Page 9 of Touch of Innocence
“Yeah. Is Ben around?” He thought about asking about her dad, but honestly, he wasn’t even sure who that was. Ben hadn’t looked a lot like her, and the blue-eyed man who had been with her earlier did, so it was probably better not to make assumptions.
“Yeah. Ben! Gunner’s here,” she bellowed, with surprisingly strong lungs, into the house behind her. Seriously. How did someone so small get so much volume? It had to be some sort of superpower.
“Well then invite him in, Ruby,” came the familiar voice calling back. Sam came up behind him, and Gunner was pretty sure he could actually feel the glower which was aimed right at his back.
Good. It seemed only fair that he should be able to get to Sam the same way that Sam got to him.
“Okay. You can come in,” Ruby allowed, and Gunner laughed and stepped inside when she moved out of the way.
“You know, I worked that out for myself,” Gunner teased, and was rewarded with a quick smile from the girl. Gunner had always liked kids, and they tended to like him back.
Too bad he’d never have any of his own, not just because he was gay, either. What kind of life could someone with his past, someone who was on the run and probably always would be, have with a family? It wasn’t going to happen.
Sam brushed by him, and Gunner frowned. It seemed like Sam had deliberately pushed him out of the way. Maybe Ruby, and Ben, didn’t mind having him around, but it seemed that Sam very definitely did.
Too bad for him. Anyway, it wasn’t like Gunner was going to be around for long. The spoiled brat could deal with it for a few days. Once Gunner’s bike was fixed up, he would be history.
“Dinner’s on,” Ben said, nodding to both of them in welcome. Dinner. God, how long had it been since he’d last eaten anything? Much less anything that smelled like the delicious scents wafting in from the kitchen.
Just because he wasn’t going to be here for long, he mused to himself, salivating already in anticipation of dinner, didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy it while he had it.
