Page 27

GUNNAR

T he next morning the two of us went to breakfast together, and Ben walked up to me as soon as he saw me. “Hey, Gunnar. I heard something went down here over the weekend.”

“Yes, but it’s all been taken care of so you do not need to worry,” I said, and I could see by the look on his face that he wasn’t done yet.

“So, what happened? I heard there was someone working here that was a secret agent, and someone in town was selling body parts or some kind of weird shit. But that can’t be true, right?” he asked, and now a few more of the crew were listening as we stood in line.

“Do you really think there would be a secret agent working with us?” Flynn asked. “Come on, Ben, get your breakfast so we can get to work.”

“Right, boss,” Ben said and waited while Dwayne filled up his tray.

I looked at Flynn who winked at me before getting his food and waiting for me to get mine. “Here you go, big guy. I made sure you got a little extra,” Dwayne said.

“Thank you, Dwayne. I appreciate it.” He smiled and moved on to the next in line.

“So, you two are a thing now?” Ben asked.

“Yes, we’re a thing,” I said, and Flynn smiled around a big bite of eggs.

“Lucky you, no more tent sleeping,” Ben said and held his hand up which I didn’t really understand. He grabbed my hand and attempted to slap it against his, but when he couldn’t lift it, he gave up. “Good for you.”

The next few days went by with nothing out of the ordinary, which I was thankful for. Flynn and I had enough excitement to last a lifetime and that was how long I hoped we had together. Flynn worked hard and chose only the trees he knew were better off cut down. He was my mate, and he was as perfect as any mate could be.

When Friday rolled around, we once again bumped along the old road that would lead to Elder Ridge. “We’ll cash our checks and then go do laundry,” Flynn said.

“Can we eat at the place we ate at the first night we came here? I want to try pizza again,” I said, and my mouth watered at the memory of it.

“We can eat wherever you want,” Flynn said and reached across the seat for my hand.

“I want pizza.”

Flynn grinned. “Sounds like we’re having pizza.”

We drove to the same place as before and exchanged the paper Frank Madrone gave us for different papers that everyone accepted for food and other things. I still didn’t understand how it all worked but everyone else did and I just went along with it. After that we went to the laundromat and this time there were other people there so we couldn’t kiss like I wanted to.

“Remember that first night we came here,” Flynn whispered.

“I was just thinking how much I want to kiss you like we did that night,” I whispered back.

“You can kiss me anytime. You know that, and I promise not to touch your horns until we’re alone.” He waggled his eyebrows at me and, and I laughed. My mate could be so amusing.

“You’re a funny human,” I said and roughed up his hair. “You know my horns are only for you.”

“I’m your mate,” Flynn whispered near my ear, making me shiver.

“Yes, you are, and I am yours,” I said, and pulled him onto my lap not caring who saw. “And I want to kiss you now.” I kissed him right there and ignored the shocked gasp and the giggles that followed, and when we pulled apart from each other, and I saw the look on Flynn’s face, I didn’t care one bit.

“So, pizza first and then groceries?”

“Yes, that sounds good. I want to try that drink we had last time too,” I said. There were many foods I now knew I liked, and I was slowly learning it was okay to ask for what you wanted and say no to things you didn’t. Like cauliflower. Nothing would ever make me like it.

We walked into the pizza place and now I knew we’d place an order and find a seat, but this time I knew some of the people who were there. Bo and his wife sat at the same table as last time and waved us over after we’d finished at the counter.

“Hey, how’s everything going, Bo and Sandy?” Flynn asked as though Bo hadn’t had a skull face the last time we’d seen him.

“It’s been a pretty good week,” Sandy said.

“I heard you met our son and his boyfriend,” Bo said.

“We did?” Flynn asked.

“Yes, Jason and Ricky. They’re such good boys, always trying to take care of the woods and help anyone who needs it,” Sandy said.

“Oh yes! I didn’t realize Jason was your son. They really helped us out the other night in the woods,” I said and leaned closer so the whole room didn’t hear. Another thing I had learned was how much everyone in this town liked to listen to what everyone else talked about.

“Yes, his boyfriend is smart as anything. He’s a scientist,” Sandy said, obviously proud of them both.

“I’m sure we’ll see them around the forest when we’re out hiking. We plan to do more exploring. Right, Gunnar?” Flynn said and placed his hand on my leg.

“Yes. I love being near the trees.”

“Well, you really did pick the right place to move, didn’t you?” Bo said.

“Yes, I did. In so many ways.” I glanced at Flynn and knew it had definitely been the right choice.