Love Ahead: Expect Delays (5 page)

on equal ground with opulence. Now he cruised to the front desk of the luxurious

resort without hesitation and bravely requested a single king-size bed.

The receptionist didn’t blink an eye as he found them a room. The place was

crowded, and Austin had feared they’d be out of space. But apparently all the folks

were in town for a conference that had just ended, and most had checked out. They

were offered a broad range of price points, depending on what kind of view they

wanted. Zach looked at Austin expectantly, but Austin shrugged. “Get whatever you

want,” he told Zach. “I’ll pay for it.”

Zach’s eyebrows came together. “But this was my idea.”

“You got last night. I’ll get this one,” Austin insisted.

Zach laughed. “Do you have any idea how cheap last night’s motel was?”

Austin reached into his wallet and pulled out his credit card. He handed it to

the front-desk clerk. “Put it on my card,” he insisted. He was actually a little

nervous about the cost, but after giving Zach nothing but bad news, he was grateful

to be able to offer something more desirable.

“Besides,” Austin whispered in Zach’s ear, “if the walls are thick enough, I can

tie you up and make you scream as I fuck you tonight.”

Zach shivered. “Idaho makes you kinky.”

Austin laughed. He grabbed his card and the key packet, and they made their

way through the wide lobby, past a massive fireplace, and beyond the large

windows overlooking the cold, beautiful landscape to the elevators.

Because they went for the “traditional” rated room, their view looked onto a

congregation of heavy pipes leaving the downstairs ballroom. There was also a

service elevator that ran alongside the bedroom wall and made whooshing noises

every minute. But the room was clean, light, and comfortable. The bed was firm and

fluffy, there was Internet and cable television, the bathroom was stocked with tiny

bottles of cosmetic products that seemed to delight Zach, and the whole place

smelled of fresh linen. All in all, a vast improvement over the Stay-a-Nite.

26

Astrid Amara

“I never understand why hotel rooms have ten lamps but no overhead light,”

Zach commented, switching on lights around the room.

“Yeah, or no fans in the bathroom,” Austin added.

“I’d better hurry if I’m going to do this on time,” Zach mumbled, fumbling

through his backpack. He emerged with his boxed menorah. He turned on two lights

and held it aloft. He spoke a quick rush of Hebrew, the words incomprehensible to

Austin, but sounding choppy and rough like machine-gun fire. Zach propped the

menorah in the window for the seagulls to enjoy.

Austin gave the headboard a yank. He turned and grinned. “Let’s break some

Idaho sodomy laws.”

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27

Chapter Three

Friday, December 3

Zach awoke to the television, its sound on low. Austin sat up in bed, watching

the news, eyes barely cracked open.

“Morning,” Zach said with a grin, rolling over to kiss him.

Austin gave him a sloppy, sleepy kiss back. “Afternoon, actually.”

“Is it?” Zach glanced at the clock and saw it was already half past twelve.

They’d slept in much later than he’d expected.

Austin nodded to the TV. “They say there’s a blizzard in Wyoming. We might

end up hitting it.”

“Lovely. Anything else?”

“There’s a convicted murderer on the loose somewhere east of Billings, a trade

embargo has increased tension with China, and apparently corduroy is the new

velvet.”

Zach snorted.

“What do you want to do with what’s left of the day?” Austin asked, putting his

arm around Zach. Since last night, he had been in a generous mood, and the

frustrations about the Geo Spectrum seemed to be fading.

“How about we find out if there’s somewhere we can hike around?”

“It’s freezing outside.”

“So? We have jackets.” Zach tried to clamber over Austin out of the bed, but as

he did so, he brushed against Austin and discovered his erection.

28

Astrid Amara

Austin grabbed Zach’s hand and yanked him back into bed. “I have a better

way to warm up,” he said roughly. He kissed Zach.

Twenty minutes later, sweaty and sated, Zach finally took his shower. Austin

joined him, and they took their time. Austin lathered the entire bottle of shampoo in

Zach’s hair. Zach leaned against him in the shower, loving the sensation of Austin’s

fingers on his scalp, the smell of his clean skin, the heat of the water on his

shoulders.

“I’m sort of pleased we broke down in Coeur d’Alene,” Zach said.

“Yeah?” Zach had his back against Austin’s chest and couldn’t see his face, but

he could tell by his tone that Austin was smiling.

“Yeah. I mean, when else would we have come here? And now we can hike

around the lake and take in the scenery. Hanukkah miracles indeed.”

“This whole Hanukkah thing is going to your head,” Austin mumbled, but Zach

smiled to himself and felt the truth in his words. The Maccabees had experienced

eight days of luck in their time, and Zach was beginning to think the same thing

could happen to him. Granted, the robbery and broken-car incidents had soured

some of the experience, but hey, true miracles only occurred in the face of adversity.

After all, what was the point of a miracle on a good day?

“Your hair smells like coconut,” Austin said, pulling Zach back to wash his hair

in the stream of hot water.

“And our skin smells like”—Zach read the description on the miniature gel

bottle—“passionate tropical fantasy.”

“The smells I associate with passion aren’t anything like this.”

Zach flushed. Austin often commented on how much he liked the smell of Zach,

especially during sex, but Zach didn’t take the bait and stepped out of the shower.

They dressed and left the hotel in search of food. They ate a decent lunch at an

Italian chain restaurant up the road. Austin grumbled at the exorbitant prices, but

Love Ahead: Expect Delays

29

Zach paid cheerfully, knowing it was what happened when you bought meals in a

tourist trap.

Their waitress told them about a trail near the resort on a forested peninsula

on the lake. They took advantage of the break in the rain to walk it.

It was a beautiful and lonely place, with no one in sight. The path wound over

rocky soil and led them up the hillside through Douglas firs and on routes lined by

thimbleberries and ninebark. At first they hiked together in silence, Zach

invigorated by the cold, but then Austin began to ask tentative questions about

Zach’s family.

“Why’d they move to Boulder?” Austin stepped deftly over freshly fallen

branches from the previous night’s windstorm.

A branch caught on the inside of Zach’s jeans cuff, and he had to untangle his

ankle. “My dad’s company moved headquarters. Besides, my sister and her husband

live in Denver, so my folks were happy to relocate. At any rate, they’re more likely

to get grandkids from her than from me.”

Austin was quiet for a moment, then spoke again. “Does it bother them that

I’m coming over on a holiday?”

“Not at all,” Zach said. “I told them all about you, and they want you there for

Hanukkah.”

“Even your grandma?”

“Her most of all,” Zach said. “I actually get along with her better than my

mom. But my mother’s all right, and my dad’s a nice guy.”

“Am I going to be sleeping in the basement?”

“Yeah.” Zach grinned. “But we’ll be sleeping there together. That’s where the

guest room is.” He found the line of questioning strange, but he didn’t ask what the

source of it was. Austin went quiet for at least half a mile, but when he spoke again,

it was as if no time had passed.

30

Astrid Amara

“My dad would never allow us to sleep together in his house,” Austin

commented. “He’d burn in hell first.”

“Well, that’s one of the advantages of being a Jew.” Zach grinned. “No hell to

burn in.”

Austin laughed.

The trail opened up to where they could stand shoulder to shoulder, and Zach

sped his pace to walked alongside Austin. He chanced a quick grab at Austin’s

hand.

It was a sentimental and foolish thing to do, hold hands in public, but Austin

didn’t seem to mind. He looked surprised but then smiled and gripped Zach’s hand

back.

“Are you going to see your family for Christmas?” Zach asked tentatively. He

rarely inquired about Austin’s family, because he seemed so hesitant to discuss

them, but Austin had been the one to bring the subject up this time.

“No.” Austin frowned. He dropped Zach’s hand, and Zach felt disappointed.

“My family will happily adopt you,” Zach offered.

Austin shook his head. “I’m not a big one for family, all things considered.”

Zach shrugged. “Sometimes there’s something to be said about relatives. After

all, they’re biologically programmed to love you.”

“No, they aren’t. I learned early on that a person
makes
their own family.”

When he spoke again, he sounded more hesitant. “It’s why I want to move in with

you, Zach. I want you to be my family, not some conceited, shortsighted asshole

back east who thinks genetics give him the right to tell me who I am.”

Alarm zinged through Zach. He didn’t want the conversation to go that route.

This trip was about them just being happy together, not decisively determining

their future. And he was in a good mood and didn’t want to ruin Austin’s by telling

the truth: Zach’s
chosen
families of the past had all but killed him.

Love Ahead: Expect Delays

31

He considered gentle ways to back off the topic but heard voices up ahead and

was spared continuing the conversation.

They rounded the corner of a steep bluff overlooking a crescent beach and

passed two young men who appeared to be very drunk, despite the early hour.

One of the kids, tall and sinewy with a crew cut, mumbled something to a

beefier blond guy as they passed. Austin tensed immediately but kept going. Zach

hurried to catch up with him.

They saw no one else along the trail, but he sensed Austin’s simmering anger.

They finished the loop of the trail in silence.

At the end of the trail, they were spit unceremoniously back to where they had

begun. The two men they’d passed before had taken a shortcut and waited at the

entrance. The crew-cut kid stood leaning against the trail sign, while the other,

beefier guy sat on a log, clutching a forty in his left hand.

Zach nodded as he walked past them.

“Fucking faggot,” the tall one mumbled.

Zach felt a sick tightening of his gut. “Let’s go,” Zach said quietly, but Austin

had already turned around.

With startling speed Austin marched up to the man with the crew cut and

stood inches from him, forming a fist with his hand.

“What did you say?” Austin demanded. His posture had changed, readying for

a strike.

The man straightened from his slouch. Even from a distance Zach could smell

alcohol emanating from his skin. He shared Austin’s height and looked dangerous.

“Free country,” the man said. “I can say what I want.”

“Not about us, you son of a bitch.”

Zach’s heart raced. The blond man stood and approached Austin from behind.

“We’re leaving,” Zach said loudly, coming alongside Austin. “Come on. Let’s

go.”

32

Astrid Amara

Austin poked his finger, hard, into the man’s chest. “Apologize.”

“Fuck you!” The tall man spit into Austin’s face.

Zach had seen the same look in Austin’s eyes the night he’d punched the man

who had accosted him. He was going to hit the bastard.

“Hey!”

Zach turned. A police officer approached quickly. Zach felt relieved.

The officer’s car, lights flashing, was stopped in the parking lot at the base of

the trail. He watched the group of men closely. “What’s going on here?”

“Hello!” Zach said warmly, hands up. “We’re just trying to leave.”

“This fag is picking a fight,” the man with the crew cut complained, although

he grinned at Austin.

Austin glanced briefly at the officer but otherwise kept his gaze pinned on the

tall man.

“You boys know that it’s illegal to have an open alcohol container on public

property.” The officer walked faster. He had a noticeable paunch and breathed

heavily.

“This asshole owes us an apology,” Austin said.

“I don’t owe you shit!”

Austin moved closer. The officer rushed to step between them. “Both of you,

settle down! Or I’ll book you all!”

Zach felt close to throwing up, but he had to think fast. Austin was about to

lose it; Zach could tell by the cold paleness of his expression. His right hand had

already curled into a fist. He was going to hit a police officer, and he was going to be