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Hunter parked his car in front of the hair salon and climbed out. He couldn’t help but scan the sidewalk outside his parents’ realty office at the end of the block. He had yet to make any kind of contact with them and had decided to hold off until after Roman had gotten the process of challenging the trusteeship underway. Hurrying into the salon, he easily found his grandmother sitting near the entrance. Her little brown dog, Teddy, was on her lap as the woman behind her did something to her hair that involved covering it in a strong smelling blue cream that reminded Hunter of theSmurfscartoons he used to like to watch when he was little.
“Hey Gran,” he said as he came around the chair and leaned down to kiss her cheek.
“Oh, my boy, how are you?” she asked. Before he could answer, she looked at the woman behind her using the reflection in the mirror and said, “Felicia, this is my grandson.”
The young brunette smiled at him. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” she said as she held out her hand.
“No, no, don’t bother,” his grandmother said as she reached her hand up to push Felicia’s hand back. “My Hunter only likes boys who like boys,” she said crisply. “And he doesn’t need a beard,” she added.
Although Hunter wanted to disappear into the floor before he died of embarrassment, the brunette took it all in stride and let out a little laugh.
“Gran, do you have the papers?”
“I do,” she said as she pointed at her purse which was hanging from a hook underneath the counter in front of her. Hunter grabbed it and gave it to her and waited patiently until she pulled them out and handed them to him. “I went down to your father’s office to give him a piece of my mind.”
“No, Gran, we told you not to.”
His grandmother waved her hand as she gave him the purse back. “Don’t worry, he wasn’t there. But I made sure to tell that wife of his that they’re not getting what’s yours. I also told her that come election time next year, I’m going to find someone to run against him. And if I can’t, well then I’ll just do it myself.”
Hunter groaned. So much for the element of surprise. He leaned down to kiss her again and said, “Stay away from him, okay, Gran?”
His grandmother dismissed him with a wave but not before she planted a kiss on his cheek. Once he was back at his car, he tossed the papers on the passenger seat and began searching his pockets for his phone so he could let Roman know that the cat was out of the bag. The sound of a rumbling motor caught his attention and he looked up to see Finn’s truck on the other side of the square pulling into a spot in front of the police station. Finn and Rhys both waved to him and then Finn was motioning him over. He left his car where it was and trotted through the park. By the time he reached Finn, the young man and Rhys were sharing a heated embrace as they said their goodbyes.
“Hey, Hunter,” Rhys said as he slapped Hunter gently on the back before brushing one last kiss over Finn’s mouth. “See you later,” he murmured.
“Bye,” Finn said dreamily. It wasn’t until Rhys was out of sight that Finn finally focused on him. “Hey, I heard you saw your grandmother.”
Hunter nodded. It still felt so strange to be talking so openly with Finn but he wasn’t going to miss the chance to connect with the young man who could have become a good friend if circumstances had been any different. There was absolutely no residual attraction between them so that was one less obstacle to deal with.
“I did,” he said. “I almost forgot what a force of nature she can be.”
Finn laughed but his humor suddenly died down as his focus went to something behind Hunter. Hunter turned around and saw Clem Henry, the owner of the local hardware store, eyeing them as he swept the sidewalk in front of his shop. Even from a distance, Hunter could see the open disdain that was focused entirely on Finn. The man disappeared inside his store and when Hunter returned his attention to Finn, the young man tried to brush off what had happened.
“So I was talking to Callan and Rhys and we were wondering if you and Roman wanted to come to dinner on Sunday. Gray and Luke will be there. Jax and Dane, too. Your grandmother said she’d come if she hadn’t managed to find a date between now and then so I think it’s a pretty safe bet that she’ll be there too-”
Hunter reached down to grab Finn’s hand and began dragging him to the hardware store.
“What are you doing?” Finn asked.
“Something I should have done a long time ago,” Hunter responded. He shoved open the door to the surprisingly busy store and led Finn to the checkout counter which Clem Henry was busily cleaning off with some paper towels. He stilled when he saw them and his lips twisted into an ugly frown. The man had to be in his late sixties with thinning hair and a serious pouch going on. He was wearing a striped, short sleeve button up shirt along with a pair of brown slacks.
“Mr. Henry, do you remember me?”
The man nodded and said, “You’re the mayor’s boy.”
“Hunter.”
“Right.”
“And you know Finn?” Hunter asked.
A sharp nod.
“You don’t like him much, do you Mr. Henry?”
Mr. Henry didn’t respond so Hunter continued. “What don’t you like about him? The fact that he works just as hard, if not harder, than any of you?” Hunter asked as he glanced at the few people who’d stopped to listen in on their conversation. He recognized one of the men as one of his father’s poker buddies but he didn’t dwell on that fact.
