I followed Gunner to a bench by the water. The park he’d led us to was grassy and flat, with just a little bit of sand at the shore. I remembered what he had said the other day, about having somememorable experiencesin a park. Luckily, there seemed to be enough people wandering around that I didn’t imagine he was expecting anything from me right there.
We kept strolling slowly along the water. He sauntered, and I paced. I offered him a friendly smile, and when he winked, I felt flushed and nervous all over again. Every now and then, we’d pass someone else on the path, and I’d see the expressions on their faces, like they were trying to figure out what a guy like me and a guy like him were doing together.
“Have you been in Seattle long?” I asked, breaking the silence.
Gunner nodded. “Ever since I turned eighteen. I threw my shit in the back of my truck and drove across the state the first chance I got.”
“That must have been exciting.” I thought about when I turned eighteen and my parents selected my first apartment for me. “Do you visit home very often?”
“Nah,” Gunner said, kicking a rock down the path suddenly. “I’m good on my own, and there’s nothing for me back there.” He kicked another rock, his boot scuffing against the path. “How about you?”
“I grew up here,” I said. “My parents are here, too. I see them sometimes.” While the waves lapped the shore, I bit down on my lip, not wanting to tell him exactly how often I met up with them.
“Shit, you’ve been in Seattle your whole life?”
I grinned at the way he said it, like that was the weirdest thing in the world. “Ever since I was born. My family goes on vacation a couple of times a year, but otherwise I’ve been here. It’s one of the reasons I’m so attached to the apartment I’m leaving.”
Gunner cracked his knuckles. “You said you had to leave that place, though.”
“I do. But just because the landlords keep doing this loud construction, and they’re raising the rent constantly, and they never fix anything…”
“Sounds like they’re a bunch of rats.”
I squinted out over the lake. “What do you mean?”
“They’re trying to drive you out. They probably think they can get more money with different tenants or something. It’s classic shady landlord behavior.”
I groaned, suddenly seeing the whole thing in a new focus. “I can’t believe I missed that. Well, at least it explains why the receptionist has been so rude to me.” I frowned, realizing it was a little embarrassing to act so naïve around a guy like Gunner. “I guess maybe I should get out of my house a little more often.”
Gunner stopped in his tracks, spinning to face me. His eyes were flashing bright, like right before he dragged me out of the bar the other day. “When’s the last time you left the city?”
I scrunched up my face, trying to think of the answer. My family went to New York to see Broadway plays every winter, but that trip was months ago. I used to go on day trips in the summer, but the past year had somehow gotten away from me. Staring at the smirk on his face, I realized the past months had been filled with little more than my routine.
“It’s been a while,” I finally said. “Why? Do you drive your truck out of the city every chance you get?”
Gunner reached out, grabbing my elbow. His grip was strong but not too tight, and as he started to walk me back toward the truck, my heart pounded in my chest. It was just like last time, like I was getting swept up in his life without a chance to stop and think of what I was doing.
“In that case,” he said, “let’s take this date on the road.”
GUNNER
“Wait, are we actually leaving the city?”
Hitting the highway and cruising east, it seemed pretty clear that’s what we were doing, but I couldn’t blame him for doubting me. It’s not like I was giving Malcolm much information to work with. But after the bullshit at work and with a long weekend stretching ahead of me, I was just eager to get a change of scenery.
And to impress Malcolm. As long as he kept staring at me with those wide eyes, acting like I was James Dean or something, I was happy to keep strutting my stuff.
“Sure are,” I answered. “You said you were up for the drive, after all.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him bite down on his bottom lip, reminding me how badly I wanted to bite that same spot all over again. Malcolm fidgeted in his seat. “How far are you taking me? I mean, I know I said I was up for a drive…”
I thought about dragging it out a little more just to watch him squirm but decided it was way more important that he actually stick around for what I had planned. “It’s about an hour drive from where we are now,” I said. “Up in the mountains.”
Malcolm swallowed. “An hour?”
I steered the car around a bend in the highway and took the occasion to stretch my arm out and drape it over the back of his seat. “I’m a good driver,” I assured him. “And if you need to be home for anything, I’ll get you back safe. Don’t you worry.”
“It’s not that,” he answered, taking his glasses off and rubbing his forehead. “I actually have the next few days open.”
