Dreamspinner Press Year Six Greatest Hits

by JD Ruskin

  I WAS sitting on my bed in the dark when Dane got out of the shower. “So which’ll be easier for killing people, the bed or the couch?”

  He pushed the door open wider and came toward me. “I’ll take the bed.”

  “Okay then.” I got up to head for the couch. I didn’t want to; Dane was naked. But I didn’t think he’d want to spend the night sleeping together, not after what happened the last time. And I didn’t want to ask and get rejected.

  He grabbed my arm as I passed. With a hard push, he drove me to my knees.

  “How about you put that smart mouth to better use.” He stepped close so his cock was in my face.

  Okay, I could get into this. It would keep my mind off things too. I palmed his balls. He threaded one hand through my hair and stroked my chin and cheek with the other, and I forgot about my fear.

  He was damp and smelled like my soap, but there was only a clean skin taste as my tongue swept across his balls. He widened his feet and sighed.

  “Cowboy,” he whispered, “I could get addicted to you.”

  I was good with that.

  DANE AND I went to Jesse’s early. He wasn’t up yet.

  “Must have been some date with Sarah,” I muttered as I put on the coffee.

  “It was,” Jesse snapped, rubbing his eyes as he walked into the kitchen barefoot and bare-chested. The only thing he’d managed to put on was his jeans.

  “Hey, Josh meant that in a good way. Didn’t you, Josh? In fact, we’re over here so he can make you breakfast.”

  I began pulling out pans. “I hope it was a good date, Jesse,” I said. My stomach was flipping like a pancake, but I was trying to be sincere. “Was it?”

  Jesse leaned his butt against a countertop, glaring at me before he turned to frown at Dane.

  “And what were you doing sleeping at my brother’s again last night? People are going to talk.”

  Oh crap. What had Sarah said? I flashed Dane a panicked look. He ignored me.

  “We’re here to talk with you about that,” he answered calmly, taking a seat at the table. “How about some coffee, Josh?” He gave me a look that said just calm down.

  “Got it.” My voice sounded like a high-pitched cartoon mouse to me, and I cleared my throat to cover it up. I opened a cabinet and grabbed three mugs, then poured the coffee and took two of the mugs to the table.

  “You want eggs or pancakes, Jesse?” I was concentrating on taking deep breaths now, and I thought I sounded almost normal.

  “Can you make that egg pie thing with bacon?”

  “Egg pie thing?” Dane asked.

  “It’s a quiche. But Jesse thinks ‘that egg pie thing’ sounds more manly.” Honestly, could I sound more gay?

  “Just make sure it tastes good,” Dane said.

  I rummaged through Jesse’s freezer for the pie dough and broccoli.

  “It’s a good thing I stock your freezer.”

  “Maybe you won’t have to much longer,” my brother replied.

  “So the date went that good?”

  “Yeah, no thanks to you.”

  “Okay, let’s keep this friendly. You”—Dane glanced at me—“just concentrate on making breakfast. Jesse, Josh and I went riding near the downed fence line last night, like you asked. Fence was fine, but someone was watching us.”

  “What?” Jesse straightened up in his chair.

  “I spotted a reflection off binoculars. They were right by where you repaired the line. We were a half mile off. Did you know you can see everything about Josh’s place from up there, including where he trains Hurricane?”

  “You think whoever downed that fence is watching Josh train that horse?” Jesse was fully awake now and sounding skeptical. “But why?”

  “Good question,” Dane replied. “How many folks know about that horse?”

  “Josh, you haven’t been talking at Cunningham’s, have you?”

  “No,” I snarled, not turning from where I was mixing up the quiche. “And see if you get breakfast if you keep implying I’m an idiot.”

  “Enough,” Dane said. “We got a problem, remember?”

  He turned back to Jesse. “Josh hasn’t been talking up Hurricane. But who’s overly interested in how he does with that horse?”

  “Hanson. But that doesn’t mean he’s spying.”

  “But when did this fence business start?” Dane asked. “What else was going on? Who has a beef with Brooks Ranch?”

  “Nobody’s got a beef with us. And nothing was going on… except that Josh bought that damn horse.”

  “It isn’t my fault.” I let the oven door bang shut to emphasize my point. Neither of them paid attention.

  “What you thinking?” Dane asked my brother.

  Jesse wrapped both hands around his coffee mug and studied the liquid inside. “It’s a logical conclusion, but we can’t go making wild accusations.”

  Dane nodded.

  “After breakfast,” Jesse said, “we’ll go talk to Uncle Karl.”

  The “we” didn’t include me, and I felt like a little kid. I served the manly men their quiche and went back to my house.

  I HADN’T been back at the cabin more than ten minutes when my phone rang. It was Sarah, and she yawned before she said anything.

  “Must have been some date.” I was trying harder than I had with Jesse to put a pleasant tone in my voice.

  “It was the best, Josh,” she sighed. “Your brother is… so romantic. It was very special.”

  “Great. I mean it.”

  “I know you do. Did you see Jesse yet this morning?”

  “Yeah. I made him breakfast.”

  “That was sweet, Josh. So?”

  “So he liked it fine, I think.”

  She huffed, and came back at me so loud I had to hold the phone away from my head. “Josh Brooks, you know what I mean. How did he seem?”

  “He seemed like he had a real good time too.”

  “Oh good.” She sighed and was quiet for a bit.

  “So did he ask you out again?”

  “Yes, but I couldn’t give him particulars yet. School’s just beginning and I have a million things to do. But Josh, we didn’t talk about you.”

  I apologized again for asking her not to go out with him. She told me it was okay, and we hung up.

  Had I been an idiot to worry? It looked like the worst that would happen if they got serious was that I’d be stuck in the middle of their gooey goings-on until Sarah really did start stocking his freezer.

  TWO HOURS later, I was working in the big horse barn when Uncle Karl came looking for me.

  “Let’s talk,” he said, motioning me to the bench near the tack room door and waiting until we sat down to start.

  “Jesse and Dane came to see me with their idea about what’s going on with the fence line.”

  “Does it make sense?”

  He shrugged. “There’s no way of knowing yet, but Ray Hanson comes from a long line of competitive men prone to doing stupid things. His dad went to jail once for knocking out a man who simply talked to Ray’s mother. Then when she divorced him and wound up with Sam Milford, there was a lot of vandalism at the Milford ranch for a while. Folks wondered whether it was Ray or his dad, but nothing was ever proved either way.”

  My uncle tipped his hat back. “There’s nothing we can prove now either. But I want us to be careful. For the time being, I’m going to ask you to keep Hurricane in this barn and avoid riding anywhere near your house or that fence.”

  “What is it with Hanson and me and horses?”

  Uncle Karl didn’t say anything right away, like he was mulling something over in his mind.

  “Do you remember any of the ranch hands around the time you got Pokey, Josh?”

  “No. I was only about four,” I reminded him, “and the world was pretty much Mom and Dad and Jesse and Pokey and you and Aunt Kate for me.” I couldn’t imagine where this conversation was headed.

  He nodded. “Ray Hanson worked for us briefly then. H
e even stayed here for a bit.”

  I was stunned, but my uncle merely nodded and continued.

  “He was out of high school a couple years, and he and his dad had had a fight. His dad kicked him off their ranch. Ray fancied himself a horse trainer already, and of course your dad was the best around. Anyway, we hired him on, partly to help Ray out.”

  No one had ever mentioned any of this, and it didn’t seem to me that Jesse could know it either.

  “He was only here a few days when he and your dad got into a disagreement about training methods, as you can imagine. Ray wanted to physically fight your dad about it. I guess that’s the way they handled disagreements on the Hanson ranch.

  “Your dad wouldn’t, and when Ray pushed it, your dad let him go. Ray’s dad took him back after what we heard later was a really brutal fight between them. Most people think Ray won because he began running the Hanson ranch around that time. He’s run it ever since.”

  My uncle rubbed his jaw. “This whole time, that incident didn’t come back to me until Dane and Jesse told me what Dane saw yesterday. And I can’t say there’s anything we could have done if I’d thought of it sooner. I’m still not sure the two incidents are related.”

  “I understand.”

  He blew out a breath. “But I think Dane’s idea to stay at your place for a few days is a good one.”

  I should have been happy, and the part of me below my belt was already cheering in its own embarrassing way, but I really didn’t like the implications.

  “I don’t need a babysitter, Uncle Karl.”

  He smiled. “I know you can take care of yourself, son. Just like I knew the day you brought home that horse that you’d do what Hanson couldn’t.”

  My uncle didn’t hand out praise often. I smiled and nodded. “Okay then.”

  He nodded back. “The Hansons don’t fight fair. Remember that, Josh.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Uncle Karl was ready to change the subject. “So, now that that’s settled, we’re having dinner at the big house around five. Dane and Jesse will be there. You come too.”

  “I’ll come early to help Aunt Kate.”

  He smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  SO DANE came to stay at my house that night, and everyone was glad about it.

  Dane, Jesse, and I watched a baseball game at Jesse’s first, and Jesse and I behaved like there was nothing wrong between us. I felt like he had something left to say about Sarah, but he wasn’t ready. Maybe he’d just forget everything if they finally became a couple. Or maybe Sarah would be able to smooth it all out. She was good at things like that.

  When we got back to my place, I headed to the bedroom right away. I was removing some of my clothes from a drawer when Dane walked in.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Making some drawer space for your things.” I dropped a pile of shirts on the floor of my closet and turned around with a grin, but Dane wasn’t smiling.

  “I don’t need drawer space.” He pointedly dropped his bag in a corner. “I won’t be staying that long.”

  I swallowed my embarrassment and disappointment both. “Okay then. Umm, what about sleeping arrangements?”

  “Make up the couch like someone’s sleeping there, but rough up the blankets to make it look like I just got up. I’ll sleep in here with you, but it will mislead anyone good or bad who comes in.”

  I grinned. “Sounds great.”

  When I returned to the bedroom, he was sound asleep. I guess I missed the part where he was serious about sleeping. I slipped under the covers without disturbing him, but I was awake and bothered for a while.

  THE NEXT morning started out as bleak. I woke up with the world’s biggest hard-on, but Dane wouldn’t budge as I tried to wake him up just by calling his name. I’d learned my lesson about touching him while he slept.

  When he opened his eyes at last, he pretended not to notice my condition. He rolled over to face me and gave me a kiss, and then another. Then, he was kissing me lots more, soft kisses mixed with deep and hard ones. It was real nice, but I got more frustrated by the minute as he avoided every one of my attempts to put his hands on my cock.

  When I’d squirmed and moaned enough for five orgasms, he finally gave me a “Poor baby,” and beat us both off. Then he rolled over me, pinning me to the bed.

  “Wasn’t that worth the wait?” He was grinning like he’d accomplished something major.

  “You are a terrible tease.”

  He gripped my arms harder. “But it was worth it, wasn’t it?”

  I huffed out a breath. “Yes. And I like waking up like this.”

  He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “Good answer. Now what are you making me for breakfast?”

  Over pancakes, we talked about what we had to do that day and agreed to meet at Jesse’s to watch the football game that night. I even said I’d make dinner.

  Dane helped me clean up the dishes and then headed for the door, but he turned around before opening it. I thought maybe he meant to kiss me again, but I was wrong.

  “Remember. If anybody asks, I slept on the couch.”

  THAT NIGHT, Uncle Karl joined the three of us for part of the football game. A couple of nights later, Jesse and Sarah joined Dane and me for dinner when she came over to tell me about school and Jesse noticed her car, dropped in, and wouldn’t leave.

  Sarah didn’t seem to mind, and neither did I. I was too busy imagining how great it could be if Dane lived with me full-time.

  The nights were cooler than normal, like winter might come early. But Dane and I figured out ways to fight off the chill without turning on the heat. He came up with a game that kept my ass plenty warm and a little bit sore, and made me think about sex pretty much around the clock. I found myself liking the roughness as much as Dane. I wasn’t sure why, and it embarrassed me some, so I didn’t talk with him about it. Instead, I decided to just enjoy it, along with us being a secret couple right under everybody’s noses.

  Nothing new happened around the ranch, and my only worry was that our playing house was going to have to end soon, before someone realized it wasn’t all about keeping me safe.

  AT THE end of the week, Uncle Karl, Jesse, and Dane took off for an auction, so I joined Aunt Kate for lunch at the big house.

  We spent some time talking about the meals that had been our best for guests over the summer and what we might change next season before she got around to what she really wanted to talk about.

  “So, Sarah is dating Jesse now. How do you feel about that?”

  “I question Sarah’s taste,” I tried to joke, “but other than that….”

  “A lot of people thought you and Sarah were a couple.”

  “People think lots of things.”

  “Don’t play games with me, Josh,” she said sternly. “I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with my nephews and whether you’re okay with it. And look at me while we’re talking about this.”

  I wanted to throw up everything I’d just eaten. I wanted to get up and run too, but I knew things would get a lot worse if I did either one. How much should I say? What would be safe?

  Seconds seemed like hours as I tried to figure it out. I knew my aunt was expecting me to say something soon, but I wasn’t coming up with any words. It was like my brain had slowed with the time and nothing I could do would speed it up.

  I forced myself to look at her, and she was simply waiting, with a patient, encouraging look on her face.

  I took a deep breath. “Sarah and I weren’t a couple.”

  “You never have been,” she offered.

  “Yeah.” I didn’t realize then how much I was revealing. I was just trying to come up with something to say without saying much. My gaze returned to my hands on the table in front of me.

  “I never paid any attention to what anyone else thought about our friendship. Neither did Sarah. But I guess Jesse thought we were together, and he’s been mad. You probably realized that.”

&
nbsp; She nodded when I looked up at her, still encouraging me to keep talking.

  “He thinks I’ve been intentionally deceiving him. But I wasn’t, Aunt Kate. I’m hoping he gets over that.”

  “He will eventually. But how do you feel about them being together, Josh?”

  “How I feel shouldn’t matter.”

  “It matters to me.” The stern tone was back in her voice.

  “I wonder if our friendship will change, I suppose.”

  “And I suppose Jesse feels some of the same with all the time you’re spending with Dane.”

  The thought hadn’t occurred to me. “Jeez, Aunt Kate, talking about this out loud, the whole mess sounds childish.”

  She smiled and leaned closer, like she was trying to hold me up while leading me in the direction of coming up with good answers too.

  “Childish might be harsh. Things get complicated when deep feelings are involved.” She patted my hand. “I just don’t want friends or lovers to come between my two boys. And you two don’t want that either, not after all you’ve been through together. Now, why don’t you take off and enjoy the rest of your day, and see about getting together with Jesse and Dane and Sarah tonight?”

  I got up and kissed her cheek. “That’s not a bad idea.”

  “Have a good time,” she called as I headed out the door.

  I couldn’t reach Jesse when I called him, so I left a message telling him and Dane to meet me at Cunningham’s a little after six. I did the same with Sarah. After I finished working some horses, I decided to head out a little early to meet them. Stupidest thing I’ve ever done in my life.

  I GOT to Cunningham’s about five thirty. The bar was already half-full. It looked like Billy was going to have a good night.

  I slid onto a barstool, ordered a beer, and pulled out my phone to call Jesse. The phone hadn’t even rung yet when Hanson’s voice came at me from behind.

  “I didn’t realize you serve faggots here, Cunningham,” he said loud enough to be heard over all the other noise in the bar. All I registered was “faggot” and then the sudden absence of any voice in the bar save Hanson’s, and Trace Adkins’s coming from the jukebox.