Yolks on You Box Set

Chapter 6-2

Despite the late hour Kiko simply couldn’t feel tired. His heart beat with the thrill of something new, Dom in the passenger seat as he drove, taking out his phone as it jingled with yet another text. Kiko glanced over at him.

“f**k…off,” said Dom under his breath as he tapped in the reply.

“Alec?”

“Yeah,” said Dom, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “Wants to know where I am.”

“It is nearly eleven,” said Kiko.

“I have a keycard.”

A silence fell, disrupted only by the further indication of Alec’s continued texting. Kiko began to feel a little nervous, and Dom grew stiffer in his seat.

“Tell me…” said Kiko after a time, wishing his conscience didn’t demand he ask this. “You and Alec…you are broken up, right?”

“Right,” said Dom, not annoyed like Kiko had expected. “And the lesson here is: don’t cheat on me.”

Kiko laughed at that.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Now you tell me something,” said Dom, turning to look at him. “How old are you?”

“What?” asked Kiko in a half-laugh. “Late twenties. Is there a problem with that? You’re not secretly fifty, are you?”

Dom breathed out as though relieved.

“It’s just that you look…you look young. Maybe twenty-one, twenty-two?”

“Surprise, I’m twenty-nine. Are you telling me you’re ancient?”

“No, thirty-one last month. It just seemed wrong if you were a decade younger. You’d still be a kid, really.” Dom paused. “How far is this place anyway?”

“The turn’s just ahead,” said Kiko, hoping driving Dom out into the middle of nowhere wasn’t making him uneasy. “They hold outdoor plays here in the summer, but it’s perfect for the Grand Hunt because it has both trails through the woods and an open space farther in for the plays—the younger kids have an easier time hunting the field.”

Kiko drove them into the field that was used for parking and turned the truck off, plunging them into darkness. He grabbed a flashlight and passed one to Dom, who turned it on immediately.

“You’re sure we’re not going to get exploded out here alone?” he asked.

“No,” said Kiko, getting out of the truck and moving to grab a box. It was the eggs from the church and he frowned. “But without this, there’s no Grand Hunt, and with no Grand Hunt, there’s going to be a big issue for future Eggstravaganzas. I really wish they wouldn’t do this,” he added as he popped open an egg to reveal a piece of paper. “Every year we ask for no bible verses, just throw in some candy if you don’t want to give out anything bigger. Mount Angus has been trying to keep everything secular.”

“It’s a church,” said Dom, moving to grab the box from the brewery.

“One of these years someone’s going to complain,” said Kiko, picking up the box. “Follow me. We’ll put about half in the woods and half in the field.”

“I’m surprised you can set them out so early and have nothing happen to them. The bank said they put money in theirs.”

“That’s Mount Angus,” said Kiko. “Mild and safe. Well, apart from the recent events. That really never happens.”

“That’s what everyone says when something happens,” said Dom as he followed Kiko along one of the wooded paths toward the field.

“I mean it never happened, until now. I researched the town’s entire history for a project in high school. No explosions.”

Dom started laughing.

“You researched the town’s entire history? Kiko, I’m not surprised.”

“Just hide your eggs,” said Kiko, retreating to the far end of the field. There was not much opportunity to talk as they sowed the eggs into the tall grass, but when they had covered it all, Dom moved very close to Kiko.

“I know it looks like there’s multiple trails,” he said. “But maybe we should stick together. We could still see each other out here. But if something happens in the forest—”

“You’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” asked Kiko. Dom scowled.

“No. I’m not used to so many trees. That’s all.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind getting closer to you, so the suggestion sounds good to me.”

“Just keep your hands on your own eggs,” said Dom, shining his flashlight into the nearest path. “This one first?” Kiko watched him check his phone. “It’s already almost midnight. Are we doing all these boxes tonight?”

He did not sound happy. Kiko sighed.

“That was the plan. Some of the businesses aren’t giving me their replacements until tomorrow.”

“And then more of the same tomorrow night?”

Kiko tried not to be too disheartened.

“If you want out at any point, Dom, I can drive you back to Mount Angus. Or you can stay at my place if it’s too late…”

“Third egg-themed date,” said Dom. “Spending the night when I only met you yesterday?”

“Never hooked up with anyone?”

“We are not getting into that,” said Dom, hefting his box and entering the path. Kiko envisioned embarrassing tales that Dom wanted kept secret and tried not to smirk as he followed. They walked along the trail, Kiko watching Dom’s shadowy form in front of him, then wound their way down the second. Slowly they emptied their boxes and headed back to the truck.

“You want a break before the next boxes?”

Dom groaned at the question.

“I’ll buy you a drink afterward,” said Kiko, leaning close to Dom where he peered into the back of the truck. When he turned, their faces were inches apart.

“You’re going to owe me more than one,” said Dom, yanking out the next box and then making his way toward the trees. Kiko followed, finding the field more unsettling than it had been earlier. It was eerily silent now, something Dom must have noticed, too, as they rushed through these newer boxes. An uneven number of boxes meant the last they would do together; Dom followed Kiko closely as they returned to the field.

“And it’s only one-thirty,” said Kiko as brightly as he could manage in his tired state. He smiled up at Dom, who was so close now that there was no room for the box between them. Kiko let it slide to the ground as Dom leaned in, brushed his lips against Kiko’s before pulling back. When Kiko moved forward to finish the kiss Dom pulled back, grinning.

“That’s for keeping me out so late,” said Dom. “That’s why it’s all you get.”

Kiko stared at him, wanting to accuse him of being a tease, but the thudding of his heart in his chest got the better of him. There was something else he wanted to do much more than spar back and forth with Dom all night, the ghost of a kiss the only reward. He’d prepared for this. He dropped down on one knee and reached into his pocket.

“What are you doing?” asked Dom.

“I have a proposal,” said Kiko, pulling out a plastic egg. Dom was eyeing him; he popped it open. Inside was a condom, which he extended in Dom’s direction. “I’d like you to do me the honor of—”

The pounding of running footsteps caused him to stop. He stood as Dom turned wildly around, waving his flashlight in every direction. It caught grass, more grass, and then a shadow.

“Hey,” shouted Dom, taking off in the direction of the figure. Kiko shoved the egg back in his pocket and followed, the lights from their flashlights jumping all around the field as they ran. Dom put on an extra spurt of speed as the figure reached the trees, but when Kiko caught up to him he was panting alone on the trail.

“Dom?”

“He got away,” said Dom, and they both caught their breaths in silence.