“Gambel’s quails,” he whispered. Alexei was pretty sure. California quails would be larger; their coloring wasn’t as scaled.
They pecked and scratched and strutted across the trail. Ben inched up to Alexei’s shoulder to see, and Alexei dropped his arm, turning his body toward him, eyes still on the large birds.
“Look at their topknots. And the crests on the males! Aren’t they so weirdly beautiful? The ones with more gray are the females. They don’t have the black patches on their bellies, see? But look at the patterning on the males; they—”
Alexei made the mistake then. Of looking at Ben.
It was such a shot of adrenaline, seeing the covey. This was part of what he’d come here for, too, seeing things that made him feel wonder again, and Ben was looking at him like—like Alexei was the smartest, most interesting person in the world.
Alexei cupped both hands around Ben’s face and kissed him.
It was a hard kiss, one that encompassed the thrill Alexei felt in that moment, and Ben kissed him back, a small noise rumbling in his throat as he pulled Alexei closer by the straps of his pack.
It took Alexei a minute to realize. That they weren’t in a tent, tucked away from the trail in the dark, or inside a safely locked motel room.
On instinct, Alexei pulled back, looking left and then right along the trail.
But the only creatures watching them were a covey of Gambel’s quails.
When he found Ben’s eyes again, Ben was studying him.
“I’m sorry.” Alexei raised a hand to his mouth.
A small smile graced Ben’s lips.
But his eyes seemed sad.
“I’m not sorry you want to kiss me, Alexei,” he said. “I just want you to be sure it’s actually what you want.”
Alexei nodded, eyes wide. He couldn’t believe he’d done that. He was a little exhilarated he had done that. He…was being unfair.
“I’m sorry,” Alexei said again.
“It’s okay.” Ben broke his gaze. Stepped back, readjusting his trekking poles.
“It’s not.” Alexei’s heart beat hard in his chest. He couldn’t stop feeling the ghost of Ben’s lips on his. He needed to figure out what to do here. His thoughts continued to scatter, unfocused and loud. “Mind taking over the lead?” he asked after a long moment.
“Sure, Lex.” Ben stepped around him. Granted Alexei the grace, for now, of being able to keep walking in silence.
They took a brief break a half hour later. They were close to Deep Creek Hot Springs, listed in Alexei’s guidebooks as a highlight of this section of trail. The weather so far today had been mild, the wind quiet.
Alexei watched Ben take a Lemon Zest granola bar from his pack.
“Did the guys from Idyllwild know you’re gay?” he blurted out.
“Yeah. They did.” Ben glanced down, a small smile playing with the corner of his mouth. “By the way.” He dug his phone out from his pack. “These texts came through this morning.”
He held out the screen.
Alexei is looking for you, Benster
Wants to make sure you’re okay
You’re hitting that, right?
I would.
Alexei’s face turned to fire.
