CHAPTER 5 - GUNNER

“So what exactly did my parents tell you?” Layland asked right away.

It hasn't even been seconds since his ass landed on the couch—he and I were sitting on the couches in the living room, facing each other—and yet he was already asking me a question. It's as if he was dying for this conversation to be over and to get away from me as soon as possible, which did not sit right with me. Because for some damned unknown reason, I want him to want to be near me.

“I did not have the chance to talk to them personally. It was my brother who met up with them and talked to them. But they made it clear to Shawn—that’s my brother—that they want me, and only me, to take the assignment of babysitting you.”

Layland’s mouth twitched the moment I mentioned the word babysitting, an indication he didn't like how I called this assignment. “You see this as babysitting, huh?”

“If you think that following you around and making sure you won't get in trouble cannot be considered babysitting, then what do you suggest I call it then?”

“Guarding,” he said right away in a displeased tone. “That's what you are doing right now, old man. You are guarding me because you are my fucking bodyguard.”

I clicked my tongue. “Can you not curse?”

“And yet you're allowed to?”

“I'm an adult. You are—”

“A fucking adult too,” he said, cutting off my sentence, his eyes shooting daggers at me. “Stop treating me like a kid.”

“Well, you are—”

“And you better not call this assignment of yours babysitting again. It sounds fucking insulting to me.”

“I will if you don't call me old man again.” Calling a thirty-one-year-old 'old man' should be a crime. Hasn't he heard the saying that thirty is the new twenty? Hold on, does he even know how old I am? Or do I look old for him to call me one?

Shit. Now it's making me fucking conscious about my look.

“I'll try,” he answered in a deadpan tone.

“Then I'll also just try not to call you a kid and this assignment babysitting,” I responded, which riled him up, his nose flaring and his eyes narrowing.

That reaction of his made me smirk. There's really something about how I am able to rile him up that makes me feel satisfied.

Since he's angry, I expected his anger to burst out. I expected him to retort by cursing me or calling me names, but that did not happen. What he did instead was take deep breaths to calm himself before throwing me another question.

“Did they tell you why I needed to be guarded?”

He made sure to emphasize the word ‘guarded’ as if that would make me say the same thing. Too bad for him because I had no intention of doing that. But I could make today, or at least while we are still talking about this assignment and how we'll do things my way—or his parents' way since they left rules to be followed—an exemption.

“No, they did not. Or at least they did not tell my brother… I guess?” I mean, I wasn't sure about it, but since Shawn said nothing except what I only have to do, then that means Layland's parents said nothing.

Layland raised one of his eyebrows. “And you did not bother to ask? Did you even talk to my parents personally?”

“I will be giving them a call after this,” I answered truthfully.

Alright. I am well aware that my answer just made it sound like I am not taking this assignment seriously or that I am neglecting my job, but I swear that isn't the case at all. I was really meaning to call them. But I had forgotten about it. It slipped off my mind because, first, I just got this assignment yesterday, and I was mad, and my mind was still not fully accepting the fact that my vacation had been cancelled, which made me still salty, and second, it's because of Layland and how he was affecting me. But really, I will be doing it right after this. I've already mentally put it on my most important to-do list.

Layland said nothing, which made me believe that he didn't trust my word. “I swear I'm going to give them a call after this talk that you and I are having. Or do you want me to do it right now so you can see that I'm keeping my word and that I am serious about this job?”

Layland rolled his eyes before speaking. “It's because they don't want the world to know that their only son is gay.”

My forehead knotted. “Huh?”

Layland clicked his tongue. “I thought bodyguards were supposed to be quick and smart.”

Okay, that was insulting. But I decided to not take it to heart because if I reacted to that, Layland would definitely think that he somehow won over me even though there was never a competition to begin with.

Instead of thinking about his insult, I replayed what he said. Contrary to what Layland was saying, I did not need to have a second thought to realize what he was trying to say.

“So my hunch was right,” I said carelessly, words flowing out of my mouth without even realizing I had said it out loud enough for Layland to hear.

It was his turn to frown. “And what do you mean by that?” He seemed to have seen the hesitation in my eyes as he continued to speak after a couple of seconds, “Please don't try to lie because I already can tell that you suck at it. Also, hesitating doesn't look good on you.”

"I agree," I responded immediately. I don't even know why I hesitated when that was something I don't usually do. I am the type of person who always says what I have in mind without thinking twice. Once I decide to do or say something, I always do it head-on.

Maybe because I did not want to offend him?

"So, what was the hunch that you had?" He asked again, one of his eyebrows raised again. "I want to hear it."

"Desperately?" I asked in a joking manner, a wide grin spread across my face.

But Layland didn't like it. In fact, it seemed like that only fueled the fire of irritation he already had, and that made me chuckle.

His lips twitched, looking like he was dying to curse me out, but impressively, he was able to hold himself back.

Seriously, what's happening with him? Is he planning something? Because why is he acting like he wants to be mature and wants to be civil with me when just more than half an hour ago, he flat-out declared that he didn't like me, didn't need me, and didn't want anything to do with me? Just what was going on inside his mind?

I wanted to ask him directly, but because I didn't want to ruin the peace and calmness between us that had just started, I opted to bury those questions and shrugged instead before finally telling him what he wanted to hear.

"Gunner," he called in an irritated and impatient tone.

"Okay. Relax, kid. Be patient, will you?" I sighed before continuing, "After Zach came into the picture, I did a lot of thinking and ended up having the hunch that your sexual orientation and your preference could be the main reason for this babysitting job. And now you just confirmed that I was right."

"I'm glad that you're not as stupid and as naive as I thought you'd be," Layland said with a smirk.

"I don't appreciate you repeatedly calling me stupid, young man," I retorted in a serious voice, wanting Layland to listen to me.

But of course, he did not and just rolled his eyes at me before going on to ask another question. "Are you okay with it?"

"If you're asking about whether I am okay or not with the fact that you're gay, then my answer is I am totally okay with it. I already told you, kid. I respect other people's orientation and preference. I have no problem with it."

"Are you sure?"

"I am."

"You're confident that you won't change your mind in the long run?"

My forehead furrowed. "You are not the first gay person I have encountered, Layland, so yes, I am confident that I won't change my mind and will turn into an asshole in the long run."

Layland did not speak after that. He just stared at me, looking into my eyes intently as if he was trying to find something in there.

After a couple of minutes, a sigh of relief came out of his mouth, and he finally spoke again.

"Alright. If you say so," he said, sounding a bit exhausted. It's as if he had just gone through a mental battle with himself. I wondered why he sounded like that, but before I could even voice out the question I had in my mind, Layland had already posed another question. "Then, let us talk about the rules my parents had set for you to initiate and for me to follow."

I immediately sat straight. I don't care anymore why he started acting like he really wanted to listen. I am just glad that he's finally open for a decent conversation regarding the rules. And hopefully, just like how he had changed his mind about being a little bit civilized with me, he would also learn to accept and follow the rules his parents had set up because this assignment cannot work with just me doing my part. I need him to cooperate too. But if he can't, well, I guess I will just need to use a little, like a very little, force on him.