Free The Gravedigger's Brawl by Abigail Roux Page A

don’t know. I know I’d be kind of pissy.”
    â€œGoddammit.”
    Noah was silent for a long time as Wyatt mulled over the issues. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Ash even more or, God forbid, piss him off. But his job was the most important thing in his life and he took it very seriously. Sure, it was an unusual way of working, but so was trying to put together a major exhibit in less than a week.
    Noah pushed his Cheetos bag aside and leaned forward over the table. “You really liked him?”
    Wyatt met his eyes.
    â€œAnd I don’t mean you really liked fucking him, ’cause I can see how that would be fun for both of you. I mean you liked him .”
    Wyatt swallowed hard, and thought about the hours he and Ash had spent talking that night before they had ever gone the step further. Wyatt had been comfortable with him even in the middle of a crowded, rowdy gaslight bar. “Yeah.”
    â€œOkay.” Noah nodded and sat for a while, studying Wyatt. “Well, you’re a bit of a dumbass. And it probably won’t work anyway ’cause Ash doesn’t seem the type to take shit from many people. But if you’re serious, I might be able to talk to him. Convince him it would be a favor to me to help out on this, get you two to spend some more time together. Without fucking!” he said, pointing his finger in Wyatt’s face.
    â€œDeal.”
    Noah sat back and nodded. “And I’ll ask Caleb tonight about any ghost story type things he or his crew might know.”
    Wyatt raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Tonight, huh?”
    To Wyatt’s surprise, Noah blushed. He shrugged and shifted in his seat and grinned. “We may have really hit it off.”
    It was so rare to see Noah being coy, Wyatt was tempted to prod for more details just to watch him squirm.
    But then Noah glared. “Unlike you, however, we didn’t fall into bed together quite so hastily. You slut.”
    â€œCouch and floor still count as falling into bed together.”
    â€œShut up.” Noah gathered his Cheetos and stood. “I’ll meet you at the staff door at five, okay? Quit looking at me like that! Go do your job!”
    Wyatt chuckled as Noah walked away. He didn’t have much hope of Ash changing his mind, but the mere prospect was enough to get him through the rest of the day.
    At ten minutes to five, he stood outside the staff entrance, basking in the weak warmth of the sun as he waited for Noah to show. Roughly fifteen minutes after five, Noah came tumbling out of the building, the strap of his leather satchel snug against his chest and his hands full of papers, his coat, his umbrella, and another large black bag.
    â€œWhat is all this?” Wyatt asked as Noah piled some of the things into his arms and grunted in greeting.
    â€œI did some preliminary research,” he said as he dug in Wyatt’s pocket for his car keys.
    â€œHey!” Wyatt twisted away from Noah’s groping hand. “Private property, asshole.”
    â€œThat’s not the current rumor, you whore.”
    â€œShut up,” Wyatt laughed. Noah snagged his keys and nodded at Wyatt’s car.
    â€œLet’s stash this shit in your backseat. Does that stupid freaking tin can even have a back seat?”
    â€œYes.” They trekked over to the staff parking lot where Wyatt’s car sat in the space reserved for the head curator. They stacked all the files Noah had been carrying in the backseat, and then Noah hefted his satchel into it as well. His coat and umbrella went next, and then he set the black bag down on the trunk and unzipped it.
    Wyatt peered over the car at Noah’s bowed head. “What’s that?”
    â€œCamera.” Noah grunted as he extracted a large SLR digital camera and inserted a memory card. “Signed it out for research.”
    â€œNice.”
    â€œI know, I’m a freaking genius.” Noah straightened back up