Deserted - Auctioned

It didn’t feel like the right moment, when they were gearing up to go kill someone, but dammit if he didn’t want to tell Darius that he was so fucking in love with him.EighteenBy five in the morning the following day, Gray and Darius had Camassia Cove in their rearview.

The heavy-duty truck was loaded with survivalist gear, one ATV, and food. Stops would be avoided on the way down, including a night in a hotel. They’d find a campsite along the way and get some rest. But one way or another, they had approximately thirty hours to make it to Southern California, effectively eliminating the option of taking it easy. They’d drive in shifts and stop to stretch, basically.

It was Wednesday, and the clock was ticking.

Willow had checked Warren’s schedule and made sure he was working tomorrow, meaning he wouldn’t be making a quick trip to see Jackie today. She was ready to cause technical issues with his car if he got any ideas.

Gray yawned and took a sip of his coffee. He’d set up a spread on the wide console between the seats, complete with coffee in a thermos, sandwiches, and cinnamon roll bites. And on the floor of the back seat were two coolers of food that would keep them out of any restaurants along the way.

Both a time-saver and a way to ensure they didn’t end up on any unnecessary surveillance footage. It was enough that they’d have to stop for gas a few times. It was a gas guzzler of a truck.

“I’m not letting you make breakfast again when we get home.” Darius dipped into the bag of cinnamon roll bites and grabbed a couple pieces. “This shit’s dangerous.”

Gray grinned lazily and put up one foot on the glove box. “I like feeding my beast.”

“That beast of yours likes to be able to walk too,” he muttered.

Gray chuckled. “But you’re smoking less, aren’t you? It feels like it.”

Darius nodded with a dip of his chin. “I’m doing that thing I swore never to do.”

“What, try not to get cancer?”

“Yup.” Darius brushed some sugar off his fingers on his jeans. “A couple weeks ago when we worked out in the yard, you were doing squats. I counted them—twenty in each set—and I figured you’d rest in between like a normal person. But nah. That’s when you started doing backflips right where you stood.” He scratched his scruffy jaw while Gray cracked up. “You could say it put shit in perspective.”

Gray reached over and squeezed Darius’s leg. “I love that you’re trying. It means a lot to me. I wanna keep you around for a long time.”

Darius caught Gray’s hand and kissed his knuckles.“You know what we gotta do when we get home?” Gray asked. He checked the rearview before he switched lanes to pass a band of trucks carrying lumber. “It starts with T and ends with omatoes.”

Darius smiled drowsily and clasped his hands over his stomach. “Finally. I’ll need a couple weeks to finish the greenhouse.”

“That’s fine. We’ll plant the seeds indoors first.” Gray had studied Darius’s plans for the property, and the empty half across the stream would be filled with crops. A greenhouse would take up about a third of the area, leaving enough space for produce like potatoes, carrots, and some other stuff. The greenhouse would essentially be reserved for temperature-sensitive plants and crops that grew aboveground. And there was a reason Gray had checked out Darius’s notes… “Speaking of, you have a birthday coming up soon.”

Darius furrowed his brow. “Who told you that?”

Willow. “That’s confidential.”

Darius snorted.

If this was his reaction now, wait till Gray got to celebrate him properly. He wanted to go all out, and he’d already come up with a theme for the gifts. But for one of them, he sort of needed permission.

“By the way, how is that speaking of?” Darius wondered.

“Because it’s related to growing things,” Gray replied. “When I saw Mom yesterday, she went on about the orchard Aiden is preparing for her, and it got me thinking. Maybe I could give you that for your birthday…? According to her, you can get almost fully mature trees from nurseries that are just a year or two away from bearing fruit.” He shifted in his seat, a little uncomfortable. It would be the first permanent fixture of the cabin he’d be responsible for, and he didn’t want to step on any toes too soon. “She told me I’d need at least two trees. Something about them pollinating each other, which, if you ask me, sounds dirty AF.” Shit, he needed to stop rambling. “Anyway. I looked at your plans, and there’s open space at the end of…whatyouwannacallit. Or if you want them around the cabin. I don’t know. I was just thinking.”

He was met by silence, and it was the one thing he couldn’t handle. Not right now. Not after that embarrassing harangue, so he side-eyed Darius and found him smiling.