by Olivia Black
* * * *
A few hours later, Jared and Gabe sat on the stairs, side-by-side, and waited for the rest of the guys. Jared’s mind wondered as he looked around, enjoying the beautiful surroundings. With the warm sun hanging in the sky, and a cool breeze blowing against his face, everything seemed crystal clear.
“This whole time, I thought I was the strong one, protecting you when in reality you took care of me.” Jared leaned against Gabe’s shoulder.
“We took care of each other.” Gabe said.
“Yeah, I guess,” he shrugged. “I’m just glad you were with me. I don’t think I would’ve made it without you.”
“You would’ve been fine without me, but I’m glad that neither of us had to.”
“So,” he breathed out. “What now?”
Gabe turned his head and looked at him. “I go back to Portland and you stay here with your brothers and Jacob.” He smiled.
“I feel like this is good-bye.”
“Nope, never good-bye,” Gabe shook his head. “This is an ‘I’ll see you later.’”
“I’m gonna miss you.”
“Me too.” Gabe said.
Silence stretched out between them and Jared closed his eyes, breathing in the clean mountain air. He didn’t want Gabe to leave, but their time together was quickly ticking away. Luckily, they had a little more time to spend together, redefining their relationship. He’d assumed that Gabe needed him, when in reality, it was the opposite.
The sound of the screen door forced Jared to open his eyes. Looking over his shoulder, he watched his brothers file out of the house and stood up.
“Look at you, Easton. You sure clean up nice, cowboy.” Jared grinned.
Easton was wearing a pressed button shirt tucked into a pair of form-fitting Wranglers, cowboy boots, and a hat. It wasn’t out of the norm from what he normally wore, except that it was obvious he took care in getting dressed.
“What?” he asked defensively, and Jared quickly backpedaled. He didn’t want to make the other man uncomfortable.
“Nothing.” He shrugged nonchalantly. “I just think you look nice.”
“He’s right, you look great, Easton,” Gabe chimed in.
“Great, now that we all agree that Easton looks sexy, can we go?” Oliver asked, looking around. “Susan wouldn’t let me eat and I’m starving,” he added, as if to explain his surly attitude.
“You’re not starving.” Susan harrumphed as she came outside, shaking her head. “I gave you a bowl of cereal.”
“Okay, let’s go.” Wyatt walked up behind them, holding Jackson’s hand and shaking the keys with the other. “Preston and Mason are meeting us there. So, Easton and Oliver, you two can ride with us. Robbie, you can take Cody and Susan in your truck. Jared, you and Gabe can follow us over in one of the work trucks.” He gave out the order and everyone followed his direction.
Smiling, Jared headed toward the barn with Gabe at his side. He was looking forward to the future without the weight of the past on his shoulders.
THE END
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I fell in love with romance novels years ago and read everything I could get my hands on, from alternative to ménage and everything in between. Thousands of books later, I'm still an avid reader on the lookout for a good book.
I started writing ménage romance with Siren Publishing under the name Alicia White a couple of years ago. Recently, I decided that I wanted to branch out, and with the support of the Siren team, I started writing ManLove under Olivia Black. Silver Bullet is my first ManLove series and I’m looking forward to many more in the future.
I love waking up in the morning, getting my iced coffee and sitting down in front of my laptop. Going on adventures with my characters makes writing the best job on the planet. My hope is that readers will find something positive in every book I write and that they’ll enjoy the journey along the way.
Happy reading!
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