Page 17 of The Road Ahead
“And neither do I. Areyouuncomfortable?” I asked.
Another shake as they reached up and tugged the strap back into place. “No.”
“Then there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Okay.”
I smiled. “Good. Now, are you coming to bed or not?”
Rio turned off the light, then crossed the room and pulled back the cover on their side of the bed. I quickly averted my eyes asthey climbed in. There was enough light from the open bedroom door for me to notice that the satin material left very little to the imagination, and I was pretty sure Rio wasn’t wearing underwear under the shorts. I needed to do better about not allowing my eyes to linger on them like I had been. I’d onlyjustbeen telling myself that the last thing I wanted was to be creepy. I needed to get my freaking act together before I made them self-conscious and things got awkward between us.
“Did you have a good day?” Rio asked as they snuggled down under the blanket.
“Hell yeah,” I said. “Thank you so much for taking me for a ride tonight. It was awesome.”
“I’m always happy to take her for a spin,” they said. “It was a great way to finish off the day.”
We were quiet for a long time, and I’d started to think Rio had fallen asleep, but then their fingers brushed against mine. “Coop?” they whispered.
“Yeah?” I whispered back.
“Thank you for being here for me. I don’t know what I would have done if it wasn’t for your family, but you especially.”
“They’re your family too,” I reminded them.
“I know, but it’s not quite the same.”
They sounded so sad, and my heart broke for them. I couldn’t even imagine how alone Rio must be feeling after losing their mom and then having their father disown them. Moving on instinct, I reached out and gathered Rio into my arms, pulling them against my chest. “We’re here for you, okay. We’re not going anywhere.I’mnot going anywhere.”
“Thank you,” they murmured. A moment later, they began to shake, and I held them tighter as they cried. I made soothing noises as I rubbed their back and tried to just be there for them as they worked through their grief. Rio always came across as so strong. They were confident and a total badass, and it was rare tosee them upset. I felt honored they were trusting me with their vulnerability, and were accepting the comfort I offered.
It was a long time later that the tears stopped, but I didn’t stop holding them. Instead, I wrapped myself around Rio, vowing to protect them from the entire world if need be.
Rio and I woke early again the next day and went for another run together. We headed in the opposite direction to yesterday, changing it up, and after half an hour, we stopped at one of the sandy beaches that dotted the shore. Making use of the soft sand, I sat down and started doing some crunches, knowing that runs alone weren’t going to cut it. I might have been taking a vacation, but my job was physically demanding and I needed to stay in peak physical condition for it. That meant keeping up my exercise routine, however much I wished I could just laze around instead.
Rio joined me, and after crunches we did some push-ups, planks, and then lunges. It felt comfortable and easy, just being in Rio’s presence. Did I steal glances at them whenever I could? Yes. Did I let my eyes linger? No, because I was trying to be less creepy. Did it take every ounce of my willpower? You fucking bet it did.
Once we’d finished another few reps, we walked down to the water’s edge to wash the sand off our hands. As I bent down to dip my hands into the cool water, my eye caught on a smooth, polished stone just beneath the surface. I fished it out and held it in my palm, admiring the way the wet surface sparkled in the morning sun. It appeared to be a pinkish rhyolite, and it was an almost perfect love-heart shape.
I didn’t even think twice, I simply turned and like a lovestruck penguin, offered the stone to Rio. They gently took it from me, turning it over in their hands as they examined it. They then looked up at me with gentle eyes and a soft smile, then stretched up on their tiptoes to press a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you, Cooper.”
I grinned like a fool, feeling my cheeks stretching with it but unable to stop. Rio had accepted my offering. Did that mean we’d be mates for life? I knew there were gay penguins out there, but were there also non-binary penguins? Did penguins even recognize gender or did they just recognize their mate? Were they the pansexuals of the animal kingdom?
Why the fuck was I suddenly fixated on penguins?
I cleared my throat and nodded back to the path. “Wanna head back?”
Rio placed the stone carefully in their pocket. “Sounds good. I’m starving, so I’ll make us breakfast when we’re back.”
My stomach chose that exact moment to growl, and I laughed as I rubbed at it. “I’m on board with that. I think we have eggs and veggies. We could make omelets?”
“Oh, god, yes. That sounds good. Though I suck at flipping them and always end up with fancy scrambled eggs, so you’ll need to do that part.”
I laughed and began jogging along the trail back towards the cabin. “You got yourself a deal.”
Chapter 9
Rio
