Deserted - Cara Dee Page 0,30

pack your things? We’ll be up in a bit.”

Dammit. That could only mean one thing. Someone wanted to speak in private.

“Okay. Are you gonna decide where we go today?” Jayden accepted the key.

Darius nodded. “That’s right.”

“Cool. Remember, I have never seen mountains.” Jayden smiled innocently and hurried up the stairs.

“Wait till he sees the mountains back home.” Gray watched the kid scurry toward their room and hoped he would like Camassia.

Darius hummed. “How did you sleep?”

Gray didn’t bother lying. “Not well.”

Darius nodded with a dip of his chin and blew out some smoke. “You were restless when I woke up. Figured it was best to get Jayden out of there.”

“I appreciate it,” Gray replied honestly. He took another swig of his coffee and waited. There was more to come. Darius would dig. He’d ask about the nightmares or something.

The bastard kept observing.

It was unnerving.

And annoying.

Darius flicked away some ashes and scratched his bicep. He was wearing jeans and a tee too, and he looked…warm. Warm and inviting. Gray’s memories were too vivid. He remembered the softness of Darius’s stomach, how fuzzy his happy trail felt… When he stretched his arms over his head in the morning, his ribs would almost show. It was strange. He was fit and strong—and so solid—and yet he was the perfect pillow.

Gray missed him.

Fuck.

He threw out a question he’d had since dinner. “Why did you make guesses about Jayden’s background last night?”

Darius took a last drag before he stubbed out his cigarette. “Confirmations are short. Explanations as to why something isn’t correct usually provide more details. It’s ingrained to offer a reason when the answer is no.” He paused. “For instance, I offer you coffee. If you want it, you say yes please. Or thanks. Short. But if you don’t want any, you never simply say no. You explain that you’re not in the mood or that you’ve already had a cup.”

Jesus Christ, the man knew people in ways Gray never would. Rather, Darius understood people. He understood human behavior.

“It also helps when the memory’s hazy,” Darius said. “We can’t always pinpoint specifics, but we can usually narrow things down. In other words, a direct question might make Jayden hesitate and get lost. But tell him something he knows is wrong, and he will get help from muscle memory and instinct.”

Gray shook his head, admiring the fuck out of the man’s brain. “You’re good.”

“I have over twenty years on you.”

So?

“Age doesn’t make you intelligent,” Gray retorted. “I’ve never met anyone who can read others as well as you do.”

Darius chuckled under his breath and stuck his hands down into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s a curse sometimes.”

Gray lifted his brows in question and took a sip of his coffee.

“You can’t be in the same room as someone you care about without touching them,” Darius told him. “You speak through touch, whether it’s affectionate or not.” It was possible Gray had heard that before once or twice. Or a hundred times. “Especially with Abel, your mom, and now Jayden.”

Gray was unsure of where this was going—

“You stopped being that way with me.” Darius smiled faintly and rubbed the back of his neck. Shit. If Gray didn’t know any better, he’d say Darius was uncomfortable. “I guess that makes you stronger than—” When Gray scoffed, Darius sighed and added, “On that point, anyway. For chrissakes, you’re not weak.”

“Don’t change the subject—”

“No, actually, we will,” Darius told him. “I was thinking. While we’re on the road, we should get started on your training. You’re ready. Your fuse isn’t as short as it was in Florida.”

That gave Gray pause. He was stuck on why Darius felt weak when it came to them…being closer? Or however he was supposed to put it. It made Gray want to pick Darius’s brain to find out every aspect of his side of their attachment. At least Gray was open with his sexuality. He’d never been interested in women. Ever. And Darius was the fucking opposite, though there’d been hints… Either way, he was a straight dude who’d spent several weeks banging Gray. And frankly, Gray had had enough of playing with straight-not-so-straight men. Add their trauma into the mix, and it was future heartbreak in the making.

Because it was easy to see how that would end. Gray would fall in love. He’d depend on Darius too much, who would eventually leave.

Which ultimately became the reason Gray let that go and refocused on the topic change about making him stronger. Darius thought he