Now that we've wrapped up Body Count, we're going to take a short interlude for something different - "Colt and Ash's Spring Break." Patrons voted on this spring break idea a few weeks ago.

As a bit of setup:

I’m (shamelessly) stealing this idea from Jordan L. Hawk, who is doing this on his Patreon (you can find it here if you’re interested: https://www.patreon.com/c/jordanlhawk/posts).

I wanted to try something new, and I thought this “Choose Your Own Adventure” format would be fun. So, we’re going to spend the next few weeks accompanying Emery, John-Henry, Colt, and Ashley on spring break.

The story is written from Colt’s point of view. Every week, you’ll receive a new installment. Patrons at any level will then have the opportunity to vote on what Colt and Ashley will do next. Then I’ll write the next section, send it out, and so on. For this story, each installment will come out on a Saturday, and then voting will take place on the following Monday.

Here we go!

1

“Because it’s spring break.” Colt leaned through the doorway that connected the adjoining rooms. Pops was on the bed, reading. J-H was hanging up clothes in the closet.

“We’ve had a long day—” Pops began.

“But the whole point of that long day was to get here,” Colt said. “And not so we could just sit around in some stupid hotel room.”

“I understand—”

“And it’s almost dark, and nobody’s even out there anyway because we already missed a whole day!”

Colt glanced at the window, where long shadows fell across the beach, to make his point.

Pops’s face was getting tighter, the way it did when he was winding up. “If I could finish a sentence—”

“Give us a minute,” J-H said and shut the door, which forced Colt to retreat into his room.

From the bed, Ash said, “Bruh, at least we’re here.”

“I know.” Colt flopped down on the mattress next to him. “But if it’s up to him, we’re going to spend the whole trip in this stupid hotel.”

Ash bent over him. He was wearing a tank that showed a cartoon crab and the words, I’M ONE HAPPY CRAB, and it left the lean muscles of his arms and shoulders on display. They’d both been tanning—Colt hadn’t bothered to tell Pops about that because he knew it would bring on a Talk about skin damage and all that shit—and even though Ash always complained he couldn’t get a good tan, his skin had a nice, warm glow.

“It’s not that stupid,” Ash said in a quiet voice, and he brushed his lips over Colt’s. It was like electricity. Still. And somehow, there was always this tiny part of Colt that was surprised. Because it had never happened before. Not with anyone except Ash. Ash’s hand teased the hem of Colt’s tank—his had a retro FUN IN THE SUN design. “They got us our own room.”

The sound of someone clearing his throat made Ash jerk back. Colt snapped upright.

J-H was in the doorway, eyebrows arched.

Sometimes, Colt and J-H understood each other. It hadn’t been like that at first, but now, sometimes, it was like they had their own language. When they needed to.

Right then, Colt stared at him, saying, Please, please, please.

J-H finally said, “You can go down to the beach.”

“Yes!” Colt shot up from the bed. Ash jumped up next to him. “Yes, thank you, J-H! You are seriously the best.”

“If we text you, you answer.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“You don’t go into town.”

“We just want to go down to the beach.”

“No alcohol. No drugs.”

“Bruh, I know!”

But at that moment, J-H gave Colt a look that said, Do not make me regret this.

“I mean, yeah,” Colt mumbled. “Okay.”

“And no talking to strangers.”

“Who are we going to talk to?”

“That didn’t sound like a yes,” came Pops’s voice from the other room.

“Jesus Christ, Pops. I won’t talk to any weirdos who pull up next to me in a van.”

“Ashley?”

“Yes, Mr. Hazard. I mean, no, Mr. Hazard.” Ash’s cheeks were pink. “I mean, I won’t talk to anybody except Colt.”

“Wouldn’t that be refreshing?”

“All right,” J-H said, the way he did sometimes when he and Colt had both had enough. “Room keys?”

Colt grinned and held up his arm to display the elastic bracelet with the room key attached. “We can’t even lose them.”

As he took Ash’s hand and towed him toward the door, Pops’s voice floated after them: “Famous last words.” He got in one last shot before Colt managed to drag the door shut behind him. “And no public displays of affection.”

Colt ignored that. He kissed Ash most of the elevator ride down because Pops and J-H had been around all day.

The hotel was situated on the beach, which meant they only had to walk outside to reach the sand. It was March, and although it was warmer here than it was in Wahredua, Colt had still expected it to be, like, warm. Instead, he shivered when the breeze picked up. The sun was going down quickly, the shadows deepening, and the ocean was so dark it was almost black. From farther down the beach came a deep, pounding bass, but otherwise there was only the crash of the surf. Birds looked like little black dots as they moved across the purple sky.

For a few seconds, it was like he was someone else. No adults to tell him what to do. No school. No work. And he was in a new place. With Ash. He could go anywhere he wanted. Do anything he wanted.

The big party crowds Colt had seen pictures of when he’d researched this trip were gone. That was okay—a little disappointing, but it made sense. People went back to their rooms to clean up and rest, and then they’d go out again later that night to one of the clubs or bars. He’d seen a bunch of stuff on Instagram about that. Now, the only people moving across the beach were dressed in hotel uniforms and carrying trash bags, picking up cans and bottles, shoveling up a patch of puke, raking up vape pods.

“It’s kind of…dirty,” Ash said.

“That’s just because it’s the end of the day,” Colt said. “Tomorrow’s going to be fire.”

Ash nodded, but he didn’t look convinced.

Colt tipped his head toward the steady sound of the bass. “There’s this place. It’s only, like, a quarter-mile. And they’ve got a stage on the beach, and it’s where everybody goes.”

“I don’t know,” Ash said slowly. “We told your dads we’d stay here.”

“We said we’d stay on the beach,” Colt said. “And we will.” He slid his arms around Ash. He tipped his head to dust a few small kisses along Ash’s cheek. “It’ll be dope, baby.” That was new, calling him that, and it made him melt every time. “Please?”

Will they stay or will they go? Patrons will decide!