Page 50 of Starlight

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

By the time he got home, neither of Cole’s parents were up, which was a relief as he didn’t want to talk to either of them. He didn’t know what he was going to say because it felt like whatever he said would lead to an argument.

He was allowed to take leave…the fact that he only took it when there were no jobs meant that he never took it for himself when he wanted it. He’d always been a team player. In this case, the team was his family.

But it felt like the more he did, the more they expected, and his contribution was never good enough. His father didn’t want to hire someone else, because he hoped that his brother would return to work. Cole doubted that would ever happen as his uncle was as depressed as fuck, but also because he had no need to work when he was being supported by his brother.

Cole showered and went to bed but barely slept because he wanted to be snuggled up next to Akai. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he got up early to eat breakfast and research the best way to drive to Yellowstone. He didn’t want to drive twelve hours a day, or longer, stopping only to sleep to get there as fast as possible. He wanted to enjoy it, which meant planning places to stop and booking motels.

Nor was it as simple as getting in the truck and leaving, though they could wing it and hope to get a room. Not that Akai would be getting out to check for vacancies.

How the fuck was he supposed to drive nearly two thousand miles with a monster in the passenger seat? Surely people would notice?

And what about stopping for food at diners or whatever?

How was this supposed to work?

He made a list of questions to text Akai later, but before he got too deep in the planning and started making bookings. When his father got up, he’d ask for three weeks’ leave. That would give him time to drive there and back and enjoy a little bit of the party, as there was no point in going all that way and missing out. Once Akai was there, he’d stay for the whole thing, which meant he’d be driving home alone.

It might be months before he saw him again.

He didn’t want that. Even though Akai had disrupted his life again, it was in a good way, and he didn’t want to go back to how things had been.

His father’s footsteps interrupted his peace. “You got in late.”

“Yeah, I lost track of time.” And hadn’t wanted to leave.

“Good weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Shall I assume you won’t be working this weekend?”

Cole bit back a sigh. “I told you that I no longer work weekends.”

His father grunted out a response as he made himself a coffee.

Since things were already tense, he might as well go all in. “I need to take a couple of weeks off. I’m planning a road trip with friends.”

One friend.

His father didn’t turn around to look at him. “This the same friend you’ve been meeting at the cabin?”

Cole shrugged. “What does it matter?”

“Are you in some kind of trouble?”

He didn’t think so. He doubted monsters went to all this effort to get a human to eat at the party. Akai had already done plenty of eating, and Cole had enjoyed every moment. His cheeks heated. “No.”

His father was silent for a couple of heartbeats. “Are you seeing someone?”

He didn’t know how to answer that, as it wasn’t as though he could bring a monster home to meet his parents. “Maybe.”

He turned around and leaned against the kitchen counter. “Do you think it’s a good idea to go on a road trip with someone you barely know?”

Cole felt as though he knew Akai better than some of his human friends. He didn’t talk about superficial bullshit like sports and TV shows with Akai. “I’ve known him for seven years.”

The word him hung in the air.