“Are you a good cook?” Gray asked curiously. He unwrapped the sandwich he’d bought for himself and eyed the turkey critically.
Darius turned pensive. “I don’t know. I’m not adventurous in the kitchen, but I can hold my own—I think.” He wiped some mustard from his upper lip. “I use the grill when the weather allows it. Meat, fish, baked potatoes. And now I won’t have to use the shitty one I had on the rooftop of my old apartment. I built a new one as soon as the main house was ready.”
Jeesh. How many cabins did he have up there?
“You’ll probably be surprised at my everyday routine,” Darius noted with a smirk. “It ain’t your average household with modern appliances and comfort.”
Gray had figured as much, but he was still dying to experience it. “As long as I get to see you bake bread again, I’ll be great.”
Darius coughed through a chuckle. “I set a loaf to rise before bed every night. Then it’s ready for the oven first thing when I wake up, and it’s done when I’ve finished my morning chores.”
Chores. Good God. Gray couldn’t help but smile and feel all warm. “I’ve been half-kidding when I’ve mentioned your proper homestead, but it’s legit, isn’t it?”
At that, Darius lifted a shoulder. “It’s the goal, anyway. Being self-reliant is good.” He finished his first hot dog in a final bite. “What about you? Do you like to cook?”
Hmm. Yes and no. He hesitated as he tried to come up with the most truthful response. “I like taking care of people,” he said. “I’ve cooked with Mom my whole life, but I prefer to do the extra things that go on the side. Appetizers. Desserts—I make a mean apple pie. And with all kinds of fruits and berries.” He watched Darius’s eyes practically glow for a beat. “At the place I shared with some buddies from the team, we could only fit two appliances, so we went with a microwave and my ice cream maker.” He took a bite of his sandwich and chewed slowly, thinking. “I’m not the most resourceful when it comes to putting together dinner every day,” he admitted. “My go-to for years has been chicken, rice, and broccoli.”
Darius grimaced.
It made Gray laugh. “You’re gonna eat more vegetables, Dare.”
“Make me,” Darius replied and spilled mustard on the table. “Help me grow them and I’ll eat them, but broccoli will be shot on sight as soon as it enters my property. Nothing green.”
Gray shook his head in amusement.
“Except for sprouts,” Darius said. “I grow sprouts in my windows. That’s enough.”
It was a start.
“You’re cute as fuck sometimes,” Gray said.
Darius shot him a wolfish grin around a mouthful of food. “You’re always cute.”
Gray smirked, even though the comment heated up his face. He didn’t quite know how to interpret it—if it was a dig or a compliment. Probably a dig.They decided to keep driving.
Gray felt more clearheaded now and took the next shift behind the wheel, and he had to admit, the car was fun to drive.
Darius leaned against the corner where the backrest met the door, and he was watching Gray with a tired smile.
“Do I have something on my face?” Gray checked the rearview.
“I’m just lookin’.”
“It’s weird.”
“You’re weird.”
Gray burst out a strangled laugh, almost like a fucking giggle.
Darius grinned and pulled up his knee on the bench seat. Then he turned his head and glanced at a sleeping Jayden, and his expression sobered.
“He’s a good kid,” he murmured.
Gray nodded slowly. Whenever Jayden was the topic, he got this sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew why too. Every mile they put behind them meant less time to spend with the boy. A boy who—other than having had an amazing brother in Jonas—had never experienced the real meaning of family.
“I don’t know how I’m gonna act tomorrow,” Gray confessed. “I feel like I’m betraying him by leaving him with Adeline. Despite that it’s a great place.”
Darius hummed.
“But what’s the alternative?” Gray genuinely didn’t know. He was by no means ready to take care of someone permanently; he was only twenty-one, not to mention fucked in the head after the past several months of agony he’d been through. And even if he were capable, no one would allow it. The state sure as fuck wouldn’t deem him fit to be…what, a foster parent?
“I don’t know,” Darius replied, frowning. “We’re gonna have to come up with a temporary solution if we want him to keep his trust in us, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“He needs a family,” Darius stated. “For that to happen, he’s gotta be able to trust someone who can be there during the transition. Otherwise, with his track record, he’ll split.”
Gray felt queasy at the thought.
“He trusts you the most, knucklehead. So that means—even if he puts on a front tomorrow—he’ll probably want some reassurance. That we’ll come visit him, that we won’t desert him.”