22. Greg
CHAPTER 22
GREG
“Great!” Ruben said, rubbing his hands together. “Let’s get some drinks and y’all can sit down and chat while I put the steaks on the grill.”
I was trying hard to interpret what I was getting through our connection. When we’d arrived, Cal had seemed apprehensive, and I was pretty sure it had to do with Brantleigh. But he’d come to some sort of decision, and he hadn’t been nervous anymore. Now I was getting... amusement and anticipation?
Karla and Fantine had what appeared to be gin and tonics in front of them on the dining table. Brantleigh asked Ruben for a second beer, but when Ruben handed it to him, he left his empty one on the table, not bothering to dispose of it in the recycle bin sitting prominently against the wall behind him. So far I wasn’t getting a good feeling about him, regardless of whether or not he and Cal had issues.
Ruben handed Cal and I our own beers, and we sat down at the table. I ended up with the empty chair at the head of the table, presumably Ruben’s, on my right and Cal on my left. Fantine sat on Cal’s other side, and Karla and Brantleigh were across from us .
Brantleigh immediately tried to take control of the conversation. “So, Greg, what do you do for a living?”
I leaned my shoulder into Cal’s and put my hand, palm up, on the arm of my chair. “I’m co-owner of a pet resort.”
Brantleigh seemed dumbfounded. “Oh? Uh, that sounds... interesting.”
I smiled. “Do you have any pets, Brantleigh?”
He shook his head. “No, my parents didn’t want any animal hair in the house. I’m kind of the same way.”
Karla, who’d been hugging his upper arm, dropped her hands and narrowed her eyes. “You told me you liked animals.”
He shrugged. “Sure, who doesn’t? But living with one is completely different.”
Karla pressed her lips together. Her eyes found mine, and I gave her what I hoped was a sympathetic expression. She slumped in her chair and gazed morosely at her gin and tonic.
Cal turned to Fantine. “Have you met Brantleigh before?” he asked in a low voice.
I pretended I couldn’t hear them as she shook her head. “I live in Houston these days,” she said in the same almost-whisper. “This is the first time I’ve made it back to Austin since he and Karla started dating.”
Cal whispered back, “Don’t worry. I’ll get rid of him so Karla doesn’t have to.”
She said, “Thank fuck,” and their glasses clinked.
Hmmm . Cal was planning something. This should be interesting. I loved a nice spot of revenge or retaliation now and then.
But first we had to endure the rest of dinner .
Brantleigh tried again. “How long have you and Cow, er, Cal been dating?”
I cocked my head at him. Did he do that deliberately? A slow, simmering anger started building in my gut.
“Not very long,” I said slowly. “But when you know, you know.”
Cal bumped shoulders with me and said, “Awww.” He sent a burst of reassurance through our connection.
Butch’s forehead scrunched up, and he frowned as he looked between me and Cal. I could tell what he was thinking, and my anger ratcheted up a notch.
Cal laid his hand in mine. I got a pulse of disorientation as he tried to acclimate to our joined minds, but he recovered more quickly this time, taking a sip of beer while he waited it out. Then I got an even stronger push of reassurance and amusement from him, so I tried to set my anger aside and relax. He was handling it.
He thought at me, Huh, this mind-meld stuff might turn out to be pretty cool.
“So, Butch—sorry, Brantleigh,” Cal said. “What are you doing with yourself these days?” He blinked innocently at the man across the table.
Brantleigh puffed up. “I run three car dealerships. Mercedes, BMW, and Jaguar.”
Cal made an exaggerated thinking face. “Oh. You mean your dad’s dealerships?”
“He’s given complete control over to me.”
“Ah.”
Fantine coughed and immediately took a sip of her drink .
Brantleigh asked, “How did the two of you get together?” He didn’t bother hiding the disbelief in his tone. Asshole.
Cal tilted his head toward me with a raised eyebrow. “Do you want to tell him, or shall I?”
I raised an eyebrow back. “By all means, go ahead.” This should be good. I lifted my beer bottle to my mouth.
Cal shrugged and said, “His mother set us up.”
I almost spewed out my beer.
When I had recovered, Cal turned to me and said, “What? That’s what it boils down to, right?”
“Um....” I tried to think of something to say to play along with whatever tale he was spinning, but I had nothing.
Cal looked at the others and turned his free hand palm up. “My friend Felix is dating one of Greg’s good friends. Greg mentioned in front of them that his mom has the best recipe for peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Felix knows I like to make cookies, so he got Greg’s mom’s number for me. I spoke to her on the phone, and after I made my cookies, she asked me to drop some by for Greg at the pet resort so he could have a little taste of home.”
Oh, that was good.
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “She was totally trying to set us up.” He let go of my hand and picked up his beer.
Losing the intimacy of the mind-to-mind bond was an unwelcome shock. I tucked my hair behind my ear. “I hadn’t really thought about it like that.” Since that wasn’t the way it happened. I sent amusement through our connection, and Cal grinned .
Ruben boomed out a laugh from over by the grill. “Greg, your mother is a force of nature.”
Brantleigh continued to look between me and Cal, but he didn’t ask any more questions.
Ruben called out to Karla to help him with plates, so she got up and went over to the grill.
“What do you do, Fantine?” Cal asked.
She smiled. “I’m a veterinarian.”
“No shit? That’s awesome. You and Greg should trade pet stories.”
She and I laughed. She said, “I have some doozies for sure.”
Karla and Ruben came back with plates full of steak, baked potatoes, and grilled vegetables.
“This looks delicious,” I said, taking my plate from Ruben.
After he sat down, I asked him how Jon, the new employee I’d referred to him, was working out. I was pleased when Ruben had nothing but praise for him. Then we touched briefly on the timing for the renovations of my new house.
Hmmm . If we were boyfriends now—and how exciting was that!—I should probably take Cal to see the place. Especially since the strength of our connection meant he’d almost certainly end up living there with me.
Cal jumped when Karla addressed him.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I was focused on this amazing food. What did you say?”
“I asked you to tell us some stories from Brantleigh’s high school days. ”
Brantleigh shook his head and put his hand up. “That’s not necessary. High school was a long time ago.”
A surge of anticipation came through the connection. Cal was ready to make his move.
He tilted his head at Brantleigh. “Okay, well, if high school’s out, I could always tell Karla how I ran into you at the bakery last week.”
Oh, Cal hadn’t mentioned that.
And apparently Brantleigh didn’t want Cal to tell Karla, because he fired back, “Oh, you mean when you were making moony eyes at that big tall guy?” He looked at me with a regretful expression. “You should know what kind of man you’re getting into bed with.”
Fantine gasped. Karla’s mouth fell open and she stared at Butch. Ruben went very, very still.
My brain went quiet. The magic gave me an instinctive ability to hone my focus during periods of danger or combat, and I went into that mode now. Setting my utensils on my plate, I stared Brantleigh down and growled, “Excuse me?”
The connection with Cal exploded with appreciation and lust.
My focus changed in an instant. I barely stopped myself from leaping to my feet and throwing Cal across the table to feast on him.
I gripped the arms of my chair and slowly turned my head, breathing heavily through my nose. Cal just smiled. Did he know my dick was trying to burst out of my jeans?
He patted my arm. “He’s talking about Taylor. That’s the morning I also ran into him at Pour Some Sugar on Me.”
I nodded. “Taylor told me....” I connected the dots. I sucked in a breath and my brain went into combat mode again. I glared at Brantleigh. “He said some guy was bullying Cal.”
I shoved my chair back and got to my feet. I leaned over the table and snarled, “He said you were calling Cal insulting names.”
Brantleigh, showing a clear lack of awareness of the danger he was in, dismissed this with a scoff. “He must’ve misheard.” He squinted at me. “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
Karla said, “Brantleigh, a few minutes ago you called him Cow before you corrected yourself.” She looked over at Cal. “Is that what he called you in the bakery?”
He nodded serenely. “Since ninth grade.”
I put my hand on his shoulder, and my brain eased out of combat mode. Cal’s collar prevented me from touching skin, but that could come later. I sent reassurance through the connection.
Brantleigh said, “He’s lying.”
I rolled my eyes. “We all heard you.”
Karla stood up. “Brantleigh, it’s time for you to leave.”
Brantleigh threw his napkin on the table. “I can’t believe you’ll listen to someone like him over me.” He pointed at Cal.
She pointed in the opposite direction, toward the front of the house. “Yes. Get out.”
“Bitch,” he snarled at her.
Ruben, who’d been silent this entire time, said “That’s it.” He stood up, towering over Butch. “You can leave quietly, or this can get ugly. Your call. ”
“Fine,” Butch spat. He didn’t look at any of us as he got up and stomped inside to leave.
Karla followed him, shouting, “I can’t believe I wasted six months of my life on you!”
Ruben winked at us before trailing after them.
I sank back into my seat and leaned over to put my arms around Cal.
Fantine saluted us with her cocktail glass. “Hallelujah.” She shook her head. “Poor Karla always believes the best in everyone. But that guy is slimy.” She shuddered. “You can bet I’m coming for a visit as soon as she mentions the next guy she starts dating.”
Cal smiled. “You’re a good friend.”
Ruben and Karla came back outside. Karla collapsed into her chair and told Cal, “I am so sorry. I—he treated me so well. I guess I took it for the real thing.”
“It’s okay, Karla. In school he always had the teachers convinced he could do no wrong. You couldn’t have known.”
Fantine got up and went around the table to hug her friend.
“Thank you for dealing with him,” Ruben told Cal. “I’m sorry you were insulted in my home. That’s not how I want my guests to be treated.”
He smiled. “No worries. It was important for Karla to see Butch for who he really is, and I’m glad I could make it happen.”
I eyed Ruben thoughtfully. “We should look into his car dealerships. Make sure everything’s on the up and up. My friend Malcolm used to be a forensic accountant with the FBI. ”
Ruben grinned. “We’ll talk later. For now, let’s finish our meal.”
The rest of the evening was uneventful. Karla was a little subdued, but she seemed more angry than sad. She’d be fine after some time had passed.
Cal and I left around 9pm. On the way to the car he walked several feet to one side of me. I was getting a kind of antsy indecision through the connection.
We got in the SUV, and I asked, “What’s the matter?”
He groaned and rolled his eyes. “Fuck, this connection thing will take some getting used to.”
I laughed and started the engine. “It’ll happen, I promise.” I hesitated. “But you’re... conflicted?”
He huffed. “Fine. I don’t really want to go home yet, but I’m also not ready to go to your place and fuck.”
I paused, unable to stop myself from picturing Cal fucking me. My brain tried to go into combat mode again. What the hell? That’d never happened before when I was turned on. I shook it off with an effort.
I cleared my throat. “First of all, it wouldn’t be just fucking. But I respect your wanting to take things slow.” I shook my head, smiling a little. “Hell, it’s only been five days since we met.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
We hadn’t even kissed yet. That would definitely get rectified before our night was over.
I said, “I’m not really keen on hitting a bar or a club.”
He made a face. “Yeah, nothing loud.”
“How about... would you like to see my new house? ”
His eyebrows flew up. “Sure. Do you have the keys already? I mean, seeing the outside would be fine.”
At the thought of having Cal in my new place—the nest I’d bought for him—my combat mode threatened to return. I shifted in my seat. “Yes. The inspection was this morning. The place has been empty so long, the seller’s agent just let me have the keys.”
Cal blinked at me in surprise. “That’s trusting.”
I shrugged as I pulled the car out onto the street. “It’s Bent Oak, and I’m a business owner, so they know where to find me.” I glanced over at him. “It’s a little dated inside, and the décor is awful, so it triggers my anxiety a bit. I won’t move in until Ruben’s done with the renovations.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
I grimaced. “Right. I keep reminding myself that at midnight when my neighbors in the apartment next door have their gaming parties.”
Would Cal be willing to move into the house with me at some point?
Silvia had mentioned it at TWIST, but I reminded Cal how Silvia and Lloyd, as well as Craig and Foster, lived on the same street as my new house.
“But I bought it because of the big game room upstairs and the back yard. I’ve always wanted a dog, but apartments are so inconvenient when the dog needs to go outside.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
“What are your feelings about pets?” I was fairly sure he was more open to them than that asshole, but I needed to make sure.
He smiled. “Unlike Brantleigh, I think pets are great. ”
I chuckled and he grinned.
“Steve has a couple of rabbits, and I’m sure you’ve met Felix and Malcolm’s ancient cat. I work so much it never seemed fair to have a pet. But maybe one day.”
We were back in Bent Oak, and I let Cal know when we entered my new neighborhood.
I pointed to the left. “That’s Craig and Foster’s house. And Silvia’s house is over here on the right. That’s Lloyd’s car.”
I slowed as we approached. “Actually, would you mind if we stopped and said hi? If they’re not busy, I need to connect with Lloyd, especially with everything going on with the fog monsters.”
He shrugged. “Sure. You’re right; it’s a good idea.”
I parked at the curb in front of Silvia’s house. “Maybe I should call them, in case....”
Cal chuckled. “In case they’re naked?”
I shuddered. “Yeah. I do not want to see or think about that.” I disconnected my phone from Bluetooth so it wouldn’t broadcast in the car and called Lloyd. He said they’d just finished dinner and we were welcome to join them for dessert.
Silvia opened the front door and waited for us. She hugged me, then she hugged Cal, her tiny body almost disappearing against his much larger frame.
“Come sit,” she urged. “I made carlota de limón —lime icebox cake. You’ll love it.”
“Sounds delicious,” Cal said, allowing her to pull him through her living room .
I hadn’t been in Silvia’s home since before she’d renovated the kitchen, but the living room showed some changes as well. One corner seemed dedicated to the great-grandbaby, with a folded up playpen and a bouncy seat. I recognized a painting of a wolf that used to hang in Lloyd’s cabin at TWIST. Now it was proudly displayed above Silvia’s couch.
Lloyd called a greeting from the kitchen and invited us to see the new countertops and appliances.
After we admired everything, Cal and I sat on one side of Silvia’s round wooden kitchen table. Lloyd brought over coffee cups, and Silvia followed with plates of a creamy green-tinged layer cake.
Lloyd urged Silvia to sit down and returned to the kitchen to bring out cups and cake for the two of them.
“This looks fantastic, Silvia,” I told her.
“Thank you, Greg. I was teaching Lloyd how to make it.”
“It’s really easy,” Lloyd said as he sat down.
The cake was slightly sweet and tart, perfectly offset by the cinnamon and cocoa in the Mexican-style coffee.
“Damn, Silvia,” Cal said. “I’m coming to your house instead of visiting Greg in his new place.”
Lloyd put his coffee cup down and fixed Cal with a deadly stare. “As long as you call first.”
Cal laughed. “Understood.”
I cleared my throat. “I was taking Cal to see the house, but I wanted to stop in and ask if you were willing to connect with me, Lloyd. I don’t feel comfortable having you unconnected in case something happens. ”
Lloyd nodded. “I agree.” He turned to Silvia. “Remember I told you how all the District Monitors like Greg form connections with the Wonders who live in their Districts?”
“ Sí , I do.” She looked at me. “What about me?”
I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Can I do the connection with you too?”
I blinked again. “Uh, I don’t know. I’ve never heard of a DM connecting with anyone but Wonders.”
Cal leaned forward. “It’d be an interesting experiment.”
Honestly, there wasn’t any reason it shouldn’t work. Just like Cal’s idea of having Wonders connect with more than one DM, why couldn’t I connect with a magic carrier like I connected with a Wonder?
“Let’s try it. But let me do Lloyd’s first so you can see what it’s like.”
Lloyd set his plate and cup to the side and extended his hand across the table. I did the same, grasping his hand so we were palm-to-palm.
Closing my eyes, I reached out with my magic. I said, “Silvia, what I’m doing is sending my magic out to find Lloyd’s. He’s doing the same.” I found the tendril of Lloyd’s magic and twined mine around it. “Now our magics have found each other and we’re sort of tying them together. Then I send a kind of pulse of my intent to connect through the link, and Lloyd sends his. Without the intent, the connection won’t form.”
Lloyd and I opened our eyes. The connection glowed between us. I smiled. “Done.” We released our hands and I looked at Silvia. “If I concentrate, I can use the connection to get a sense of Lloyd’s basic mood and roughly where he is. ”
Lloyd’s eyebrows shot up. “You can? I thought you two weren’t bonded yet?” He examined the connection between me and Cal.
I shrugged. “Our connection is strong enough by itself.”
He whistled. “Wow.”
I turned back to Silvia. “Do you still want to connect with me?”
She nodded. “I do. I want to be part of your magic District, like Lloyd is.”
“Okay.” I laid my hand palm up on the table. Silvia clasped it with her own, and I closed my eyes. “Now see if you can find the magic inside you and encourage it to reach out to me.”
I waited for a moment, but she made a frustrated noise. “I can’t feel anything.
It wasn’t surprising that Silvia, who’d only discovered she even had magic a couple of weeks ago, couldn’t find it within herself.
“No worries, Silvia. I can do it for you.”
Her magic wasn’t as obvious as Lloyd’s, since he was basically made of magic, but because they were bonded I was able to trace hers through his.
Silvia’s magic spun in a small but energetic loop, with Lloyd’s stronger one feeding into it. I used my magic to tease out a small thread of hers, then I wrapped mine around it like I’d done to Lloyd’s.
“Okay, Silvia, I’m in contact with your magic, and you should be able to feel when I send my intent to connect.”
I shot a pulse of intent through the tied strands of our magic, and Silvia jumped slightly .
“Oh! I did feel that.”
“Good. Now think about how you want to form a connection, and push your intention toward me.”
She scrunched up her face. After a few seconds I felt a pretty forceful wave of intent along the magic, and the connection was sealed.
“Good! It’s done.”
Silvia opened her eyes. “It is?”
“Yes. We’re connected.”
Lloyd put his arm around Silvia’s shoulders and kissed her temple. “That was impressive, my love. Once you get used to your magic, you’ll be able to feel Greg on the other end of your connection.”
“Oh! Like I can feel you through our bond.”
“A lot less intensely, but similar.” He kissed her again.
I carefully did not look at Cal. Was it wrong to hope he’d one day want affection like that?
Thirty or so minutes later we left Silvia and Lloyd’s house and drove half a block down the street. I pulled into the cracked driveway. “Here it is.” The darkness hid a lot of the cosmetic issues with the exterior.
Cal examined the house but didn’t move to get out of the car. “Uh, it’s got good bones, I guess?”
I laughed. “Wait til you see the inside.”
We got out of the car and Cal followed me silently to the front door. I wasn’t getting much through the connection. Maybe he’d started to learn how to block me.
I turned the key in the lock. “Brace yourself,” I said as I opened the door.
The awful wallpaper in the kitchen was even more garish without daylight coming through the windows. Cal winced when he caught sight of the pumpkin-colored carpet in the living room.
The more I looked at everything that had to be done to make this place livable, the more tense I got. “Um, upstairs are a couple of guest bedrooms and the only place in the house that’s been updated.”
He eyed me skeptically. “Oh, yeah?”
“See for yourself.” I gestured for him to go up the stairs.
I had a great view of Cal’s ass and thighs as they worked to climb the stairs. My tension receded and my combat mode—or lust mode in its current version—clawed to come out. When we got to the landing, I put my hand on Cal’s back to guide him to the game room. That contact, even though our skin was separated by his shirts, was enough to calm my magic.
“Wow.” Cal walked to the center of the room and spun around. “I love this space.”
“Me too. I want to make it a game room. It’s big enough I can put in some tables for hosting game nights, and there’ll still be room for a TV and game consoles.”
Cal went stiff.
I got a jolt of recognition through our connection. “What is it?”
He walked to one side of the room. “This is where the TV and couch will be. ”
I rushed over to him. “Are you having a vision?”
He crossed his arms and shook his head. “No. Remember the other day when I told you I had a vision where I was playing video games with Steve and Felix? That was here. Or it will be.”
I put my hand around his waist and pulled him tight against me. “I like the thought of you hanging out here.”
He turned in my arms, facing me. “There was something else.”
“Yeah?” I pulled him closer. “What else happened?” I wasn’t getting anything from the connection.
He raised his head and his eyes blazed into mine. “You walked up and kissed me.”
I smiled and let the combat-slash-lust mode take over. “ Hmmm . I’m smart like that.”
Cal caught his breath. “Your eyes are glowing.”
“Can I kiss you now?” I stepped forward, crowding into him.
He slid his arms around my back. “Please.”