That only sparked more laughter, at least until Daddy came back with Daddy Vince right behind him. Then it was all about the food. The Kebabs were fun to eat and super yummy with veggies stuck in between pork and chicken chunks. “Mm…good.”
Everything was perfect, and it felt amazing to hang out with all the other people on the trip, but it was getting late and we had to get back in the car to go the rest of the way to Key West in the morning. We headed back to our tents, where we tidied up, preparing for a quick departure in the morning.
Eventually, I walked down to the bath house to brush my teeth and use the facilities. When I made my way back to the site, I heard more voices at the site that sounded like Mr. Drew, his husband, Justin, Daddy Crow, and Skyler, as well as Joey and Vince.
But Daddy’s voice rose above the others, maybe because I was keyed in to hear him. “…has a job, but he’s a little. He’s special, and I wouldn’t mind at all if he didn’t work. I’d love it if he were home all the time.”
Justin snorted. “Not likely. I don’t know him all that well, but Cody seems pretty independent.”
“Not unlike you.” I was close enough to see Drew jostle Justin, but I couldn’t see Daddy on the other side of them.
I froze. What did I do? Why was he talking about me? More was said, and Joey laughed, but it all came to me on a fuzzy cloud.No. No. No.
Then one more thing was clear. Daddy said, “He’d be a great dad. I’d love to have kids with him.”
I had to go.
I backed up slowly until I got back to the bath house, then I hurried across a couple of campsites until I ran into Royce and Quinn.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Royce and I weren’t the closest of friends, but we knew each other for sure. He was one of the pups who came to play with us at Afterglow. “Cody? What’s wrong?”
“Yes. I’m fine, but I…uh, I need to go.” I looked around and spotted what I needed most. “Can I borrow your car?” How he got all their camping stuff here in that shiny red sports car, I did not know, but oh-la-la, what a sexy vehicle.
“Uh, yeah. Let me get the keys.” Royce got up and went inside their little tent.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Quinn asked once Royce was in the tent. He worked for Drew, so I didn’t know how much I wanted to say.
“I am, but I just need to get some space, you know?”
He nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not completely happy with my answer, but he didn’t stop Royce fromdropping his keys in my hand. “Still has plenty of gas, believe it or not. Just be careful, okay?”
“Of course. Thank you.” I rushed to him, wrapping him in a big hug. Not too many people in the world were going to let you use their car on a moment’s notice with no explanation, even if it was a crappy burner, which this one most definitely was not.
I drove away with the roar of the engine clearing my ears from all the words that had been spoken. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, but when I got out on the road, I pointed the red beast back toward Tampa. Toward home.
Chapter eight
Warner – What Hurts The Most
Drew and Justin stopped by to leave us supplies for roasting marshmallows around the campfire, so Vince and I got one going, while Joey bounced around the camp, straightening up and getting ready for the next day. But where was Cody? “Joey? Have you seen Cody?” He would know if anyone did, besides me.
“Uh…” He looked around as if Cody would materialize out of thin air, or maybe to better remember where he’d last seen his friend. “He went to the potty, but that was a long time ago. Before Mr. Drew brought the marshy-mellows.”
“Hmm…” Okay. Maybe he needed extra time in the facilities, so I didn’t worry too much. But it kept getting later and later. I finally put my roasting stick on the picnic table. After eating three of them alone, I needed to find my boy. “I’m going to see if I can find Cody. If he shows up, tell him I said to stay here.”
“Okay, Daddy Warner.” Joey stuffed his mouth with another marshmallow, followed by a piece of chocolate. Vince had given up on telling him he was doing it wrong. Apparently, he didn’tcare for the graham crackers. He was still enjoying it and having fun getting sticky marshmallow all over his face, but it made me miss Cody even more.
First, I went to the bath house, but he wasn’t there, so I walked around, visiting all the other sites, but no one had seen him. I was getting extremely worried, but I’d only covered about half the campground. The rest of our people were camping in the other direction, so after checking in to be sure he hadn’t returned, and he had not, I headed to the other side, where I hadn’t already been. It was nearly ten o’clock, and I didn’t want to wake anyone who might already be sleeping, but I had to find him. My heart pounded in my chest, and I was sure my blood pressure was up. Something was wrong. Cody didn’t simply disappear without a trace. Did something bad happen?
Finally, I stopped at the site where Quinn and Royce were set up with the other pups and waved at everyone. “Hey. Have any of you seen Cody in the last couple of hours?”
Royce paled. He tilted his head and his eyes looked incredibly sad. “Uh…I have. About two hours ago. I let him borrow my car, and I’ve kind of been wondering when he was coming back.”
“What the hell?”
Royce bit his lip. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh no, I’m sorry.” I backtracked immediately, not wanting to make him feel bad. “I’m not mad at you at all. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
