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“What the fuck, Gray?!”
Gray smiled at the outraged shout and he looked down to see Ripley cocking her head curiously as heavy footsteps stomped towards them from the bedroom. He hit the send button on the email he’d just finished typing to his new agent and then closed the program.
“A cliff, Gray? He goes over a fucking cliff?” Luke shouted in disbelief as he held up the hardback as if to show Gray what he was referring to. Since Gray had been hearing the same reaction from a lot of his fans in the two weeks since his most recentNick Archerbook had been released, he just sat there and tried to bite back his smile. Luke’s investment in the series had started once he managed to finish the first book shortly after they’d gotten settled in the cabin. Since then, he’d been maniacal about getting through all six books without receiving any spoilers from reviews or from Gray himself. And Gray had had a hell of a lot of fun hearing Luke wonder aloud about what would happen next to the harried Detective Archer.
“It’s a fake out, right?” Luke asked. “He got out of the trunk before the car went over.”
Gray just shrugged and Luke let out a colorful curse.
“Tell me,” Luke finally ordered.
“Make me,” Gray responded. Heat flared in Luke’s eyes and by the time he’d dragged Gray out of his desk chair and kissed him into a stupor, he didn’t seem to care anymore about what the plans for the next book were, if any. It was Gray who came to his senses before Luke could get his shirt completely unbuttoned.
“You’ll be late for class,” he murmured against Luke’s lips.
“Shit,” Luke muttered before placing another more chaste kiss on his mouth and drawing back. “Tonight,” he warned.
“Dinner tonight at the ranch,” Gray reminded him.
“Cancel,” Luke quipped.
“Really?” Gray asked knowingly.
“No, not really,” Luke bit out. “After,” he said with a pointed glare and then he was leaning down to run his hand over Ripley’s head. “Call your brother,” he said for good measure before he leaned down and kissed Gray once more. “Love you,” he said softly and a tremor went through Gray at the naked need he saw in the other man’s eyes.
“Love you,” Gray responded and it took everything in him to open the fist he had clenched in Luke’s shirt.
Luke gave him one more longing look and then quickly left the cabin. Gray wasn’t surprised when his phone beeped to indicate he had a new text. He chuckled when he saw the screen.
Tell me.
Another text appeared a second later.
No, don’t.
Living together had been an easy decision after Luke left the military even after they’d asked him to come back after the truth about Shaw had been revealed. In truth, Gray would have gone anywhere Luke wanted and as much as he would have hated it, he would have supported any and all of Luke’s future deployments. But the morning after he’d made love to Luke in L.A., Luke had told him he wanted to take classes so he could become a paramedic. Even though the decision to return to Dare had been Gray’s, Luke hadn’t hesitated for even a second since it meant he’d have the opportunity to rebuild his relationship with Rhys. They’d both had the chance to meet Rhys’ lovers, Callan and Finn, and he and Luke had been welcomed into the tight-knit, make-shift family that also included Dane, Jax and little Emma.
Gray’s health had continued to improve and a subsequent visit to the doctor had shown no additional tumors. While the threat of reoccurrence would always be there, Gray knew he’d be able to get through it and not just because he had Luke by his side…no, he’d beat it because he had too much to live for now and not even cancer was going to take that from him.
The only sticking point for Gray had been Roman whom he hadn’t seen or spoken to since his visit to the cabin shortly before Gray’s chemo had ended. He’d been hopeful that Roman’s message to him via Luke was a sign that they could build a relationship but every time Gray asked him to stop by Dare as he was passing through or to even call him, Roman sent a brief text to cancel. But Gray hadn’t given up and it was with that thought in mind that he dialed the phone. There was no answer of course so he left his standard message before hanging up. A moment after he did, his phone rang but it wasn’t Roman calling him.
“Hey,” Gray said softly as he stood up and went to the couch to get more comfortable since he knew exactly why Luke was calling him. It was rare for Luke to make the entire drive to Missoula for his class without calling Gray just to check in and no matter what Gray was doing or where he was, he always had the same answer when Luke asked his catch-all question.
“Keep me company?” Luke asked.
“Always,” Gray whispered.
The End
