In the Gray

by B.B. Reid

“If you don’t want me to follow you into fire, then don’t run into fire.”

Above all else, guard your heart,” I recited to Rowdy’s bent head. I could have sworn he stiffened as if he knew what I’d say next. “For everything you do flows from

Hearing a man say he’ll shoot anyone over you was not something to blush over. And yet here I was grinning like a fool.

“Then what’s the problem, Dream? Are we not both consenting adults? You don’t need to make excuses for wanting this

dick. Fuck what anyone else thinks. I want you just as bad—if not more—and unlike you, I’ve made that more than clear from jump.”

“It looks expensive, Owen.” And nonrefundable. He slapped my ass for arguing before pulling me close again. “So suck my dick while I find us something to eat, and we’ll call it even.”

That damn dick of his should be classified as a lethal weapon.

“I want to give you shelter and be your peace. I want to take care of you, Dream. I want to be yours. I won’t ask if you like me too because I don’t waste time with stupid questions. Instead, I’ll only ask one.” I held my breath and waited even though I already knew what his question—and what my answer—would be. “Can I be your boyfriend, Atlas Ilana Beck?”

The gray. The sliver of space between right and wrong, knowing and not knowing, salvation and damnation—between hope for a future and the calamity of us.