He was so busy staring at the rocks that he never noticed the map Zakk had spread over the steering wheel until he glanced over to see Zakk studying it intently.
“You didn’t get us lost, did you?” Tripp asked.
“Nope, trying not to.”
“Oh really, does that mean there’s someplace in particular you plan to take me?”
“Maybe.”
“Okay, now I’m intrigued.”
“Save the intrigue for if I actually find the place.”
“Maybe if you tell me what you’re looking for, I can help you find it.”
“And spoil the surprise? Hell no.”
“So there is a surprise!”
“Only if we find it.”
“In that case, I insist you let me help,” Tripp said, reaching for the map, only to laugh when a stubborn Zakk snatched it away.
“I will drive us past the same formation two hundred and twelve times before I give you this map.”
“In that case, I’d better get comfortable, ‘cause waiting for the two hundred and thirteenth time is gonna be a bitch.”
Just as Tripp was leaning back in the seat, squirming to find the best possible position, he found himself fending off a map-wielding Zakk who was trying to batter him with the flapping, crinkling paper. Several attempts to snatch it from his hand failed before Tripp finally caught hold of a corner. The sound of it ripping came too late for either of them to realize the folly of their actions, paper fluttering past them as a strong gust caught it.
“Shit!” Zakk yelped, fumbling with the safety harness. Tripp’s attempt to help him just meant a lot of futile tugging and bumping fingers until a metallic click signaled the left side had come undone. Too bad the right seemed to be stuck. Wiggling, Zakk tugged, cursing it, while Tripp finally resorted to undoing his own and going after the paper himself.
The wind hadn’t done them any favors. The updraft had sent their map fragment into the arms of a towering cactus, two long spines having pierced it and left it flapping high over his head. While he stood at the base of it, scratching his head and trying to figure out how the hell they were supposed to get it down, Zakk somehow freed himself from the dune buggy. Rocks crunched beneath his feet as he approached and judging from the way he was snickering; he’d already spied their dilemma.
“Got any brilliant ideas on how we’re supposed to get it down?” Tripp asked.
“Well, you could get on my shoulders, or I could toss you in the air like an NFL cheerleader and hope to catch you before you hit the ground,” Zakk quipped.
“Or we could build a catapult and see if we can’t put a certain coyote to shame.”
Snorting, Tripp found himself wondering exactly who would be getting launched, that is, until a completely novel idea popped into his head. “How about we leave it where it is and see where the day takes us?”
“As long as you don’t blame me when we wind up skeletons in the desert, with little signs around our necks readingI’m with stupidandThis is all his fault.”
Tripp opened his mouth, scowled, and snapped it shut, one thought bouncing around in his brain. “If we’re dead, then who wrote the signs?”
“A wayward crow,” Zakk grumbled. “Seriously. How am I supposed to know? Does it even matter?”
“Well no, not particularly, but if you don’t want me blaming you for things, then at the very least I want to be clear on exactly what I’m not supposed to be blaming you for, so my ghost can seek retribution for the rest of it.”
“In that case, we’d better make it memorable.”
Little sparks, like the sparkling brush of dying pyro, danced up his arm when Zakk locked their fingers together and tugged him in the direction of the dune buggy, only when they got there, he didn’t let go. Instead, he pressed Tripp against the side of the dune buggy and kissed him senseless. Shimmers of sunlight cast a halo around Zakk’s face as they broke apart, and for a moment, Tripp thought he was kissing an angel.
When Zakk crushed the long strands of Tripp’s hair in his fists, slotted their lips together and kissed him breathless, his thoughts turned to knowledge. Zakk kissed him like he wanted to crawl inside of him, touch all his secrets and gently coax them out of him. He kissed like he wanted to leave bits of himself behind to fill in all the empty places Tripp was only coming to learn he had. The warmth that spread through him was more intense than the sun. Hot, burning. Breathlessly they drew apart, Tripp unable to look away from the stunning beauty of Zakk’s sparkling eyes.
“Funny, but I’ve completely stopped caring where we wind up today as long as it’s just me and you,” Tripp murmured, gently caressing Zakk’s face.
Zakk’s smile, big, bright and entirely focused on him was a heady thing, and Tripp was reluctant to let him go, yet eager to see where the day took them. The blues of the sky looked deeper here, or maybe it was the lack of pollution, either way, the vastness of it all was almost overwhelming. Square rocks perched on thin spikelike pedestals, a feat of engineering only nature could manage. He marveled at them all while Zakk drove, slowly meandering in whatever direction impulse took them.