“You’re gonna share it with me, right?” Briggs asks, giving me a small pout.
“I don’t know,” I say slowly, “I think you said there would be fourteen. Was there fourteen zombies, Briggs?”
“You’re heartless,” he says dramatically, making Devin snort.
When the sun goes all the way down, Lawrence joins us in our kitchen. He brings the chocolate bar in question, tossing it over to me. I claim it with a grin.
“Best bet I’ve ever made,” I say, opening the package and breaking off a bar for myself. It’s been so long since I’ve had anything this sweet it’s almost overwhelming.
It’s so fucking good.
I feel two sets of eyes boring into me. I break off two bars, tossing one over to Devin and then turning and feeding the other to Briggs. His eyes go so soft it makes my chest ache.
“Youdolove me,” he says between moaning about how good the chocolate is.
“Don’t let it go to your head,” I say softly.
“Stop fucking moaning,” Devin hisses out, making the four of us burst with laughter.
This feels good. Maybe it’s too good to be true. Maybe someday it’ll all blow up in our faces, but I don’t care because right now, this is perfect. We’re going to keep fighting to make this work, to make this place safe. That’s enough for me.
“You jealous?” Briggs says, wiggling his brow at Devin.
Lawrence chuckles. “He’s got nothing to be jealous of, trust me.”
“I don’t think I wanna know what you’re implying,” I say, shaking my head and pointedly ignoring the way Devin is blushing.
“Come on,” Devin says, standing up. “We’ve got cows to milk.”
“Is that a euphemism I don’t know about?” Briggs asks. Devin cuffs the back of his head on his way to putting his plate in the sink.
“You deserved that,” I say with a shrug.
Devin and Lawrence head outside, making their way over to where our cows are kept. They have to be milked at the sametime every day to make sure the milk supply keeps up and to keep the cows from growing uncomfortable.
Briggs and I make quick work of washing our dishes and putting them away. Once we’re done, he leans his head on my shoulder, the two of us looking out the window, watching Devin and Lawrence work.
I let out a sigh, feeling content and warm. Briggs mirrors the sound.
“I love you,” I tell him softly, barely above a whisper but I know he’s heard me.
“I love you too. Even if you don’t share the rest of your winnings.”
“Of course I’m gonna share. Don’t be stupid.”
Briggs hums, the sound soft and happy. He wraps his arms around mine, pulling me away from the window and towards our bedroom.
“Let’s go to bed, Wade.”
“Isn’t it too early?”
“Maybe,” Briggs says with a shrug. “But I want to be close to you.”
We have a big day planned for later that night. Lawrence and I are going to travel further than before. We’d really like to find a pharmacy and stock up on medicines we might need in the future. We’re not sure how long we’ll be gone so going to bed early and holding Briggs sounds like the perfect way to spend the evening.
We strip out of our clothes and get into bed. We lay on our sides facing each other, our hands soft against each other’s skin. Briggs looks at me softly, so full of affection. It makes it hard to breathe.
“You’ll be safe tomorrow?”
