’d told Caspian to do it, it was better to be safe than sorry.

He parked not far from the entrance, to avoid meandering among the trailers when someone’s car was already blocking half the driveway. He was used to people giving him looks, but while in his own body he was a predator everyone watched out for, Caspian was prey, and he sped up when a group of teen boys noticed him from afar. Darkness hid him from sight as he made his way through the labyrinth of mobile homes, cars, and sheds, and he was relieved that there was no menacing laughter or hurried steps behind him.