“It’s two zipped together. With some extra blankets beneath it for padding. I don’t know about you, but I woke up sore last time.”
“You spoil me,” Ricky said before his happy expression faltered. “A detective stopped by my house today.”
“A real detective?” Diego asked in surprise. “Not just cops in uniform?”
“Exactly. Is that a bad thing?”
“It’s not great. What did he want?”
“To know where you are.”
“Damn. They don’t waste time.”
“I didn’t tell him anything,” Ricky said, moving closer. “But it gets worse.”
“How so?”
Ricky swallowed, his eyes watery. “My parents are sending me to Seattle for the summer. To stay with my grandparents.”
“What?” Diego closed the distance between them and grabbed Ricky by the arms. “You can’t go!”
“I don’t want to!” Ricky squirmed free of his grip and wrapped himself around Diego’s torso. “Not at all,” he added with a sob.
“Then come with me.”
Ricky pulled back. “What?”
“Come with me,” Diego repeated, gripping his boyfriend’s shoulders to look him in the eye. “We’ll go to El Paso together.”
“For the whole summer?”
“No. Forever.” His heart caught fire with the idea. “I’ll take care of you! We’ll live with my grandma, but only at first. We’ll have our own place down there. Just me and you. Nobody will be able to tell us what to do anymore, or keep us apart. Think about it!”
Ricky seemed bewildered by the idea, his head shaking slightly. “What about school?” he asked.
Diego scoffed. “Fuck school! What do I need it for? I’ll be working full time, but if it matters to you, enroll down there instead. I’ll give you anything you need. Look…” He walked to an alcove in the cave wall where he’d stashed a duffel bag. He returned with it, tossed the bag to the ground, and knelt to unzip it.
Ricky got down on his knees to see before looking up at him with wide eyes. “How much money is that?”
“Enough,” Diego said. “Why do you think I’ve been selling weed?”
Ricky frowned in concern. “Isn’t this supposed to be for starting your own repair shop?”
He shrugged. “That was the idea, but this works too. I’m gonna take care of you. I promise.” He stood and held out his hand. “From now on, no one will ever keep us apart.”
Ricky’s expression was hard to read. His eyes were searching Diego’s like he sought some answer there. That’s when it finally clicked. What he wanted to hear, and what Diego needed to say. Even though the words felt alien to him.
“I love you.”
Ricky’s eyes lit up. He grabbed his hand, let himself be pulled to his feet, and threw his arms around Diego’s neck for a kiss. And he didn’t stop. Not until Diego smiled against his lips and pulled back.
“So is that yes?” he asked.
Ricky nodded. “When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow. In case Anthony has a change of heart and tells someone where we are.”
“We can trust him,” Ricky said.
“That hasn’t been my experience. Maybe we should leave tonight instead. Or right now.”
Ricky laughed like it was a joke. “I want to finally have our night in Candle Cave. It’ll be the start of our new lives together.”
Diego grinned. “Whatever you want,” he promised. “Anything at all.”
And he tried to give it to him. They talked over their plan until they had the details sorted out. Even then, he still caught the occasional flicker of uncertainty in Ricky’s eyes. He felt it too, when thinking about his mom, but sticking around hadn’t helped her. So he changed the topic, put on music, did one of the dumb dances from the play, and anything else he could think of to make his boyfriend smile. Except as the hours wore on, long after they’d eaten and the sun had gone down, a silence filled the cave that began to feel like an unspoken question. He just didn’t know which one.
Do you really love me? Is running away a good idea? Will the cops ever stop looking for us? How long until we can return to Kansas?
He glanced over. Ricky’s face was pensive in the orange glow of the flickering candles. Diego knew what would cheer him up.
“Wanna mess around?” he offered, leaning back on his elbows.
Ricky bit his bottom lip and nodded. Then he went to work, and it was great like always, except when he noticed Ricky’s forehead creasing, as if in worry. Unless he was on the verge, but usually he waited until Diego had finished. He felt too distant, even though they were touching.
Ricky rolled away from him, but only to kick off his jeans and pull off his shirt. He looked at Diego with longing. “Take off your clothes,” he said. “I wanna feel your skin against mine.”
His words were accompanied by a wave of relief. Diego rocked left and right so he could strip down. Ricky crawled over to him and sat on his lap. Diego pulled him close, wanting to banish any remaining space between them. As their bare chests pressed together, Ricky kissed him back with just as much hunger, although his brow was still troubled when he leaned back.
“Are we going to be okay?” Ricky asked.
“Yeah,” Diego assured him. “I swear.”
Ricky searched his eyes, his expression vulnerable. “I’m ready. For real this time.”
Diego stared for a moment before he finally understood. He spit in his hand and reached for Ricky’s butt, locking eyes with him. When he finished playing and pushed his way inside, Diego was gentle until assured that he no longer had to be. Even then, it was all about what Ricky needed. The boy had slowly taken over his entire world. And now they would be together. Not only like this. Not just now. But for as long as he had a breath left in his body, because Diego felt like he’d finally managed to do the impossible.
He had found his way home again.
— — —
Cameron closed his eyes, puckered up, and threw open the front door of his house. Then he started making smooching noises, surprised when he heard a girl giggle.
“Whoa, sorry!” he said when opening his eyes. “I thought it would be Anthony.”
“I don’t mind!” Mindy said cheerfully. “Come here, big guy. Let’s make him jealous.” She did an imitation of a fish.
After laughing, he kissed her on the cheeks, first one, then the other as she did the same.
“That’s what everyone does in Italy,” she said before scrunching up her face. “Or it Spain? I don’t know. We should push for our theater group to go somewhere in Europe next year.”
“On tour?” he asked, waving at Anthony and Silvia, who were in an idling truck parked in his driveway.
“No, just for fun, but we’ll act like it’s for educational purposes. Are you ready to go?”
“Almost,” he said. “I just need to grab a few things.”
“From your bedroom?” Mindy asked.
“Yeah. How come?”
“Because I’ve never seen it, but I’m dying to. Anthony told me all about it.”