Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 2

Craig filed that detail away like he dragged bits of treasure back to his hoard. Hm. A hoard of Grady...
    He realized he was staring at about the same time Grady got back to his knees and tried to reach the dash radio through the window. His arms were too short, though, and Craig was enjoying the view too much to help. There was no need to panic anyway.
    "I can change back and chase them off in about an hour," Craig offered when Grady was starting to look defeated. "We can just chill until then."
    Giving up, Grady sat down and just looked blankly at the tailgate for a moment before he visibly shook himself.
    "Right, yes. Okay. So." He turned to look at Craig, very obviously going to the effort to keep his eyes on Craig's face. Too cute. "Were-crocodile. Interesting genus. Not one you see in popular media that often, but I'm thinking it's pretty cool."
    "It has its moments." Craig nodded lazily, flopping a hand on his chest. Grady's eyes strayed downward, but just for a moment.
    "May I ask how one ends up a were-crocodile in the Florida Everglades? You look about my age."
    "Eh, I took some time off to see the world before my last year of college. My last destination was backpacking through the jungles of Belize before hitting the beaches. It's a beautiful place— gorgeous sands, lush vegetation, hot guys—" Grady's eyes widened at that, but he didn't seem put off. If anything, he started to look a little more interested. Craig grinned. "I explored some wicked Mayan ruins, but made the mistake of camping on some sacred grounds. Got chomped by a guardian spirit in the middle of the night."
    Grady blinked and seemed at a loss for words. He had really long eyelashes.
    "It's my own fault," Craig admitted readily. "I had already seen some of the famous ones by then— Xunantunich, Cahal Pech— but when I found this unmarked site deep in the jungle, I thought I'd hang out, explore for a few days. Then BAM!"
    Grady startled hard enough to shake the truck. Craig smiled wider but Grady just rolled his eyes.
    "Who would willingly camp out in a wild jungle by themselves?" he asked archly.
    "I wasn't alone. My boyfriend at the time was there, but he didn't really care about the archaeology, he just wanted the beaches. He actually slept through it all." Craig tilted his head back to contemplate the clouds overhead. "I'd always thought he didn't listen to me much. That kind of cemented it."
    "Ah."
    Craig gave him an inquiring look. "'Ah?' Was that a good 'ah' or a bad 'ah'?"
    This time Grady smiled mysteriously and shrugged one shoulder. "It was an 'ah'."
    Craig snorted and closed his eyes again. "What about you, Dr. Doolittle? How'd you end up in the swamp?"
    Chuckling, Grady tried to pull his legs in closer with a wince. "Like I said, I'm just trying to get enough credits to graduate. I have a job lined up at a conservation firm that works with the state lobbyists on environmental policy."
    It was Craig's turn to blink. "That sounds—"
    "Boring? Dull?" Grady prompted wryly.
    "No. Like you're an incredibly smart guy." Craig gave him a pointed once-over. "I think brains are hot."
    Grady blushed and buried his face in his hands. A muffled, "How is this my life?" seeped out.
    Well. Craig felt kind of bad about that one. He was just trying to give him a compliment.
    "Sorry," he offered when Grady let his hands drop again. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
    "I— You—" Grady fumbled for words. "Just, you didn't. You're not. But—"
    "But I'm a little too out there, even if you were interested?" Craig offered with a wistful smile, hoping there were no hard feelings.
    "I— um," Grady cleared his throat roughly. "I'm— I'm interested. I think. I mean, we just met. In a swamp. With hungry crocodiles."
    "Well, when you put it that way, the first date is going to have a hard act to follow."
    Grady laughed, like Craig had intended, and the sound did funny things to Craig's insides. He'd been attracted to guys before, but not like this.
    A comfortable silence descended and Craig tried not to drift off. The mud was baking on his skin, leaving him wonderfully warm, although it was starting to flake. He frowned and scratched at his stomach, intrigued as a chunk of mud fell down to shatter on the floor.
    Grady shifted and Craig looked up at him, catching a glimpse of beautiful green eyes before they darted away from his hands. Nimble fingers plucked at a loose thread from the hole on the knee of his jeans.
    "You're bleeding," Craig