by Aislin, Amy
“Fuck,” Sam said with an amused grimace. “I can’t get your fucking pants off. My hands are shaking.”
“’Cause you want me so bad?” Bo said, grinning.
“’Cause I love you so bad.”
Bo knew his grin transformed into something softer, something sappy and lovesick, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. His stomach flip-flopped, his heart melted, and the stupid tears made a return. How did he get so goddamn lucky?
When Sam finally slipped inside him, Bo gasped and hung on to Sam’s strong shoulders, wrapping his legs around Sam’s waist. Wrapping him up with his body so he could never go away.
Sam’s gaze met his, eyes filled with so much passion and love. Bo let everything he felt for Sam write itself across his face, letting Sam read how much he meant to Bo. And when he came it was with Sam’s name on his lips and fire in his heart.
Chapter Eight
“Don’t give me that attitude,” Bo pointed a finger at Jelly, “otherwise I won’t give you this treat.” He removed the carrot from his back pocket and waved it in the horse’s face. Jelly stopped pulling away from him to nose at his outstretched hand. Bo hid the carrot behind his back again. “Nope. One more round around the corral and then you can have it.”
The horse huffed but followed Bo’s direction.
They were finishing their final turn when Bo noticed Taylor leaning against the side of the corral.
“Hey,” he said with a wave. He fed Jelly his treat and let the horse graze in the grass while he talked to Taylor. “What’s up?” He leaned against the railing next to her on his side of the fence. “How’d your meeting go?”
Taylor’d had some kind of meeting this afternoon that had prevented her from leading the afternoon trail rides, which was how he and Sam had found themselves at Sam’s parents’; Sam to lead the trail rides, and Bo to, essentially, hang out with the horses.
Taylor rolled eyes the exact same shade as her older brother’s. “You know when you have so many people in a room that nothing really gets decided?” She hooked a cowboy-booted foot over the bottom rung of the corral. “That’s how my meeting went. Although the fact that we actually finally met is a good sign, so I guess I can’t complain too much.”
Bo didn’t know what the meeting was about and he didn’t want to pry into something that wasn’t his business, so he simply nodded and smiled sympathetically.
“Anyway,” Taylor continued. “I came to talk to you about something. Got a few minutes?”
Bo shrugged. “Sure.” Jelly was still happily grazing behind him, Bo had already eaten lunch, Sam wasn’t due back for another twenty minutes… Bo literally had no place else to be.
The grey sky’s first raindrops splashed onto his arm.
“Damn.” Taylor frowned up at the clouds. “I hope that clears up for the fireworks later.”
The McAuleys were heading to Bronte Heritage Waterfront Park in Oakville to watch the Canada Day fireworks tonight. Apparently they were supposed to be especially epic in celebration of Canada’s 150th birthday. Fireworks could be set off in the rain, but who wanted to stand around looking at the sky in a downpour?
“Let’s talk in the stable,” Taylor said.
“Let me grab Jelly and I’ll meet you in there.”
Taylor was sitting on a hay bale when he walked Jelly into the stable. Bo knew one of the stable hands had the day off today, yet the second one, who’d been mucking the stalls when Bo had taken Jelly out, was nowhere to be seen.
After getting Jelly settled, he climbed up the hay bales and took a seat next to Taylor. “What’s up?” he asked. Taylor was grinning at him and he had no idea why.
“You like taking care of the horses,” she said. It wasn’t a question.
“Yeah.” All animals really (except the evil chickens), but horses were… “They’re peaceful, you know? Calm. And they all have their own personalities. Like humans, but way bigger.”
Taylor bumped his shoulder with hers. “I know what you mean. We’ve been around horses our whole lives, Sam, Robyn, and I. My parents put us in lessons when we were kids and we’d visit our grandparents’ farm outside of Kingston every few weeks. I’ve always thought they were bigger than life.”
“Sam told me you used to be a show jumper?”
“Right!” Taylor snapped her fingers. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Sort of.” She bundled her loose hair and tied it into a ponytail. “My parents and I want to expand McAuley Stables, turn it into McAuley Equestrian Center. We want to offer more than trail rides. Riding and grooming lessons, jumping, course design, dressage. We’ve already started the ball rolling and once we start expanding we’re going to need more staff. I’m going to be focussing more on lessons, so I was wondering… I know you live in Ottawa and you have a job there and everything, but maybe you’d consider moving here and taking over the trail rides?”
Bo had yet to tell Sam that he’d had to quit his job at the bookstore, and he wasn’t going to tell Taylor before he told Sam. Instead, he squinted at her and said, “Did Sam put you up to this?”
Taylor’s smile dimmed slightly. “No. Should he have? I don’t know if anybody’s told him about the expansion yet. The business side of things has never really been his thing. I don’t even think he likes leading the trail rides. He only does it when we’re short staffed. He’d rather ride on his own. He’s not really a people person.”
“I’ve noticed,” Bo said. “He lives on the edge of town and the only person I know about who visits him is his lawyer. He’s talked about friends, but I never see them.”
“He has friends,” Taylor confirmed. “A few really good ones, actually. But he’s never been the type who needs to see them every day. Or, hell, every month. Pretty sure the only person he wants to see every day is you.”
Bo bit his lip to contain a grin and knocked his heels against the hay bale underneath him. It’d been a week since Sam told Bo he loved him and Bo had spent the past seven days in what felt like a perpetual swoon, marvelling at the fact that Sam was in love with him and not just in intense like.
“Anyway, you don’t have to answer me today,” Taylor went on. “Or even next week. It’ll be a while before we get the new stuff up and running, but think about it. Okay? You’re great with the horses and I’ve seen you ride; you’re a natural. Sam did mention that you used to lead trail rides when you lived on a farm when you were a kid, which is why I thought of you for this.”
At that moment, the rain fell onto the stable’s roof with a loud clatter, as if somebody pulled a lever and let all the water out of the clouds at once.
Bo chuckled. “Man, Sam and his riders are going to be drenched when they get back.”
Taylor hopped off the hay bale. When she reached the stable’s double doors, she threw them open.
“Wow.” She whistled under her breath.
Bo joined her. Rain fell like a sheet. It was so dense, he could barely see the house in the distance. When Sam and his riders got back, they’d be soaked to the skin and probably muddy as well. And the horses would need a good scrub and grooming. Bo couldn’t wait.
Taylor ducked into the little office and came out wearing a rain slicker. “I’m gonna make a run for it,” she said. “Don’t forget to think about the job offer.”
“So this is a job you’re offering me?”
Taylor looked surprised. “Of course! It’s not a volunteer position. This is a paid job. And it’s not just the weekend afternoon trail rides, but probably also the morning ones once my dad becomes more involved in the new training center. And there’d be weekday rides as well: We get a lot of corporate groups and some school field trips, although the kids don’t horseback ride on the field trips. That’s a liability we don’t want, so we offer them a tour and let them pet the horses and show them how to groom them.”
She talked a mile a minute; Bo had trouble keeping up, but he got the gist of it. He was being offered a job. A real job. Working with horses. His hips did
a happy dance without his okay.
“If you wanted to eventually become involved with the new operation, that’s something we could talk about after we discuss your skills and interests. But even without that the job is almost full time. You’d be looking at a salary of—”
She named a salary that had Bo’s eyes popping. Holy horse poop, Batman! It was twice more than he’d made at the bookstore and leaps and bounds past what Laura paid him.
“Anyway, think about it.” Taylor took a step out into the rain.
“Hey, Taylor?” Bo said before she could leave. “Sam said you did a degree in equine management?” Bo waited for her to nod before continuing. “I looked it up the other day and… Could I pick your brain about it sometime?”
Taylor beamed at him. “Totally! Just not right now, ’cause I gotta finish the June reports before my mom realizes I haven’t even started.” With that she was gone, a blur in the rain, her feet splashing in puddles on her way to the house.
Off in the distance, beyond the house, Bo thought he saw figures emerging from the trail entrance. His suspicions were confirmed as the riders came closer, led by Sam. Shelby trotted at his side, but then left him and headed for the house.
Bo’s gut clenched. Once, when he’d led trail rides in Saskatchewan, his riders had gotten drenched during an unexpected rainfall and they’d been pissed. Like rail-at-Bo-for-everything-wrong-under-the-sun pissed. As if he’d done a freakin’ rain dance just to spite them. Please.
Sam’s riders, on the other hand, were laughing their asses off. Bo grinned at the sight of a bunch of middle-aged men and women bantering like teens. Once they’d all safely gotten off their horses, they jumped into puddles trying to splash one another.
“Hey! When does it rain money?” someone asked. He didn’t bother waiting for someone to respond before saying, “When there’s a change in the weather!”
Hilarity ensued and Bo laughed along. Sam must’ve heard him because his head snapped up and his eyes caught Bo’s. Sam smiled at him.
As if entranced by that smile, Bo took a step toward him.
“No, baby,” Sam said. “Stay in there so you don’t get wet. I’ll bring the horses to you.”
Ridiculous. Bo wasn’t afraid of a little rain.
He was soaked in less than a second. The rain felt amazing though, tepid and soothing on his warm skin. It’d been a scorching week and it looked like the rain might cool things down a bit.
Sam was shaking his head at him with a smirk. Bo smiled back and reached for the nearest two horses.
The guests were gone by the time Bo was mostly finished with the horses. He wasn’t anywhere near dry yet and he was getting uncomfortable in cargo shorts that stuck to his legs. Sam walked into the stable dripping water. All Bo could do was stare. Sam’s T-shirt clung to his chest and arms, his jeans rode low on his hips revealing a hint of his boxer briefs, and his hair was plastered to his head. Bo forgot what he’d been doing. Sam came closer, his gait loose and confident and his grin dirty. Lust pooled in Bo’s belly. Damn, his man was hot.
Sam didn’t slow until he reached Bo. Snaking his arms around him, he palmed Bo’s ass and lifted. Bo took the hint: He hopped up and wound his arms and legs around Sam. It felt like only a second later that his back was up against a beam and Sam was kissing the life out of him.
Sam was clearly in the same mood as him and that was all kinds of awesome.
Bo swept his tongue into Sam’s mouth and buried his hands in his wet hair. Sam tasted like rain and summer, and Bo clung to him desperately.
“Where are you going?” he asked when Sam started walking. “I still have to clean the saddles.” His argument was valid but lacked conviction given that his voice was muffled against Sam’s neck.
Sam walked them into the tiny office. “Leave it for Kyle.”
Bo managed to swim out of his lust for a second to say, “Where is Kyle anyway?” The stable hand could interrupt them at any minute and that’d suck blue balls.
“Dunno.” Sam kicked the office door closed. “Don’t care.” He sat Bo down on the edge of the small desk. “I want your dick in my mouth.”
Every thought except dick and mouth fled Bo’s brain.
Sam kissed him again while pushing him to lie back against the desk. But Bo wanted to touch Sam too. He broke the kiss, shoved Sam’s hands away from his fly, got to his feet, and walked Sam backward until he fell into the office chair. Bo straddled him.
Sam smirked. “I like the way you think.”
Flies open and boxer briefs shoved down, Sam took their hard dicks in his large hand and squeezed.
Bo moaned long and loud. He rested his forehead against Sam’s, that way they could both watch Sam’s hand pump their erections. Bo lifted Sam’s wet T-shirt and ran his hands all over his damp chest, tweaking Sam’s nipples.
A drop of pre-come rolled down Bo’s length. Sam groaned when it landed on his hand. The fire wicking through Bo to converge in his balls told him he wasn’t far from coming. Palming the back of Sam’s head, he brought their lips together. Their tongues warred and the only sound in the room was their heavy breathing that masked the flap flap flap of Sam’s ever-moving hand. They came within seconds of the other, moaning into each other’s mouths.
Bo held Sam’s face in his hands as they came down from the high, lips touching but not moving. He rested his forehead against Sam’s temple.
Sam wiped his hand on his still-wet T. “I didn’t get to take you in my mouth,” he grumbled.
“There’s always later,” Bo said. “When we’re not at your parents’.”
Sam grunted. “Don’t say ‘parents’ when you’re sitting on top of me with your dick hanging out.”
Bo chuckled and kissed his cheek. “My bad.” He tucked himself back into his pants, then did the same for Sam.
They cuddled together on the chair for a few more moments. Bo breathed Sam in and wished he didn’t have to move. But his thighs were starting to cramp, he was hungry, and he really wanted a nap.
“What do you say we head inside?” Sam patted Bo’s butt. “We’ll throw our stuff in the dryer and watch a movie in my old room or something while we wait.”
“Um, speaking of your old room… You know you’re going to end up back in it once your friends get back if you don’t start looking for a new place to live, like, now.”
Sam’s sigh fluttered over Bo’s lips. “Yeah, I know. I’m seeing a couple of places tomorrow afternoon, actually. Was gonna ask you if you wanted to come with me.”
“You’re finally going to start looking?” Bo asked. “Even though you haven’t heard from your lawyer yet?”
“Yeah.” Sam rubbed his forehead against Bo’s shoulder. “I can’t stop living my life. Plus it’s like you said a couple weeks ago: They’d be stupid to bring this case to a judge, especially with the evidence I have that proves I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“You’re still worried, though.” Bo placed a kiss on Sam’s wet hair. Sam didn’t answer, so Bo said, “I’d like to come with you tomorrow.”
“Good. Now, come on.” Sam gave Bo’s butt a light smack. “Let’s go get dry. We can chill for the rest of the day.”
“Will there be food?” Bo asked.
“There’s always food at my parents’.”
“Don’t say ‘parents’ while I’m sitting on top of you,” Bo teased.
He smiled when Sam’s laughing mouth found his.
§§§§
Sam was setting up the telescope in the backyard when his mom found him.
“Ooh,” she said. “That looks fancy.”
“Yeah.” Sam stared dumbly at the knob in his hand. He’d made sure to pay close attention to how the telescope fit together when he’d dismantled it this afternoon to fit it into his SUV as a surprise for Bo. Yet despite his best efforts, he couldn’t, for the life of him, figure out where this last knob went.
“Where’d you get it?”
“Hmm?” Sam blinked at his mom. “Oh, it�
�s Bo’s. I thought he’d like to look at the stars out here, where there isn’t as much light pollution.”
“You’re lucky the sky cleared after that rain.”
“Tell me about it.” Sam walked around the telescope and peered at its various parts in the glow of the outdoor house lights.
“You’re not coming to see the fireworks with us, then?” his mom asked.
“No, neither one of us likes crowds, so…” Sam shrugged.
His mom took the knob out of his hand and slipped it into a little opening on the side of the telescope. “It’s the eyepiece,” she said. She patted his chest. “Stick to gardening, sweetheart.”
Sam shifted on his feet and cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
“Where’s Bo?”
“Inside getting us something to snack—”
“Whoa!” Taylor’s feet clattered down the deck stairs. “This is so cool!” She lifted a hand to touch the telescope, but then hesitated and settled for petting the tripod instead. “How does it work? Can we look at something? Where’s the North Star? When did you get into astronomy?”
“I didn’t,” Sam said. “It’s Bo’s.”
He’d been looking forward to an evening stargazing with his boyfriend. Thinking his parents and sisters had already left for the fireworks display, he’d started setting up while Bo made them a late-night snack of cookies and sliced apples.
“Shouldn’t you guys be leaving soon?” Subtle, thy name was not.
“But I wanna stay and look at the stars,” Taylor said.
Sam looked at his mom. She shrugged. Sam sighed and resigned himself to the inevitable.
Ten minutes later, he was sitting at the top of the deck stairs, watching Bo teach Taylor and Robyn how to use the telescope. His parents sat on a couple of chairs behind him.
“This is way better than being stuck in a crowd, trying to find a viewing spot on wet grass,” his dad said, puffing on a cigar.