Page 10 of In His Sights

Sarcasm aside, Cory would never know how close he’d skated to the truth.

In the years since high school, Gary had come to accept that his attraction to Cory must have been a fluke—he was straight, after all—although it had felt only too real at the time.

And sometimes, he wasn’t sure that attraction had entirely gone away.

Cory narrowed his gaze. “And for the record? There is nothing wrong with gay bars. Some of my more memorable hookups have been the result of a couple of hours in a gay bar.” Another tilt of his head, those blue eyes locked on Gary’s. “But you didn’t ask me to meet you for a drink so we could discuss my awesome sex life. What’s up?” His gaze grew warm. “Or is it because you saw them today?” When Gary didn’t reply, Cory sighed. “It was bad, wasn’t it?”

“No worse than usual. In fact, for one moment I thought it was better—until my dad basically asked me why I wasn’t doing my job.”

Cory choked, and wiped his lips with his napkin. “What the fuck?”

“You heard me.”

“That really pisses me off.”

“Hey, forget it, okay?”

“Why?You’renot gonna forget it, are you?”

Gary shook his head. “No, but none of these good-looking guys are going to want to take you back to their place if your pretty face is all screwed up.”

Cory gave a smug smile. “I’m pretty, am I?”

“Prettiest personal trainer in Massachusetts.”

He preened. “Damn, you know how to make a girl feel good.” Cory took another long drink. “I’m not stupid, you know,” he murmured as he set his glass down on the table.

“Huh?” Gary frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“I know why you really wanted us to meet.”

“Please, do tell. Because I didn’t realize I had an ulterior motive.” Except that was a lie. He’d needed a dose of Cory, and it had been too long since their last meetup.

He grounds me.He always had, even when they were teenagers. Gary had clung to him when his world blew up, and Cory had been there for him ever since.

“I read the papers, Gary. I see the local news. A guy out there is targeting gay men. And then you justhappento ask me to meet you for a drink?” He froze. “Did you want to warn me? Do you know who we should be looking out for?”

Aw shit.

Gary took a deep breath. “No. I can’t tell you that because we don’t know. Yet.” But maybe Cory had nailed it. Maybe deep down, Gary had wanted to know his first crush was safe, that he wasn’t taking risks.

Cory regarded him in silence for a moment, and with each passing second, Gary’s stomach knotted.Don’t see too much. Please.

Finally Cory leaned back in his chair. “I work damn hard, and yes, I play hard too. But… I don’t date strangers. Even if I find a guy on Grindr, I’ll check him out, see if anyone I know has been with him. And if someone I know has passed him my name and number, that’s a safe bet too. We all look out for each other.”

“Then I guess the gay network failed the five dead guys, because someone obviously wasn’t looking out for them.” The knot in his belly loosened a little.He’s being safe.Safe was good. He gave Cory a speculative glance. “Did you know any of them? Had you dated any of them?”

Cory bit his lip. “Dated? How sweet. I hardly think my nocturnal activity could be called dating.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “But since you’re asking… yeah, I hooked up with a couple of them. Trey Hopkins. He was the first victim, wasn’t he, two years ago?” Gary nodded. “And I hooked up with Vic Zerbe too. We actually came here last Christmas. We danced our feet off, then fucked till the wee small hours.” Another swallow. “Three days later he was dead.”

“How come you never told me?”

Cory blinked. “Because it’s your job. Because when the news broke that all the victims had been gay men, I thought you’d only worry. But like I said… I’m a careful kinda guy. I don’t even proposition my clients, and believe me, that takes some strength of will because some of them are fuckinggorgeous.” He drained the last of his mojito. “And also, because it’s been a while since we did this.” He leveled an accusatory glance at Gary. “You haven’t even been to look at my new apartment, and I’ve invited you three times.”

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?”

“And I bet you couldn’t even tell me where I’m living now.”

Gary put his hand on his chest. “Okay, you got me. I’ll visit soon, all right? Now, what other news do I need to catch up on?”

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