“So,”Grayson said, “our plan after the car show is to walk into an empath defense office.Undercover.That means no gloves, and it’s still illegal in Canada.”
Reece frowned. “So you could get in trouble if they find out you brought me in with you?”
“I already told you I can take care of myself. I need the empath to stop worrying about others and think about himself for a moment.” Grayson looked over at Reece. “It’s not a stretch to think we might run into something that will piss you off. But if you get in trouble, like you have a bad habit of doing, they’re not gonna be keen to let me pull you out of it.”
“Oh.” Reece squirmed. “Am I too much of a liability to bring? Is it better if I’m not there?” He sighed unhappily. “Wouldn’t be the first time or place that would be true.”
But Grayson shook his head. “Just warning my resident pacifist that I could end up with an argument on my hands. I still think you’re safer with me and it’d be my choice to stay together, because I’m pretty good at winning fights. But if you want to wait in the truck, you can, and my only request would be that you lock the doors.”
Up ahead, the light turned green. “My feelings haven’t changed. I’d still rather be with you,” Reece said quietly, as Grayson drove on. “I’ll just watch my mouth today.”
Lie.
“I saw that flinch,” said Grayson, as he pulled into a public parking garage with an outrageous per-hour price. “And you try to say you’re not Bad Decisions Bear.”
Reece huffed. “How many years ago did you come up with that, anyway?” he said, instead of acknowledging Grayson might have had a point.
“What do you mean?”
“You know,” said Reece. “How long have you been calling empathsCare Bear?”
Grayson’s gaze darted to him, then went right back to the ramps leading them down into the underground garage as he shrugged vaguely.
“You just missed an open spot,” said Reece. “And what the fuck was that?”
“The spot was too tight. And what was what?”
“Are you kidding me?” Reece gestured at him “You hesitated. It was noticeable enough to see from space.”
“I doubt that.” Grayson turned the corner, then cleared his throat. “And it’s just you.”
“It’s just me what?”
“TheCare Bearthing. It’s—I didn’t plan it or anything and—well. It’s just you.”
Reece blinked. And then he felt himself starting to smile.
“You’re about to be insufferable, aren’t you?” Grayson muttered, heading down yet another car-lined ramp.
“Well,yeah,” said Reece. “The Dead Man gave me anickname.”
“It just happens,” Grayson protested. “One side of my family’s Latino and I grew up in Texas. I either know you by your formal name or you’ve got a nickname, there’s no middle ground.”
“What do I get to call you?”
“Agent Grayson.”
“Aw, baby, you don’t mean that.”
“You want to go back to being Mr. Davies?” Grayson said, as he finally pulled into an open spot on the fourth level.
“What I want is to drive,” said Reece. “I could have fit us into that open spot on the second floor.”
“I thought you were finally gonna watch your mouth.”
“I thoughtyouwere finally going to accept which one of us is the better driver. Guess we both set ourselves up for disappointment.”
Grayson shifted into Park. “You know, most folks would say the last person an empath ought to sass is an empath hunter.”
