Higher Ground by Becky Black (notion reading list txt) 📗

grew steeper, grass growing only in patches. Flowers and trees had been left far behind. Zach climbed, pole in hand, and didn’t once look back. Primarily because he didn’t want to see how high the water had already risen. But mostly because if he didn’t look back, he didn’t have to look at Glyn.

He didn’t like Glyn, not one bit. Glyn looked at Adam. He looked at Adam all the time. When someone else spoke to him, he’d turn to them, start his answer, but by the time he’d finished speaking, he was looking at Adam again, speaking to him. Zach felt like a fool or a child for such ridiculous petty jealousy. Glyn had volunteered to join them and share the danger. It was an act of heroism. Zach should be grateful.

Should be.

The much-reduced group—thirty-eight adults and a few dogs—reached the stream just before dark and made camp. They erected their tents quickly and settled around the fire with their supper.

“You guys have making camp down to a fine art,” Glyn commented.

“Hah, you should have seen us the first few nights,” Adam said. “It was mayhem.”

“I’ll bet. With so many people and kids and pets.”

“Are you a colony native?” Simon asked Glyn. He’d been quiet since the ship left, clearly missing his family, but looked as if he was making an effort to get to know their new companion. Zach felt briefly ashamed. Simon, part of the de facto leadership team, was engaging Glyn and welcoming him to the group. Shouldn’t Zach do the same?

“No,” Glyn said to Simon. “I’ve been on the colony about two and a half years.” His gaze shifted back to Adam. Zach’s fists clenched involuntarily. “Spent six months in Arius and then got posted to an outpost.”

“Dunbarrow?” Adam said. Glyn shook his head.

“No, Timbuk. But I moved on after a few months to Dunbarrow.”

“Like to keep moving, then?” Simon said.

Glyn did it again, looked at Simon, said yes, then looked back at Adam. “I like to meet new people.” He smiled.

Adam smiled back, and a surge of rage overwhelmed Zach’s senses, leaving him disgusted with himself. He shouldn’t feel like this. How could he want to do violence to someone because they were looking at Adam? Why shouldn’t Glyn look at Adam? Many people did, for good reason. He was beautiful. During the hike, Zach had seen several of the women and teenage girls looking at him and then whispering to each other and giggling.

Adam had said he loved Zach, but would he easily forget that if he met someone he preferred? How well could Zach say he knew Adam? They’d only met a few days ago. Their supposed love might be no more than an infatuation, a physical attraction made more meaningful and intense by the dangerous situation.

Glyn could be more Adam’s type. They talked easily and laughed at each other’s jokes. Zach’s hand tightened around the hiking pole at his side, and he tried to dismiss the picture of using it to bash the hell out of Glyn.

Why did Glyn keep moving postings, he wondered. Did he wear out his welcome? Did he get in the middle of too many couples and make things awkward? Zach chided himself for such ridiculous speculation, trying to work out a man’s history and behavior patterns based on an acquaintance of only a few hours. Jumping straight from a hypothesis to a conclusion. What happened to his scientific method?

“It’s tragic about the rest of the colony,” Glyn said, shaking his head. “All those people… What, nearly eleven hundred of them, all dead.”

“More like nine hundred,” Adam said. “Awful, I know. If they’d just listened to Zach.”

“Nine hundred? I thought the colony had about twelve hundred people.”

“Yeah, three hundred came with us,” Simon said.

Glyn looked puzzled and shook his head. “Three hundred people didn’t get on the ship.”

“No,” Simon said. “The group split up a couple of days ago. Some people decided to go back.”

“What?” Glyn stared. “They’re, um, they’re dead too, then?”

“No, they started climbing again after the quakes started,” Adam said. “They’re a couple of days behind us. Your captain is going to pick them up—or as many as he can—before he comes back for us.” Glyn stared at him.

He didn’t know, Zach realized. He must have been out of earshot when they discussed it with Hammond. Glyn thought he’d volunteered to join them for less than two days; instead, it would be at least twice that. Easy to be a hero for thirty-six hours. Not so much for three or four days.

“I see,” Glyn said.

“You didn’t know?” Adam said.

“No.” He’d gone serious, staring into the fire with a thoughtful look on his face. Zach had to hide a smug expression at Glyn’s discomfiture. Perhaps his charm would crack under the strain of several days’ exposure to the danger of quakes and rising water.

Then Zach lost his smugness when he remembered this meant Glyn would be around for several more days of looking at Adam.

* * * *

Adam crawled into his tent to find Zach already in the sleeping bag.

“Everyone’s settled down,” he said, yawning and pulling his shirt off over his head. “First watch is in place.” He noticed Zach’s bare chest and grinned. “Are you naked in there?”

“Yes.”

“You’re gonna be cold.”

“No I’m not.”

Adam knew what he had in mind to keep warm. Zach had a rather intense expression on his face, and his cheeks were flushed. Determined to tease him, Adam took his time shedding the rest of his clothes, peeling each item off slowly. Zach watched him with a frown, tapping his finger against something in his hand, which Adam realized was the bottle of lube. Impatient fellow tonight.

When he’d stripped off everything but his socks—he wasn’t having cold feet for anyone—Adam slipped into the sleeping bag, loving the feel of Zach’s warm skin against his, still chilled by the night air. He turned down the lantern to a dim glow, zipped up the bag, and cuddled close.

“Are you feeling okay?” he