“Yes, it fucking is,” Caspian said, struck that Gunner had no problem ruining his life and, possibly, getting him a criminal conviction to stain the perfect record, yet for some reason expected Caspian to stay civil. “I’m fucking this guy, because I’m gay. All out in the open now,” he finished, moving his gaze from Carla to Gunner’s pale face, which was still stained with cum.
Nearby, Mad Madge got up from her sun chair and started clapping while her dog bounced around. “Good for you!” she yelled gleefully.
Gunner clenched his fists. “You really think you can do this?”
Caspian laughed and spread his arms as the dark fire of satisfaction ate through his chest. “What are you gonna do? Burn down my house?”
Carla’s husband, a big bald bastard with a tattooed skull, walked up to them like a bulldozer looking for a building to demolish. “Russo’s a queer?” he asked his wife as if Caspian wasn’t there to hear them.
Carla crossed her arms on her chest. “Apparently.”
Gunner screamed out in helpless fury, and for once Caspian was glad to see him suffer for what he’d done. There were consequences to actions, and it was about time Gunner learned that.
“Oh, you crossed the line!” Gunner said. “You’ll regret this!”
“Oh really? How will you make me pay, you dwarf?”
Gunner’s shoulders went rigid when a couple of people around burst out with laughter. “You sure liked fucking this dwarf ten minutes ago, so who’s the joke now, huh?”
It didn’t even make sense. As if Gunner couldn’t see he was digging a hole for himself, not Caspian, because once they swapped back, this would be his life again. Forever.
“What’s not to like? You’re pretty as a picture. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t acting like a dick and refusing to take responsibility!”
Gunner grabbed the metal trash can outside Caspian’s trailer, but wasn’t strong enough to pick it up with all the stuff inside, so he ended up tipping it over in his rage. He kicked around the empty boxes and cans, then stormed off with another scream.
The gleeful satisfaction of outing him in revenge fizzled out fast, and Caspian stared at Carla and her man with no joy.
“Show’s over,” he said as he climbed back into his trailer and slammed the door behind him, suddenly so nauseated he wondered whether he shouldn’t run to the bathroom to empty his stomach. But he managed to keep it down and sat on the floor, staring at the covered windows while his body cooled, leaving behind a dull sensation.
Gunner was crazy. Completely fucking nuts.
How could Caspian have even entertained the possibility that their relationship could have ever gone beyond sex?
Chapter 24 – Caspian
Caspian’s skin was on fire, and no matter how quickly he paced around his cramped living room or how many times he’d rolled into bed and screamed into the pillow, the sense of failure wouldn’t leave him, buried deep like a rusty knife that would soon cause gangrene.
A part of him wanted to jump into the truck and drive to his parents’ place, do something to pick up the pieces of Gunner’s mess, but the last thing they needed was a hulking stranger coming over to offer his aid. So he gave up, lost in the sense of failure.
He’d never smoked, but the moment he found an old pack of cigarettes at the back of the kitchen cupboard, everything inside him told him the tobacco would bring some relief.
And it did.
Caspian wasn’t proud of it, but he smoked three in a row while sitting on the steps leading into his trailer and petting Fluffer, who reluctantly accepted his company after being offered a catnip snack. And while the air went cool as the sun set, he was so exhausted following the fight with Gunner and his neighbors that he stayed still, trying to absorb warmth from the cat in his lap.
He flinched when a silhouette loomed in the dark, because several people had casually strolled around his trailer in the past few hours to gape at the newly out Gunner Russo. But as the slender form approached, Caspian realized it was Noah. Gunner’s brother didn’t talk to him much, weirded out by the whole body swap situation, but Caspian had heard from Gunner that they kept in touch. Too bad Gunner refused to answer any of his calls and didn’t reply to any of the messages Caspian had sent him, even though he’d read them all.
“Hey, I just finished work. Is Gunner here?” Noah asked right off the bat and adjusted his tie dye T-shirt.
“You should call him. Maybe he’ll actually respond,” Caspian said grimly and stepped on the butt of his cigarette.
Noah pushed back his hair and groaned. “Oh. So he’s not talking to you either. Figures. You had a fight over the video?”
Something icy stabbed the back of Caspian’s head, and when he stiffened, Fluffer jumped off his lap with a shriek, as if he felt threatened. “What video?”