Sundae's Best (Briar County 2)

Grady scooped a bite of ham, then added scalloped potatoes and ate it.

“You’re a food mixer!” Deacon joked.

“You’re just noticing that?” Grady cocked a brow.

“And here I thought I liked you and that we had things in common.”

“All that changes because of how I eat? And damn, this is good. Your family can definitely cook.”

“We do okay, but I’m still trying to figure out how I can come to terms with the fact that you put more than one thing on a fork at once.” Deacon hated for his food to mix.

“This coming from the guy who puts together lots of different things in his ice cream?” Grady nodded toward the plate, and Deacon took some potatoes.

“That’s totally different.”

Grady laughed. “If you say so.”

“I do.”

It was crazy how easy it was to talk to Grady. It wasn’t that long ago when he’d had to try so hard to find the words to engage with the people he loved most in the world, yet they flowed easily now. Maybe it was because he didn’t feel pressure with Grady, who hadn’t known him before, so he couldn’t compare the two versions of him. He didn’t come with expectations. With Grady, he could just be.

They shared the dinner, Deacon not eating as much as Grady, then went straight into the pie. When their whiskey glasses were finished, Grady held up the bottle as if to ask if he wanted more, and he agreed.

They talked and laughed, Grady telling him more about working with Holden and about Roe’s family inviting him over.

“You didn’t want to go?”

“Nah, not really. Felt like being alone.”

Guilt suffused Deacon’s chest. He should have thought of that. If Grady was alone, maybe he wanted to be. “Damn, man. I’m sorry. You should have said something.”

A panicked expression flashed across Grady’s face as he looked at Deacon, wide-eyed. “No, not you. And I don’t mean any offense to Roe, Holden, and their family either. I like them a lot, but…don’t know, really, just wasn’t ready for all that. It’s different with you. I said I was glad you’re here, and I meant it. Feels…natural with you, like I don’t have to pretend.”

Deacon’s heart thudded. The room spun, making him feel light-headed, something inside him urging him to reach out and drag Grady closer. Or hell, like there was something that already bound them together—not just Patricia and Nathan, but some other power drawing the invisible ropes that kept them tethered to each other, tighter and tighter.

Deacon averted his eyes. “It’s different with you too. I don’t have to pretend either.”

“Good.” Grady’s voice was a hushed whisper Deacon felt across his skin, making goose bumps pebble down his arms.

In swallow after swallow, Deacon finished what was left in his glass. When he lowered it, he saw Grady was doing the same, his Adam’s apple bobbing with each gulp, and when it was done, he refilled the glass.

Deacon held his out as well, getting more.

They leaned back then, Grady’s feet on the coffee table. They were bare. He had the slightest bit of hair on his toes, which was a strange thing for Deacon to focus on.

Grady asked, “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

Deacon frowned at the question, simply because it felt so out of nowhere. “Not sure, really. Like I said, I’ve never had grand ideas about going anywhere. Jamaica would be a fun vacation spot, but…well, I like where I am right now just fine.” It wasn’t until he said it that he realized it sounded as if he meant Grady’s couch, there with him, but Deacon didn’t take it back. That fact scared him something fierce.

“I like here just fine too,” Grady replied before taking a sip. “Your turn.”

“We playing a game?”

“I guess we are.”

Deacon’s body was tingling, he figured from the whiskey, but he didn’t stop. He didn’t want to stop. “Favorite movie?”

“Goodfellas.”

“No shit? I love that one.”

Grady chuckled. “We should watch it sometime. If we’re talking newer…hmm…I love the Avengers movies.”

“Solid choice. Newer for me would be Black Panther. Your turn.”

They went back and forth like that. Deacon didn’t know how long it was because he wasn’t paying attention to the time, just living in the moment, no matter how simple it was. Some questions were easy or silly: Favorite food? Favorite color? If they could have any magical power, what would it be? But some held more substance: If you could cure any illness, what would it be? What moment would you change? Until it landed on Deacon’s “Have you ever been in love?”

Grady rubbed a hand over his face, finished his drink. Deacon was pretty buzzed by then. If not, he might not have asked it, and he wasn’t sure why he wanted to know. But then, why had they wanted to know the answer to any of the questions they’d asked this evening?