Page 110 of Gunner

“Why are you lying, Gunner? You know damn well that ain’t true. What were you doing at the house? There must be a reason you wanted to see the place.”

Tell him the truth.

But would he even believe me? I’d already told him a friend used to own the place, and he didn’t believe me.

“It’s not important, Ben.”

“That house belonged to my partner,” he whispered. “The late chief of police.”

“And he and I couldn’t have been friends?” I asked.

“Of course not. Mason was even more particular than me about holding criminals accountable. You wouldn’t have made it past the first step.”

If only he knew. I shook out a cigarette and opened the window. It was either that or find the nearest bar. Maybe I should explain about Mason, but what for? Mason didn’t exist anymore. He was in both our pasts. Or was he?

“You had an intimate relationship with that guy?” I asked.

A couple of seconds passed. “Why do you say that?”

“The way you talk about him. Was he the guy you broke off your relationship with?”

“Yeah.”

“And?” I sucked down smoke into my lungs out of desperation, trying to appear calm when my fingers were trembling.

“And what?”

“You still have feelings for him?”

“He’s dead. And we broke up before it happened.”

“But do you still have feelings for him?”

“I don’t want to talk about it, Gunner.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because I don’t. Despite everything, I’m with you, aren’t I? Nothing else matters. No one else does, and that’s the honest-to-god truth.”

A twinge of guilt passed through me for the way I’d been harassing him today, especially with everything he had on his plate. I reached across the console and placed my hand on his knee.

“What are you doing later?”

“Nothing. Why?”

“Let’s go to dinner.” The second the words left me, I regretted them. How many times had I made the offer to Mason, and he never accepted? Maybe I was the one with the obsession over Mason after all and not Ben. “Forget I asked.”

“Wait, what? You’re going to ask me out, then take it back?”

“Save you the trouble of saying no.”

“Oh no, we’re not doing that shit. You want to ask me out, you have to say the words.”

“I already did.”

“Then took it back.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Do you want to go out to dinner with me or not?”

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