Page 21 of Finding Jeremy
He did, pausing only to shove the last bite of his apple in his mouth before holding still for Gray to attach the necklace for him. Jeremy threw his arms around him when he’d finished, probably getting him sticky, but oh well, there was a perfectly good shower back home that had already proved to be more than big enough for both of them.
“Thank you,” Jeremy said, kissing his neck and clinging to him only to feel Gray freeze in his embrace, withoutacknowledging him, body stiffening and growing tense until even Jeremy felt uncomfortable and eased away. “Gray?”
“Come on, the derby is gonna be starting soon, and I wanna grab a spot at the top of the bleachers where there won’t be anyone to impede our view,” Gray snapped, grabbing Jeremy’s sticky hand and practically dragging him around to the ticket booth.
Before Jeremy could pull money out for his own ticket, Gray slapped a twenty down and held their hands out to be stamped, leaving a sputtering Jeremy no choice but to follow him up into the stands, where only a few people sat.
“Sorry,” Gray grumbled. “Saw a bastard that I didn’t want to have a conversation with.”
“Gerald?” Jeremy asked. “I saw him too. He was watching us while you were winning me my necklace.”
“He ever try and have a conversation with you?”
“Not since Dad stripped him of his kutte.”
“If he ever does, I wanna know about it immediately. Call, text, send a fuckin’ carrier pigeon if need be, and if you can’t reach me, then you get your old man on the phone and tell him what’s up. I don’t know what the hell he wants with me, but Reggie said he’s been asking questions about if I’m out.”
“What happened that you and my old man are so pissed off at him?” Jeremy asked.
“That’s not something we can’t talk about here.”
“Okay,” Jeremy said, scooching closer and resting his head on Gray’s shoulder, worry beginning to nag at him when Gray continued to sit stiffly without putting an arm around him.
“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” Gray said after several minutes of silence.
“I’m not worried,” Jeremy huffed, lying through his teeth.
“Good, let’s keep it that way.”
More people had begun to trickle in, so Jeremy stared down at the tunnel, keeping an eye out for Haven and Maddox, lurching to his feet and waving to them the moment he spotted Haven looking around for a place to sit.
He felt Gray’s hand grip the waistband of his jeans to keep him from toppling over, the big man giving a tug to get Jeremy to sit back down once Maddox and Haven started heading their way. Even after his best friend was sitting beside him excitedly chattering on about a conversation he’d just had about a car that might be perfect for next year’s derby, Jeremy found himself wondering whether or not Gray had just lied to him about worrying, because the man’s stiff bearing and clipped tones when he spoke to Maddox suggested that there was something to worry about.
Chapter 9
(Grayson)
One of the many things he’d missed about being on the inside was a lack of choice in his reading material. The prison library had been extremely limited, while the books that Chaos, Haven, and Jeremy brought to the prison for him were creased up and bent before they ever reached his cell. After all, the guards had to make certain no one was hiding contraband in his paranormal mysteries and epic fantasies.
Having the chance to pop into Books, Beans and Buns to check out their selections was a treat he intended to relish, especially after rewatching The Bone Collector the night before. He’d forgotten how good it was and had been pleasantly surprised to discover, during his search for more movies, that there were several books featuring the Lincoln Rhyme character.The best part of the evening, though, had been how intently interested in the movie Jeremy had been.
Knowing that he struggled to sit still, Gray had been fully prepared for it to be an issue when they watched movies together, something Gray absolutely loved. He’d been shocked to discover that Jeremy had no problem focusing when a movie held his attention, especially if he was being held, though he’d admitted that slow-paced films with little to no action sequences and long, drawn-out bits of dialogue were a challenge for him. Fortunately, they were a challenge for Gray too, which would make them easy to avoid.
Over the past few weeks, he’d also discovered that Jeremy had an extensive manga and graphic novel collection that he’d proudly showed off, allowing Gray the chance to commit several of the titles and issues to memory, in addition to the genres he enjoyed. Quiet time in the evening, sprawled together reading, was one of many things Gray longed for, and he could think of no better way to start them down that path than to present his boy with a few new books to add to his collection.
The scent of coffee filled the air as he stepped into the room, snagged a basket, and headed for the mystery section first, grabbing one of each of the Jeffrey Deaver Lincoln Rhyme books they had in stock and one that didn’t feature the character he’d become captivated by.
In the process, he discovered several murder mystery books tagged with pride flags, featuring gay protagonists solving murders while also falling in love. Talk about being blown away. Rather than killing off the queer characters, he’d happened upon a whole genre that depicted gay detectives, attorneys, private investigators, and even one book featuring an insurance investigator who was convinced that a man who’d been reported dead was actually alive and part of a scam to collect a rather hefty life insurance payout. There were several paranormalmysteries to choose from too, including one that featured two shifters, their species considered mortal enemies, forced to work together to solve a crime plaguing both of their communities.
At this rate, bookcase shelves would be among the first things he purchased once he’d found his own place to live. And he wasn’t about to get pressboard ones either, not with the way the shelves tended to start bowing after years of supporting heavy books and the bookends Gray knew he’d be picking up to keep collections separate.
And speaking of bookends, holy shit. He snagged a pair of motorcycle ones as well as a set of metal electric guitars and added them to the basket too, along with several bookmarks and a journal he picked up on a whim, mostly because he liked the silver dragon embossed on the cover, but also so he’d have a place to record his thoughts and the design ideas that had been in his head for years.
On the way to the comic section, he spotted several books on Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, and even two about Zakk Wylde that immediately reminded him of the look on Jeremy’s face at the fair when Gray had won him that Ozzy necklace. It didn’t take much thought to include them too, along with three graphic novels from the new release section that he knew Jeremy hadn’t had the chance to grab yet. His wallet was sure to leave a little smoke trail as he left the store, but it was more than worth it to add a dirt bike and a motocross magazine to the things he’d found for Jeremy.
There was a fugly-looking stuffed animal with bug eyes and stitches holding several of its body parts together near the register when he went to check out. It was so different he couldn’t look away, so he wound up snagging it too. If Jeremy didn’t like it, Gray would just put it on his own shelf because damn, it was just super quirky and unique.
He was congratulating himself on his haul as he stepped outside, blinking against the sunlight while mentally kicking himself for not picking up a goddamn pair of sunglasses yet. A quick check of his phone showed that he had less than ten minutes left on his lunch break. More than enough time to pop into the gas station, say hi to Meadow, and see what she had on the rack by the door that she and Jeremy were constantly forced to dust due to the grit from the nearby road.
