“But this is different.”
“I know. Once we get him back, I’ll let him have it.”
Anthony glanced uneasily at Ethan. Ever since they found out that Chris had been kidnapped, Ethan had been saying “Once we get him back,” as if there wasn’t an alternative outcome. Despite his hopes and prayers, Anthony knew they may have already been too late.
They passed through Newtown, close to Ethan and Chris’s old college, and not far from where Anthony’s parents still lived.
“I love this town,” Ethan said.
“Me too.” It had been where the four of them first met, around the same time Anthony had started accepting truths about his real desires.
Ethan turned to him. “Remember the day you and I met?”
“Nope.”
“Liar.”
Anthony smiled, sweet memories resurfacing. “It was in your dorm. I came to fix some things, and you asked for my help with your rocky desk. You were very nice.”
“Just nice?”
“And handsome.”
“That’s better. Then Chris joined us.”
Anthony remembered that moment well, how he had stopped breathing at the sight of that gorgeous man—barely more than a boy—entering the room. He had sized up Anthony with the bluest of eyes.
“He didn’t like me,” Anthony said. “He looked at me like an intruder.”
“He was like that with everyone.”
“Even with Jay?”
Ethan laughed. “The first time we met Jay, Chris acted like he might stab us, although Jay was super nice and let me try every beer they had.”
“It was your birthday, right?”
“Yep. And after we all hung out a few times, I found out that Chris had gone to talk to Jay about me.”
“Oh no. What happened?”
“Chris warned him that if he’d ever hurt me, he would, and I quote, ‘take him down.’”
Anthony whistled, struggling to picture skinny Chris threatening Jay. The balls it must have taken. “He seriously told him that?”
“He did, and Jay swore that he believed him. With you it was different, though. You won him over quickly.”
“I have a feeling you had a part in that.”
“No comment.”
They left Newtown behind in favor of a more rural landscape. In this part of the country, trees outnumbered people a thousand to one. Although they were using Waze to guide them, Ethan kept checking on Google Maps like the amusement park might vanish.
“Is there anything creepier than an abandoned amusement park?” Ethan showed Anthony a photo of a rusty carousel that seemed out of a nightmare, thehorses deformed.
“Is that where we’re heading?”
“Yes, but hopefully we won’t need to get inside.”
