Living Your Lie (boyxboy)

Chapter 34

"Sweet Jesus, this place is huge!" Dakota whispered loudly into my ear.

I grinned and stepped closer to him as we walked, purposely bumping into him just for an excuse to touch him as we followed my grandmother and grandfather around.

We were out at my family's vineyard in the hills of Santa Barbara. It was Saturday, the night of their annual party, and we'd gotten into town late the night before. So this morning we'd all gotten up, had an overly-grand breakfast that their cooks made, and hit the property for a tour all before the sun had barely risen in the sky.

I took a drink from the coffee cup in my hand and admired the side of Dakota's face as he looked out over the rows of grapevines. He looked excited by everything that was in front of him, but I was in awe of the way the sunrise spilled saffron colored rays over his cheeks, igniting his light green eyes in the process.

I could hear my mom and dad talking to my grandparents up ahead and pinched Dakota's sleeve so he would slow his pace with me. We eventually stopped and he bent over to look closely at a vine.

"This is incredible. I've never seen anything like this place."

I smiled. "I'm used to it now, but it is pretty cool. There's thousands of plants out here, which is crazy to think about."

Dakota straightened up and looked at me. "And it's all yours."

I chuckled. "It's not mine. It belongs to my family so I guess one day I'll inherit it, maybe. There's a few other people in the running."

"Still," he said, grinning at me. Then after a moment of looking around, he said, "I'm glad you guys brought me out here."

I looked behind him and noticed the others kept walking with their backs to us. I looked at Dakota again and flicked him teasingly on the nose. "You probably won't be saying that later tonight."

We started to walk again, taking our time. "You're too pessimistic. I'm sure it's not that bad."

I chuckled, turning to meet his gaze. "Trust me, you would not be saying that if you'd been through what I have."

Dakota didn't look convinced. "It's a party, not war, Harley."

I raised my eyebrows, mocking surprise. "Oh? All those years I showed up with my sword and shield my efforts were in vain? What a shame..."

Dakota laughed and lightly pushed me to the side. "You're such a nerd."

"The hottest in the vineyard." I winked and he groaned.

"Okay, I thought you were joking," Dakota said.

I stood in front of him at the back of the crowded room, holding up a bottle of wine that was marked 1933. "I never joke about wine."

"Must run in the family."

I smiled and grabbed his hand, pulling him into an empty hallway, leaving the hustle and bustle of the party behind us. Eventually I got us out of the building and we set off up the hill.

It was dark out, with the stars and half of an orange-tinted moon gleaming down over us from the sky. I gestured for Dakota to sit down and then joined him, pulling a corkscrew out of my back pocket that I'd swiped from the winery.

I could feel Dakota's eyes on me but when I looked up, he quickly turned away. "It's somehow even more beautiful out here at night," he said.

"It's kind of creepy, too," I said, trying to work out how to open the bottle.