He rationalized that he was a perfectly healthy twenty-five-year-old gay man confronted with a gorgeous guy, so this was just a normal, physical reaction.
Yes, just plain old, normal attraction.
Some rational corner of Tristan's brain cautioned that he should probably not be this hot for someone who unalived people, but another voice piped up to remind him this man only killed predators, had saved his life twice, and had agreed to help him find his sister, so it wasn't like Cade was a true bad guy. His actions might be illegal, but that didn't make them morally wrong.
Tristan had realized yesterday in the woods that he and Cade were much alike, wanting to do good, to make things right, to prevent people from suffering, so who was he to judge the other man's methods when the end result was less evil in the world?
The end justifies the means: he hadn't believed that when he studied philosophy in college, but back then, he also had been sheltered and unaware of the depths of depravity people were capable of. Now it seemed to him that Cade's approach was the only way to deal with these monsters who continued to inflict harm and elude authorities.
So, did he have an issue with Cade's job? No, not anymore.
Having set aside any lingering doubts about morality, Tristan was able to admit that given the chance, he would jump on Cade, or under him, or honestly, wherever the other man wanted. But he wasn't at all sure if Cade was interested in him, too.
Cade's response to Tristan accidentally flashing him popped back into his mind, and he tried again to decide if he had imaginedthe look in the other man's eyes. But Cade was not exactly expressive or forthcoming about his feelings, and when Tristan had purposefully brushed against him a few times, looking for a reaction, he had only observed the other man being slightly distracted, hardly enough evidence to draw any sort of conclusions.
Yet.
Chewing absently on his lip, he realized he'd been frozen in place with his fingers poised over the keyboard, his leg bouncing nervously. He cleared his throat, stilled his leg, and started to type, trying his best to focus on the screen.
Cade continued to the kitchen to get a banana and a Coke, then plunked down next to him on the sofa. Tristan wished he hadn't glanced over just as the other man's mouth closed around the banana.
Oh hell.
Snapping his eyes back to the screen, Tristan studied the search results and even managed to click on a few articles, but though the words scrolled past his line of vision, he hadn't registered any of them with the other man this close.
An awkward silence dragged on with Cade scrolling on his phone and Tristan struggling to focus on the research, his unease ratcheting up as each wordless minute ticked by.
Finally, he couldn't stand it any longer.
"I'm sorry I watched you!" he yelped too loudly for their proximity.
"What?"
"I was watching you before, from the window."
"I know," Cade answered after a brief pause.
"It was creepy, I'm sorry."
Cade avoided his eyes, and Tristan had no idea what that meant. Did he think it was weird that he had watched him? Invasive?Did he believe Tristan should be embarrassed, or was he the one feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable?
Or, he wondered as he caught the faint pink color on the other man's cheeks, could it be possible that he had liked Tristan's eyes on him? That possibility seemed too good to be true, but now that the idea had implanted in his brain, he wasn't sure he could shake it.
To redirect his thoughts, he asked, "Why were you chopping anyway? There's plenty of firewood already."
"Just needed to do something. I'm not used to sitting around so much."
Cade didn't meet his eyes as he answered, and Tristan sensed diversion. Again.
But at least he hadn't shrugged. That was getting annoying.
"Any updates from Annabeth?"
"Nope. Sorry."
"Ask her if there's anything I can do to help."
Cade's face turned a bit sour, but he tapped something into his phone.
