“They’re annoying. Besides, who’d want to look at my stuff?”
At some point, Grayson was gonna need to have a conversation with Reece about basic safety. A second conversation. A tenth conversation, or whatever they were up to now. “Read your messages, then put a lock on your phone.”
Reece rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he said, swiping his phone off the table. “They’re pointless, though. Too easy to guess.”
“No, they’re not,” Grayson said.
Reece lifted his gaze, then went back to his phone. “You use your brother’s birthday.”
Grayson stilled. “How did you—”
“Because you told me back in November that he passed away,” Reece said, more quietly, as he keyed in whatever new passcode he was adding. “And that the Dead Man is vengeance. It’s not hard to figure out.”
Grayson blinked.
“You keep thinking you’re so unknowable,” Reece went on. “But that’s not true. Maybe I can’t read you like most people, where it’s as obvious as the colors of a rainbow, but your memories keep you from a flat dead gray. You’re quicksilver, and I’m starting to see every glint and shimmer.”
Grayson sat still for a moment, then picked up his phone.
“You’re changing your code now, aren’t you,” Reece said, eyes on his own phone and typing with his thumbs.
“Shut up.”
“I knew it.”
“You’ll never guess this one.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself,sugar.” Reece held his phone out to Grayson. He was frowning. “The text was from Ben. Look at this.”
Grayson took the phone to read Reece’s message chain with the McFeely’s bartender Ben Castillo.
Ben: Any chance you’ve heard from Diesel?
Reece: No, why? I thought he was supposed to be at that car show.
Ben: He is but he disappeared yesterday without saying goodbye and hasn’t answered any texts. It’s just not like him.
Ben: Will you check with your boyfriend too?
“Diesel had won a whole package to a car show here in Vancouver.” Reece’s frown had deepened. “But that airsoft manager, Keith Waller, was hassling Diesel too. We should check the show and see if we can find Diesel.”
“Agreed.” Grayson was still looking at their message chain. “You have a boyfriend?”
The question had tumbled out of his mouth before he’d known he was going to ask it.
“What? Oh.” A hint of color appeared on Reece’s cheeks. “No, no, I—I mean, it’s actually—um. Ben thinks—well.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You.”
“Me what?”
“Ben thinks it’s you. That you’re my hot, scary boyfriend,” Reece said awkwardly. “It’s my fault; he said something at McFeely’s and I didn’t correct him.”
“Oh.” Why had Grayson even asked that question? Why had the thought occurred to him? Maybe they’d run away to Canada together, but that was part of the job. Didn’t make Reece’s relationships any of Grayson’s business.
He considered the phone and text chain for a moment.
He must’ve asked because he’d been surprised. After all, it sure would’ve been surprising if he’d missed that Reece had a partner when they’d practically been breathing the same air for thirty-six hours.
He held the phone back out to Reece, whose face was still lightly flushed.
