by Kaye Draper
Squirt? Grey would have been offended, if it wasn't so damned funny. "Ah...I'll just have black coffee."
Luca beamed at the waiter again. The staff’s attitude was so over the top that Grey hid a smile behind his water glass. "And pie," Luca said quickly, before the waiter could scuttle off. "A big slice of that chocolate cream pie I saw in the glass case up front."
The waiter left and Grey was once again faced with the daunting task of trying to blend into the furniture and avoid the attention of the man across the table from him.
"So, you've finally figured out what you are, eh?" Pontus raised a thick eyebrow at Grey.
Grey clutched his water glass and swirled his ice around with his straw. Why ice water, when it was freezing outside? "I suppose so," he answered.
Luca leaned across the table, capturing his father's attention. "Did you know?" he asked. "That the siren was the cause of The Change?"
Pontus shook his head. "No. I knew there was magic involved, and I can't say I'm at all surprised, in retrospect. But no, I wasn't sure." He sighed. “I made a vow a long time ago to leave things alone when it comes to humans. All the gods did. So I haven’t been able to go poking around.”
Grey lifted his eyes. "Do you know her?" Pontus' tone hadn't exactly sounded friendly when he mentioned his mother, but it did sound like he was familiar.
Pontus snorted. "I’ve known several sirens over the years. But it could only be Arianna. She’s always been a boundary pusher. None of the others have the gall—or the backbone—to pull off a stunt like this." His next words chilled Grey to the bone. "I’m not allowed to interfere in a petty quarrel between a lesser being and a human, but if that bitch's self-centered meddling with nature isn't stopped, this Island will never see women—or summer—again." He narrowed his eyes at Grey. “Surely you can feel it, boy. Nature’s been unbalanced. The place is freezing over.”
Grey's breath caught. His nagging suspicions were right, then. The unseasonable temperatures, the news articles about dwindling sea life…it wasn’t just an unseasonably cold year. The island was freezing. If they didn't stop this, they would all be trapped in an icy hell, permanently locked into their masculine state.
Grey stared right back at the burly guy. If Pontus expected Grey to be stung by an insult to his mother or daunted by an impossible task, he obviously didn't know much about him. "Then I guess we’ll have to stop it," he said firmly.
Luca lifted a dark brow at Grey, then grinned at his father. "Stop gaping, old man," he said with a humorous lilt to his deep voice. "I told you he's amazing."
Grey felt himself turn beet red. "Shut up. It's my damned parent's fault this all happened. Somebody has to fix it. Might as well be me. Though…you’re a damned god or whatever. Seems like you could step in."
Luca patted Grey's hand, where it rested on the table. Grey didn't think he could blush any harder. He pulled his hand away, pretending to need it for his drink. He did not want to explain his relationship with Luca to the god sitting across from them.
Luca seemed unfazed. "I thought you might be able to tell us how to break this curse," he said to his father.
The waiter arrived, flinging their order in front of them and turning to leave. Luca caught his sleeve at the last minute. "Excuse me...my pie?" The guy stomped off to retrieve the forgotten dessert, shoulders hunched and grumbling all the way.
Pontus shook his head. "You can figure this out on your own," he said, turning a gimlet eye on his son. "Since you insist on meddling in things that are none of your business."
Luca blew on his French fry before taking a bite. "What a good dad, teaching me these valuable life lessons." He waved a graceful hand in a flippant gesture. "Like how to avoid an amazing potential soul mate, how to keep out of trouble, how to take the easy way out...how to ignore the suffering of everyone around me because of some outdated moldy god law…."
Pontus was silent for a moment. Then he let out a deep guffaw. "Outdated indeed, but that vow was sealed with the power of all the old gods. And believe me, boy, things were much, much worse before the gods stopped meddling in everything.” He sighed. “But if you’re so gung-ho, fine, have it your way. I can’t interfere. But you can. You both have human blood." He squeezed a lemon wedge over his fish. "For strong magic like this to work, to really take hold, she must have something that serves as a ground—a connection to the island. I would start there. It is probably a kleidí."
Luca nodded as if this made perfect sense. Grey arched an eyebrow at him in question and Luca explained. "The world is divided up into areas within the supernatural community. Similar to the way humans divide things up into countries or states." He shrugged. "A kleidí—that's Greek for key—is an object that’s connected with a particular place. If your mother is able to curse the whole island, her grounding object could be the kleidí. That way she could influence all of the island's creatures and an area surrounding the island."
Pontus leveled his blue gaze at Luca, giving a little nod toward Grey as he spoke. "Since you are so set on receiving a quest, you might consider using your resources to gather information from the ocean community."
Luca narrowed his eyes at his father as if he were about to let out a scathing comment, but he was interrupted when the waiter appeared, slung a huge plate of scrumptious looking pie onto the table at Luca's elbow, then disappeared.
Luca pushed the pie in front of Grey. He leaned to whisper in Grey's ear, his breath sending goosebumps down Grey's neck. "Guys can like chocolate too, you know. Eat."
Grey picked up his fork, gave Pontus a cracked grin, and dug in.
Chapter 53
Luca had something to do after band practice the next afternoon, which Grey assumed was linked to that information gathering his father had mentioned, so Ethan offered Grey a ride home. Grey slid into Ethan’s little car still glowing with happiness. Their new song was coming together, and it sounded amazing. Grey didn’t know how Luca always managed to write music that spoke straight to his heart, but it was amazing. And giving voice to Luca’s work was like magic. Ethan grinned at Grey, his sky-blue eyes sparkling, his handsome face overtaken by a sort of boyish gleam that made Grey smile wider in response.
Ethan shifted into drive and Grey leaned his head against the window and watched the scenery pass by. He hummed to himself, recalling the loving way Luca’s long fingers had caressed his guitar. Grey had been distracted by Luca during practice, as usual, and he’d had to fight hard to concentrate on the music. But now he let his mind run wild, daydreaming of Luca’s hands on his body, playing him like that guitar.
He came back to himself when Ethan stopped in front of the trailer. Grey realized he’d been humming the entire way. “Sorry,” he said sheepishly.
Ethan smiled at him, as warm and sunshiny as usual. “Don’t be. I love the sound of your voice.”
Grey went to unbuckle his seatbelt, but Ethan stopped him, covering Grey’s hand with his own. Grey looked up, startled to find Ethan’s wide, cornflower blue eyes filled with emotion. “Grey, I have to talk to you about something.”
Grey swallowed, flushing at the tension that had sprung up between them, suddenly convinced that he didn’t want to hear what was about to come out of the drummer's mouth. His gaze slid to the chiseled curve of Ethan’s lips and he swore he smelled the ocean breeze.
“Ethan, don’t,” he pleaded.
Shit. This couldn’t be happening. Sure, he really liked the sweet drummer. And, okay, he’d had more than a few daydreams about him naked. So sue him. But this…what he could feel building inside him…that was only for Luca…wasn’t it? What kind of slut did it make him, that he kind of wanted to know what Ethan tasted like?
Ethan shook his head. “I can’t help it,” he said softly. He reached out to brush a hand through Grey’s hair and Grey froze. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Ethan said in a voice that broke Grey’s heart. “I’ve never liked a guy before…but I….” His eyes met Grey’s and Grey could see his confus
ion. “I can’t stop thinking about you. And I know I shouldn’t say anything. I know you and Luca have a…thing…going on. But…Grey, I had to tell you. I can’t…I can’t just ignore it anymore.”
Grey closed his eyes in a long blink and tried to gather his scattered thoughts. Then he opened his eyes. Ethan was close, as if he wanted to kiss Grey, but was too sweet to push it. He was waiting for Grey to give him a signal. Grey’s chest ached and a familiar hungry, greedy feeling was rising up inside him.
He wasn’t sure who moved first. Consciously, Grey knew he loved Luca and he’d never want to hurt him. But the thing inside him wanted more. Ethan’s lips were every bit as soft and sweet as Grey had always imagined. He slid his hand behind Grey’s neck to cup his head, deepening the kiss, but not pushing. It was a tender thing, a demand and a question all wrapped up in one. Then he was pulling away, pressing a few brief, soft kisses to the corner of Grey’s mouth, his cheek—butterfly touches that shattered Grey’s heart with their honesty and tenderness.
Ethan hesitated for a moment more, then flopped back into his seat, his face a flaming, angry red, his eyes closed in agony. “Oh, my God. Fuck. I’m sorry, Grey.” But his hand still clutched Grey’s, squeezing desperately, as if he was begging Grey to tell him it was okay.
Grey shrugged and freed his hand to finish unbuckling his seatbelt. Then he turned to face Ethan, feeling like a giant fraud, forcing himself to pretend the whole thing meant nothing.
“It’s okay,” he said calmly. “I get it. You know that I’m different, right?” Grey was pretty sure he knew what was causing this. It wasn’t that Ethan really wanted him. It was just Grey’s damned siren heritage. He hadn’t meant to freaking serenade Ethan. But that was what had happened. He’d lured him in, just like the monster he was.
Ethan glanced at Grey, then away, still blushing. “I know you’re gay,” he acknowledged.
Grey sighed. He could do this. It would make everything easier. Even if it killed him inside. “You don’t have to be ashamed,” he said softly. “You’re just curious, is all.” Grey tried to act as if he had this conversation with people all the time. “That’s natural. Lots of guys get curious, want to experiment. Especially since we’re all cooped up on this island. It gets lonely.” He squeezed Ethan’s hand one last time, then pulled away.
Ethan put his hands in his lap and looked down at them, his forehead creased in a confused frown. Grey hoped he was buying it. He tried to push a little persuasion into his voice just in case. That was a thing he should be able to do, right? He wasn't sure if it really did anything. “You aren’t really attracted to me, Ethan. It’s just the thought of something different, exciting…that’s all. It doesn’t mean anything.”
Ethan let out a shaky breath and finally looked at Grey. His face was still red, but he was recovering. His light blue eyes were so bright, so different from Luca’s stormy blue gray. “Maybe,” he said slowly, though Grey thought he wanted to argue about it. He rubbed the back of his head. “I can’t believe you’re so cool about it.”
Grey shrugged. “I’m used to it,” he lied. “Happens all the time.”
He reached over and punched Ethan lightly in the shoulder. “We good?”
Ethan gave a strained grin and nodded. “Sure. I’m sorry and…what about Luca? Are you going to tell him? Do you want me to? It was my fault, after all.” He groaned. “I really wasn’t thinking straight. Luca’s one of my best friends.”
Grey gripped the door handle. Yeah, wasn’t that just a great question. But hopefully Luca would understand the whole siren thing and forgive him?
“I’ll talk to him. I don’t want to keep secrets. But he’ll understand.” He hoped. God did he hope.
Ethan’s phone started blaring before he could say anything in response. He grabbed it and stared at the screen, swiping to answer immediately. “Hey, mom, what’s up?”
There was a lot of loud swearing from the other end of the call. Ethan’s happy-go-lucky demeanor had taken a blow after their recent interaction, but it crumbled altogether under the onslaught of his mom’s angry voice. He darted worried blue eyes at Grey, then hunched in his seat, his voice taking on a small, quiet tone, like someone who was afraid of rocking the boat. It was weird to see the beefy guy cowering like that. “I’ve got my key. I’ll come right over. Please just…sit in the car, okay? But don’t start it. Don’t worry about finding the keys, mom. Please. Just sit tight.”
She spoke again, but the sound was quieter. Ethan closed his eyes in a long blink, gripping the steering wheel with his free hand. “How bad is it bleeding? No, don’t go next door. They called the cops last time, remember? Just get some napkins out of the glove box and press them against your head, okay? I’ll be right there.”
He hung up and threw the phone on the dash, only then seeming to register that Grey was still there. “Sorry. I’ve gotta go. Can we talk more some other time?”
Grey sighed and re-buckled his seatbelt. “Sure.”
Ethan glanced at him as he started the car. “What are you doing?”
Grey gave him an unimpressed look. “I know you probably don’t want me in your business or whatever, but come on, Ethan. That didn’t sound like something you need to be taking care of alone.”
He did that long blink thing again, letting out a halting breath. Then he eased the car away from the curb. “Thank you.”
Grey shrugged. “Family can suck sometimes. Does this happen a lot?”
Suddenly, Grey was really curious how the fuck Ethan—cheery, smiley, chipper Ethan—was always so damned happy. Maybe the answer was…he wasn’t. Some bandmate Grey was, to be so oblivious.
“Pretty often,” he admitted softly. “She locked herself out of the house this time. I have no idea how she made it home, as drunk as she sounds. And she says she slipped and fell when she was looking for the spare key.” He sighed. “I hope she didn’t give herself a concussion. And…damn, it’s fucking cold outside.”
Grey let him ramble, thinking maybe he just needed to get this crap off his chest. But Ethan only seemed to get more and more depressed as they headed across town to the house he shared with his mom. Finally, Grey started humming—just a little, in faint starts and stops, hoping it would calm the poor guy down.
God, hopefully it didn’t backfire and just make him horny again. That would be awkward….
They pulled up in front of a modest ranch-style house in one of the middle-class subdivisions just outside the city. The houses were packed in close to each other, so unfortunately everybody probably knew everyone else’s business. Ethan’s comment about the neighbor calling the cops made sense. Grey had lived in a trailer park the last few years—he was well acquainted with nosey neighbors being up your ass all the time. People liked to say they were trying to help, that they were protecting the neighborhood or whatever. But the truth was, they just needed better hobbies than spying on everyone and looking for drama.
A late model crossover sat in the driveway with the door cracked open and a thin stream of cigarette smoke trailing out. Grey glanced at the scattered footprints that led to the house and back again—punctuated by one big messed-up spot in the pristine, newly-fallen snow, where Ethan’s mom must have slipped and fallen.
Ethan sighed and turned the car off. “Look…maybe you better stay here while I get her taken care of.”
Grey narrowed his eyes at the drummer. “You think I’m going to judge you because your mom’s an alcoholic?”
Ethan’s cheeks flushed slightly, and he avoided meeting Grey’s eyes. “I…maybe?”
Grey shook his head. “If it makes you feel any better, I live in a trailer park and my dad is a complete asshole. He also seems to have an issue with his son being gay. So…we’ve all got shit we don’t particularly want other people to see.” He nudged Ethan’s shoulder. “Come on, before she sets the car on fire or something.”
Sliding out of the car, Grey followed Ethan over to where his mom sat huddled in the car. The skunky smell in
the air had Grey’s eyebrows raising. Not a cigarette, a joint. To each their own and all, but…that couldn’t pair well with the mostly empty fifth of Jack that rolled out of the car when Ethan pulled the door the rest of the way open.
“Keys?” Grey asked, wanting to give Ethan and his mom a second to hash things out.
Ethan handed him the keyring with his car keys on it. “It’s the one with the blue thing on it.”
Ethan’s mom leaned out of the car, almost falling on her face as she craned around to get a good look at Grey. “Ooh…he’s pretty, Eth. You decide to switch teams?”
Ethan’s blush was so bright it was a wonder he didn’t catch fire. “This is Grey, mom. He’s our singer. I showed you the video of the last concert, remember?”
She lifted one broad shoulder in a shrug. “Don’t remember much of anything at the moment. Thank fuck.” Then she started laughing, her thin chest shaking under her classy women’s suit. Ethan’s mom was clearly into holding onto her femininity, even in her male body. But for some reason, she still had a really masculine short haircut and was wearing men’s glasses.
She took a long drag off the nearly spent joint and offered the rest to Grey. “Want a hit? You might need it, if you have to put up with his nagging all day. He’s a good boy. But he worries too much.”
Grey took the joint and turned toward the house, discretely dropping it in the snow by an evergreen shrub. He unlocked the door while Ethan cajoled his mother out of the car. Turning, he watched as the drummer wrestled with the drunk…lady…? He only now realized she was wearing men’s trouser and men’s shoes. It was kind of a jarring combination. She was also a lot taller than she looked. Ethan wasn’t a small guy, but he was struggling to drag his lanky, tipsy parent up the sidewalk.
Grey hurried over and got an arm around Ethan’s mom’s other side and helped steer her toward the house. “Oh, good boy,” she mumbled at Grey. “Just like my Ethan. He’s such a good boy.”
