Deserted - Auctioned

“Oh, f—” Jayden slapped a hand over his mouth.

Gray shook his head in amusement and drove farther into the forest.

Tonight, when he dropped Jayden off again, he hoped to see the other three children. Since Gray and Darius always waited outside, they’d only spotted Justin and the girls in passing a couple times. But Gray would venture to call the other kids Jayden’s friends now, so he wanted to at least meet them properly. Obviously under the ruse of bringing baked goods to the night personnel.

“I thought we could make more cinnamon rolls today,” Gray said.

They were Darius’s current obsession, and he could go through a whole batch of them in a single weekend.

Good thing Mom’s recipe was awesome.

“Again?” Jayden huffed and swung his legs against the seat, unable to sit still.

Gray chuckled. “We can bake something else too.”

To be honest, he loved his new role at Darius’s place. They were equals and worked together like a well-oiled machine. When Darius made bread in the morning, Gray prepared eggs and coffee. Then they sat down and talked throughout breakfast about the plans for the day—from training and chores around the house, to appointments and errands. Recently, it involved work for Darius too. And while he was at the restaurant, Gray checked things off his to-do list so they could have dinner as soon as Darius came home.

Tonight would be his first late shift, and Gray and Jayden would come down there for dinner.

Gray was equal parts anxious and excited about it. Quinn’s Fish Camp was a popular place, Abel had told him when they’d talked the other day. There would be a lot of people. But Gray didn’t want to miss it, and Jayden had talked about it all week.

“Can I play with Darius first?” Jayden asked. “He’s gonna teach me how to throw knives.”

Of course he was. “Sure.” That was perfectly normal when you were eight years old. Well, to Darius, it probably was. Gray hadn’t been quite as outdoorsy growing up.

It was a good thing Darius had thought about removing Jayden’s knives from his backpack, though. Gray sure as hell hadn’t remembered—until he’d seen the knives on the living room table in the cabin. Darius had cleaned and sharpened them for the kid. He’d also rounded the tips, which Gray thought was brilliant.Gray had just taken the cinnamon rolls out of the oven when he heard a short, terrified scream coming from outside. His heart jumped up into his throat as he bolted out of the kitchen and toward the entryway, where he tore open the door and ran out barefoot.

The first thing he saw was Darius carrying a crying Jayden toward the cabin with brisk steps and a grim expression.

“What happened?” Gray jogged down the steps, ignoring the cold mud he landed in, and closed the distance.

“He wanted to see if his Aquaman figure could swim and fell in,” Darius replied.

“Oh God.” Gray was glad it wasn’t worse than that, but the worry lingered. Even though the stream was shallow, perhaps three feet at most, it would be deep enough to scare Jayden, who probably couldn’t swim.

“I don’t think he’s soaked through.” Darius climbed the steps and headed inside, kicking off his boots in the entryway. “I pulled him out the second he was down—I managed to grab his arm.”

Gray followed them toward the bathroom and tried to get his heartbeat to calm the fuck down.

In the meantime, Jayden wouldn’t stop crying.

“I got you. We’ll get you dry and warm in a minute.” Darius pressed a kiss to the side of Jayden’s wet hair and sat down with him on the closed toilet. “Let’s get these off, yeah?”

Gray grabbed a fresh towel from the cabinet under the sink before helping with the clothes. Jayden’s jacket was heavy and drenched, as were his jeans and boots. The top of his head wasn’t wet, so he couldn’t have gone under completely.

“I don’t know w-why I’m crying,” he sobbed. “I’m not a c-crybaby.”

“Oh, sweetheart. It’s okay. You got scared.” Gray threw the wet clothes into the shower while Darius got rid of his hoodie and tee. The latter was almost dry. “Do you think a hot cocoa with extra whipped cream might help?”

“Maybe,” Jayden cried. “We should t-try.”

Gray suppressed a pinch of mirth and wiped the boy’s cheeks with his thumbs. Sweet kid, tears were really streaming down. “We definitely should. Do you wanna help me, or should I meet you and Darius in the living room?”

Darius cleared his throat. “I don’t think he’s letting go anytime soon.” He winced slightly, and Gray saw that Jayden was digging his fingernails into Darius’s neck.

Gray offered a look of sympathy and wrapped the towel around Jayden’s shoulders. “Maybe if you get comfortable on the couch.”

Darius inclined his head and rose from the toilet.