Sapphire Spring by C. Travis Rice

Author:C. Travis Rice [C_Travis_Rice, Christopher_Rice]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: C. Travis Rice, Christopher Rice, Sapphire Cove, gay romance
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

23

When Mason texted him the directions to what looked like a desolate stretch of hills not too far from Naser’s condo, Naser had anticipated either a picnic or an attempted murder. So when he saw the tall, blond, no longer drunk Viking walking through a dirt parking lot crowded with construction vehicles, carrying a wicker basket in both arms, he smiled as he slowed his Volvo to keep pace with him.

“Any of that for me?” Naser asked, powering his window down.

“Half of it, in fact.” Mason transferred the basket to one arm and approached the car. Behind him, inland Orange County stretched east, a bright, mostly bone-white checkerboard beneath a dome of hard blue. The parking area wasn’t for a lookout or a trailhead, he realized. It was for the construction site a little way uphill. There, the first shells of contemporary-looking homes were taking shape along asphalt streets that looked pitch black and brand new.

“So did you bring me out here to disappear me?” Naser asked.

“Only if you eat all the turkey wraps. Turkey’s my favorite.”

“They’re all yours. I’d actually like to stay awake through the second half of the workday.”

“Overrated.” Mason did a quick dive through the window and gave Naser a hard, brief kiss on the lips. His eyes were hidden behind aviator-style sunglasses, but Naser was pretty sure they’d cut to the construction site uphill during their brief lip lock. A giant wooden sign proclaimed the property as More Dream Homes on the Way from WORTHER PROPERTIES. Behind it were the first makings of a guard gate entrance—lone columns of brown brick, still missing the metal gates that would probably close the gaps between them. The prospect that Mason’s dad might be hanging out somewhere nearby sent chills through him—the wrong kind.

“Park and follow me,” Mason said.

When Naser stepped from his parked Volvo, he looked for the Ferrari but saw the used Lexus Mason had driven to work that morning. When was the Ferrari coming back from the shop, he wondered? He followed the guy to a spot where he’d already laid out a blanket on a patch of dry grass.

As Naser carefully took a seat, there was a subtle woosh, and suddenly he was sitting in comfortable shade. Mason speared the umbrella’s pole into the hard, packed dirt next to the blanket. “Don’t worry. I already checked for snakes.” He smiled like an explorer having just planted his flag on a newly discovered island. “They probably won’t be out for another month or two. The bad ones, anyway.” He sank to his knees.

“Wow. You really thought this through.”

“I thought it might be a little too hot given we don’t have ocean winds here. But it’s pretty cool, right?”

“Very cool. I mean, I’m not the biggest outdoors person unless it’s, like, Sizdah Be-dar.”

Mason removed two paper plates from inside the picnic basket and set about assembling their lunches. “And that would be?”

“The thirteenth day of Nowruz. Technically, it marks the end of the holiday, but it’s

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