“I’ll take Shadow Mist,” Lane said as he moved past them.
“I’ll ride Outlaw. He hasn’t had much exercise today.”
Grant spent the next few minutes getting Outlaw ready for the ride while Lane and Gracie did the same with their respective horses. He found himself alone in the stables by the time he had Outlaw ready. Smiling to himself, he led the huge horse through the wide path that split the stable in two. He met Lane and Gracie outside, noticing they were already in the saddle waiting for him.
“You’re gettin’ slow in your old age,” Lane offered, smiling down at him.
“We’re the same age,” he reminded Lane as he put his foot in the stirrup and then hoisted himself up onto the horse. Outlaw let out an excited whinny as he stomped his feet. “Not today, boy. We’re just gonna take a walk.”
Grant could practically hear Outlaw’s disappointment in his answering snort, but the horse started out at a brisk walk anyway.
“So, when did you first learn to ride?” Lane asked, drawing Grant’s attention as they made their way across the pasture where the horses grazed.
Grant listened closely, wanting to hear Gracie’s response.
“My mom started teachin’ me to ride when I was three. By the time I was five, I was learnin’ how to race.”
“Really?” Lane asked. “That’s young.”
“Maybe to you, but remember, I grew up on this ranch. I’d been around horses from the day I was born. My sisters learned to ride early, too.”
“Did Mercy learn to race young also?”
Good job, Lane, Grant thought to himself. It was evident that Lane was urging Gracie to open up, but if he started showering her with personal questions, she’d just as quickly stop talking. Lane was smart enough to ask about someone other than Gracie.
“Yeah. I’d say around the same age as me. Mercy and I were the only two who really loved racing. But you should’ve seen my mother on a horse…”
Grant could hear the emotion in Gracie’s voice.
“I’ve seen the tack room,” Grant inserted. “She won a lot of prizes.”
“She did,” Gracie added. “My dad didn’t want to put all of those things on display, but Hope convinced him. There are times I just sit and stare at the trophies, the saddles, the medals… She was incredible.”
“And you wanted to be like her?” Grant asked the obvious.
“Yep, that was the plan,” Gracie stated more firmly as the horses headed down a steep hill. “She was gonna teach me everything she knew. What about you? Did you play sports in high school?”
Grant glanced over at Lane, wondering if he wanted to answer that question. Grant had heard the stories of Lane’s younger years, but he doubted Gracie had heard them all.
And since they were all sharing, Grant figured there was no better time than now to urge someone else to take the lead. After all, he wasn’t all that interested in sharing his sob story with these two. Tonight was about enjoying themselves, and Grant’s story would just bring them all down.
■□■□■□■□
“I played baseball,” Lane stated, his eyes meeting Grant’s briefly over Gracie’s head. He recognized a hand-off when he heard one. Grant clearly didn’t want to talk about himself, which left Lane picking up the slack. “Absolutely hated it, but that’s what my father wanted me to do, so I didn’t have much of a choice. Started out playing in a tee ball league when I was little. My dad made sure I played every year up until my senior year of high school. On the plus side, it kept my grades up. It just wasn’t my thing. I would’ve preferred to be chasing women at the time.”
“Just women?” Grace asked, laughing.
“Okay, men and women.” Lane hadn’t realized what being bisexual actually meant until he was out of high school even though he’d known he had a fondness for both men and women. To this day, he hadn’t kept it a secret that he was bisexual, nor did he flaunt it, either.
“Why’d you play if you hated it so much?” Gracie asked, leading Astro Boy toward the tree line, Outlaw and Shadow Mist following his lead.
“I was my dad’s trophy. He wanted to show me off. He was insistent that I was gonna be some baseball phenom just because he wanted me to. I tried to tell him that it didn’t work that way, but he rarely ever listened to me. It could’ve been worse… He could’ve wanted me to play tennis or some shit like that.”
“Hey!” Gracie called out. “What’s wrong with tennis? Trin played tennis in high school.”
“I’m sorry,” Lane said, grinning, feeling anything but. “She’s a girl. Tennis is okay if you’re a girl.”
The sound of Gracie’s chuckle soothed him. In fact, the sound of the trees rustling in the wind, the hooves on the dirt, and the occasional whinny from the horses helped, as well. But he could’ve been anywhere in the world, and as long as he could listen to Gracie laugh, Lane would’ve been happy.
“Other than being popular because you were probably the captain of the baseball team, did you like high school?” Grant asked.
“I didn’t hate it. I just wanted to get it over with. My dad was pushy, always wanting me to do just a little better at anything I did. What about you?”
“It was the only way I could get away from my parents, so I didn’t particularly mind it.” Grant’s answer sounded sad, as though the man was reliving those days when he had needed a reason to get away from his parents. Lane could relate somewhat. He hadn’t looked forward to high school, but anytime he’d been out of the house had been a plus for him, too. “What about you, Gracie?”
“I loved high school. Bein’ on the ranch is great and all, but it’s an isolated lifestyle. When I was in school, I was able to see my friends, hang out. I think the biggest issue was the age difference between my younger sisters and me. When I was a senior, two of them were in high school with me. Faith would’ve been too, except her birthday’s in November, so she started school later.”
“I didn’t have any brothers or sisters to worry about,” Lane added. He remembered days when he’d wished he had a sibling who could take some of the heat off him. His father had been truly relentless in his pursuit to make Lane the best kid a father could have. The man had never been happy with anything Lane did, informing Lane that he could’ve always done just a little better.
The three of them took the horses down to the edge of the creek just on the other side of the tree line, giving them time to drink before they set out on the ride back. Staring out at the flat land, the hills that had given this little section of Texas its name, Lane took a deep breath.
“I could sit right here forever,” Gracie said softly.
“Me, too,” Lane said at the exact moment Grant did.
It was true, being on the ranch, the laid-back lifestyle… It did more for him than anything else. Lane would be content to be there for the rest of his life. Which he hoped was a possibility.
“Have you ever brought a girl home to meet your parents?” Gracie asked.
Lane met her gaze, realizing she was talking to him. He nodded. “Once. My senior prom. Her name was Dawn. I think meeting my father scared her off. We’d been datin’ for a short time before the prom, and I asked her. I figured my parents would be all up my ass if I didn’t introduce them, so I caved. Yeah, that didn’t go over well. I don’t think Dawn had been expectin’ the interview my father gave her. Hell, you would’ve thought we were plannin’ to get married or somethin’.”
Gracie laughed. “I introduced my dad to one guy I dated in high school. That didn’t go over well. The boy I was dating obviously didn’t know how to take him, and when my dad threatened to rip his arms clean off his body, the boy avoided me at school and didn’t call me anymore.”
“I can see that,” Lane added, chuckling. That’s something he would expect from Jerry. The man had a huge heart, but he could be incredibly intimidating when he wanted to be.
“We better get back,” Gracie stated as she pulled on Astro Boy’s reins, urging him to turn around.
“It’s gettin’ dark.”
Lane took one more look around him, feeling incredibly content with where he was in his life. He knew his father would never agree, never fully understand what it meant to be free and open like he was, but Lane wouldn’t have it any other way.
And now he had these two in his life.
What more could he ask for?
Two hours later, Lane was lying on his own bed, his hands propped behind his head as he stared at the ceiling.
Yeah, this sucked big, hairy donkey balls.
Since spending time with Gracie and Grant, staying with them in the evenings, sleeping over on occasion, Lane would admit that sleeping in the bunkhouse was about the worst thing he could think of, aside from possibly sleeping in the pigpen.
Not that it was much different.
There were roughly three dozen guys in a house that had been built for maybe a few more than that, but not by much. There were five individual rooms, each with four bunk beds, sleeping eight to a room. But if you wanted to watch TV, that was in the common area. And if you didn’t want to listen to country music, well, you were pretty much shit out of luck because that was what was currently blaring on the radio, coming from the next room over.
“It’s after ten! Turn that shit off!” someone yelled from another room, clearly as frustrated by the music as Lane was. Not that Lane would’ve said anything. To each his own and all that shit. If he got too fed up with it, he’d just sleep in his truck. He’d done it before.
“Fuck you!” came the response from the room next to his.
Lane smiled.
This was a nightly occurrence. It was as though they lived to piss each other off. One would think that they’d be too exhausted to bitch and moan after working an eighteen-hour day, but no, this happened way too often.
Lane pulled his hands out from behind his head and reached for his cell phone sitting on a tiny stand positioned beside the bed, holding his wallet, keys, and his phone charger, nothing else.
The screen came to life, and Lane navigated through the menu until he got to his text messaging app. Adding Grant and Gracie to one conversation, he typed in, I miss you both, and then sat back to see if either of them would respond.
This had been a nightly thing for them, too. Anytime they weren’t together, which was, unfortunately, more often than not, the three of them would text back and forth for at least a few minutes, sometimes closer to an hour.
Miss you, too was the reply he received from Gracie, coming across his screen from “Sexy Cowgirl” about two minutes later, and the message, signaled by the bright flash of his phone screen, made his heart swell.
Grant Kingsley: What are you wearing?
Lane laughed at Grant’s text the moment he received it. He figured Grant was talking to Gracie, but he responded anyway.
Lane Miller: Khakis
No, he wasn’t really wearing khakis. He actually didn’t even own a pair, but he had seen it on some commercial and went with it.
Grant Kingsley: Funny guy
Lane Miller: I try
Sexy Cowgirl: I’m not wearing anything.
Oh, Lord. That woman was going to be the death of him. Lane was tempted to slip out of bed and sneak over to her house, but he knew he’d have to come right back in just a couple of hours, and he wasn’t interested in doing the walk of shame twice in one week.
As it was, he longed to spend every single night in bed with Gracie and Grant. All night long. Truth was, he didn’t want to sleep alone.
Grant Kingsley: Tease
Sexy Cowgirl: I try
The minutes ticked by, and there weren’t any more responses, so Lane figured they’d both given in for the night. As he rolled over, clutching his phone against his chest, he wished like hell that he were in Gracie’s bed with Grant right there with him.
These lonely nights were beginning to get to him.
Maybe it was time he told the two of them that.
Lane Miller: Goodnight y’all. I love you both.
Lane didn’t bother to keep his eyes open and wait for a response.
Which was a good thing because one never came.
Chapter Eight
The next evening…Wednesday
Grant spent the better part of the day helping Cody check some of the equipment that had been giving them trouble in recent weeks. As the ranch foreman, he was used to doing a wide range of jobs, but today, he had to admit he’d used it as an excuse to hide away for a little while.
To make matters worse, his phone battery was dwindling, but that was all thanks to his father’s persistent attempts to get a rise out of him. For the last twenty-four hours, Grant had been fighting relentlessly with his father. After finding out from Hope that Darrell had been calling the ranch, Grant had been forced to address the man. Luckily, it had all been done via text. The arguments… Yeah, well, he was used to those. And for the most part, he could ignore them. Grant didn’t usually allow those types of things — insistent demands from Darrell — to interrupt his days, but he’d received some disconcerting news from his father that he couldn’t seem to shake.
According to Darrell, Grant’s mother hadn’t yet come back home. Trying to pry the details from his father was like rounding up cattle with a cat. It didn’t work, so Grant had tried to call his mother directly, but he only got her voice mail. Three times.
Now, Grant knew Sandy wasn’t always responsive when he left her messages, but this was a little out of the norm, even for her. When he called, her voice mail kicked on immediately, which meant either she had turned her phone off on purpose or the damn thing was dead. If she was dealing with the same harassing messages from Darrell that Grant was, he didn’t necessarily blame her for going off the grid. But he was beginning to worry.
Grant had just clicked on the television when a knock on his front door had him lifting his head in a half attempt to give the visitor his attention. “It’s open!” he yelled, dropping his head back down on the armrest of the small love seat he’d landed on when his legs had given out on him earlier.
“Hey,” Lane greeted, bringing a ray of the descending sun with him when he walked in, momentarily blinding Grant.
“Hey,” Grant mumbled, his eyes closed as he flung his forearm over his face for additional protection.
“What’re you doin’?”
“What does it look like I’m doin’?” Grant countered without moving an inch.
“Waitin’ for me, from what I can tell.”
Sliding his arm down, he peered up at Lane through half-open eyes. He didn’t even try to force a smile because he didn’t have enough energy to do so.
Lane came to stand at the end of the love seat, his tall, broad frame blocking Grant’s view of the television.
“You’re probably right,” Grant muttered, opening his eyes fully so he could get a good look at the sexy cowboy standing in his living room.
He really was happy to see Lane. At this point, seeing Lane or Gracie was the highlight of every single day, but he was too damn tired — both mentally and physically — to carry on much of a conversation.
“You know what I need?” Lane asked, his smile morphing into a very sexy smirk.
“What’s that?” Grant asked, knowing he shouldn’t. Whatever Lane was thinking was going to require Grant to get up, and he really wasn’t looking forward to doing that.
“A shower.”
“Of course you do.” Grant’s entire body went hard, almost instantly. The memory of the last shower they’d taken together was still fresh in his mind.
“Care to join me?” Lane asked.
Grant knew that Lane had only worded it as a request. Based on the heated look in Lane’s eyes, if Grant said no — which he wasn’t even capable of doing, no matter how tired he was — Lane would only push until Grant gave in.
He figured he might as well save them both some time.
Returning Lane’s grin, Grant dropped his feet to the floor and sat up. “Lead the way.”
“My pleasure,” Lane said. “Oh, but this time, I want to watch the expression on your face when I take your dick in my mouth. You all right with that?”
Was he ever.
And probably just as Lane had planned, Grant was on his feet and practically pushing Lane into the bathroom.
■□■□■□■□
Grace sighed as she dropped into the recliner, her ears perking up at the sounds coming from the room next door.
Finally.
Hiding out from her sisters had never been one of Grace’s specialties, although she had tried to perfect the skill over the years. Tonight, of all nights, Grace had managed to evade Hope and Faith but not Trinity, which meant she’d only been sidetracked for about an hour while Trin went on and on about the store. Which was about sixty minutes longer than she wanted to spend hearing about product placement, new souvenirs, and whether or not they should add more candy to their already overflowing shelves. Thankfully, that was over.
For now.
She knew she’d have to have a long talk with all of her sisters tomorrow because Hope had scheduled an early meeting. Considering Grace’s day generally started before the sun came up, time was of the essence, and she was quickly running out of it tonight. Between Trin’s need to bitch and moan about not having enough help at the store, Faith’s desperate attempt to ensure all of them understood exactly how much money was coming in versus going out, and the burr that Hope had in her butt, tomorrow was going to be a very, very long day.
Grace’s thoughts flitted to the reaction that Ben had had to Hope while they were at dinner last night. The guy had been transfixed on Hope. But more surprising was Hope’s reaction to him.
Through the years, Grace and her sisters had dated a handful of men — probably would’ve been more than just a few, but free time on the ranch was nearly nonexistent. Still, despite their father’s brutal reminders that they were off-limits, they had been known to date. But the only one of them who kept her distance from men at any cost was Hope. No one questioned her, but after Hope’s answering response to Ben last night, Grace wanted to. She wanted to bombard Hope with questions, to know exactly what was going through her head. As for Ben … Grace was pretty sure he was a good guy. But he was a guest. Which meant he was temporary.
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