Page 25 of Fighter
He waited when Linc followed Andrew and Mattie downstairs, staying behind to talk to Victor in private.
“Boss Man, you got a minute?” Victor nodded, opening his laptop. “Since neither Linc nor I have any shoots between now and the one we are going to do on the boat, can we have a week off?”
That got Victor’s attention. “I am agreeing that you two need some time, but I must ask, is everything okay?” Chris smiled and nodded. “Okay, but you must being back in time for your shoot and remembering the three-day rule.” Victor dismissed him with a wave toward the stairs.
“Of course,” Chris quickly agreed, leaving before Victor could change his mind. They needed some time alone—completely alone, not just behind a locked door. And Chris needed to say good-bye to his old life before he could build a new one.
Chapter Twenty Four
Sweet Home Alabama
“Where are we going, Chris?” Linc asked for the third time, moving the stack of clothes he’d folded neatly into his duffle bag. He got the same response as the last two times he’d asked the question in the past twenty minutes.
“It’s a surprise, for now.” Chris fidgeted, scrolling through his phone anxiously.
Linc sighed in frustration. He was going, regardless, but it’d be really nice to know exactlywherethey were headed that involved plane tickets but wasn’t the beach. That had been Linc’s first question when Chris informed him he’d gotten Victor to give them a week off, six days ago. “It’s cold and wet there too, so pack a coat.” Chris finally gave him more than a one-word answer.
Instead of taking Uber or being dropped off, Chris was going to drive his truck to LaGuardia and leave it in long-term parking. “I don’t mind paying the money. Besides, we’ll be back in a couple of days.”
As soon as they turned off the dirt road onto the highway headed toward the city, Linc turned to face Chris. “Enough is enough, Chris. Where are we going?”
“Alabama.”
Oh, wow.That was not what Linc expected to hear. “Why couldn’t you just tell me that from the start, Chris? Did you think I wouldn’t go? I would follow you anywhere, babe, but why Alabama? You said the other night you haven’t been there since you moved to New York with your best friend. So, why now?”
Chris chuckled, giving him a sideways grin. “I was pretty sure you would go, but I didn’t want to tell you and take the chance you’d say no. I…uh…well…” Tightening his grip on the steering wheel, Chris sat up straighter and cleared his throat. He was uncertain and anxious, and Linc found it endearing. So, his man wasn’t perfect after all. “I need to say good-bye, to let go of the past so I can have the future I want with you.”
“See, was that so hard?” He leaned over the seat, brushing a lock of Chris’s auburn hair behind his ear and kissing him softly on the cheek.
The rest of the drive to the airport was made in relative silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Linc was content to watch the rain fall as the trees flew by and listen to Chris hum along with the song playing on the radio. Thankfully Chris had prepaid for parking in a garage with a covered crosswalk they could pass through to the terminal. They made it through LaGuardia with no issues aside from an hour-long wait to get through security, but that was normal for New York. Linc didn’t even read his ticket when Chris printed them and passed his over, so when they boarded and took their seats in first class, he was pleasantly surprised. “Oh my God, Chris, I’ve never flown first class before, this is so exciting.”
Chris stepped aside, letting Linc take the window seat while he put their bags in the overhead compartment. “The only thing I’ve really spent any money on is my truck, so I’ve got a pretty sizable bank account.” As soon as Chris sat and buckled his seat belt, he reached for Linc’s hand, threading their fingers together. “I don’t mind spoiling you a little bit.” Linc felt his cheeks heat when Chris winked at him. “Besides, I could use the extra leg room.”
“Whatever.” Linc giggled. “Thank you, though, for all this. The trip, the flight, choosing me to be the one you want to share this experience with.”
“I wouldn’t call it an experience.” Chris huffed. “If you think about it, I’m actually being selfish, a chickenshit that doesn’t want to face his problems alone, so he’s dragging his boyfriend along for the ride.” Linc didn’t like the self-deprecating words coming out of Chris’s mouth.
“Hey, look at me.” Linc reached for Chris, cupping his cheek and turning his head so he could look him in the eyes. “Don’t do that. You’re a wonderful man, Chris, kind and generous. You cannot let your past define who you are or decide who you will become. I’m here with you because I want to be and because I care about you.”
“Yeah?” One corner of Chris’s mouth lifted, the half-assed grin adorable and kind of sexy. Actually, without any concern or worry etched into his brow, shoulders loose as Chris leaned back against his seat, Linc thought he looked quite young.
“Good afternoon, sir.” A bubbly blond man smiled down at Chris. “Can I get you and your boyfriend a drink, perhaps a glass of champagne?”
“That sounds fantastic. Babe, you want bubbly or something else?”
“Champagne would be perfect,” Linc agreed. Twice in the past five minutes he’d been called Chris’s boyfriend and he didn’t even mind, not one damn bit.
***
Traveling light did have its perks—one being not having to wait for baggage. He and Chris walked straight over to the rental car counter and were on the road to the hotel fifteen minutes later. Linc was dead on his feet by the time they made it to the room, collapsing onto the bed immediately.
Chris said something about kicking off his shoes, but his words were…blurry, floating away on a cloud of exhaustion. He dreamed of an open field, tombstones as far as he could see, Chris standing in the rain beside one. With each step Linc took, Chris and the grave seemed farther away. When he woke up in the morning he still felt exhausted, and for a moment he was so disoriented, he could have sworn they were still on the damn plane. But there he was, tucked in bed in a hotel room with Chris wrapped around him.
Linc tried so very hard to get Chris to stay in bed a while longer, wanting to use at least some of their time away from the house to make love without worrying about Andrew and his camera or one of the other guys walking in on them. “Later, baby,” Chris promised. They did shower together, Linc taking his time running his fingers through Chris’s thick locks, relishing the soft little moans that fell from Chris’s lips, careful not to take things any further. Coffee and a bagel from the hotel lobby wasn’t what Linc would call breakfast; hopefully they’d have a good lunch.
As the car sped down the interstate, Linc tried to absorb as much as possible. The only thing stopping him from coming out of his skin was Chris’s warm hand resting on his thigh as they drove. Why was he here? Fuck, this was harder in the light of day as they were actually driving to the cemetery than it had been in his head. Words and actions were two entirely different things, and then he saw the sign, and he almost stopped breathing. There were three placards on one post, each pointing in a different direction, reminding Linc of something out of a horror movie, like fuckingChildren of the Corn. He read each one, slowly enunciating each word silently, in his head.Brooks Avenue, Hwy 81, Tuskegee Cemetery. It was all so…emotional. And if he was overwhelmed, how the hell must Chris feel?
As they reached the top of a hill on the highway, Linc saw the cemetery in the distance. It was small compared to the ones he’d been to in New York, but ominous nonetheless. Chris stopped at the wrought iron gates that stood open, his hands gripping the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles were white. “Hey, we’re in this together, remember? I’m here with you.” Linc squeezed Chris’s thigh, trying to reassure him.
