Foxe Hunt Read Online Free PDF

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    Skyler clambered into Keith’s tall truck, but he had to admit it wasn’t a bad or bumpy ride. Keith drove to a small Italian restaurant off of State tucked between a florist and a shoe shop.
    It was one of those pricey places Skyler had always wanted to try but could never find an excuse to spend the money.
    When they were settled at their candlelit table, jackets draped over their chairs, Skyler edged forward. “Look, Keith. I think we should split the bill.”
    Keith scanned his menu, never bothering to glance at Skyler.
    “Nope.”
    Skyler laid his menu flat on the table. “W-what?”
    “I said no. I asked you out. I want to buy.”
    “I know, but…”
    The menu lowered and those ice blue eyes bored into his.
    “I’m paying. End of discussion.” The menu rose and obscured him again.
    Why don’t you just hit me over the head with your club and drag me by the hair to your cave? Who did this guy think he was? So he was big and muscular. So what? So what if that image of him dragging Skyler to a cave suddenly turned him on.
    Whoa. Wait.
    He grabbed his water glass and drank half of it down. A little voice in his head that sounded remarkably like Sidney said, Just Foxe hunt 27
    relax, Skyler. Don’t make a scene. Let the man pay .
    What the hell. He picked up his menu and decided on the shrimp scaloppini. And it was expensive, too. Ha!
    They ate. They drank wine. They chatted. It was very easy to chat with Keith Fletcher. Skyler had had a taste of it here and there when Keith arrived at the high school to replace the pregnant biology teacher just a month ago. But so much else had been happening and Keith seemed odd at times, sometimes blowing up in a rage and at other times being a real sweet guy.
    The mood swings always seemed to have to do with football.
    Coach Scott Carson was a real hard ass and a homophobe of the first order. Not that Skyler had ever let on that he was gay.
    Only the principal knew that. But Coach Carson seemed to have exceptional gaydar about Skyler. Maybe he had an inkling about his assistant coach, too. Skyler decided to ask.
    “Does Carson know you’re gay?”
    Keith choked a bit on his wine. “Uh… no . And I’d like to keep it that way.”
    “No sweat. Me too. Not particularly anxious for the Christian Coalition to picket outside my classroom.”
    “Amen,” said Keith.
    “Were you out at your other school? In Seattle?”
    He nodded and placed his wine glass carefully above his plate.
    “It wasn’t an issue. I mean there as well as in California, they can’t legally fire anyone for their sexual orientation.”
    “Oh yeah. Except while they aren’t doing that, they’ll find some other way to get rid of you.”
    They fell silent for a moment. “You mean like starting something with a fellow employee?” said Keith quietly.
    “Something like that.”
    Keith nodded and looked up. His eyes kept a rigid bead on Skyler’s gray ones. “It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”
    His intense gaze caused Skyler’s breath to catch. “Oh,” he 28 Haley Walsh
    breathed.
    Keith looked at both their empty dessert plates. “Ready to go?”
    “Yeah. Uh…thanks for dinner. It was really nice.”
    “Yeah it was. The company made it that much better.”
    Skyler felt his face grow hot. He couldn’t be blushing in front of this guy, could he? He hid it by reaching for his coat and slipping it on. It also helped to distract him as Keith laid the cash on the table.
    They walked along State Street, looking into the darkened shop windows of antiques, fashionable eyewear, and books. The trees sported white twinkly lights wrapped around their trunks, giving the small street its own quaint ambience. Skyler suddenly wished he was some place like Palm Springs or San Francisco where he could take Keith’s arm. He had to make do with walking as close to him as he could, brushing against him and inhaling whiffs of his cologne.
    “I can see why you stayed in Redlands all your life,” said