54. Davis

“Where are you taking me?”

“Hush,” Davis said, swerving to avoid a tiny bird that was perched on the side of the road. He laughed, thinking about how, when he was learning how to drive, his older brother would screech every time there was a squirrel or bird near the highway. “It’s a surprise.” The word baby died on his tongue. Jeremy called Davis that all the time, and Davis relished it, like a cat that had found the perfect sunbeam, but it didn’t feel right for Davis to use. He wanted a name for Jeremy, wanted something that would communicate that Davis was Jeremy’s and Jeremy was his to the entire world.

“I’m not into ropes like Dec or feet like Ryan,” Jeremy said, chuckling.

“Your friends overshare,” Davis replied.

“Like yours don’t?” Jeremy tossed back.

No. Only Alex knew that Davis was queer, and only Alex knew that Jeremy was the person that Davis was partnered with, though he was pretty sure Yesenia suspected something. He hadn’t even called his friends and cousins back home, the ones he still talked to, to let him know that he was dating anyone. It wasn’t that Davis didn’t want to, because there was a part of him that wanted to climb up to the tallest point in Colorado (Mount Elbert) and scream that he was in love with Jeremy Rinci and all of his persnickety quirks. But there was a bigger part of him— most of him, if he was being honest— that didn’t even trust himself to admit that to Jeremy.

Because what if he didn’t feel the same?

As Davis maneuvered his truck into the parking lot, he considered Jeremy. Considered the fact that one day, this tall, elegant man was going to look at Davis, all dumpy and scraggled, and realize that he was just a whim. A chance to play in the dirt before going back to his ivory tower. But he’d take Jeremy for as long as he could get him.

“Ta-da!” Davis said, turning the truck off.

“What is this?” Jeremy asked, raising one eyebrow in a way that still made Davis jealous. “This looks like it would be a brewery or”— Davis watched him try to get his emotions in check— “is it a climbing gym?”

“Honey,” Davis said, the nickname surprising even him. “It’s something I know you’ll like. Even with your legs, I know you would hate climbing.”

Jeremy sniffed. “I like climbing some things.” His eyes scanned Davis’s legs and crotch.

“Just trust me.” He hopped out of the truck, and Jeremy did the same. “Follow me.” Davis pulled out his phone to check the instructions that had been emailed to him last week when he had set everything up.

“I trust you, baby,” Jeremy said, pulling his knuckles to his mouth. “More than you know.” There was something there that Davis should poke at, should pull to expose what was underneath, but not now, now today. Not when Davis had been racking his brain to think of something that he could do to show Jeremy how much he cared for him.

How much he loved him.

Davis pressed a doorbell near a pedestrian entrance next to a garage door and spoke his full name into the speaker.

“Why don’t you use your full name?” Jeremy asked.

“Because it was my pap’s name,” Davis said, turning around. “I didn’t feel like I could ever live up to the man he was, so I didn’t feel like I could ever use his name.” He swallowed, then told him something he had never told anyone else in Colorado. “I went by Nate as a little kid.”

“Nate,” Jeremy said, seeming to test out the way the name rolled off his tongue.

“Don’t you start,” Davis warned.

Then Jeremy’s breath was hot against his ear. “I prefer you as my Nathaniel anyway, baby.” The door opened before Davis could do something foolish, like wrap his entire body around Jeremy’s or confess his undying love to his man.

“Welcome to Clever Fox,” the woman who opened the door said, two long braids hanging out of a beanie with the distinctive logo on the front.

“Wait,” Jeremy said, turning around. “Clever Fox, as in my favorite tea?”

Davis grinned wide in a way he hadn’t for the longest time. “Clever Fox, as in a place I had to scour the internet for so I could find out how to tour the factory.” He smiled at the woman. “Luckily, a friend from forestry school works in their sourcing department and was able to connect me with Dani here.” She winked.

“Jeremy, I’m told that your favorite tea is the chamomile or the mint blend. Is that correct?” she asked, her voice deep and scratchy but full of warmth.

“I drink it every day,” he responded, smiling.

“How do you feel about seeing the entire process from leaf to cup?” she asked.

Jeremy nearly bounced on his toes. Davis’s heart fluttered, seeing the man he loved so happy about something as small as tea. “I’ve been curious about the way you blend spearmint and catnip in the proprietary…” Davis couldn’t pay attention to what he was saying, only took in the way his curls bounced as he chatted, as Dani welcomed them inside.

“Do you want a photo with the mascot?” she asked, pointing to a large stuffed fox nearly the size of a human, which was curled up on a recliner with a sign above it that said Even the cleverest need to rest.

Jeremy let out his signature loud, honking laugh. “Of course!” He sprinted over and curled himself around the fox. “Davis, give her your phone.” Davis chuckled as he passed over his phone to her, clad in its shatterproof case that was standard for all forest rangers. She snapped a few pictures of Jeremy lounging, looking more like a dandy than anyone in the twenty-first century had a right to.

“Are you ready for a tour?” Dani asked, passing the phone back to Davis.

“No!” Jeremy said, surpassing them both. Then, he added, “Can you take a few photos of me and my boyfriend?”

There was something about the way that Jeremy said boyfriend that made Davis feel like he could fly. Something about that phrase, which to some may seem so juvenile, made Davis feel like he was living a life he hadn’t expected. Like he had truly come into his own and was living as authentically as he knew how.

But who are you authentic with?Came the voice from the back of his head, the same voice that sometimes asked him if he was sure he couldn’t just have one drink with friends.

Davis told that voice to shut up as he went over to the fox, and Jeremy wrapped his arms around him for the photo.