Page 16

Chapter sixteen

Sawyer

After a long, quiet stretch of nothing but the rustle of leaves and the occasional birdcall, Sawyer finally cracked. “What are we even supposed to find on this scavenger hunt?”

The silence had been eating at him, making his skin itch. He needed to fill the space between them before his own thoughts got too loud. The same thought had run through his head since the day he left the farm. Who was he? Why did his parents sell him? Did they sell him or was he kidnapped and sold? He’d explained his situation to Mrs. Hartly. She’d said she had friends who worked for the FBI that would help uncover his past and explain why he was on the farm. The secret was weighing heavily on his mind, but some relief filled him when he told Clayton. Now that Mrs. Hartly was moving to her sister’s home and he was with Clayton, would she continue the search or leave it alone?

Clayton shrugged. “Everyone gets a list of ten things to track down.”

Sawyer frowned. “Who hid the stuff?”

“Couple of my buddies.”

“Are they here?”

“Nah. They’re not gay.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes. Of course they weren’t. “Do you at least know where they stashed everything?”

Clayton shook his head. “They handle it for me every year. So, you in or what?”

Sawyer bristled. “Why wouldn’t I be?” The way Clayton asked—like he was some fragile thing that might break—pissed him off. It reminded him too much of how he was treated when he first told his so-called brothers he was gay, then all three of them discarded him like a broken toy.

“I’m fine,” he muttered, sharper than he meant to. “I just wanted you to know why I left, but I’d rather forget about it now.”

Clayton gave him a knowing look but didn’t push. “Alright, time to hand out the lists and get this thing started.”

Sawyer reached for the paper. “Lemme see.”

Clayton yanked it back with a smirk. “Not yet. That’s cheating.”

Sawyer huffed but followed him back to the lake, where a crowd of about fifty guys had gathered. Clayton roped him, Rowan, Malik, and James into passing out the scavenger hunt sheets.

“Listen up!” Clayton called out. “First team to collect all ten items wins. Everything’s hidden within camp bounds—no going off-property. Teams of two, twenty-five teams total. Some items have multiples, but you can only collect one of each. Any questions?”

“Where do we meet when we finish?” someone shouted.

“Call me. My number’s on the sheet. We’ll regroup here by the lake.”

Sawyer skimmed the list, his brain already spinning. Rainbow leaf, heart-shaped rock, twig in the shape of a ‘P,’ feather, wildflower bouquet already tied up, blue painted mushroom, rainbow condoms, gay romance book, rainbow vines, rainbow flags. What the hell kind of list is this?

Before he could spiral too deep into overthinking, Clayton tapped his arm. “You’re overthinking it again,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Sawyer shot him a glare but let himself be dragged onto a wooded trail. At least it wasn’t crowded—less chance of looking like idiots while digging through bushes.

Sawyer glanced back at the list. “Okay, but where do we even start? I don’t have a mushroom compass or a vine detector.”

Clayton smirked. “Relax. Nature provides or whatever.” He pointed at a cluster of wildflowers. “Exhibit A: wildflower bouquet. Easy.”

Sawyer crouched down, picked up the bouquet of handful of blooms tied together—bright yellows, purples, pinks. “Well, aren’t you a flower expert now?” he muttered, but he couldn’t help the small flicker of satisfaction. One down.

They wandered deeper, Sawyer still grumbling about how ridiculous “rainbow leaves” sounded, when Clayton suddenly stopped. “Wait. Look up.”

Sawyer squinted into the branches. Sure enough, a leaf with a natural red-to-yellow-to-green gradient hung just above them. “No way,” he said.

“Rainbow leaf,” Clayton confirmed, grinning. “Boom. Two down.”

Sawyer reached up, wobbling on his toes. Clayton steadied him, laughing. “Gotta work on your scavenger hunt coordination skills.”

“Shut up,” Sawyer grumbled, but he was smiling as he tucked the leaf away. “Next up: twigs shaped like letters. Specifically, ‘P.’ Because why not?”

They scoured the ground, kicking through fallen branches. “What if we find an R instead?” Clayton joked. “Half-credit?”

“Nope,” Sawyer said, deadpan. “Scavenger hunt law is absolute.”

Ten minutes later, Clayton held up a twisted twig. “Behold! The almighty P.”

Sawyer squinted. “Eh, more like a lowercase ‘d.’ But fine, I’ll allow it.”

Three items down, and Sawyer could feel the competitive spark lighting up inside him. Clayton nudged him toward a clearing. “More open space, more weird stuff.”

Clayton wasn’t wrong. Near a tree, a bright blue mushroom stood out like a tiny neon sign.

“Blue mushroom. Check.” Clayton snapped a pic before plucking it.

Sawyer grinned. “And here I thought we’d be out here forever hunting fairy-tale mushrooms.”

“Thank me later,” Clayton said, brushing off his hands.

Near a picnic area, a rainbow flag peeked out from under a bench. Sawyer hesitated. “Is this cheating?”

Clayton snatched it up. “Finders keepers.”

Sawyer folded it neatly, adding it to their haul. “Okay, last one. What’s left?”

Clayton snorted. “Rainbow condoms. Good luck.”

Sawyer rolled his eyes but led them back toward the motorcycles. Just as they were about to call it quits, he spotted a tree stump behind a tree. “Hang on.”

He darted behind the tree before Clayton could protest, returning minutes later with a colorful box held high. “Mission accomplished.”

Clayton burst out laughing. “Imagine my straight buddies asking for these?”

“They still got them,” Sawyer responded, but the victory rush was worth it. “Six items. We’re basically scavenger hunt legends.”

Clayton slung an arm around his shoulders. “Legends, huh? We’ve still got four more to go.”

Sawyer shoved him off, but he was laughing. “Let me have this.”

They loaded their loot into a large bag, the air between them lighter than it had been in weeks. For the first time in a long time, Sawyer didn’t feel like a broken thing. He just felt…good.

“Need a break?”

“A kissing one?” Sawyer asked.

“That too.” He pulled out two bottles of water and handed one to Sawyer.

Sawyer’s phone rang, so he removed it from his pocket and answered it.

“Hi.”

“I found out something about your past,” Mrs. Hartly said.

“You did?”

“Yes. Are you okay with the big biker?”

“You were right. I’ve found someone special. That made a big difference. I met other guys like me here too.”

“See, I knew you would. Okay, from the information you gave me, my man found out you were born in San Diego to parents who disappeared. He doesn’t know how the kidnapper got you or who it was, but he probably sold you to the farm people in Oregon.”

“Do you know my parents’ names?”

“Yes. Your mother’s name is Erin Maloney and your father is Lawrence Maloney. Neither can be found so far. Don’t give up hope.”

“Do you know my real name?”

“Sawyer Maloney. The Oregon people just changed your last name.”

“Thank you. I must have a fraudulent birth certificate then.”

“I don’t know. He’s still researching. Don’t give up.”

“Thank you so much.”

“I love you, Sawyer. Please call me if you need anything.”

“I love you too. Thank you.” Sawyer ended the call.

“Hey, everything okay?”

Sawyer gulped his water, then looked at Clayton.

“That was Mrs. Hartly. She found out my birth parents’ names. She has some FBI friends who are helping her for me.”

“Are you trying to find them?”

“I don’t know. They never came looking for me. Mrs. Hartly thinks my parents didn’t sell me. I was kidnapped, and the kidnapper sold me to the farm people.”

“Shouldn’t they put the farm parents away?”

“She didn’t say anything about them.”

Clayton’s phone rang. There was a couple at the lake with all ten items.

“We have our winners. You ready to go back?”

“Sure.”

“Are you sure you’re okay to go now? You just got some news about your past.”

“I’m ready. Don’t make things worse than they are. I’ll deal with this, but right now isn’t the time.”