Off-Map Hearts, page 2
“What?” Cole seemed to shake loose of something. “Oh—yeah, of course, of course it is. Don’t be sorry. What changed your mind?”
Graden couldn’t tell if Cole was pleased or grumpy that he’d decided to tag along, and his spurt of brave purpose deserted him.
“No good flights,” he said flatly. He sighed without realizing as a litany of things ran through his mind. Anger at his boss. Bitter disappointment. The brand-new inkling that life wasn’t as square-cornered perfect and going to plan as he’d thought. “Lots of reasons.”
Something made Cole smile, softer than his wide grin, and nod in understanding.
“I get that.” Cole sounded like he did, which made Graden feel better. “I’m headed over to get the rental back. You want to stash your stuff at the desk and—” He made looping gestures and the paperwork he clutched in one hand flapped. “—do whatever you need to do before we head out?”
“Sounds good. Good plan.” Graden motioned for Cole to lead.
The outer door opened and a blast of air hit them in the vestibule as the inner door whispered open next. It was early evening in early February, so the building’s air conditioning wasn’t chugging nonstop, but he shivered all the same.
He made a neat pile of his belongings as Cole launched into a greeting and explanation like he and the agent were old friends, and then he went to find the bathroom. After the basics were seen to, he let the hot water run and warmed his hands back up.
Graden rubbed his thumb over his palm and remembered the calluses on Cole’s. He huffed impatiently and headed to the upscale store to browse for what he thought he might need to start a road trip. Bottled water, healthy snacks, a neck pillow, mints, and a detailed road atlas he was pleasantly surprised to find tucked at the back of the magazine rack.
“Good?” Cole asked Graden as he approached the concierge desk.
At his nod, Cole broke toward the bathroom.
“Great. I’ll meet you outside in ten,” he said over a shoulder.
Graden stood waiting, and at seventeen minutes, he began mentally listing the pros and cons of getting the thick hoodie with its almost tasteful What Happened In Vegas script under the casinos skyline. Graden was nearly always chilly or cold, but the cons and the reasonable expectation of being in a heated car won out, and he didn’t go back in for it.
A hulking off-road Jeep crowned with fog lights and a gnarly luggage rack slowed and then parked next to him. Aside from the windows having been obviously newly cleaned, wet rivulets busy drawing patterns in the dust and dirt on the black doors, the car was filthy.
Graden stepped back to be out of the way of whomever the car was for and checked the time. Twenty minutes.
Cole emerged from the terminal to meet the Jeep as it came to a stop. “Looking as good as when I dropped it off!” The back door popped and raised, and he dumped his stuff in the Jeep.
“You gave it a workout,” the rental agent said as he rounded the vehicle. “Here you go.” He tossed the keys to Cole.
“Thanks again, man. You saved me, twice.” Cole passed the guy a generous tip.
“My pleasure. Have a… not too safe trip.” The guy grinned, and Cole shot finger pistols at him.
Graden wasn’t sure what kind of car he’d expected, and wanted for something sleek and more comfortable, because this big black machine wasn’t it.
“They didn’t have time to wash it, but I said that was fine, especially since they filled her up for me. Just gonna get it grimy again anyway.” Cole grabbed Graden’s belongings and tossed them in the back and then slammed the door closed.
Graden suppressed a grimace and the desire to check for damage.
He climbed into the passenger seat and got settled. The outside might be caked in mud and debris, but the inside was surprisingly comfortable. He liked the height and how much he could see—quite different than being in the back of various cabs and rideshares speeding around Manhattan. There was room for his bag and plenty of space to stretch out.
Okay. This would be fine. It was fine.
Cole wrenched the driver’s door open, took off his flannel, and wadded it up to toss in the back seat.
“One for you,” Graden said as he set the water bottles in the cup holders.
“Nice, thanks.” Cole stepped into the Jeep, his height and strength making the move effortless as his jeans pulled tight around his thighs.
Graden’s mouth went dry and he cleared his throat. “Sure. It’s the least I could do.” He held up the various snacks and then put them in the center console. “Help yourself.”
He slotted the atlas in the door pocket, plugged his phone in, and opened the navigation app. He entered New York City as the destination, and in moments the trip was laid out before him.
The several-thousand-miles, days-long-in-a-rugged-Jeep-with-this-rugged-guy trip. He tamped down a flutter of uncertainty by getting out his planner and turning to a blank page.
When the dashboard lit up as Cole cranked the key, Graden wrote down “full tank” and the mileage. He wanted to keep track of expenses and get a sense of how far they could get before having the navigation app search for the best upcoming pit stop.
“Let me know if it’s loud enough,” he said as he pushed his phone into the holder on the dashboard.
“You got a podcast or music ready to go?”
“No. Directions.”
Cole grunted and then eased into the travel lane. Graden watched their progress on the app as they exited the terminal and joined the main airport road. They were a blue dot on the pink line cutting through a map with street names and geographical features that matched what he saw out the windows.
It was reassuring.
He’d selected the British accent for the app, because why not, and she warned for and called out turns and exits. Cole seemed to pay her half attention and also seemed to know where he was going. Graden craned around to get a last look at the Strip.
The sweeping view of the casinos and glitz had him thinking about how envious everyone else at work had been that he’d gotten to come on the Vegas job, that he’d never been to Las Vegas before… and that he hadn’t done anything at all extraordinary. Not even nominally interesting.
He’d spent his days at the job site and in meetings and then sending reports about them, and spent his evenings prepping for the next day. Hitting the swank casino hotel gym in the mornings and the buffet in the evenings had been his big splash outs.
Graden hadn’t minded it. He was here to work, and he took that seriously. He supposed if he had minded, he’d have done something different. But sitting here zooming along with a near stranger—a gorgeous, friendly, probably-took-advantage-of-everything-Vegas-had-to-offer stranger—after agreeing to share the drive across the country made that seem like a huge waste.
“Hm?” Cole asked.
“What?”
“You—you kind of sighed. Thoughtfully.”
“Did I?” Graden sighed again. “I never do anything on impulse,” he said as if that was an explanation, and turned his back on Vegas.
“Give yourself a little credit. I mean, you did just hop in the car with me and off we go. This could be the start of a whole new way of life.”
“True. But there were extenuating factors, and I looked a few things up, including flight options and routes to New York, and it didn’t seem like the worst plan.”
“Well, I never make plans. We should make a great team.”
“Or we could wind up hating each other.”
Cole laughed. The sound rippled through Graden and warmed his belly.
“Either way….” Cole glanced at Graden, gaze falling to Graden’s hands folded in his lap, and then back up. He winked. “Should be interesting.”
The British lady told Graden to take the next exit, but Cole kept going instead.
“Recalculating,” she said, and then repeated as Cole skipped the next two successive exits she wanted him to take.
“Hush, Mavis.” Cole poked at Graden’s phone. “I know a shortcut.”
“Mavis?”
“If she’s going to be with us the whole way, she deserves a name.”
“Fair. I’m not sure I’d have chosen Mavis but—it works.” Graden shifted in his seat. The digital compass on the rearview mirror read NW. “I don’t know of a shortcut to the east coast that goes this way. Should I be worried? I mean.” He tried to laugh, but real anxiety kicked up. “You know the joke about the desert being the best place to bury a body.”
“That’s supposed to be a joke?” Cole’s voice had a sudden edge.
Graden blinked and instinctively pushed his back against the door. “Yes,” he said decisively and tried not to sound worried.
Cole stared at him and then whapped his shoulder as he laughed. “I’m only teasing.”
“Ha ha.” Graden peeled himself from the door and tugged his shirt and dignity back into place. Humiliation at being such a square—in life, in Vegas, in not being able to easily parry Cole’s bad joke with something wittier—washed over him, and he glared out the window at the passing desert.
“Hey. You’ll get a headache doing that.”
Cole’s knuckle brushed Graden’s tightly clenched jaw and left exploding tingles in its wake. Graden jerked away like he’d been burned.
He had.
Cole’s hand hovered in the air between them, fingers flexing. He made a fist and shoved it against this thigh.
“Sorry. And, sorry—didn’t mean to startle you.” Cole rubbed his fist against his pants and then grabbed the steering wheel. “We don’t know each other well enough for jokes like that. Like you said—we don’t know each other at all.”
Graden wanted to argue, but he was right. They didn’t.
The idea shouldn’t bother him so much.
“Since you’re not using this at the moment, and speaking of dastardly things in the desert…,” he said and tugged his phone from the holder.
There was too much to explain in a text, so he called his bestie, Genevieve.
“You’re calling. Does this mean you’re early? Wait, have you landed—are you in the car and crossing the bridge or something? Ack, I haven’t even done the dishes yet!”
He laughed. “You’re fine—in fact, you have the place to yourself for a few more days.”
They’d met through mutual friends playing bar trivia almost ten years ago, had been paired because their names both started with G, and then quickly were never allowed to be partners again since they made for a Wonder Twin trivia juggernaut.
Graden had since drifted from the friends who’d introduced him to Genevieve—and bar trivia nights and really any nights out—but he and Genevieve had held on to each other. She had four roommates in a much smaller apartment in Queens and stayed at Graden’s place in upper Manhattan whenever he was out of town or she just needed a break and wanted to binge-watch something without interruption or argument.
“Here longer all by my lonesome? That’s awesome, obviously.” She paused. “But is everything all right?”
“There’s nothing not fine. My flight got canceled and… well, I’m in a huge Jeep driving back.” He snuck a look at Cole, who still had both hands on the wheel. “At the moment I’m in the passenger seat, but you know.”
Genevieve was silent as she took that in. “I don’t think I quite do, but if you’re okay, then that’s not important. Were there just… no other flights to New York at all?”
“You’re the one who’s always telling me I need to actually use my vacation days.” Even if Cole wasn’t sitting there listening, he didn’t want to get into all the reasons.
“Touché. So, when should I make sure the dishes are done by?”
He paused. “A couple-few days.”
“A couple-few days he says casually, like his life isn’t run like a precision Swiss watch. Seriously, you are okay, right?”
“Yes—seriously. Please water the plants.” At her noise, he knew she’d forgotten. “Go ahead and use the milk you got for my coffee for your tea, I’ll keep you apprised on my arrival, and now you know I’m driving through the desert and to alert the authorities to search for my corpse if you don’t hear from me for a good while.”
“Check, check, thank you, wow sure that’s definitely not creepy and is totally fine, but will do. Apprise when you’re a day out and I’ll get fresh-fresh milk.” She paused. “And once you’re back, you can tell me all about whatever’s going on.”
“I will.” He figured he’d be ready to by then.
“And take this as a sign to start actually using your socials and put good pictures up, okay? If nothing else, I’ll know how to track you for when I have to alert the authorities. Stay safe, eat some junk food for once, don’t get sucked up into an alien ship or run away to Mexico—at least, not without me.”
“I’ll do my best. Thanks, Viv.”
“Of course. Love and kisses.”
“Love and kisses,” he responded without thinking. It’s what they always said to each other. He snapped a photo of the landscape and wide turquoise sky and posted it with the caption Just for you, Vivvy.
Her heart notification appeared as he opened the navigation app and slotted his phone back in the holder. He propped his arm on the door and imagined Genevieve stopping mid-frantic-clean to flop back onto his sofa, and chuckled.
“Sounds like she was understanding.”
Graden smiled fondly. “Yeah, she’s great.”
“How long have you been together?” A nerve twitched at Cole’s temple, and his hands tightened.
“Oh, we’re not. I don’t date gi—” Graden broke off. Maybe sharing he dated guys was better left for if and when he and Cole did know one another better. “We’ve been friends for years, and she’s house-sitting for me.” He impulsively added, “I’m not dating anyone right now.”
Cole nodded. “I feel that. I travel so much it makes dating hard.” He exhaled. “No, dating is easy. Traveling so much makes relationships hard.”
“There’s always a trade-off,” Graden commiserated, but his lack of relationships stemmed from letting himself give too much of his life to work. “Okay, then, why do you travel so much?” It seemed a safer topic of conversation.
“Because I love it and want to?” Cole grinned. “It’s really that simple.”
A shadow flitted across Cole’s expression, giving Graden the insight that that wasn’t exactly true, and definitely not simple. He backed away from that topic as well.
As they approached an intersection, Mavis tried to get them to head east on a state road, but Cole blew past it and continued west. She kept recalculating turnarounds until Graden sat forward and stopped her navigation.
“You need to tell me where we’re going, at least.” Graden wanted to sound light and teasing, but it came out guarded.
“You were in Vegas for work, yeah?”
“Yes.”
“And I suspect you’re a diligent worker. That plus your thoughtful sigh and not doing anything on impulse made me think you didn’t get out and enjoy what the city had to offer. Yeah?”
Graden pursed his lips. “Yes.” He didn’t like what all Cole had been able to suss out and conclude. Mostly because it was the truth and it sounded kind of grim.
“Okay, so, we’re super close to something amazing—like life-changing amazing—and since you’re not gonna get back to New York City to finish out the work week, I thought we should go see this amazingness and then your trip isn’t a total bust.”
“My trip was incredibly fruitful and I got a lot of good work done.” Graden silently huffed at how stuffy that made him sound.
“I’m sure it was.” Cole laid a hand on Graden’s arm. “If I keep putting my foot in my mouth, I’ll be swallowing my hip soon enough. I didn’t mean that as a dig.”
“Well, I didn’t mean to be defensive. I did just say I never do anything on impulse after a vague regretful sigh while watching Las Vegas disappear over the horizon.”
“Right, yeah. Exactly.” Cole squeezed Graden’s arm and let go. “Also, I haven’t been in years and want to see it again. I think you’ll dig it—I’d like to show it to you.”
Graden found he couldn’t argue with that. He relaxed into the seat and considered starting a playlist, but he’d never minded silence, not even long stretches of it. Cole smiled and nodded and gave the Jeep more speed and didn’t chatter to fill the quiet either.
Graden watched the desert slip past, mountains in the distance rising and falling and rising and falling, and the washed-out colors blended with the washed-out sky.
More than one billboard they’d passed warned not to go any farther unless they got gas, and Graden wondered how, given they were super close to wherever they were going, they’d already driven over an hour.
“We probably have plenty, but I like to top off whenever possible out here,” Cole said as they slowed and pulled into a truck stop.
It stood at a T-junction and was a pop of color in the monotony of the faded earth tones surrounding them. It was busier than he’d anticipated, mostly semis and one enormous RV. Graden hopped from the Jeep and stretched. The heat in the air and coming off the pavement felt good, and a small noise escaped him, and he grunted when his lumbars all popped.
“I’m headed in,” he said to Cole, who was fiddling with the pump after looking quickly away.
“Yup, got it.” Cole waved and didn’t look back over.
Graden circuited the parking lot to move around and then went inside to use the facilities—and found an Area 51 curiosity shop.
“Sure, why not,” he said under his breath, and browsed the small displays and kitsch for sale. He searched for his favorite kind of magnet, plain rectangles with a good photo and identifying text of the location, and found one buried under a stack of vinyl aliens stuck overtop.
The photo was dated and the text was in a clashing color with a drop shadow, but that just made him like it more. He paid, resisted getting an orange sherbet push-up from the ice cream case in front of the register station, and stepped back out into the relative warmth.
