Page 25 of Over the Top

“Oh, hell no.”

“No swearing, dude.”

Gunner huffed. “Ican’t swear at all now?”

“Not in earshot of Poppy.”

“She’s not my kid. I don’t care if she learns how to swear like a sailor.”

Chas shot him a silent, waiting look that challenged him to think about what he’d just done and how guilty he should be feeling.

“You do that accusing-teacher-glare thing pretty well.”

“Thank you,” Chas replied, magnanimous in victory.

“Let’s hit the road. I want to put more distance between us and Misty Falls.”

Chas took a lace out of a tiny pink tennis shoe and tied Gunner’s cell phone to the back of his head rest, hanging it in front of Poppy but safely out of her reach. Entertainment for the tiny velociraptor procured, they got back on the road. Before long they crossed into the eastern edge of New York state.

The kid seemed happy, and Chas turned around to face front. “So, what have you been up to the past few years, Gunner?”

“A little of this, a little of that.”

“Is that SEAL speak for ‘don’t ask me questions about my missions’?”

“Pretty much.”

“Anything youcantell me about?”

“Nope.”

“Talking with you is like bouncing a ball off a wall,” Chas muttered. “It just comes back and smacks me in the face.”

“Sorry, bro. Tell me about you.” The easiest way to avoid talking about himself was to get other people talking about themselves.

“Not much to tell. I went to UMass. Partied hard. Got a teaching degree. Moved back home to teach kindergarten.”

“Why back to Misty Falls?”

“My mom worked in the superintendent’s office. She got me a job interview, and having an in with the school district helped.”

“But you stayed. I thought you wanted out of there.”

Chas frowned and stared straight ahead. Hit a nerve, had he? Gunner waited out Chas’s silence.

Finally Chas replied, “I did a little traveling after college. Turned out the big city and bright lights weren’t all they were cracked up to be. Perfect Gaylandia doesn’t exist. There are assholes everywhere and tolerant folks everywhere.”

“Maybe. But there are more tolerant people in some places than others.”

“Whoa. That sounded bitter,” Chas commented. “Care to elaborate?”

“Nope.”

“It had to be hard juggling being gay and a SEAL.”

“Thanks for that observation, Einstein,” Gunner replied dryly. “I would never have figured that out on my own.”

“Jerk.”

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