Page 23 of Code Word (The Atrous #3)

Hey. In Mexico with Luke, figuring shit out. Just wanted you to know I miss your stupid face. Any time you wanna hang out, just let us know. Give that cute kid a kiss for me.

Before I could second-guess myself, or wonder if that was too sappy, I hit Send. I needed to be a better friend to him, so that started now.

I considered texting Jeremy, and maybe I would later. I needed to apologize to him. But Maddox was still a nope, and I knew that was something I’d have to unpack. But for now, I’d been sappy enough.

But then my phone buzzed. It wasn’t a phone call but a FaceTime.

It was Wes.

His concerned face appeared on screen. “Hey. Everything okay?”

I smiled and rolled my ass off the lounger to show him the view of the beach. “It’s pretty damn good.”

“The view is nice,” he said. “But I’m talking about you. It’s not like you to text like that.”

I sighed and scrubbed my free hand over my face. “Yeah. I’m fine. I... I’m figuring shit out. Band stuff. Life stuff. I realized I haven’t been a great friend to you. I know you’re busy and all, being the dad of the year, but still. We should hang out more. Grill some shit or something.”

Wes snorted. “Well, I prefer to grill meat, but if you wanna grill shit, you can put that on your own grill.”

I laughed. “Do the dad jokes come naturally once you have a kid?”

Just then Luke came out, all showered and wearing shorts and a T-shirt. I showed him the screen. “It’s Wes.”

He waved. “Oh, hey,” Luke said. “How’s the fam?”

Wes fumbled the phone for a second, then a chubby little face appeared, bright eyes and what looked like jelly sandwich on her face. “Can dadda have some?” Wes asked.

“No!” she said.

Wes’s face reappeared and he sighed. “She’s a tough boss.”

He looked happy and content though. It made me smile. “We’ll let you go,” I said. “We’ll do lunch or something when we get back.”

“Sounds good,” he said. “I hope whatever you’re figuring out is okay.”

I pulled Luke against me, to his spot in the crook of my neck, and kissed the side of his head. “It’s pretty damn good,” I said.

Wes chuckled, but then he seemed to get it. “Oh. Holy shit. Okay, well, about time, I guess.”

Luke looked up at the screen. “I know, right?”

I sighed. “Yeah, okay. I know, I’m a dumbass. Like I said, I’m figuring shit out. Give me a break.”

Wes laughed, nodded. “Okay. Well, I’ll catch ya later. Be good.”

I ended the call and slid my phone onto the railing. Luke looked at me. “So, you just told Wes, huh?”

“Well, yeah.” Then it dawned on me. “Oh shit. Did you not want me to do that? Are we keeping this a secret? I didn’t think... If you’re not okay with it?—”

“No, it’s fine. I just didn’t expect you to . . . want to . . . come out.”

“Come out?”

Oh.

Oh.

Fuck.

“Well, I’m not really. I’m not coming out as anything. I’m not anything. I’m just... I’m with you. Aren’t I? Is that what we are? Together? Because I just kinda assumed...”

His lips twisted in half a smile. “Together, huh?”

“Well, yeah.”

“I’m okay with that.”

“Good.”

“But no coming out.”

I wasn’t sure if I was missing something.

“Do I have to come out as anything? I’m not... anything. I mean, I was pretty sure I was straight up until a few days ago, but I’m not into guys. I’m Luke-sexual. That’s all.”

He smiled more genuinely this time. “That’s fine.” Then he nodded back inside the house. “Come on. Get your shoes.”

Shoes ?

“Why?”

“I thought we could go to the market. You need to get some stuff, right? You came here with nothing.”

True.

“Sure.”

“I’m sure the bike can carry both of us.”

I stopped.

“I’m sorry, what?”

He laughed. “We’re taking the moped.”

I stared at him. “The what? Since when do you know how to drive a moped?”

“Since four days ago.”

“Oh, great.”

He led me out the front of the house to a carport at the side where a freaking moped sat.

He looked at me, at the bewildered look on my face, and grinned.

He stepped on, fixing the stand thingy and turned the key.

It sounded like a lawnmower, but his grin was spectacular, the way the sunlight caught his sandy hair and blue eyes, and he patted the seat behind him.

“Get on.”

I wasn’t gonna say no to sitting that close with him between my legs, pressed against his back with my arms around his waist. “Don’t go too fast,” I yelled so he could hear.

Luke laughed and pushed us forward... and off we went.

Down a narrow dirt road by the sea in Mexico. The sun, the breeze in our hair, being with Luke—it was all perfect.

The freedom.

He barely went over ten miles per hour. Granted, the road was bad, there were two of us on the bike, and neither of us had any protective wear on.

It was so freaking cool.

Like we were kids again, without a care in the world.

The market was basically a small open stall a few miles up the road in a small village, and a tiny convenience store a bit further inland.

I got a toothbrush and some soap, some souvenir tank tops—Mexican flag, Cruz Azul, and Corona—two pairs of shorts, and a pack of underwear that I’m sure would feel like sandpaper, but I was happy with my purchases.

I was happy with everything.

Luke bought things like fruit and yogurt, tortillas and rice, and a six-pack of beer. He managed to speak a whole lot more Spanish than me, and we somehow got everything home on the moped.

He put stuff in the fridge while I pulled tags off clothes, then he bumped his hip to mine. “Happy looks good on you.”

I grinned at him. “That was so cool. The bike, the sun, you.” I laughed when he got all shy. “We could just go to the store. No one knew who we were. No one cared. No one looked twice.”

“Pretty sure they don’t expect world-famous singers to turn up on a ten-year-old moped.”

I sighed happily, looking out at the ocean. “I think we might have a problem though.”

He put his hand on my arm, concerned. “What’s that?”

I chuckled, leaned down, and kissed the spot right above his eyebrow. “The problem is, I don’t think I’ll ever wanna go home.”