Page 63 of Gunner

A blond man walked down the aisle toward the podium. Winter? Crowe’s Winter? What the hell was he doing here? We all knew he had a drug problem, but this was the last place I expected him to be, or I wouldn’t have shown up. I’d cased this place out before I started attending. Most of the lowlives I hung out with wouldn’t go to an AA meeting, and if they did, they would avoid this church.

I slinked down in my chair, bowing my head to go unnoticed but peering through my eyelashes. If he mentioned me to the others, I would never live it down. They already gave me shit about all the time I spent with Witter.

“My name’s—well, my name’s not really important.” Winter brushed his hair from his face, focusing on the reverend instead of the room. “What matters is I’m a drug addict. Yeah, I realizedtoo late I’m in the wrong place instead of Narcotics Anonymous, but I think I’m right where I’m supposed to be.”

I choked back a laugh. Was Winter seriously trying to flirt with the reverend in front of all these people? He had more guts than I did. Even I didn’t mess with the clergy.

To give the reverend credit, he looked unfazed by Winter’s antics. I could see why Winter would go for him. The reverend was hot, especially when he was out of those robes he usually wore. Tonight he wore a pair of washed-out blue jeans and a gray top and had his blond hair tied back. He looked like a rock god rather than a reverend.

“That’s okay. Our steps are similar, and we won’t turn away someone in need,” Reverend Homer said. “Please go ahead with your story.”

“Oh, right. My story.” Winter scratched the scruff on his chin and grinned. “Fuck that. My story ain’t so much different from anybody else. Shitty childhood, got hooked on drugs and the whole works. What do you say we get out of here, Reverend, and I see how far that blond hair runs down your body?”

Gasps echoed around me, followed by a low hum of chatter. Winter was high as a kite. I should stop him, march him out of there, but I was too curious to see what the reverend would do. This was the most amused I’d been since I returned to Smoky Vale. I was almost falling out of my seat from holding back my laugh.

“You’re not actually here for a meeting, are you?” Reverend Homer got up, his lips set in a grim line. “The people here are serious about their recovery, but you make a mockery of what we’re doing. I find you rude and inconsiderate. You’re welcome to stay if you desist from your inappropriate behavior.”

“Well, I find you so damn hot,” Winter said. “From the first moment I saw you, I’ve thought of little but to put you on your knees—”

“—in prayer!” I jumped to my feet and marched to the front of the gathering.

Winter peered at me, his pupils dilated. His face broke into a grin. “Gunner? Well, I’ll be damned. What the hell are you doing here? You’re not looking to bang the reverend too, are you? Because I call dibs.”

“Don’t say another fucking word.” I grasped his arm and dragged him from the podium. “Sorry about that, Reverend.”

“You’re ruining my mac,” Winter said.

“Any chance you had with that reverend is now shot to hell.”

“You think so?”

I grunted and led Winter up the stairs and through the side exit. Only then did I release him.

“He’s fucking hot, though, right?” Winter asked. “That’s not just the drugs talking?”

“He’s all right, but are reverends even allowed to be gay?” I never understood all those Christian principles and what not.

“I don’t know, but I’ll make him gay.”

“You can’t make somebody gay, moron.”

“What do you know?” Winter dug into his pockets and took out a blunt. At least he wasn’t shooting up. “You’re a homophobic prick.”

“I’m not homophobic.”

He snorted. “Who’re you kidding? You went after the Reapers because of their sexuality.”

“You only know half the story.”

“So what’s the other half?”

“I’m not going to tell you shit you won’t remember when you wake up in a ditch somewhere.”

Winter took a puff from his lit blunt and grinned. “I’m not that high. What’re you doing here anyway?”

“Nothing.”

“Gotta tell you, man, seeing you at an AA meeting, I almost died from the shock of it.”

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