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“I don’t know then. You can’t keep pining after him though.”
“I’m not pining after him.”
Seamus gives him a bored look. “You are.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Am not.”
“Are too.”
“Boys, stop arguing,” said Mary, their mother, as she stopped behind their chairs, giving them each a light smack on the back of the head.
“Food’s ready!” Mitch called.
Mitch was a good-looking guy. He could actually pass for Tripp’s brother. They both had blond hair and were about the same height. Mitch had darker brown eyes though, not the honey color that Tripp had.
Jayme and Seamus shoved out of their seats and went to the large picnic table where the food was being placed. Everyone went about fixing their burgers or hot dogs the way they liked, then found a seat. Jayme ended up next to Tripp. It was a tight fit for all of them at the table, Tripp and his thighs were pressed against each other as they sat at the table. Their elbows bumped as they both tried to hold their burgers to eat. He loved every minute of being close to Tripp, even if he hated it at the same time.
After he finished eating, he went back to his Adirondack chair with a fresh beer. He stoked the fire that was going in the pit, then leaned back and relaxed. A few minutes later, Tripp plopped down in the chair next to him. He glanced over to find Tripp smiling at him.
“What?” he asked, a small smile curling his lips.
“I like your family.”
“Good, I’m glad.”
“Thank you for bringing me.”
“Anytime.”
“Mitch said he has a single friend that he wants to hook me up with.” Tripp chuckled.
Jayme’s heart skipped a beat. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. He’s a good-looking dude too. Mitch showed me his picture.”
“You’re thinking about going out with him then?” he asked, trying not to sound jealous.
“Yeah. I think I might. What could it hurt? Maybe I could even get laid.”
He swallowed hard. He didn’t want to think about Tripp being with someone else. He clenched his jaw and nodded. “Yeah.”
Tripp studied him for a moment. “Unless you have a reason that I shouldn’t?”
His gaze flipped to Tripp’s. “No, why would I?”
Tripp pressed his lips together and nodded. “Okay, then. I’ll get his number from Mitch and give him a call.”
He didn’t bother responding. He took a sip of his beer even though his stomach was rolling. He didn’t want Tripp to be with anyone else, but they weren’t together, who was he to stop Tripp from seeing other people? The thought made him sick to his stomach. Tripp with someone else. Kissing someone else. Sleeping with someone else. Jayme shook his head to clear the imagine. He didn’t like it. Not one bit.
~~~
Tripp
Tripp stood with his arms crossed over his chest, frown firmly in place. Jayme was a few feet away squatting down next to a dead deer on the side of the road. They got a call from someone thinking that maybe it had been poached and not hit by a car, they were now investigating it.
The smell was horrendous in the Texas heat. The thing had been dead for at least two days going by the bloating and maggots. He didn’t know how Jayme was handling being so close to it. It was making him nauseous.
“Looks like it’s just been hit. I don’t see any bullet holes,” Jayme mused and straightened up, looking at him.
“Great,” he grumbled.
It’s been a few days since he went with Jayme to his family’s barbecue. He already called Mitch’s friend, Mason, and set up a date for Friday night. He sounded like a really nice guy on the phone, they talked for a little while and he had a feeling that they were going to have a good time. It had been a while since he’d been out on a date.
He’d rather it be him and Jayme going on a date though, but he couldn’t force the guy to date him. From the way he made it sound, Jayme wasn’t interested in advancing their relationship past friends. Well, he wasn’t going to wait around for him, no matter how attracted to Jayme he was.
“Help me get this in the truck,” Jayme said, reaching down to grab the deer’s back legs.
“What? Why?” he asked, his frown deepening.
“We need to dispose of it the right way. We can’t just leave it here.”
“Sure, we can. The maggots will eat it.”
“Tripp.”
He sighed and grabbed the front legs, helping Jayme heft it into the bed of their truck. The stench wafted over him as they did, and he gagged.
“Oh God,” he croaked and covered his nose with his arm.
“What’s the matter, Rookie, can’t handle a dead animal?” Jayme teased.
“It’s the smell, man. How can you stand it?”
“Used to it, I guess.” Jayme shrugged.
He gagged again and backed away from the truck. He swallowed hard, but it didn’t help. The smell was stuck in his nose.
