Page 55 of Gray

“Are you ever gonna tell me how you became a hunter?”

The steering wheel creaked as I gripped it tighter. “I don’t like talking about it.”

My eyes had been opened to a new world when the ghouls attacked my team—when they killed Kinkaid. Hunting monsters became my life’s mission after that.

“That’s okay.” Gray peered out his window. “There’s stuff I don’t like to talk about either.”

“I find that hard to believe,” I teased, trying to lighten the mood. “You talk about everything under the sun.”

He didn’t laugh though. With the sunglasses on, I couldn’t see his eyes. When he spoke, his voice lacked the bubbliness from earlier. “You ever wonder how your life would’ve turned out if you’d made different choices?”

I remembered that night… remembered the grotesque, long-limbed creature that had torn my best friend apart. If I would’ve reacted faster, maybe Kinkaid would still be alive.

“Yeah,” I answered. “I do.”

“Me too.”

What did Gray regret? It wouldn’t be fair for me to ask him when I wasn’t open to providing an answer to the same question.

When we got to the café, his mood did a complete one-eighty. He hopped out of the truck and met me at the front of it, not hesitating before grabbing my hand. There was a momentary flash of fear in my gut as an older couple exiting the café looked at our joined hands. That fear was washed away though when Gray smiled up at me. The warmth in his eyes had the same effect in my chest, taking away that cold, gnawing feeling of worry.

“Is this okay?” Gray asked, nodding to our hands.

I squeezed his hand a bit tighter. “Yeah.”

For so many years, I had tried to be something I wasn’t. It had taken me a while to accept my sexuality. I’d come out since then, but some of those old fears crept back in no matter how long had passed.

“If I ever do something you don’t like, just tell me,” Gray said, opening the door for me. “My brothers say I have personal boundary issues. Whatever that means.”

“Like you crawling into their bed and scaring the shit outta them first thing in the morning? Those kinds of boundary issues?”

Gray crinkled his nose. “That doesn’t count. It’s how I show my affection.”

We were seated at a table by the window and given menus. The café served breakfast all day, so even though it was afternoon, Gray ordered orange juice and waffles with banana slices. I got an iced water and a burger.

“Can we go see Simon after this?” he asked before shoving more of the waffle into his mouth. The thing was so drenched in syrup I’d be surprised if he could even taste the actual waffle. The boy liked his sugar.

“At his antique shop?”

Gray nodded. “I haven’t been since he got the new inventory, and I wanna see if there’s any cool stuff.”

“So you can steal it like you stole that Dino dick?”

“His name is Dino-Pete. And I didn’t steal him. I rescued him from what would have been a very horrible death.”

I ate a handful of salty fries, trying not to laugh. Gray was too much. But not in a bad way. His vibrant personality was refreshing to be around.

Gray stole a fry off my plate. “You never told me where you’re from. Where did you grow up?”

Small talk wouldn’t hurt anything. Besides, talking about my life prior to the military wasn’t nearly as difficult as the shit that had come after.

“I’m from a small country town in Arkansas,” I said. “A place called Cedarville.”

“Did you live on a farm?” He tried to slyly steal another fry.

“No. But our house had a lot of land. Mainly woods.” I pushed my plate toward him, my heart swelling as he smiled. Goddammit. Those brown eyes would be my undoing.

“Did you do any hunting?” Gray leaned forward on the table and whispered, “Hunting deer and stuff. Not monsters.”