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You bet your fur.
His phone buzzed on the nightstand, and Dan peered at it. “They won’t call you in to work today, will they?”
“No.” He peered at the text from Riley, and his face tingled.
My thoughts and prayers are with you.
He showed it to Dan, who smiled. “He’s a good guy. Wish I could say the same about Lewis.”
“He has his moments.” When Dan gave him an incredulous glance, Gary shrugged. “Just not enough of them.” Then he pushed such thoughts aside. Dan coughed, and Gary lurched from the bed. “Okay, okay, I’m going.”
He stood in front of the mirror, peering into the bag provided by the hotel. When he straightened and saw his reflection, the reality of his situation finally hit home.
I spent the night with a guy.
What shocked him was how much he wanted to repeat the experience.
GARY SCANNEDhis rack of shirts, searching for his pale blue one. “You think that suit’ll be okay?” he called out to Dan in the bedroom. He’d laid the dark blue double-breasted on the bed.
“Perfect. Except we’ll match.”
Gary smiled. As if he cared about that.
“Did Cory have any brothers or sisters?”
“A sister, Nina. She’s great. Well, she is now. She was a real pain in the ass when she was a kid.”
Silence.
“Dan?” When there was no reply, Gary walked out of the closet and came to a dead stop. Dan stood by his bedside chair, holding Brad’s sweater.
His heart fluttered. “Where did you find that?”
“It was here.” Dan sank onto the chair, still clutching it.
“Are you all right?”
He stroked the soft garment. “Never Forget,” he murmured.
Pain lanced through Gary’s chest.
Dan raised his head and met Gary’s gaze. “Can you talk about him?”
He swallowed hard. “What do you already know?”
“That whoever this belongs to, you love him very much.”
Gary walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. He held out his hands, and Dan placed the sweater in them with a reverence that was touching. “It belonged to my brother, Brad. And you’re right. I adored him.”
“Past tense.” Dan paled. “Wait—Brad? That stone in Forest Park….”
He nodded. “My parents put it there.”
“But what happened?” Dan got up from the chair and joined him, his hand resting lightly on Gary’s back.
“Ever since we met, since that first physical contact, I’ve been waiting for you to announce you knew about him.”
Dan sighed. “What did I say that day? I can’t turn it on and off. I knew you were hiding something—I just didn’t know what.” He moved his hand in slow, soothing circles on Gary’s back. “You don’t have to tell me. Not if it brings you so much pain.”
