Love Ahead: Expect Delays (10 page)

road and into a truck stop.

Austin parked the Lincoln to the side of the minimart. He couldn’t fill up the

car, since his wallet was in the Spectrum. He remained in shadow, where he could

keep an eye on Zach and Dave. He rifled once more through the belongings but

found nothing that could be used as a weapon.

Zach stayed in the car. Austin watched Dave fill the tank. Loathing crawled

over Austin. He wanted to kill that man.

The entire drive Austin had been imagining what his life would be like without

Zach around. The strength of horror that filled him answered any lingering

questions he had about the depth of his feelings toward Zach.

Without Zach’s smile, his optimism and romantic spirit and humor and

affection, Austin’s life would be bleak at best. He hadn’t realized how addicted he’d

become to the relaxed happiness he felt when Zach was with him, but it had

happened. He loved Zach and couldn’t bear returning to a life without him.

Austin popped the trunk and stepped out of the car. He quickly searched the

trunk, glancing up frequently to make sure Zach and Dave weren’t about to drive off

without him. In the trunk of the Lincoln, he found a spare tire and short but heavy

crowbar. He shut the trunk and stood beside the car, at the ready. The snow fell

lightly now. The bulk of the storm had passed farther north, but it was still only a

degree or two above freezing, and within seconds Austin started shaking again.

Dave finished filling the tank, then opened the driver’s-side door. He forcefully

yanked Zach out of the car.

Alarm rushed through Austin.

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Austin couldn’t hear what Dave said, but Zach’s expression instantly dulled,

and he walked forward, Dave following a step behind. Terror seized Austin.
He’s

going to shoot Zach
. As the men passed under the station lights, Austin saw the

bruises on Zach’s face, his bloody nose and red-rimmed eyes, and the tumult of fear

in Austin’s heart went instantly quiet.

Cold, pure hate saturated Austin. Guilt and doubt faded. He was going to kill

Dave. Nothing else mattered.

Zach marched stiffly through the snow, Dave urging him forward with the gun.

They did not enter the gas station. Instead Dave shoved Zach to the side of the

building, behind a Dumpster.

Austin burst into a run.

* * *

Zach was jerked from the car by his coat. The movement caught him by

surprise, and he stumbled out of the car.

He moved to raise his hands, but Dave stabbed the pistol sharply into Zach’s

lower back.

“Put your hands down!” Dave whispered from behind. “Walk forward, you son

of a bitch, and look natural or I’ll fucking kill you!”

Dave directed him to the side of the convenience store. “Go all the way back by

the Dumpster.”

Terror filled Zach. In that blackened corner, Dave could easily shoot him, since

there was no place to run or hide. Yet he stepped forward, scared into following

orders.

The darkness of the narrow space between the Dumpster and the building

swallowed Zach. He slipped on thick ice and steadied himself against the cold brick

wall.

A shadow moved to his right. Fear locked his throat shut. He turned.

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65

Austin stepped out of the darkness and smashed a crowbar against the side of

Dave’s face.

Dave crumpled instantly. He fell in a heap at Zach’s feet. Austin kicked Dave

in the gut, picked up his dropped pistol, and then hovered over the body for a

moment, uncertain.

“Austin!” Zach croaked, too stunned with shock and relief to say more.

Austin pulled Zach to him in an urgent embrace. Zach held him tightly, joy

filling him entirely. Austin’s body shook violently, whether from adrenaline or the

cold, Zach didn’t know. He held Austin tighter, hoping to warm him.

Austin pushed Zach against the cold wall and kissed him. His lips were like

ice.

“Jesus, are you okay?” Austin cradled Zach’s face. Austin looked terrified.

Zach was still too stunned to speak, so he just nodded. He placed his hand

against Austin’s shirt, felt his frantic heartbeat.

“I thought you were dead,” Zach said, his voice breaking. He dragged his sleeve

over his eyes. “I thought I’d lost you.”

Austin gripped him again. They held each other silently. To Zach’s

amazement, he felt the rhythmic tremble in Austin’s body, heard him sniff, and

realized he was crying.

“God, you’re freezing!” Zach unzipped his coat, shed it quickly, and helped

Austin pull it on. Zach’s arms were shorter than Austin’s, but Austin looked too

grateful to complain.

Sirens sounded nearby. “I dialed 911 before getting out of the car,” he said.

Austin stared down at Dave’s unmoving body. “Good.” He gently prodded

Dave’s leg with his foot. “I wonder if I killed him.”

“I think he’s still breathing,” Zach said after a moment.

“I don’t care either way,” Austin said.

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“Neither do I, but it’ll be less trouble for us if the bastard is still alive.” A police

prowler pulled into the truck stop. “Come on. Let’s go talk to them.” He moved to

step out of the shadows, but Austin grabbed his sleeve and held him back.

“Wait. Zach.” Austin swallowed. His teeth chattered. “I really love you.”

Zach’s chill faded instantly. He blinked back tears. “Hold on, Austin. I’ll be

right back.”

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Chapter Seven

Tuesday, December 7

It took nearly three hours with Wyoming State Patrol to clear up the night’s

events before Zach and Austin were allowed to go. They gave separate accounts to

officers inside the convenience store, out of the storm. An ambulance carted Dave

away, and an EMT bandaged Austin’s twisted ankle.

The police in turn informed them David Magnusson was indeed a recently

paroled violent offender who had stolen a weapon and kidnapped and killed a

woman by the name of Margaret Wheatlock. Dave’s ex-girlfriend Bethany was

notified of his release and subsequent capture.

By the time they were set free, it was four in the morning. They grabbed their

bags out of the Spectrum, stumbled across the street to a trucker motel called the

Budget Chalet, and got a room. Austin curled protectively around Zach, and they

both slept like the dead.

Austin didn’t wake up until noon. Light streamed in through the grungy motel

windows, illuminating a blank white landscape and sunny skies. Austin stretched,

his body achy from the previous night’s tensions. He unwound the bandage on his

ankle and prodded it gently. The swelling was nearly gone.

Austin leaned over Zach and brushed his dark hair up into a spike on his head.

Zach slept on, curled to face Austin. His nose was a little swollen, and a bruise

marred his right cheek. But there was a smile on his lips. Dark stubble covered his

face, and long, dark eyelashes formed crescents under his eyes. He smelled sleepy

and warm. Austin kissed his lips.

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The gratitude Austin felt, having Zach with him, alive and well, was all-

embracing and whole. He could think of no one or thing more precious to him at

that moment, and he knew he’d do anything to preserve this, to keep what they had

safe.

Zach blinked and opened his eyes. He stretched. “Morning,” he said, his voice

croaky with sleep.

Austin looked at him intently.

“What?” Zach asked. He narrowed his eyes. “You’re looking at me funny. Is my

nose crooked?”

“No.” Austin smiled. “You look amazing.”

Zach grinned.

“You feel all right?” Austin asked.

Zach nodded. “I was more scared than hurt. I’m still just amazed and grateful

that you’re alive.” He stroked Austin’s body, and Austin reciprocated the gesture.

The two kissed and felt each other in a lazy exploration of flesh. Austin’s

arousal wasn’t hungry but instead was a gentle thing, blooming with each caress.

Their kiss was like speaking—sharing words that were silent.

Austin slid Zach’s boxers off. He ran his fingers down Zach’s hairy, warm

chest, and turned to take Zach deep into his mouth. He felt Zach’s hands, blazing

hot against his inner thighs, spreading open Austin’s legs. Austin’s breath caught in

his throat.

Zach kissed wetly down Austin’s shaft, and Austin groaned, his voice muffled

around Zach’s heavy cock. They found a rhythm together, a slow and lazy push and

pull, Austin’s world dissolving into only Zach’s body, being filled by him, filling him.

All his senses converged into this one intense, wet heat, pleasure expanding and

racing through his nerves. He wished he could hold back, but Zach urged him wider

and cupped his balls. Austin came, surprised by the speed of it on such a languid

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morning, dazed by how quickly it had grown from a mellow pleasure to all-out

ecstasy.

He clasped Zach’s buttocks and pulled him to his face, and Zach writhed,

pumping his hips. Austin coaxed him into his climax, feeling Zach’s rapture in each

clutching grasp. They lay there panting afterward, Austin too glutted on pleasure to

even bother turning around.

“I can’t get enough of this view,” Zach commented from between Austin’s legs.

He rested his head on Austin’s inner thigh, and his breath caressed the sensitive

skin beneath Austin’s scrotum. It tickled, but Austin didn’t pull away.

“I suppose you want to hit the road,” Austin said after a while.

Zach was quiet for a moment. He turned his head and kissed Austin’s thigh.

“Nah, not yet. Let’s sleep more and do that again.”

Austin found the energy needed to turn around and pull Zach to him. “We only

have one more day to make it to your folks’ house before Hanukkah is officially

over.”

“I know,” Zach said. “But this was a trip about you and me as well, and after

last night I just want to have you. We’ll get there tomorrow and have a whole day to

spend with family. For now I want to be with you alone.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Zach reached up and touched Austin’s rough cheek. “You’re my hero,

you know.”

Austin swallowed. “
I’m
the one who put you in danger. If I hadn’t been such an

idiot and—”

Zach kissed him. Thoughts fled Austin’s mind, especially when Zach broke and

smiled radiantly.

“I love you. And everything else is the past.”

Austin nodded. They would leave the past in the past.

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They slept on and off and made love again that afternoon, although this time,

more conscious, they were louder. Loud enough to piss off the trucker trying to sleep

next door, who banged on the wall and demanded they give it a rest.

Austin bundled up and searched for food while Zach slept on. The roads were

clear and busy once more, filthy snow lining each lane.

When he returned, he found Zach still naked in bed, but he was awake. He had

his arms crossed behind his head and stared intently at the ceiling, as if pondering

some great thought. Austin’s stomach clenched. It looked like Zach wanted to say

something meaningful, which would either break Austin’s heart or send it soaring.

But instead Zach blinked and gave Austin a crooked smile. “What did you

find?”

Austin presented Zach with a bouquet from behind his back. He’d built it in

the lobby out of dried flowers he found at the minimart across the street, two

bottled waters, two cheeseburgers, french fries, and hot apple pies, and a cassette

tape of Styx, one of those bands he knew Zach adored but would never admit to

loving.

Zach laughed.

They ate together to the sound of the football game on TV. Austin watched it

out of the corner of his eye but was more intrigued by Zach’s strange silence next to

him. Something preoccupied him, and it made Austin nervous.

Austin replayed last night’s image of the crowbar smashing against Dave’s

head. It haunted him, and now he wondered if the same sight burned into Zach’s

memory. Austin knew Zach thought of him as a violent man. And Austin hadn’t

done anything to improve that impression on this road trip.

“Did I ever tell you about Ed Majors?” Zach asked. He stared blankly at the

football game, slowly eating french fries one at a time.

“No.” Austin frowned. “Wait, is he the guy you dated a few years ago?”

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Zach nodded. “He wasn’t anything like you, really. Self-centered, egotistical

prick when it came down to it. Some high-powered software salesman from the east

side. Thought he was amazing all around. But he was the same size as you. Big