Page 46 of Highway To Destiny

“Good for them,” I replied. Eli had turned to pour me a beer and set it in front of me. I wondered if Connor and I could have something like that.

“How’s your friend, Connor?” he asked. “I’m assuming things are still…developing?”

I bowed my head with a grin. I was fortunate to have Eli in my corner. “He’s doing good, and yes, things are developing as much as they can with our occasional meetups. We met up in Vegas at the end of March. His friend Spencer was there too, for spring break. Actually, I’m picking Connor up in about a week and a half. He’s joining me on the road for the summer.”

“That’s a big step, my friend,” he replied with wide eyes. “So, you’ll be together twenty-four-seven for the summer?”

“I want to be with him more, Eli. I’ll put him to work, and he’ll get experience with how the trucking business works.” I took a swig of beer. “I miss him—a lot. I haven’t felt this way about anyone since Claudia died. Only seeing each other with these huge gaps in between scares me. I might lose him because of the distance.”

Eli smiled and put his hands on the bar. “I hear you. I’d love nothing better than to see you happy again, Mason.” At that, someone walked up to the bar to get another drink, and Eli slid over to take care of them.

Eli walked through the bar to check on his other customers, then reached under the counter and handed me a menu. “I’m also assuming you’re hungry?” he asked. My stomach rumbled in protest when I opened it.

With not many customers, I got my food in record time. Eli poured me a second beer to go with the house's specialty, fish and chips. I also ordered a side salad. I’d always been careful to watch what I eat, so I picked quite a bit of the batter off the fish and only indulged in a few fries. When Eli saw my plate, he frowned and waved a finger at the discarded batter.

“You can always just order plain fish fillets instead of the battered ones and omit the fries,” he said with a chuckle.

“Then it wouldn’t be your House Specialty now, would it?” Eli just shook his head and walked away, letting me finish my salad.

I finished dinner and my beer, then said goodnight to Eli with a promise to see him over the next couple of days. I walked outside, and it was a comfortable fifty-five degrees with no onshore breeze, which was rare. I took my SUV back to the condo and longed for the bed in my master suite. It was always a treat to sleep on my memory foam mattress at home instead of the one in my sleeper cab. As comfortable as I had made it, a large king-size mattress with room to sprawl beat the narrow one in my rig any day.

But as I lay there, I yearned for Connor to be snuggled up against me. I used a pillow instead.

30

CONNOR

I’d finished my paper and nailed my finals. My first year in grad school had come to an end. The night of my last final, Spencer and I went out for beers to celebrate. He was headed to Boise the next day for the summer break, and as luck would have it, Evan was going to keep him company on the bus ride to southern Idaho. I doubt luck had anything to do with it.

Evan graduated with honors and finished his senior year at EOU. Once he was finished with school, he planned to work and be groomed in his dad’s business, and I knew Spencer was going to miss him next year. I just hoped they planned on spending time together over the summer.

We sat in a bar close to the university where most of the students of drinking age hung out. “Do you and Evan have any plans over the summer?” I asked him as the bartender put our beers on coasters.

Spencer took a drink. “Nothing set in stone. We talked about going camping around the Fourth of July, and that’s about it. He’ll be busy learning the ropes of his dad’s cybersecurity business, so I doubt we’ll see much of each other besides an occasional date.” He looked forlorn.

Since I was curious, I asked, “Has he come out to his family yet?”

“No. We’ve had long discussions about it. His family is quite conservativeandMormon. I can’t imagine him coming out any time soon.” Spencer looked at his beer mug. “I don’t really see a future for us. He’s graduated, and I’ll be headed back here for another year. All we have left is the summer, and I hate being his secret. It’ll be difficult.”

“Don’t think too hard about the future, Spence,” I replied, trying to comfort him. “Think positively and give his family some credit. It’s his fear, and all you can do is support him. Coming out is a big step, and I hope his family will be supportive for his sake.”

Spencer turned to face the bar with his beer mug. “I’m kinda envious of you right now,” he said, not glancing my way.

“Why’s that?”

“You’re headed out with Mason for the summer, traveling from state to state, and you’ll be together the entire time. In my head, that’s a chapter in the Envy 101 textbook,” he said sadly. I put my hand on his knee.

“Listen, Spence. There are no guarantees about how things will pan out with Mason. I’m enjoying my time with him right now and the opportunity to be by his side. And I get to learn more about the trucking and freight business.”

I turned on my stool to face him which took my hand from his leg. “It’s not all going to be ‘sex in the rig' with my trucker daddy,” I said, using air quotes. “I plan on writing a research paper on the experience. I’ll also be lifting and pushing freight around. Fuck, manual labor in the summer heat. Are you still envious?” I snorted.

Spencer sat quietly. “I’m envious that you’ll be together all the time, and I won’t have that with Evan.” I was beginning to wonder if his original statement about their relationship not being serious had ventured into something more for both of them. I noticed they’d grown closer through the school year.

All I could do was respond positively. “Just enjoy each other’s company and see what happens over the summer. You may be surprised.” I moved into his space, bent over, and looked at him with a smile. He simply nodded and took a deep breath. “If I’m not mistaken, you seem to have taken on the overthinker’s role you love to scold me about,” I said. He chuckled.

“When is your sexy trucker man picking you up?” His mood lifted some when he asked.

“Day after tomorrow. We decided to make it easy, so I didn’t have to pack for Portland and the road. Mom was disappointed I wouldn't be home for the summer, but she was happy with my opportunity. Mason will be coming through town here and said he’d pick me up at the dorm. He told me we’d be making a delivery in town to some mom-and-pop store while he’s here.”

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