Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Justin grinned broadly at him. “I’ll just say you fell for my charms and decided to stay a while.”
Gabriel kept his mouth shut after that. He didn’t know if Justin was telling the truth or teasing. He’d been walking through a field of land mines like that since the man had woken up. Each thing he was sure was a truth was mixed with a lot of joking, teasing, and ridiculous comments that might or might not be true.
The grocery store was moderately busy for a Sunday morning. Some people looked as if they’d come straight from church; others were solo and wearing headphones to block out the world. He trailed a couple of steps behind Justin as he grabbed a cart and headed toward the produce section.
It was an unexpectedly intimate thing to shop for groceries with another person. Each selection revealed a little more about themselves. Gabriel found himself wanting to put more fruits and vegetables in the cart to give off the illusion that he was regularly a healthy person when he really struggled to make smart food choices. When he was alone, he most often grabbed what was easiest.
Justin hesitated a few times as well, and Gabriel bit back his smile, suspecting the same thoughts were running through his head.
And then there was the battle of getting things into the cart. Justin blocked his attempts to put sweet potatoes in the cart, while Gabriel swiftly removed the bag of fresh brussels sprouts, threatening to chuck them across the store.
“Justin?”
Both Justin and Gabriel jerked around at the sound of the new speaker. Gabriel barely managed to keep from reaching for the gun tucked under his shirt. A slender man with sandy-blond hair and a lightly freckled face stood on the other side of the cart, his hazel eyes wide and questioning as they darted from Justin to Gabriel.
“Oh. Hey, Chris,” Justin replied in a slightly strangled voice. He released the bag of sprouts he’d been fighting Gabriel over and turned to face the newcomer. “How have you been?”
“Good. Surprised to run into you here. Haven’t seen you in a while.” Chris’s eyes slipped back over to Gabriel again, as if he couldn’t get over seeing Justin with someone.
“Yeah, been busy with work. The usual. Chris, this is an old friend of mine…ummm…”
Gabriel stepped around Justin and extended his hand. “Gabriel.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Chris.”
The handshake was brief, but Gabriel took in the overall softness, weakness of the shake, and even the tremor in his hand. The man was more than a little surprised and possibly even confused to see him with Justin. That didn’t bode well. He didn’t want to be remembered by anyone.
“I was in town for some meetings, and Justin offered to let me stay with him so we could catch up.”
If it was at all possible, Chris’s eyes went even wider. “You’re staying at his place?”
“Just for a night or two. No big deal,” Justin quickly interjected. Gabriel looked up at Justin to find the man looking distinctly uncomfortable, which was so much fun. Particularly when Chris snorted in disagreement.
“Justin can’t stand to have anyone staying at his place,” Chris pointed out.
“Oh?”
“It’s…hard…” Justin muttered.
“We used to date,” Chris announced. It was as if he’d slammed down the final missing puzzle piece, leaving Gabriel tongue-tied.
“Oh!” Gabriel would start to feel like an inarticulate idiot if he couldn’t muster more than a surprised “Oh!” But now that the words were out there, Chris’s manner started to take on an all-new meaning. The questioning looks at Gabriel, the hints of jealousy and possessiveness in his voice. Chris had not entirely moved on from Justin, and he was likely thinking that Gabriel was Justin’s new boyfriend. Not true at all.
“Yep. We made it just shy of three months.” His sweet face hardened a little when his eyes darted over to Justin, who was staring intently at the apples in the front basket.
“That sounds like a huge accomplishment for Justin. I don’t recall him ever being good at dating.”
“He’s not. He’s definitely not.”
“And I think that’s enough for one day,” Justin announced loudly. He smiled broadly at Chris, but it looked more like a grimace with lots of teeth. “Chris, it’s been fun, but Gabriel and I need to finish the shopping. He’s been bragging about making this amazing meal tonight, and he’s going to need all day to work on it.”
Lies. All of it lies.
Chris didn’t look particularly convinced either, but he nodded to both of them. “Yeah, of course. You guys have a great day. It was nice to see you again, Justin.”
“You too, Chris.”
The other man walked toward the front of the store, while Justin led the way in the opposite direction. Gabriel silently followed behind Justin, his mind swirling with millions of thoughts. He wasn’t technically surprised, and where he thought he’d finally have clarity with regard to some of Justin’s flirting, he only had more questions.