Escaping the Current

8. A Night Under the Stars

They were driving in Austin's car. It was roomier than his mother's and filled with everything Austin related. Kaden noticed how less the car was filled with Rachel's presence. Her left behind makeup was gone. There weren't any of her clothes lying in the back seat. And most of all, the smell of her perfume no longer lingered in the car, marking her territory. Kaden was both thrilled and a bit sad. Thrilled because she was out of the picture, but he felt for her though. Even though he didn't want to admit it, Kaden understood her being extra protective of her relationship with the cute, curly-haired boy, who kept on smiling and glancing at Kaden, as if he was in on a big secret that he couldn't wait to share.

He obviously didn't agree with her delivery, but when Kaden really thought about it, he would have been as territorial as Rachel was. He should have fought harder for Austin though. And he would have had they been in a better place at the time, and if Mauricio wasn't in the picture.

'Crap, Mauricio,' Kaden thought. He hadn't even thought about what Austin had told him earlier that day. He was too distracted by the 'I love you' Austin threw at him. He did want to bring it up with Mo, the next time he sees him. Kaden couldn't believe the charming, sensitive guy he knew could be so conniving and underhanded. 'Mauricio has a lot of explaining to do.'

'Hey, Bambi,' Austin waved his hand in front of Kaden's face. 'What's going on up in that cryptic mind of yours?'

'I'm just wondering where we're going.' Kaden looked ahead trying to make out where they were. Even though it was dark, he was almost positive they have never been to this part of their town.

Austin turned to him and smiled innocently. 'Well, if I told you, you wouldn't shower me with as much praise as you would have if you didn't know.'

Kaden rolled his eyes and shook his head.

They had been driving for a long while, and Kaden was getting a bit anxious and fidgety. 'Are you taking me to the middle of nowhere and killing me? Have I been close to a serial killer all my life? I knew you were too perfect.'

Austin flapped his hand in Kaden's direction. 'Hush, we're almost there.'

It was less than a minute when Austin stopped the car. Kaden got a jolt of excitement as he fixed his eyes to the windows to see where they were. But his smile quickly faded when he saw they were in parked behind a building, that didn't have a sign. As he reached for the door, to go do some exploring, Austin grabbed his hand. 'You're going to hate this cliché, but I'm going to need you to put this on.' Austin handed Kaden his mom's orange sleep mask. It was fluffy and had googly eyes on it.

Kaden pouted, 'Do I have to?'

Austin licked his lips and gave him a sly smile. 'I can reach into my gym bag and put my gym shorts over your head.' He pointed to it on the back seat.

His devilish smile was enough to get Kaden to comply. Kaden grabbed the mask and put it on and waited for further instructions. Austin climbed out of the car and went around to grab Kaden.

XXX

'I swear to Beyoncé, if I fall, I'm going to whip your ass,' Kaden warned. His hands were tightly gripped on Austin's arm, and his lips quivered with every single step they took.

'Just a few more steps, Short Stack,' Austin assured. He smiled at Kaden's worried expression and gritted teeth.

Kaden felt more anxious when Austin stopped them but didn't take the mask off. 'Okay, no peaking. I need to fetch the remote.'

'Remote for what?' Kaden asked, but Austin already drifted away to the other end of the room. He set up something on a computer screen and grabbed a remote. He began making his way back to Kaden, but he paused to admire the dark-skinned beauty with the nervous look on the parts of his face that weren't covered. Kaden was dressed in black jeans, an oversized grey hoodie, and his hair was tied up in a messy bow with his favorite rainbow scrunchie. Kaden had initially thought that they would be hanging out at Austin's house for the night.