“Me too,” Grady replied, and just like that, they were a couple.
“We gotta think of a name for this guy,” Deacon said, petting the scared puppy.
“Yeah, I guess we do.” Grady smiled at him again, and damned if Deacon didn’t feel his happiness.
Chapter 21
Grady
They named him Moose. He was all paws and legs, playful and clumsy, always tripping over his feet, a toy, or from what Grady could gather, sometimes just the air. He couldn’t say how many times they’d just sat there laughing and playing with him.
Between work and Moose, time flew by, and it was now a few days before Christmas. They’d gone to one of the cut-your-own-tree farms and chosen a small one but hadn’t really talked about what the holiday would bring. Deacon had family in the area, while Grady didn’t have any family at all—well, he did, but they chose not to want him.
Though they’d defined their relationship, Grady hadn’t told anyone, and as far as he could tell, Deacon hadn’t either. Clint had guessed, or so it seemed, and possibly Roe and Holden too, but that was neither here nor there. When Grady and Deacon were in public together, at the store or at Sundae’s Best, they acted like two buddies who were…well, really fucking close. They talked about what they were having for dinner and things like that, but there were no simple touches, or a stroke of a finger to the back of his neck, handholding, or anything that would alert the Briar County gossip train that Deacon Sharpe now had a boyfriend.
Still, Grady felt eyes on them often, saw the interest from people, and thought some of them had already figured them out or thought they had. He wondered how fast the news would travel and how Deacon would take it.
They were still staying at Deke’s every night, which was where Grady was then. He was out in the yard with Moose, so the dog could pee. Deke was late getting home from the ice cream shop because he’d decided to stop and grab something for dinner. When he heard a car, Grady looked up, expecting it to be Deacon, but it was a vehicle he didn’t recognize.
“Hey, Moose. Come ’ere, boy,” he called, watching the car, a heavy feeling in his gut.
As soon as the people stepped out of the car, Grady knew exactly who they were. While he’d managed to spend his time in Everett without running into Eugene and Frances, he’d seen too many photos of them over the years not to know.
Eugene frowned, as if unsure what to think of Grady, and he could understand why. A strange man was outside Deacon’s home with a dog.
“Hi. I’m Grady Dalton.” He held out his hand for Eugene, who shook it, then turned to Frances. “Hello, ma’am. Deke isn’t here. He should be home any minute, though.” Shit. Should he have said home? It was Deke’s house. Hell, should he have called him Deke, for that matter? Maybe he should have said Deacon and that he’d be back, so it didn’t sound like Grady thought this place was his too.
“Eugene and Frances Liles,” the man replied. “Who are you?”
He knew…he knew who they were because he’d loved their son like a brother. They would never know how much Nathan had meant to him, and that truth left Grady cold inside.
“A friend…of Deacon’s.” Moose took that moment to jump all over Eugene, getting mud on his pants. “Shit, sorry. Moose, come here. Don’t jump on people. We’re still training him.”
Fuck. He was screwing this all up. He sure as shit shouldn’t make it sound like the dog belonged to them together.
He knelt and put his finger in Moose’s collar, holding him back. “I’m a friend,” he said again.
“You from around here?” Eugene asked.
“No, sir. Moved here a couple of months back.” I knew Nathan. He loved you so damn much, and there was nothing he wouldn’t have done for you.
The sound of tires on gravel broke through the quiet, and Grady said a silent thanks. They sure as shit should have seen this coming and decided what to tell people. Grady just wanted to follow Deacon’s lead.
“Hey, Frances…Eugene. Everything okay?” Deacon asked when he got out. He had a bag of food in his hands, his gaze snapping back and forth between Grady and Patricia’s parents.
Moose started whining, trying to get out of Grady’s hold.
Eugene said, “Came to check in. You haven’t been around as much lately, and we heard some weird rumors around town.”
Shit. He’d been right. The news had spread even though they didn’t make it obvious in public—well, except for that kiss at Clint’s. Not counting that, he was always staying with Deke. They got food delivered, shopped together, and he stopped in at Sundae’s Best more often than not, so of course people would talk, especially in a small town like this. He just wasn’t sure what Deacon wanted to do about it. It was one thing to call themselves together when it was just them, but coming out—to his family, to Patricia’s…when Grady didn’t even know how Deacon identified—that was a whole other story.