Page 3 of No Rhyme or Riesling

Shit. John patted his pockets, searching for his own phone. He started back for the truck, then turned to glance over his shoulder, wanting one last glimpse of the vineyard.

A crooked sign caught his eye. John muttered a curse and veered back, unable to leave it. He crossed the dirt road between the riesling vines and the next section of vineyard, stopping at the first row. A small, wooden sign was screwed into the end post there. John pulled a multi-tool out of his pocket, flipped out the screwdriver, and straightened the sign. He tightened the screw that held the sign in place, then checked other signs all down the rows.

Aubbie. Shaney. Magic. Charlotte. Shadow.Pets that had been cremated, their ashes spread in the vineyard. It was a tradition the old boss had worked out with local veterinarian offices. Vista Robles took the ashes and spread them where the vines grew, giving the beloved pets a beautiful final resting place.

Once John was satisfied that all the signs were perfectly straight, he finally turned away and headed for the truck, still sitting there with the driver's door wide open. He found his phone resting in the cup holder. John hopped into the truck, leaving the door open so he could feel the gentle breeze, then had to power the phone on since he'd left it off all day.

A notification popped up, alerting him to a new voicemail. John quickly clicked on it, seeing Adam's name there.

“Hey, John,” the recording began. Two little words, and John was grinning. He loved Adam's voice. Couldn't get enough of it. Even when voices tended to exhaust him, creating too much noise, Adam's was pure delight. Just hearing the boy speak made his skin tingle all over.

Hearing Adam sing was a whole other experience.Christ. John got hard, just thinking about it.

“Just wanted to see if you'd prefer meatloaf or lasagna for dinner,” Adam went on. “I've got stuff for both.”

John moaned low in his throat as his stomach growled. Adam was a ridiculously good cook, though he always left the kitchen looking like a tornado had blown through. Then again, that often made for an interesting kind of foreplay. John loved telling Adam what to do, and the boy loved obeying. Even just watching Adam rush about the kitchen, cleaning up his mess, got both of them desperate and needy.

“Can't wait to see you!” Adam's message continued. “I'm so horny, I could fucking burst. A whole week without you inside me, and I feel like I'm gonna die.”

John laughed, palming his cock through his jeans as it hardened even more.You and me both, baby.

“Anyways, call me back when you get this. Or maybe I'll have to surprise you,” Adam added, his words teasing about more than food. “Love you!”

John pulled his phone away from his ear when the message ended, watching the screen revert back to his list of voicemails. He deleted that new one from Adam, leaving just one message. The smile dropped right off his face as he stared at it. Whether by some miracle—or divine torment—that message was still there after all these years.

The last words Adam's dad had ever said to him.

Except John had never listened to the message. Try as he might, he still couldn't bring himself to do so. Nor could he make himself delete the message without listening to it. He didn't want to hear it, but he also knew he'd regret it for the rest of his life if he never gave himself the chance to find out what the man had said. John had even copied the audio file onto his computer in case the carrier ever deleted it, but even there, it sat untouched. Taunting him every time he saw it.

John's thumb hovered over the message.Listen or delete? Christ. He wanted to do both so badly, but wound up jerking his thumb away instead and tossing the phone back into the cup holder. John yanked the door shut, started up the truck, and turned it around.

Nine years, and he still couldn't let it go.

Chapter 2

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ADAM

ADAM BARNES raced about his bedroom, snatching up discarded clothing and shoving it all into his hamper. He honestly couldn't remember which items were clean and which were dirty, so it was better to play it safe and plan on washing it all. But that could wait until tomorrow. The important thing at the moment was to make sure his room was tidy.

Because John wasfinallygoing to spend the night. Adam let out a squeak of excitement, grinning so hard that his cheeks hurt.Eeee!He couldn't wait.

They'd been trying for months to make that happen—all five months that they'd been together—but things kept getting in the way. Even when their schedules did align, it was easier to go to John's house, where they were guaranteed privacy. That night, though, everything had aligned perfectly.

It was Saturday, so it wasn't a work night for John. Adam had worked an early shift instead of a late one, so he was home already rather than getting off after John's habitual bedtime. Plus he'd lucked out and managed to switch shifts with a coworker so he wouldn't have to work tomorrow at all. And Adam's roommate, Haven, was spending the night with hisboyfriend, Theo, so Adam and John would have the apartment to themselves.

Everything had to be perfect.

Out in the kitchen, his phone was blaring out a playlist of his favorite songs. “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay came to an end, and then Adam heard the opening sounds of “My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark” by Fall Out Boy. Adam gasped and ran for the kitchen. He snatched up his phone, cranked the volume as high as it would go, and sang along, belting out the lyrics. His neighbors could probably hear him, but he didn't care. He needed to sing.

It wasn't remotely like being on a stage with a band. Padding around his apartment, singing along to the tinny speakers of his phone, simply paled in comparison. But it was something. Just enough to scratch the itch deep down in his bones, since the high from his last real show had long since worn off.

Adam grinned as he sang, thinking about that weekend. Just before Christmas, he'd gotten a call out of the blue from his old garage band. He'd sung with them all through high school back in Idaho, then went along for the ride when the band decided to go touring across the country, taking gigs wherever they could find them. But that was after Adam's dad died. All he'd wanted back then was to get away from Idaho and all the crushing memories.

So he'd tried to hide in the music, but it hadn't worked. All through the trek west and south, making their way through Washington, Oregon, and northern California, Adam had felt like he was living on autopilot. Going where the band went. Doing what they wanted. All to try drowning out his grief and guilt.

They spent a couple weeks in San Francisco, then continued south. They'd intended to make it all the way to Santa Barbara in one day, but traffic out of the city had been a nightmare dueto accidents and road construction. They only made it as far as Paso Robles, a small town in central California, when they decided to crash for the night and continue on the next day.

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