Evenfall (43 page)

Sin looked over at the woman as he finally pushed the hood away from his face. He studied her before letting his eyes skim over the people around her. He lifted an eyebrow slightly, nodding at the bar. "Whatever her problem is, big boy in the red jacket seems to want to solve it for her."

"He certainly does," Boyd mused. He studied the two for a moment. "I don't think he has a chance, though."

Steve came back with Sin's shake and placed it in front of him. It was impressively large.

"Anything else yet, guys?" When they both declined, Steve disappeared again.

Sin stirred his straw in the shake and eyeballed it. He leaned forward and took a long sip, nodding as if in approval.

"I'm surprised you didn't get one of the other shakes," Boyd said, looking at the relatively simple order. "Some of them sounded as though they may be sweeter than that."

"They also sounded like they'd make me vomit." Sin sat back and picked up the thin spoon that was in the tall cup. He stirred it around, mixing in the whipped cream. "However, I may still get dessert."

Boyd shook his head again and folded his arms to lean against the edge of the table. "You have the strongest sweet tooth of anyone I've ever met. Only you would even consider dessert after a large shake like that."

Sin drank some more, eyes moving around the diner again. "Sugar deprivation as a child."

"You're going to make yourself diabetic."

That was met with a scoff. "Like I'll live long enough to suffer the effects."

Boyd shrugged. "If anyone would in this line of business, it'll be you. Your skills are uncanny. I doubt you have to worry about much on missions for the foreseeable future."

"Aw shucks sweetheart, you're going to make me blush," Sin said around his straw, looking up at Boyd from beneath his black hair.

"Oh, is that all it takes?" Boyd drawled, his eyebrows ticking up. "I was under the impression you were shameless."

The comment seemed to surprise Sin and he actually stared with confusion for a moment. "Why?"

Boyd couldn't help a small smile. He was amused by the idea of catching Sin off guard on something like that. "I was teasing you. Nothing ever seems to get to you so if all it took to make you blush is a veiled compliment, I would be surprised."

"Oh." There was a pause. "It's somewhat sad that saying I'm less likely to die is a compliment."

"It is," Boyd had to agree.

The waiter came by again, this time with a tray filled with plates of steaming food. He set Boyd's food in front of him: a large plate was filled with the omelet and potatoes, and a second, smaller, plate next to it had toast and a small package of butter. Steve then set the pot pie in front of Sin. The table already had condiments set to the side, including a number of packages of jam. He asked them again if they needed anything else and when Boyd shook his head, he left.

Boyd tried a bite of the steaming hot potatoes. They were good but a little bland. He dusted the potatoes with pepper and a hint of salt and found them to taste better the second time around. He started eating, turning his attention first to the omelet. Since it was the protein, it was the most important thing to eat.

The food wasn't bad. He'd had better omelets but not many, and at the moment he was hungry enough that anything warm and filling was welcome.

Sin was devouring his pot pie at a rapid pace and using his large fluffy biscuits to sop up gravy from the inside of it. For several minutes they did nothing but eat in silence but after awhile, something caught the older agent's attention.

"The hostess is noticing you again," he pointed out idly.

Boyd sighed under his breath and didn't look over to follow Sin's gaze. He concentrated on eating as if he had no idea Sin had just said that. It was for the benefit of the girl, though, because he soon muttered, "I wish she wouldn't."

"Why? She's pretty enough."

"Because I'm not interested," Boyd said mildly. "And even if I were it's not as though it would matter. We'll be leaving soon and I won't be by here again."

Sin looked over at the girl again, observing her. "If she's leering at some man in a truck stop, I highly doubt she has a long term involvement in mind."

Boyd shrugged without looking up from his food. "It doesn't change anything for me."

"Why?" Sin asked again, actually looking curious as he paused in his eating.

Boyd opened his mouth to say something dismissive but he stopped when he took in Sin's expression. It was rare for Sin to show genuine curiosity in him and even more rare for him to ask personal questions, so it gave Boyd pause. He frowned slightly, more in thought than anything.

Ironically, he'd assumed that Sin had made the same assumption so many others already had. He didn't know what to think about the fact that it was possible Sin hadn't. It made him a little reluctant to come out to him only because they'd finally started to get along more consistently.

He wasn't ashamed of his sexual orientation. But he didn't want to have to deal with judgment from Sin on something he'd already received judgment on from plenty of other people, his mother included. Especially when it was something he had no control over. But if he didn't say anything now, Sin would find out eventually anyway and whatever his reaction would be, it probably wouldn't change. Better to just get it over with so he didn't let himself start enjoying Sin's company if it could all fall apart anyway.

"Because I'm gay."

A flash of surprise crossed Sin's face and he looked confused. It wasn't an exaggerated expression; his eyebrows drew together slightly and he tilted his head to the side. He studied Boyd, looked around, and then said, "So if it was an attractive man would you go off with him?"

Boyd raised an eyebrow. That hadn't exactly been the response he'd expected and it left him a bit bemused. "No. I said I was gay, not that I have sex with everyone I see who's passably attractive. I'm not particularly interested in flings with anyone, whether or not they're male."

"Ah."

Sin forked up another mound of his pot pie and chewed it slowly, staring at Boyd without much of an expression on his face.

After a moment of watching Sin, Boyd picked up his fork and cut off one of the last pieces of omelet. He speared the piece and hesitated with it in front of his mouth before he took the bite. "Is this going to cause a problem for us as partners?"

This earned him one of Sin's half skeptical, half annoyed faces-- the ones that implied he thought Boyd was ridiculous for whatever reason. "It doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I was just wondering if you'd ever actually been with a man."

"Ah." Boyd chewed, watching Sin thoughtfully. He supposed it didn't matter if he answered that, especially since he often asked questions of Sin. He swallowed and speared the last fold of the omelet without looking away from Sin. "Yes, I have."

"Oh." One of Sin's dark eyebrows rose higher than the other. "Weird."

"Why is that weird?" Boyd asked, giving Sin a slightly odd look.

"Because most of the time you have zero personality. I can't imagine you being intimate with another human being."

Boyd raised an eyebrow. "I hate to disappoint you, then," he said mildly as he started to eat the potatoes.

Sin just shrugged, turning his attention back to his food and occasionally observing the people around him.

A few minutes passed with neither of them saying anything. As Boyd ate, he found his gaze more than once returning to his partner. Although they'd eaten at diners before, for some reason it struck him today about how strangely normal this all was. And how he was actually kind of liking it. He was enjoying the chance to have a conversation with Sin, even if it was on topics he hadn't ever planned to come up between them.

And that's what led him down another line of questions he couldn't get out of his mind. Now that they were talking about sexual interest and relationships, he couldn't help thinking about Sin. The man was unquestionably attractive. His body alone was enough for Boyd to find his eyes straying toward it when he wasn't thinking about it, but Sin's face made it all that much better. His eyes were striking and expressive; intense. And his full lips were just as intriguing.

It made it worse, in ways, to remember going to Sin's that night they were arguing. He could still recall Sin's hands, strong and holding him still, but not hurting him. Despite all that strength, despite the fact that Sin could probably break bones if he wanted, and despite the fact that Boyd had been struggling against him-- Sin had held him still without harming him.

And then shoved him against the wall.

Boyd looked away from Sin and focused on his plate of potatoes so nothing could accidentally be seen in his eyes. He wondered what that had all been about. He'd wondered about it after he'd left, too, although neither of them had ever brought it up again. He couldn't deny the confusion that had come from that hard body pressing against him. That breath curling against his lips and those eyes, those damn unforgettable eyes, so close to his own.

Boyd skewered a potato and chewed on it in contemplation.

Despite the fact that Sin was often glowering at others or seemed sarcastic, the more Boyd saw of his other expressions the more he felt like he was getting reeled in. And he didn't know what made Sin more attractive: that glare that fended others off and lent mystery to him, or the intriguingly normal and, at times, uncertain way Sin could be in quiet moments like this.

It was a little frustrating. Part of him wished he hadn't been assigned a partner who looked like he could easily pass as a model on a worldwide circuit. The man's combination of features was criminal, as far as Boyd was concerned.

It was the fact that he was so damn attractive that made Boyd wonder what Sin's past was like with other people. Although so many people seemed to be afraid of him, had that always been the case? Did the fact that he'd pressed Boyd against the wall, their lips nearly touching, mean he was attracted to men or had it all been a misunderstanding? Something that had happened when they'd both gotten carried away? How many people, if any, had braved that glower to get close enough for intimacy?

Sin had said before that Boyd was the first person he really had these sort of conversations with, yet he seemed completely confident when it came to almost anything he was doing. And he hadn't hesitated to ask Boyd about being with the hostess, as if it would be perfectly normal to go to the bathroom for a quick spot of sex between the meal and dessert. So is that what he was used to? Having one night stands or quickies with whoever was interested? Or did he have a different sort of past and had just assumed that was what Boyd would be into?

"What about you?" Boyd asked curiously.

"What about me, what?"

"Your interests or relationships," Boyd clarified as he put a little more salt on the potatoes.

Sin stirred his straw around in the milkshake for a moment, regarding Boyd quietly. It was impossible to tell what he was thinking in that moment, but at least he didn't brush off the question the way he would have in the past.

After a moment he took a sip and shrugged, saying blandly, "There's not much to talk about in that regard."

Boyd watched him a moment and wondered what that meant. He must not have been with many people which wasn't surprising given his circumstances. "Who are you interested in, then? Men? Women?"

"I've grown to despise both."

The comment made Boyd's gaze linger on Sin briefly before he nodded and continued eating. Sin must have had some unfortunate ends to relationships in the past to have gotten to that opinion. It lent more questions, including whether that meant Sin was bisexual, but he didn't voice them. He didn't think Sin would answer and even if he would, he didn't know what he would do with the information anyway.

It wasn't like it really mattered how many or few people Sin had been with in the past. None of that had anything to do with Boyd.

He finished his potatoes and realized belatedly that he'd forgotten about the toast. It had cooled by then so when he tried to put some butter on one of the triangular half pieces, the crispy part of the bread was mangled more than anything.

They didn't say much through the rest of the meal. Boyd was still a little distracted but Sin seemed pretty normal. Boyd could feel the weight of those green eyes on him more than once, which wasn't unusual. Sin had a tendency to watch him on and off since they'd met.

In the beginning, it had seemed like he was watching for Boyd to slip up on some act. Then it seemed he was watching him to figure out what his motivations were. And later it seemed he was studying him, as if perplexed to find someone like Boyd existed or perhaps trying to determine what made Boyd tick. Whatever the case, it was distracting but Boyd did his best to ignore it. It was stupid of him to be this distracted by the simple questions that had come up between them, anyway.

They hadn't spent too long at the diner by the time they were both finished. They threw their money down and started across the room. Boyd noticed Danielle eyeing him again. She was sitting on one of the bar stools in a quiet conversation with one of the waitresses. Even so, after he and Sin passed he overheard one of them musing, "He's probably gay anyway."