but he didn’t look up from his search. He bet his face was flaming red. Where is it?
There was the clunk of car doors, the crunch of feet on gravel. Nick’s voice. “Hey, Brian, what’re you doing?”
“I dropped a key.” He tilted his head, trying to see if the light caught anything shiny.
“I come second to a key these days?”
The humor in Nick’s voice had a little echo of something else— hurt maybe— enough to make Brian look up and scramble to his feet. “No! Sorry! I—” His thoughts got lost in the shine of Nick’s eyes and the curve of his mouth and the swoop of his dark hair. Then Brian’s brain caught up with the fact that Nick was right there, within reach, on the other side of the gate. He slammed against the gate and grabbed Nick’s arms, ignoring the way the bar jammed into his chest.
Nick pressed up close, digging his fingers into Brian’s hair, pulling his head down. Their mouths met, smooshed together, almost too hard, then eased enough to become a kiss. Nick’s hands on his head steadied him, and his lips plucked at Brian’s, then softened, turning the kiss slow and warm.
Eventually they eased back. Brian stared into Nick’s pretty gold-gray eyes. “You’re here. Really here.”
“I said I would be.”
“I know… It hasn’t felt quite real.”
Charlie said, “Two days of driving feels damned real to me.” He raised an eyebrow at them, from where he stood leaning on the open passenger door. “One boyfriend delivered, safe and sound.”
Nick turned to glance at him. “Delivered? Hah. I did the driving.”
“I navigated.”
“We used Google Maps.”
“I kept you from falling asleep behind the wheel with my witty repartee.”
Brian felt bubbly. “You’re both here.”
Charlie quirked a grin at him. “Although still on the other side of a gate.”
“Oh— it’s not locked. Come on in. I need to find this key.” He let go of Nick and bent to scan the ground again. “I’m such a klutz.”
“No worries.” Nick swung over the gate and bent to look. “What does it look like?”
“A regular one. Silver. I should’ve put it on my keychain.” He kicked a clump of grass aside.
Nick paused to scratch Luger’s ruff as the dog leaned against his leg, tail waving. “Key for what?”
“The big barn.” Brian tried to sound casual. “There’s been a bit of vandalism going around. Doc— Zander said we should start locking the buildings at night.”
“Makes sense. It sucks that there are punks everywhere.” Nick bent and reached under a milkweed. “This it?”
“Yes!” Brian took the key with relief. “Hey, can you pull up that milkweed and toss it over the fence? They’re poison to the goats.”
“Sure.” Nick tugged the plant up and winged it over the wire. “You’re learning farm stuff, huh?”
“Yeah. It’s cool.” He stuffed the key in his pocket. “Thanks.” Nick was standing right beside him, rumpled and grinning in the low North Carolina sunshine, and he had to reach out and grab him and wrap him in tight. Nick hugged him back, arms snug across his back, his smaller body fitting perfectly in Brian’s hold. Brian swayed side to side and buried his face in the faintly sweat-scented curve of Nick’s neck. “You’re here. You’re here. You’re here.” He knew it sounded stupid and couldn’t care. Tears prickled his eyes.
Nick chuckled, soft and low. “Wait till we’re at the motel tonight and you’ll find out how here I am.”
Brian sniffled and let go. “Which motel? Not that last one?” The previous visit, Nick had stayed at a local moldy dump that had nothing good about it except a private room with a door that locked. Which, yeah, had been amazingly good, but the bed had been musty and hard.
“No, we found a better place. Out by the highway. We stopped to leave the truck there and make sure we had rooms.”
“Oh. That’s why you were late. Two separate rooms?”
Nick gave him a shove. “Of course, two rooms. Charlie might be up for a three-way, but I’m not.”
Charlie said, “I like three-ways. But I’ve a feeling when the two of you get going, Colby Keller could walk in and start stripping, and you wouldn’t even notice. I don’t play third fiddle.”
Brian ducked to hide his flush. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Better than Colby Keller.” Charlie laughed. “Not like that! I mean, you’re a friend. A good friend.” He couldn’t help asking, “Are you sure you want to stay here? There’s not much to do. And share a place