So Gunner had made a scene at the party, but Caspian knew how hard he’d tried to fit in. He simply didn’t have the same upbringing and made a mistake. “He’s trying really hard. I shouted at him, and I shouldn’t have, but he refused to apologize for the scene he made at the party, and I lost my temper,” he said, kneading the wheel nervously as they passed the first location on Noah’s list. Unfortunately, Gunner was nowhere to be seen around the closed video rental shop.
Noah snorted. “Sounds like him all right. Does he also disappear on you when he doesn’t wanna deal with something?”
“That’s Gunner. I need to re-educate him when it comes to this shit,” Caspian said, shaking his head.
Noah twirled his fingers, swallowing several times, as if he were psyching himself up. “I was surprised he stuck around when our dad died. But… he’s always there when it matters, you know? And I think you matter to him. You’re all he talks about. And not just because of the swap. It’s all ‘Caspian was so good at boxing today’, and ‘Caspian knows all this fancy food’. Apparently you had him taste basil ice cream?”
A small flame flickered deep in Caspian’s heart, only to grow, coursing through his veins along with blood. “Does he really? What else did he say?” Caspian asked, suddenly desperate to dig up every clue Gunner could have dropped.
Noah grinned. “I was laughing that you probably eat a burger with a knife and fork, and he got so angry on your behalf it was hilarious. He was all, ‘he’s nothing like that, he’s nice, you don’t know him’.”
Caspian chuckled, feeling warm, as if Noah had served him a cup of hot chocolate with chili. He kind of knew Gunner liked him, but didn’t expect him to be so serious about it and even defend him from such silly accusations, just because he thought they were an insult.
“Yeah… he can be quite sensitive when you know where to look,” Caspian said, in disbelief, because this description sounded nothing like the guy he used to hate for so many years. The same one he’d hated only weeks ago.
“It makes sense now that you said you’re dating. I teased him about it, but he wouldn’t say yes or no. I don’t know what he’s scared of. I don’t even…” Noah bit his lip, glancing at Caspian, “know where I stand on the sexuality thing.”
Oh. Oooooh.
“He might freak out, but he’ll understand,” Caspian said quickly, passing the library and the café where he’d been humiliated over daring to flirt with the barista.
“Look.” Noah straightened up like a meerkat and tapped Caspian’s shoulder. “By the gas station. Is that him?”
He pointed to a figure occupying a bench with a bottle in hand, and while it was far from the roofing above the pumps, and its lights, there was a familiarity to the silhouette.
Caspian stepped on the gas pedal and cut through the other lane, passing right in front of a vehicle that rapidly slowed down. He ignored the sound of the horn and parked by the store, rolling out of the truck the moment its engine stilled.
His heart beat fast with worry, but when his gaze trailed to the bench and the hunched figure, he immediately recognized the lavender trainers and the pale hair falling into Gunner’s face.
“Gun!”
Gunner looked up at him in the faint light that reached his sad little spot surrounded by random trash, and stiffened with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. His car was parked in the shadows nearby, as if he planned to drive the expensive Southfield while drunk. Then again, he’d said he’d moved out so he probably meant to sleep in the car, or even on the fucking bench, since the night was so warm.
“What do you want?” Gunner asked, glancing to Noah, who stayed a few steps behind Caspian.
Caspian exhaled, determined to reassure him. “I saw you destroy Alex. That was quite something,” he said with a small smile.
Gunner’s shoulders relaxed a bit, and while Caspian was itching to pull the cigarette out of his hand, it could wait. “I shouldn’t have done that. I…”
Go on, say it. Say you’re sorry.
And then Caspian noticed it. Ink. Right under Gunner’s collar bones, clearly visible under the loose white tank top. Caspian’s anger came back like a tsunami and crashed over him. While Caspian had been agonizing about their argument for all those hours, Gunner had taken revenge against him by tattooing his body without Caspian’s consent?
Un-fucking-believable.
He grabbed the collar with both hands and ripped it open in a powerful tug. “What. The. Fuck, Gunner?” He uttered, staring at the huge black letters on reddened skin. The fucker had even removed the dressing, as if he wanted it all to get infected!