26. Elton

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Elton

“Are you sure you’re not trying to kill me?”

Knox snorts, one hand casually resting on the steering wheel as he takes an exit off the highway. We’ve been driving for about an hour now—thank you, Miami traffic—and it seems like he’s bringing me to the middle of nowhere.

“You know, contrary to what you might think, the Everglades really aren’t the best place to dump a body,” I say, mostly fucking with him, but blanching when he doesn’t answer. “Seriously, Knox. Where are we going? I have to study.”

“You’ve been studying your ass off for days now,” he finally replies. “What you need is to fucking chill. So, I’m providing a distraction that should earn me some killer road head on the drive back.”

I skip over the “killer road head” comment and go straight to my question. “The drive back from— What!”

He chuckles to himself as we pull into the parking lot of…

A wildlife sanctuary!

“Are you serious?” I ask, practically jumping in my seat as he parks the car. “This is what we’re doing today?”

Shrugging casually, he unbuckles his seatbelt as he urges me to do the same. “Now, if you could just hurry the fuck up, we’re going to miss our tram tour.”

I can’t help it. I attempt to throw myself at him, but realize I never unbuckled my seatbelt, and am pulled back with a yelp. His eyes widen. “For fuck’s sake, Elton?—”

Okay, now that I’ve unbuckled my seatbelt, I cross the console of his tiny-ass sports car and maul him. My lips crash clumsily against his as I try to climb my way up his body, moaning at his sweet taste, and writhing when I finally get on his lap. He kisses me back with equal passion, palming my ass as he helps me rub our clothed dicks together. God, he makes me so hard. I’m also so horny for this asshole, and it’s all his fault, because who takes their fuck buddy to a wildlife sanctuary anyways?

I pull back, because although I’ve never been here, I’ve heard that it’s a family-friendly area, and I don’t particularly want to be arrested for public indecency. Looking down at his puffy wet lips, I smile as I trace his piercing with my finger, and practically swoon. “This is an awesome idea.”

“That’s what”—he clears his throat, a mild blush coating his cheeks—“friends are for.”

Damn it, why does he make it so easy to be so kissable? I dive back down for just one more taste before clumsily slipping off his lap and back into my seat. “So, you said there’s a tram tour?”

He blinks at me, almost in a daze, as he adjusts his hard dick. “Well, now we’re definitely missing it, because I need a second to cool off, you horny fuck.”

I laugh at his offended tone, knowing I also need a second. It takes us a few minutes, but we both compose ourselves enough to leave the car with a modicum of decency. We go to the entrance where Knox presents his mobile tickets that he already bought, and I’m floored by just how beautiful it is.

Sure, Miami has the beach, but there isn’t really too much nature in the downtown metropolis. If that’s what you’re looking for, you need to drive a couple of hours either down to the Keys or west toward the Everglades, where there aren’t any highrises or highways.

Here, everything is lush and green, and I imagine this is what tourists think South Florida really looks like. I glance around in awe, seeing all the happy families. Knox has to thread his fingers through mine and pull me to the side when I almost run into the information guide.

“Do I need to put a leash on you?” he snaps, jolting me against him.

I mumble under my breath, eyes widening when I see there’s an aviary exhibit. “Not my kink.”

“Come on,” he huffs, dragging me away and toward the lake. Once he settles me on a bench, he throws me a glare. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”

I nod dumbly as I close my eyes and breathe in the fresh air. This is so nice. Usually, it’s hot as fuck where we live, but since it’s technically late fall, the weather is incredible. I’d be happy to just sit on this bench all day and not worry about my finals, a point of stress in the last few days. I only open my eyes when something is unceremoniously dumped on my lap. I look down curiously at the…seeds?

“Um, I mean, I’d rather have a big pretzel?—”

“You’re being purposefully dense, right?” He’s looking beyond irritated with me now. “They’re not for you, dumbass. They’re for the birds.”

“Oh, cool!” I say, hopping off the bench. “Which birds do we get to feed?”

He grips my shoulders tightly, spinning me around, and?—

Holy shit.

“I get to feed flamingos!”

It’s an entire lagoon that’s overflowing with pink flamingos. They’re all just lazily mulling about, some lying on the grassy plain, while others peck at the water. I see now that there are a few children feeding them, and my excitement rises.

Knox actually covers his ears with how loud my yell was. I draw the attention of a few passing children and parents, but fuck it. I get to feed flamingos! How cool is that? Taking Knox’s hand, I drag him toward the lagoon, finding a vacant spot on the grass, where I sit. I carefully lay out the bird seed, wondering if it’s best to approach them or let them come to me.

“Do you think they’ll bite?” I ask, grabbing a couple of seeds and shaking them in my palm.

Knox shrugs. “They’re wild animals, Elton. Don’t piss them off and they won’t bite you.”

“That doesn’t sound very comforting,” I huff. “But I see your point. Maybe they’re used to all the people already?”

He shrugs again. “Maybe.”

I roll my eyes dramatically. Okay, Knox. He can try to act as apathetic and aloof as possible, but he’s the one who brought me to feed flamingos, and while I want to rub that fact in his face, I decide to take pity on him instead.

“Come sit,” I tell him, patting the spot beside me.

He does so, albeit begrudgingly, and we wait a few seconds until what looks like a young flamingo approaches us. It’s just so damn cute. It’s little bill is tipped black as he sticks it hesitantly in my hand. It’s a weird sensation when he starts to feed, and I’m afraid to move in case that’ll scare it away.

“Knox,” I whisper, holding my breath to keep this moment going forever. “Take a picture of me.”

He sighs as if I’ve asked him for the world, but takes out his phone, and snaps a picture. I feel my watch vibrate against my wrist when he sends it to me, and my little buddy—Gary, I’m naming him—lets out the sweetest little chirp at his surprise.

“Want to hear some fun flamingo facts?”

“No—”

I cut him off. “Did you know that they’re pink because of the food they eat?”

He sighs beside me, deep and impatient, as I see him nod out of the corner of my eye. “Yes, actually.”

“Well, did you know that they turn their heads upside down when they eat?”

“No.”

“How about the fact that a group of flamingos is called a flamboyance?”

“Fascinating.”

“Oh! And their nests are made of mud?—”

“Elton,” he groans, causing Gary to let out another little chirp. “I don’t want to know about fucking flamingos.”

I ignore him. He brought me here, so he’s going to listen to my encyclopedia of information. “Anyways, there are six species of flamingos…”

I go through the list of all the fun facts I know about my favorite animal, and after a while, Gary leaves to return to his flamingo brethren. When he’s gone, I can finally reach for my phone and take all the pictures I want. Knox just sits and looks out into the water the entire time, not saying anything, until I ask him if there’s a gift shop.

“You are, like, weirdly obsessed with flamingos. You know that, right?” he questions as we walk away from the lagoon.

I shake my head. “It’s not weird. Come on, man. They’re pink . And they have those freaky legs that—fun fact—don’t actually bend backwards at the knee, but?—”

“Elton, for the love of all that’s holy, no more fun facts.”

“Fine, fine,” I relent. I stop when I see a pretty greenery wall with a bunch of different types of tropical flowers. “Let’s take a picture.”

Knox stops so suddenly, I run into his back. “What? No.”

“Oh, come on,” I urge him, already positioning him in front of the flower wall. “Just suck it up and take a picture with me.”

“Elton, no.”

But I’m already walking up to a mom and her daughter, smiling brightly as I clear my throat. “Hi, I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you mind taking a picture of my friend and I? I could take a picture of you and your daughter too, if you’d like?”

The mom smiles, grabbing her daughter’s hand as we walk toward the wall. “Of course, sweetie. That would be really nice.”

“Thank you so much,” I say as I hand her my phone. Rushing over to the wall, I hip-check Knox so he’s more centered in the shot. But then, I frown. “What pose should we do?”

“Does it even fucking matter? Just take the damn picture.”

Thankfully, he mumbles this, so the nice mom and her very impressionable child don’t hear him curse. If this were Rhys, I’d just throw my arm over his shoulder or something. I wouldn’t be thinking so much about what the picture would look like, or the significance of the pose. Do fuck-buddy friends even take pictures together?

“Get closer,” Cool Mom says, motioning for us to scooch together. She must see my panic because she gives me a kind smile. “Put your arm around his waist.”

I shrug. If Cool Mom thinks it’ll be a nice shot, who am I to not believe her? Wrapping my arm around Knox’s waist, I pull him against my side, and he stiffens. I smile brightly, but through clenched teeth, hiss at him. “Smile, for fuck’s sake.”

He groans, but I’m pretty sure he does what I say. Cool Mom takes a bunch of pictures of us, and in the last one, I turn suddenly and press my lips against Knox’s cheek. He flushes, pushing me off him, but I’m already going over to Cool Mom and taking her phone so I can get some pictures of her and her daughter. They pose for a bit, doing all sorts of funny faces, and we thank each other as we part ways.

I look at the pictures on my phone, and my heart does a little flutter. Damn, Knox and I look hot together. While we seem a bit mismatched—me in my khaki shorts and polo, and him in his black jeans and even blacker shirt—it just works.

“This one is my favorite,” I tell him, shoving the phone into his face to show him the picture of me kissing his cheek. “You look like you want to crawl into the Earth, man.”

Glancing down at it, he huffs, but I see the little twitch in his upper lip. “They’re fine.”

“Going to make it your screen saver, grumpy bear?” I tease, knowing how much he hates that nickname. “That way, every time you look at your phone, you can remember doing something nice?”

He narrows his eyes. “Don’t send me those pictures.”

“Oops! Already done!” I fake an apologetic tone as I send the pictures. “Looks like you’ll have the memory of this day forever.”

“What a joy,” he mutters under his breath, salty as hell, but not pulling away when I thread our fingers together and lead us to the gift shop.

I end up getting a new flamingo keychain, and I get one for Knox too, even though there’s no way in hell he’s actually going to put it on his keys. I get a bunch of other random crap, tossing it in Knox’s hand as I plan our next flamingo outing. He might not have expected it, but now that he’s shown me this place, I’m planning on buying both of us yearly passes.

We head out to the car, all my crap in his hands, and I smile happily as I watch him put it all in the trunk. When he’s done, still looking grumpy as can be, I step up and wrap my arms around his waist. Before he can back off, I kiss him gently, pressing my forehead against his when I pull back. “Thanks, Knox. This was really fun.”

He snorts. “I see it’s easy to please you.”

And apparently, it really is. Respect, consideration, and kindness. All the things I didn’t think Knox was capable of were displayed today.

And I really liked what I saw.