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Twenty minutes ago I’d been bent over in a stall hammering some nails in place while my thoughts were dominated by the same two men who’d been invading my every waking moment, not to mention starring in some very raunchy dreams, and now I was about to spend nearly every day of the next few weeks in their company…was in the company of one even now.
After leaving the barn, I’d driven with Hunter and Roman in one of their cars to the lodge where Roman’s office was located and where I’d assumed we’d be starting our tour as Roman and Quinn talked. Quinn and Beck had followed in their truck. I’d hoped Beck’s stress level would ease a bit once we got out of the barn, but he’d seemed just as tense as before as he and Quinn had gotten out of the truck and he’d watched Quinn follow Roman into the lodge. Hunter and I had waited near a golf cart sitting in front of the lodge for Beck, but it had taken him several long moments to seem to garner up the courage to join us. In the end, the big white Great Dane had seemed to pull Beck from his funk and he’d finally walked towards us. Though he’d looked more like a lamb heading for slaughter.
And I had no doubt it was because of me, not Hunter.
I hadn’t missed how tense Beck had been around Roman, myself and Quinn, but less so with Hunter. Quinn hadn’t missed it either, if the look we’d exchanged was anything to go by. The whole thing was confusing as fuck. If Beck was afraid of a certain type of man, why had he gone to that club that night? Why had he hooked up with someone like Quinn when there’d been plenty of different types of guys to choose from, some even what one might consider docile. Even if he’d wanted to be topped, he could have found an unintimidating guy to give him what he needed.
My mind raced with possibilities until I felt like it was going to explode. I’d never been one for accepting something at face value. I liked having the answers to questions because it made it easier to react. I knew it probably went back to my days as a kid when I didn’t understand why I couldn’t be like I was supposed to when it came to wanting to be with girls or when I was trying to make sense of a God who supposedly loved me, but not the real me.
I focused my attention on Beck as he sat stiffly in the front passenger seat of the golf cart. Hunter was driving, so that left me sitting in the back seat. The Great Dane, which Hunter had introduced as Champ, was running next to the slow-moving golf cart while his three little counterparts were all crowded onto Beck’s lap. I liked how the animals seemed to help relax Beck, though he was still a far cry from enjoying himself.
“What are their names?” Beck finally asked as he protectively held on to the little dogs which I was thinking were some kind of Yorkshire Terrier/Dachshund mixes.
To Hunter’s credit, he hadn’t acknowledged the tension wafting off of Beck and when all three dogs had initially climbed on his lap, he hadn’t offered to rescue Beck from them, presumably because he too could see they had a calming effect on the young man.
“That’s Larry,” Hunter said as he pointed to one dog. “This is Curly,” he said as he settled his hand on the second dog’s head. “And this little girl is Moe.”
I smiled at that and was pleased to see Beck’s mouth pulling into a grin. “Larry, Curly and Moe?” he repeated. “The Three Stooges?”
Hunter chuckled. “My grandmother named them. She has a thing for old sitcoms.”
“Your grandmother is Mrs. Greene, right? She takes care of Dane and Jax’s kids.”
“Yep, that’s her,” Hunter said with a smile, like he knew what was coming next.
“She’s…she’s…” Beck began.
Hunter laughed. “Yes, she is.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Have you met my Gran yet, Brody?”
“I have,” I said. “Luke and I responded to a call when one of her friends fell and twisted her ankle. She rode in the ambulance with us to the hospital.”
Another laugh from Hunter. “Why do I feel the need to apologize?”
I ignored the flutter in my belly as Beck cast me a look and kept watching me as I spoke.
“Your grandmother kept telling me to give her friend the “good drugs” and then started asking me if I was single or married. She seemed quite pleased to hear I was gay.”
“She would,” Hunter responded. “Gran’s made it her personal mission to make Dare a mecca for homosexuals. She got the school to sponsor a PFLAG chapter and she’s arranged the annual Dare Pride Day every year for the past four years. Don’t be surprised if she starts an account for you on a dating website…you have to put your foot down with her.”
I smiled at that. I guessed the woman didn’t weigh more than eighty pounds sopping wet, but she intimidated the hell out of me.
My eyes met Beck’s and I became lost in the humor I saw there as I murmured, “I’ll keep it in mind.”
I had absolutely no interest in dating anyone and the only site I occasionally checked out was Grindr becausedatingwas the last thing on my mind these days.
But I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to do all the “date” things with someone like the young man currently studying me with open curiosity.
Not someonelikehim…him.
Or maybe with a certain gorgeous cowboy.
What about both?
The unbidden image of the three of us lying in a tangle of limbs in bed had me sucking in a breath. Another one of us sitting around a table eating and chatting was even more disturbing…and unexpected.
“The ad she posted for Quinn was called, Save A Horse, Ride A Hunky Cowboy Instead,” Hunter said.
Beck and I held each other’s gazes for several seconds until it hit us both at the same time what Hunter had just said. Then we both burst out into laughter.
