Page 21 of Gunpowder

Wren moved from Blair’s side to stand in front of him—right in front of him—forcing them both a stop. He leaned sideways against the railing with a smirk. “Look who’s taking our date so seriously, I’m flattered.”

Blair turned away before Wren could read the thoughts that were probably written all over his face. He couldn’t even say it wasn’t a date when he’d failed to deny it himself on the phone earlier. “If you’re flattered then maybe you could stop being such a dick.” He folded his arms on the railing and looked out at the city.

Wren dismissed the words that might have offended anyone else with a huff of breath that almost resembled a laugh. Blair tried to hold on to his frustration but that weird noise had him fighting a smile. He looked over when Wren leaned next to him. The breeze coming off the river blew Wren’s bangs away from his eyes, and Blair almost wanted to punch him one good time so his face matched his busted personality.

“So, why Incindious?” Wren asked.

It was his turn to be confused. “What do you mean, ‘why?’”

“Tell me how you ended up in a gang. You aren’t suited to it.”

Blair weighed those words before he answered. They weren’t said with any particular malice, or any detectable emotion at all. He traced a deep scratch in the metal railing. The truth of the statement bothered him more than he expected. He didn’t like senseless violence or having a reputation that people feared, he didn’t get the same high from it that Felix did. Spencer was their most rational member and even he seemed to enjoy the power that came with the boundless information he held.

“They were my family when no one else wanted to be. I was angry and isolated, and Felix took me in.”

Wren clicked his tongue and looked away. “You already had a family.”

“I didn’t fit with them anymore and they were all just fine without me.” A familiar bitterness welled in his chest. “So I’ve got my own family now.”

“I wonder how Tristan would feel about that.”

Blair’s head snapped to the side and he glared at Wren’s profile. Wren had no right to say that, but what he implied wasn’t wrong and that infuriated Blair more than the words themselves. His outlook would hurt his little brother. When he struck out on his own to get away from his mom and stepdad, he left Tristan and his little sister Hope behind, too. He had done it without a second thought. As soon as he had gone under the needle and sat up with the Incindious insignia on his chest, everything else became second priority. Even his family.

“I was there when he needed me.” Not that I have to explain myself to you, he thought, but he didn’t know if he meant it more toward Wren or himself.

“How heroic,” Wren said dryly.

Blair sighed. It seemed Wren was more interested in teasing than truly antagonizing him. He pushed away from the railing and turned to the sidewalk. His frustration with Wren aside, he had asked him out and he doubted just standing there was much fun.

His movement was halted by Wren’s sudden presence in front of him. Wren put his hands on the railing on either side of his waist, trapping him in place. Blair leaned back, his only option since pushing forward would crush his body against Wren’s and...yeah. That would only lead to trouble.

“You’re going to put too much strain on your leg if you keep traipsing around on it.”

Blair chuckled. “Aw, you do care.”

When he looked up, they were standing close enough for him to see the almost undetectable furrowing of Wren’s brow. Blair watched him curiously. He didn’t like being pinned to the railing and he didn’t think it was an appropriate position to be in with all the people around, but he set it aside for a moment to take in that tiny reaction, as brief as a record skipping and just as easily missed. Intentional or not it was satisfying to get a reaction, as often as Wren mouthed off to him.

Wren leaned in, further enclosing Blair in the cage of his arms and making him wish he had taken advantage of Wren’s brief lapse of composure to get away. He couldn’t think straight when they were this close.

“Tell me something,” Wren said quietly.

Blair scowled. Stupid Wren and his stupid voice. “What?”

“Why did you want to see me again?”

Wren was close enough for his hair to tickle Blair’s cheek when the wind blew it away from his face, so he knew there was no evading the eyes that pinned him down, searching for an answer he himself hadn’t found. He just hadn’t expected Wren to wonder the same thing. No—he hadn’t expected him to care.

Wren pressed him when he didn’t answer. “You came into the ER with a gunshot wound the same night a body was found in the warehouse district, burned beyond all recognition.” The summer day couldn’t keep Blair from going cold. In all the chaos, he had never thought about what happened to Adrian after Spencer shot him. The memory of Felix’s wild eyes as he rolled a cigarette between his fingers flashed in his mind. Wren continued, “That has Incindious written all over it. I wouldn’t think you would have time for this.”

His words raised more questions than Blair could answer to himself, let alone to both of them. What was this, anyway? One thing had just been leading to another between them. It was true that it wasn’t an ideal time to be pursuing whatever the hell this was but his growing interest in Wren had started to blend in with his other issues at some point, too seamlessly for him to notice until then. He couldn’t remember when he had stopped thinking about how he couldn’t afford to be distracted. The realization shocked him into such a long silence that Wren filled it again, with a surprising lack of his usual impatience.

“I don’t care if Incindious burned that man. You’re part of a criminal gang, not the neighborhood watch. I wouldn’t expect much different from your people. But you.” His voice lowered as if he was saying something unsuited for passerby to hear, and the tingle it elicited in Blair’s stomach was an unsettling combination with the chill that still hadn’t left him. “You don’t make sense, Blair. You fascinate me.”

Blair looked around, paranoid even though he knew Wren’s low tone would get lost on the wind long before it ever reached the ears of a bystander. He looked back up at Wren once he was satisfied no one had heard.

“Incindious will always be my first priority.”And just who are you trying to remind of that? asked a nagging voice in the back of his mind. “Like I said earlier, I want to get to know you better. Despite your devil-may-care bullshit.”

Wren’s gaze drifted and Blair’s stomach clenched when it settled on his lips. His palms started sweating where he gripped the railing. Part of him wanted space between them but another almost hoped Wren would make good on what his eyes promised. Another, even smaller part that seemed to have developed a recent penchant for bad ideas, said Man up and do it yourself, then. He ignored that one the most fervently.

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