Take My Body (Curse Bound 2)

Gunner once more itched to grab the cell phone and make the call. He wasn’t too proud to take the money if Caspian had chosen to gift it to him, but such kindness should be repaid with words of gratitude at least.

With a strong conviction to contact him later in the day, Gunner whistled at Dingo and hurried back to Zahra’s, because he’d promised to give Noah a ride to work. He could look at job offers at the mall. His ink shouldn’t be an issue in a stockroom. And if there weren’t any vacancies, he could ask Tiamat at the tattoo shop if they needed anyone for maintenance and clean-up. Gunner would take any position at this point, as long as it didn’t push him back into crime.

Perhaps the universe had caused the body swap to help Caspian understand his worth, but Gunner learned a lot too, and he wasn’t about to fuck things up again.

But what did he know of leading an honest life? He’d never had a regular job, and his brief life in Caspian’s skin proved that he didn’t know how to behave among normal people. He crossed unwritten boundaries without realizing, and would surely get himself kicked out of any job he might find. But what then? What if he met Caspian in town and revealed himself as a failure?

Just the thought of it had him breaking out in cold sweat.

“The truck’s so much cleaner now,” Noah said from the passenger seat, pulling Gunner out of his thought jumble just as they arrived at the mall. “You think you’ll be able to keep that up?”

Gunner rolled his eyes. “Ha. Ha. So funny. I had more important shit to do than clean.” Though in truth, his truck had ended up looking like a hoarder’s dream because he’d been too lazy to clean or forgot to do it. Caspian left the truck in better condition than it had been on the day Gunner purchased it second-hand. He’d even managed to get the transmission to run smooth-ish.

Was there anything this guy couldn’t do? Unlike Gunner, Caspian planned things, and didn’t get so easily frustrated, so he must have found a solution and applied it with the same ease he’d cleaned crumbs from Gunner’s car seat. Caspian managed to take care of him even without being there. The vehicle would eventually become messy again, and the pine-scented air freshener would hang off the rearview mirror after losing its smell, but the debt Caspian had paid off for Gunner had been dealt with for good.

A parting gift.

Was it guilt that had prompted Caspian to deal with the debt, or did he still have feelings for Gunner? Like that time he’d covered Gunner’s eyes, so cum wouldn’t get into them. That had been so thoughtful.

“Gun, come on, we only have an hour before I start my shift, and I wanna get a sandwich.”

“When I had his body, people didn’t stare at me, you know?” Gunner said, sighing as he took a final glance into the rearview mirror. His left eye glinted, as if it belonged to a hyena, but he shook his head and stepped out of the truck, because some things couldn’t be overcome with Caspian’s money, and he needed to face reality at some point.

Noah licked his lips and approached him. “Is that why you’ve been so quiet on the way here? That’s what you’ve been thinking about?”

Gunner shrugged. “Yeah, everything’s different now. It’s hard to get used to it.”

“I mean, the tattoo is a bit of a bummer, but they’re always looking for staff here. Try the notice board by the photo booths?”

His baby brother stuffed his hands into his pockets and looked ahead as a young woman went out of her way to avoid walking too close to Gunner. It was easiest to pretend neither of them noticed, but shit like this happened to Gunner all the time. It was hard to not take such things personally after the brief time in a non-intimidating body.

“Let’s get your sandwich first, it’s on me.” Gunner forced a smile and ruffled Noah’s curls.

He should’ve been happy. His heaviest burden, the thing that had kept him in chains, was now gone. And yet he’d never felt so lost.

He’d lived in Caspian’s flesh for three weeks, but he was starting to think there was no going back from that experience. It had showed him there was more to life than survival and violence, but every gaze frightfully sliding off him proved that most people wouldn’t give someone like him, with a tattooed face and bulging muscles, the benefit of the doubt and a chance to prove himself. He had no education, no skills other than boxing, and was currently wearing his only surviving T-shirt.

Noah whistled and nudged Gunner with his elbow as they approached one of the cafés. “Rolling in cash, huh?”