Page 41 of Finding Jeremy
“Wow, I really liked that one,” Jeremy admitted, yawning. “I got it at the library book sale but hadn’t had the chance to read ityet. I’m glad I waited. I liked having you read it to me way better than reading it alone.”
“You don’t ever have to read anything alone if you don’t want to,” Gray said as he laid the book aside and rolled so that he could kiss Jeremy on the forehead. “I’ll always be happy to read to you and do the voices.”
“Yay!”
“But now it’s time for us both to get some sleep,” Gray insisted. “Or we’ll miss our morning appointment with the fish.”
Giggling, Jeremy snuggled in until his head rested just beneath Gray’s chin. “Bet they’d be happy if we stayed away.”
“Indeed.”
Chapter 16
(Jeremy)
Groaning, Jeremy flexed his fingers, letting the pencil fall from his grasp as he took a break from the image he’d been working on. The low coffee table in the living room had always been his favorite place. Seated on the floor, on one of the cushions he’d pulled off the couch, he was able to use the front of the couch as a backrest and create a cozy little spot in front of the television.
Leaving the campground had sucked, if only because it meant that he and Gray no longer had the freedom to run around naked if they wanted to and fuck beneath the stars if the mood struck. He was just glad they were still on vacation, and with a race looming at the end of the week and a chance to properly run The Gauntlet, he had plenty to look forward to, especially after Gray told him that they were going to go look at a property only a few miles away.
“It doesn’t have a house on it yet,” Gray explained. “But I can afford to buy the land outright, and then we can start drawing up plans for the house we want to have built. Looking at what was on the market, nothing was as secluded as we discussed. According to the pictures online, this property is exactly what we’re looking for. There’s only an access road leading into it right now, and the closest neighbor’s home is almost a mile away.”
“Sweet! When can we go?”
Gray pulled his phone out and checked the time. “About an hour. The realtor is going to meet us at the access road.”
“Awesome.”
Chuckling from the doorway drew Jeremy’s attention away from the drawing to where his dad leaned, watching him. “Damn, kid, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were in a hurry to leave your old man in the dust.”
“Naa, you know I’ll pop in a lot.”
“Uh-huh, every time you smell barbecue cooking.”
“And pancakes, and bacon, and spaghetti, and turkey pot pie, and loaded Salisbury steaks, and…” Jeremy rambled.
“And damn near anything else you can think of,” Chaos replied, grinning. “I’ve got good news for ya.”
“What’s that?”
“I landed you a backup bike,” Chaos said. “It’ll be here by the time you guys get done looking at the property, and it’s a damn sight better than that Yamaha you dragged back here. This one is ready to ride. They also had another bike they were selling, so I snagged it too. It’s another Yamaha, the same model as the other one. Between the two we can build one solid machine for you to use on the practice course, so you don’t risk doing damage to the ones you race with.”
“Holy shit, sweet, thanks, Pops!” Jeremy said.
“Thank me by staying in one piece out there,” Chaos said.
“I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will. I’m proud of the way you’ve really started to put your focus on studying the race footage from your past events to see which paths you took over the obstacles and how you could improve your times and positioning. Having a practice bike will let you work on some new tricks for the freestyle too. I know you’ve been holding back a little there out of fear that you’ll knock yourself out of a later heat if you wipe out. I wanted you to be able to give it your all, no hesitation.”
Shoving away from the couch, he crossed the room in three strides to hug his old man.
“You’ve done good, kid. You keep it up,” Chaos said as he squeezed him tight.
“I will,” Jeremy promised, fully intending to deliver when he got to the track on Saturday.
“Is that another squirrel?” Gray asked as he peered around Jeremy and Chaos.
“Nope, it’s your new logo,” Jeremy explained. “Or at least it will be just as soon as I get the expression just right. Your glare was epic when you were fussing at us to get you free of the hammock. I wanna make sure the wrench’s is just as fierce.”
