Joe tugged until Devin fell back on the bed. He straddled Devin’s lap and pinned his hands at his sides. The change in position had Devin’s stomach jumping even as his muscles relaxed. It wasn’t sexual, exactly. The conversation was too heavy for that. But Joe on top of him, commanding and in charge? It settled Devin, soothed him.
“He won’t,” Joe said. “We’ll be careful, keep traveling at night, even if the weather stays cool and we find enough vision shields for all of us. We’re seven days away from home. We’re getting to the point where even if someone saw us, three weeks of food isn’t worth the trip down to Austin, not unless they were headed that way to begin with.”
Devin hoped Joe was right. “And we’ve got guns. I don’t like it, but we do.”
Muffled laughter floated in from the living room, followed by a thumping noise and even louder laughter.
Joe hung his head. “They’re kids, papi. I’m scared we won’t keep them safe.”
Time to return the favor. Devin rolled, pinned Joe under him, switched their grips so Joe’s hands were helpless. “I’m scared, too, but we’ll manage. Together.” He shifted so he could hold Joe’s wrists over his head with one hand, and used the other hand to pull down the hem of Joe’s shirt. Carefully, he bit at Joe’s exposed collarbone, the skin tender, the bone hard, tightening his jaw until Joe squirmed.
“I might have friends in Dallas,” Joe said, his breath coming in short bursts. “They left Flights of Fantasy a few years ago. I think we’re getting close.”
The toilet flushed.
Devin licked the spot he’d bit. “Then try to relax. Get cleaned up. I’ll get our Insta-food bar. We can eat in here and go straight to sleep.” Devin rocked his hips to make sure Joe understood sleep was the last thing on his mind. He climbed off, helped Joe to his feet, and slapped his ass. “Go.”
Joe saluted, made it funny, but he hesitated at the door. “You really forgive me? Not just because you’re horny?”
“I don’t know if I could ever stay mad at you.”
***
The next day, Joe clutched a scrap of paper and tried to ignore the gnawing emptiness in his stomach. The Dallas skyline stretched out in the hazy distance. He trudged forward and daydreamed about food.
“Who are we looking for again?” Flix gripped Joe’s shoulder and tried to wedge his way between Joe and Devin, who nudged Flix’s head and boxed him out. Undeterred, Flix slipped to Joe’s other side. He wrapped an arm around Joe’s shoulders and squeezed. “Work people, right?”
A huge chunk of highway had been unearthed in front of Joe. He climbed over it, hoping to dislodge Flix’s arm, but Flix stayed with him, his expression polite and way too interested. Joe didn’t have much patience, not when he hadn’t eaten since breakfast last night and the sun was about to rise. “Yes. You don’t know them.”
“But they’ll help us? Help you?”
“Yes.” Joe hoped. He’d be cashing in a favor three years old. If you could even call it a favor. “Can you just help me look for the address?”
“Oh.” Flix’s brows drew together, highlighting the dozen or so ant bites that had blistered his face. “I told you where to go.”
“He’s got too much on his mind, dipshit.” Devin’s hand had been in Joe’s back pocket, but he pulled it out and, from the sound of Flix’s squeal, pinched Flix.
“He’s not as dumb as you, Devin,” Flix snapped.
Joe ground his teeth. They’d been traveling together for a week, and Flix and Devin’s bickering, never very appealing even back in Austin, was about to drive Joe crazy. He unhooked himself from their grasp and dragged their hands palm to palm. “I don’t want to intrude on the way you two squabble like a little old married couple. Have at it. But keep an eye out for the street signs.”
He dropped back and, to give himself a buffer, flung his arms around Marcus and Peter. Devin and Flix stopped in the middle of the road and stared at him.
“Walk.” It came out as a growl.
Devin turned around and started forward. When Flix didn’t follow, Devin grabbed him by the upper arm and pulled him along. “Give him a break.”
Smartly, Marcus and Peter kept their mouths shut, and Joe concentrated on the street signs and the big city off in the distance. At one time, Austin had been almost as big as Dallas. The two metropolitan areas spread so wide they almost met. But Dallas, the inner part of the city, dwarfed Austin. Joe had visited once as a kid, when his dad had interviewed for the job that would take him away. They stayed downtown in a glittering high-rise 200 stories tall and four city blocks wide. Joe ran up and down the halls and got lost for over an hour. These days, he wasn’t sure that his father had even noticed he was gone.
This neighborhood seemed more like some of the Austin suburbs. Big houses covered tiny lots. Nothing brick. Nothing permanent. Few windows. Solar panels, mostly broken. Cloudy pink and green exteriors. Monstrous garages meant to hold several vehicles, the kind that ran on gasoline and wrecked the climate. Even the SDVs and Green-elecs that Joe remembered from his early childhood had caused problems. These garages had probably fit seven or eight of the “better” vehicles at a time. Making cleaner products hadn’t meant much when the world kept using more and more.
He couldn’t imagine Lil, her dancing eyes and loud, genuine laugh, making a home in a place like this. If she had, he’d find out soon.
“You said Wheatland, right?” Flix called back. He pointed at a weathered sign.
Despite his hunger and his irritation, Joe
