Gravity (Greenford #2) - Romeo Alexander Page 0,18

between patches of lush grass.

Sam glanced at him, a playful glint to his gaze. “As a matter of fact, I do, especially on days when I have to show up in court and can’t wear my fun ties.”

Caleb snorted, only then realizing that he’d asked about the man’s underwear as if that were a normal topic. “You never were able to get over having to wear ‘boring’ ties to court. I’m surprised your boss let you get away with it in the office.”

“I think he was picking his battles,” Sam said with a shrug.

Caleb knew a little something about that, or at least, he told himself he did. He wasn’t always the best when it came to Sam, as it felt like they had always been willing to bicker and battle with one another. Yet it was all too easy, walking in the bright morning sunshine, both of them smiling and relaxing, to remember how great they had been together.

Oh, there were the fights and the head butting, but there had been moments of warmth and affection too. Those moments stood out even stronger in his memory, perhaps because they contrasted with how tense and combative some of the other memories were. Those were times when they both found it in themselves to relax and let their guards down.

Times like talking late into the night, snickering at each other in a dark bedroom, knowing they both had to be up early and not caring. Moments like holding Sam against his chest as they lay on the couch or sat on the floor together, and they would talk, or Sam would talk, and Caleb would listen to him, wrapped up in the latest story.

Snow wasn’t unusual in Portland in mid-February. But having snow that didn’t end up slush within minutes was pretty rare. To have it happen on a night where the weather wasn’t bitter and windy had seemed downright impossible. Yet it had happened, and for whatever reason, Sam hadn’t been content to simply watch the snow from inside the warmth of his apartment.

Which was precisely how Caleb had been roped into walking through the nearby streets with him. Fat, fluffy snow fell around them, driving people into their homes and keeping all but the most desperate or determined drivers home. The neighborhood where Sam lived was fairly quiet, but it felt almost like a ghost town as they walked side by side, bundled up in their winter clothes.

“I used to do this as a kid,” Sam told him after several minutes of quiet.

“Walk through snowstorms in the middle of the night?” Caleb asked.

Sam nudged him, snickering. “Not the middle of the night, don’t be an ass. I was only a kid, I couldn’t be out too late.”

This was shaping up to be one of those rare moments where Sam felt like sharing, so Caleb dutifully toned back the teasing. “Okay. So, you used to walk outside at night?”

“Winter nights were my favorite, especially when it was snowing.”

“Why’s that?”

“Well,” Sam said, gazing up at the sky with a peaceful expression on his face. “I always liked how peaceful it was. My mom always complained that winter felt like the world died, and it was weird being outside when there was a lot of snow. I guess that’s why she hoofed it for southern Texas as fast as she could after I moved out.”

Caleb nodded. “But you didn’t think that?”

“No. I loved it. Always felt like I’d stepped out into a different version of the world I knew. Where everyone was gone, and there was just me and the world. There was something a little sad about the thought, but it always felt exciting and yet...peaceful.”

“I used to do it too,” Caleb admitted. “But the quiet wasn’t my favorite part.”

Sam looked at him, cocking his head. “Really? You always like the quiet.”

Caleb shrugged. “And I got a lot of it.”

Sam’s hand squeezed between them, his gloved fingers curling into Caleb’s. “Alright. What would you say was your favorite thing about walking at night during the winter?”

Caleb turned, looking around until he found what he was looking for. He pointed toward a window on the main floor of an apartment building across the street from them. The curtains were open, and as he watched, a woman walked into her living room, a steaming cup of something in one hand and a cat toy in the other. A second later, a furry body sprang into view, yanking the toy clean from her hand