Take My Body (Curse Bound 2)
Unwilling to face anyone, he ended up parking in front of a bar, frustrated and hurting. The bright moon illuminated him like a spotlight and pushed Gunner’s thoughts farther down the rabbit hole of fantastical events that he’d woken up to. He’d turned on his favorite rendition of Mozart’s ‘piano concerto no. 24’ to get lost in the music and calm down, but his mind raced with questions.
If he died, would he go back to his body, or would Caspian end up in his skin forever? Would their brains remember what each of them did once they swapped? Would he go back to his own body once the clock struck midnight, like Cinderella?
He didn’t deserve a prince though. He didn’t even deserve a good, guiltless dicking for the way he’d treated Caspian, and maybe the universe wanted to prove this to him today? The humbling experience of fearing people intent on hurting him for no reason would stay with him forever, as would the memory of having a bite of the forbidden fruit.
He’d been allowed a peek at what his life could have been if he’d been born someone else, and losing that new identity after just one day would be his punishment. Because Caspian’s actions at the trailer park proved that he’d never forgive Gunner.
He shot a longing look at the broken neon above the entrance to the bar. A drink or two would have made everything better. And who knew, maybe not all the patrons were straight and Gunner could bask in male attention for a few hours more, forgetting the bitterness at the back of his tongue.
He was psyching himself to leave the car when his cell phone beeped. He glanced at it to make sure it wasn’t Caspian, but no, the screen read Mom.
He answered with a heavy heart. He’d barely known his mom, but this one made him pancakes and was so nice he didn't want to worry her by ignoring the call.
“Hey, what’s up?” Gunner asked, not sure if that was what Caspian would have said, but staying silent would have been even weirder.
After a short silence, the voice he’d first heard that morning spoke. “We’re worried about you, Caspian. Will you be home soon? It’s almost midnight.”
Gunner rubbed his face, but his gaze followed two men leaving the bar. Both were tall, and he was almost certain he’d seen them around. One had long hair and a guitar on his back, the other wore a distressed leather jacket. Gunner would have forgotten all about them if the first one hadn’t pushed his friend at the wall for a kiss that most definitely shouldn’t have been happening in public, Gunner looked down at the phone, embarrassed as if he’d walked in on two people having sex.
“Caspian? Are you there?”
“Yes, Mom. Sorry. It’s been a rough day.”
He stole one more glance at the couple, but they didn’t stay and were headed toward the Karma motel. He was already missing Caspian’s touch, regardless of how betrayed he still felt, but good things had always been temporary in Gunner’s life. Tomorrow, he’d wake up in his old body, and he’d be grateful for getting to experience one day in someone else’s shoes, even if right now his ribs ached.
“It’s okay. Come home and we can talk about it.” Fake Mom fumbled with something. “Yes, he says he’s coming,” she said, likely to Caspian’s dad.
They cared. They wanted him aro— No. They wanted Caspian. Gunner was an impostor in their son’s skin.
“See you in a bit,” he said and ended the call.
He might not have been who they were expecting, but they’d been kind to him and deserved a peaceful night, so he started the car and spent the next half an hour on autopilot, which switched off only once he arrived at Caspian’s massive family home and realized he didn’t know how to open the garage. Fortunately, his fake parents must have noticed his arrival, because the gate lifted, allowing him to park.
He sat in the dark for a whole minute, unsure how to deal with confrontation as Caspian, but he couldn’t spend the whole night behind the wheel and eventually arrived at the front door, which opened before he could have started worrying about not having keys.
Caspian’s mom already wore a dressing gown over a satin pajama set, but her eyes widened when she spotted him. “H-hello, dear,” she said, and while it was obvious she didn’t want to show the extent of her shock, her gaze slid up and down Gunner’s body in silent judgment.
Right. The new clothes. The tight jeans, the lilac shoes, and the massive hoodie that clearly didn’t belong to him. He should have thrown it in Caspian’s face. And yet here he was, curling his fingers around the long sleeves and wishing he could just hide inside it and soak up Caspian’s scent.