Rocky Mountain Freedom (Six Pack Ranch)

by Vivian Arend

  He’d slept with Ashley curled up in his arms, her soft body draped intimately close. Travis’s early-morning farewell as he leaned over the bed and kissed both of them goodbye had been incredible. And hours later after they’d finished breakfast, Ashley had given him a slightly distracted kiss before she’d headed down to her workspace—

  All those things were reasons to deal with the strangeness.

  Behind the counter, an older man with his right arm in a sling across his chest struggled to his feet as Cassidy entered the door. “Morning. Can I help you?”

  “Wondering about your help-wanted sign.”

  The man nodded, lifting his hand in the air slightly to show off his injury. “Damn car hood fell on me. Never knew cars could bite, did you?”

  Cassidy joined the man in laughing. “Sorry about your arm, sir.”

  “My own damn fault, but we needed more help soon anyway. Here, I’ll let you speak with my son.” He slipped over to the entrance to the garage space and shouted through the door. “Clay, someone to talk to you.”

  Mr. Thompson waved absently then wandered off into the back as Cassidy waited.

  One of the biggest men he’d ever seen walked in, wiping the oil from his hands on a rag. A rush of remembrance hit—while they hadn’t spent tons of time together, Cassidy had met this man a couple times during the summer he’d spent in Rocky.

  “How can I help you?” Clay paused, a crease folding between his brows. “Hang on, Cassidy, right?”

  Cassidy nodded. “That’s impressive. It’s been about a year since I’ve been around.”

  Clay held out his hand and shook Cassidy’s firmly. “Welcome back, or are you passing through town and need repairs?”

  “Back for a while,” Cassidy admitted. “No repairs for you, though. Actually, I’m looking for work.”

  “Ahh.” Clay looked him up and down. “You got experience?”

  “Some. No formal training, but I can do all the grunt labour on an engine overhaul, and I know all the typical oil, air filter and sparkplug replacements.”

  Clay nodded. “Come in the back.”

  Cassidy followed him, for once feeling slightly on the small size. The Thompson boys were bigger than the Coleman family.

  Clay rattled a wrench on the edge of the metal railing, a loud clanging echoing through the main garage. “Hey, guys, someone for you to meet. Anyone know Cassidy…?”

  “Jones,” Cassidy offered.

  He found four additional sets of eyes turned on him as men rolled out from under cars and stepped back from leaning over hoods.

  Make that five—adding in the dark-haired girl wearing a coverall who was unpacking items from boxes onto storage shelves.

  She tossed him a shy smile. “I haven’t met him before.”

  “Shut up, Katy,” Clay growled. He turned to Cassidy. “My little sister.”

  The unspoken “hands off” registered loud and clear. Cassidy leaned forward and responded with a deliberate friendly but not too friendly smile. “Hi, Katy. No, we haven’t met, but maybe you know my girlfriend, Ashley Sims?”

  It was cheating of a sort, claiming Ashley and only Ashley like that, but worth it as the tension leeched out of Clay and the other guys damn fast. Cassidy stuffed down his amusement.

  Katy shook her head. “Don’t really remember that name.”

  Clay introduced his three brothers then pointed to the only one in the room who didn’t look like a Thompson. “That’s my best friend, Gage Jenick—only the jerk is planning on taking off on me in a couple months to work the oil field.”

  “Progress, Clay. Can’t hold back a good man.”

  “Yeah, you’re an asshole looking for the big bucks up north.”

  Gage grinned.

  Clay turned back. He named an hourly rate, plus a daily start and finish time. “You want the job?”

  Whoa. Cassidy paused. Quickest job interview he’d ever had. “That’s it?”

  Clay shrugged. “You want me to make it up fancy, I’ll get Katy to bake you a cake. She’ll find the forms you need, and we’ll do up the government shit, but if you’re a hard worker, we can use you.”

  “I’m a hard worker,” Cassidy promised. “And, thank you.”

  Another nod. Clay pointed to the sidewall. “There are spare coveralls over there, if you want to start on the clock right now. We’re eight cars behind schedule. Every one and their dog decided this week was the time to do all the maintenance they should have done three months ago.”

  Cassidy couldn’t wait to tell the others he had a job. “Right now is fine.”

  Clay shouted at his brothers. “What are you all looking at? Get back to work.”

  All of them flipped up middle fingers before quietly returning to their tasks.

  Gage strode over to offer a handshake. “Good to meet you, Cassidy. Clay, can I steal him to help with the tires?”

  Clay nodded. “Have at ’er. I’m fighting with the damn diagnostic machine again. If you can babysit Cassidy for the rest of the day, be my guest.”

  Gage winked at Cassidy. “We’ll knock out half the work list without breaking a sweat.”

  “Ha. You do that, and I’ll cover your tab on Friday,” Clay offered.

  “Deal.” Gage tilted his head toward the back. “Come on, let’s get you suited up, and we’ll work on earning that reward.”

  It didn’t take long for Cassidy to slip into the routine. While the setting was different, so many of the places he’d worked had the same kind of attitude. Everything in its place. One task at a time. The internal workings of a garage and a ranch weren’t that different when it came down to it. Especially here in a small town where they had to deal with pretty much everything, from changing tires to engine rebuilds.

  He pulled another tire off the rim setter and carried it to the stack growing along the east wall.

  Gage wandered up, extra coffee in his hand that he offered Cassidy. “Four tires left? Damn, you are good.”

  Cassidy accepted the hot liquid, taking a grateful sip before answering. “Sometimes a mindless task is just what’s needed.”

  Gage sat on the edge of a counter, nodding his agreement. “You living in town then?”

  And so it began. Cassidy fought to keep from hesitating and simply answer the questions. If this was going to be their life, he had to prove there was nothing he was ashamed of or hiding. “No, Ashley and I have moved in with Travis Coleman.”

  The man frowned. “How do you know Travis?”

  “Spent the summer out near Jasper working at Karen Coleman’s trail-ride camp with him.”

  “Ah, right. Good people, the Colemans.” The long pause wasn’t on his side, but Gage’s, as the man looked him over more thoroughly. He obviously had something on his mind, but he held his tongue and switched topics.

  Cassidy appreciated Gage’s restraint. It was a fine line right now for Cassidy, between wanting to get things out in the open and hoping in some ways that no one would ever find out.

  One step at a time.

  Like the One Day motto Ashley had gotten them started with during the summer, Cassidy grabbed on tight to his new mantra and repeated it throughout the day. He’d found a job, made a new friend. Had a place to head home to at the end of the day where two people would welcome him with open arms.

  For right now, that was all he needed.

  Travis thought long and hard about the best way to approach his family. He’d discussed it with Ashley and Cassidy, but in the end they’d agreed it was up to him to share the news.

  He didn’t want Wednesday night at the dinner table to be the first moment that he not only came out regarding living with two people but sleeping with them both. No matter how hopeful he was that his family would accept his decision eventually, he couldn’t picture the initial moments going down without some trouble.

  Fortunately he had plenty of chances throughout the workday to interact one-on-one with his brothers and dad, all of them except Daniel. And Daniel was th
e least of his concerns.

  He caught up with Matt and Blake during a break, tractors paused in the field, the two of them sitting out in the fall sunshine drinking coffee and shooting the breeze. They both turned toward him, Blake frowning with concern as he rolled up on the ATV.

  “Something wrong at home?” Blake asked, rising to his feet.

  Travis shook his head. “Everyone is fine, only I needed to talk to you two.”

  Matt gestured to the thermos. “Grab a cup and a seat.”

  Travis rubbed his hands nervously. “I’m good. Just…”

  He looked them over closer than he had in years. His two oldest brothers, both committed to working the ranch. Blake with his growing family was married to a woman who had known most of Travis’s secrets since they were kids. Matt had married one of the most accepting and caring women Travis had ever met.

  These were the guys who had kicked his ass when he needed it when he was young. Who had fought with him and fought for him, and…and why the hell was it so hard to simply come out and say what had to be said?

  “Family dinner on Wednesday night. I’m bringing Ashley and Cassidy.”

  “Heard from Karen over the summer that you and Cassidy did a great job for her out at camp. She really appreciated it.” Blake nodded his approval. “I’m glad that worked out for you, though we missed you around the place.”

  “Missed you tons. We had to do all the shit jobs we usually save for you,” Matt teased. “Well, until Jesse started screwing up big time. Then we dumped them on him.”

  Travis didn’t want to get sidetracked. “I’m glad I went, but it was time to be back.” He lifted his gaze to meet theirs. “Feel like a fool right now, but I’ll admit I missed you guys too. But I came out here to tell you something specific. Ashley has moved in with me. Cassidy as well.”

  Blake paused with the cup to his lips, lowering it slowly, his smile slowly fading to concern.

  Matt cleared his throat. “You mean, like permanent?”

  “I guess. We’re seeing how it works, but we spent the summer together.” Travis stilled his hands that were tapping uneasily on his thighs. “Call it dating or living together or…I don’t the hell know. Only, it’s the three of us.”

  “You mean you and Cassidy are both dating Ashley full-time?” Blake frowned. “I know the rest of you all had your share of threesomes, but how is that going to work, Travis?”

  “There’s more.” Travis took a deep breath. “It’s not just her with him and me, it’s…me with him as well.”

  Matt slapped his hand on his knee and leaned back. “Well, hallelujah. It’s about fucking time you admitted it.”

  The sense of panic in Travis’s gut lessened at seeing Matt’s grin. “You knew?”

  Matt gave him a look. “You’re not as subtle as you think, little bro. I mean, I never out-and-out saw you with a guy, but it was pretty clear you weren’t just looking at pretty girls.”

  Blake, on the other hand was still frowning. “Wait. What…?”

  “Dammit, Blake. Stop being an idiot. We’ve talked about this more than a dozen times.” Matt shook his head. “Here, I’ll use small words. Travis has a boyfriend.”

  Blake glared at Matt. “Yes, asshole, I got that part. But he’s also got a girlfriend?”

  The temptation to tease was too great. “There’s too much of me for one person,” Travis drawled.

  “That’s the smartass I expected.” Blake shook his finger. “Still, you really thought this through? You think you can make a go of three people sharing a house and expenses and all the things that come along besides sex? Hell, I love Jaxi like crazy, and it’s still tough dealing with life at times.” Blake looked uncomfortable as he searched for words. “What about kids?”

  Jeez. “Not thinking about kids for a long time, Blake. This is about us enjoying each other’s company and caring for each other. We’ll see where it takes us. Yes, we’ve thought it through, and no, it’s not typical, but so far it’s working. Only I don’t want to have to avoid family events, or have them stay home when I come around the Colemans, so I need to know you’ll treat them with respect.”

  Matt shoved him off balance. “Don’t be a fucking fool.”

  “They’re important to me,” Travis insisted. “I won’t allow them to be made to feel unwelcome.”

  “So bring them around family events. Works for me.” Matt turned back to Blake. “You think we should leave that east field for a couple more days? It still seemed a little wet.”

  Blake made a face. “It’s supposed to rain on Thursday.”

  “Cut it on Wednesday, then? Or wait until the weekend?”

  Travis opened his mouth to bitch he wasn’t finished talking when he realized what his brothers had done. They’d heard his announcement. They’d accepted it. Moved on. Without a word, which was more than he’d dreamed of.

  He ended up phoning Daniel, who immediately tried to figure out what his kids should call Cassidy and Ashley.

  “Good grief, have the boys use their fucking names,” Travis snarked.

  Daniel hummed. “Beth likes them to call adults Mr. or Mrs., or in the case of family, Aunt and Uncle. I don’t know that she’ll go for first names.”

  Travis couldn’t believe it. “This is really your biggest concern, Daniel? I announce I’m bi, and you’re worried if my boyfriend should be Uncle or Mr. Cassidy? Call him Mr. Jones, I don’t give a shit.”

  Daniel snorted. “Sorry for not being more freaked out. You should have told me upfront you wanted gnashing and grinding of teeth, I would have practiced.”

  “Asshole.”

  “Shithead,” Daniel responded without heat. “Hey, can you bring your friends for dinner here on Sunday? I need a hand moving some stuff, and now that you have a boyfriend, I can get double the labour out of having you over.”

  Travis couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping. “I’ll check with them, but that should be fine.”

  He headed home that afternoon with a strange sense of disbelief hovering over him. He hadn’t had to confess a word about his cravings for the darker side of pain, and the other half of his secret had turned out to be not so secret after all.

  Cassidy paced in after his successful day in obtaining work, hung up his jacket and headed straight for the shower. Travis worked to put supper on the table, phoning Ashley to remind her to stop painting and join them.

  All of it far more domestic and homey than Travis figured he had any right to expect, but it was real.

  Cassidy returned, fresh scrubbed from the shower, and joined him in the kitchen, pausing to rub a hand on Travis’s back. “How did it go?”

  Travis leaned on the counter. “Anticlimactic. Even my parents. Dad wanted to know what the two of you were doing for work, and my mom seemed worried about the trailer for some reason.” He threw his hands in the air. “All that frustration and fear for nothing.”

  Cassidy shook his head. “Seriously? That’s it?”

  Travis stepped against his friend, holding him tight. Rubbing his fingers over the taut muscles in Cassidy’s shoulders and the back of his neck. The tension in the words had said more than anything what pain was bouncing through Cassidy’s brain.

  Travis considered the entire day, the conversations with each of his family, and could only come to one conclusion. “It’s probably not what they’d envisioned for me, but it’s not their life. They’re staying out of it.”

  Cassidy pulled away and went to lay plates on the table. “Still seems unreal.”

  “Agreed, but I’ll take it.” Travis laughed. “God, the last thing Mom said to me? She looked me straight in the eye, took a deep breath, then very seriously reminded me dinner starts at six, and we’re not to be late.”

  It hadn’t been perfect. Jesse had made a borderline rude remark before being shushed by Joel’s fist meeting his arm. Then again, when didn’t Jesse make stupid comments? Most of the family had expressed concern about the logistics of Travis being with two lovers. But not a s
ingle one of them had so much as blinked when it had been confirmed his sexual preferences ran to both men and women.

  Ashley listened to the extended recap while they ate. When Travis was finished, she sat back with a contented smile. “See? I told you this would work.”

  “We’re not in the clear yet,” Cassidy warned. “That was Travis’s immediate family, but yes. I’m very glad it turned out so well so far.”

  Ashley piled the plates on the tiny counter and pushed up her sleeves, wash water started. “You guys go relax, I’ll clean up tonight.”

  Travis grabbed a dishtowel and stepped to her right. “We’ll do it together.”

  “You want a chance to grope me, admit it,” Ashley joked.

  Cassidy hovered closer. “Is that one of the job perks for washing dishes? Because, if so, I’m on it.”

  Ashley laughed and tried to duck away, but there was no room in the small space for her to escape. Just the way Travis liked it.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  By seven p.m. Wednesday evening, Ashley’s optimism had faded somewhat. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong, per se, but awkward?

  Gawd.

  Of course, it wasn’t necessarily anything more than meet-the-girlfriend nerves on all parts, compounded by adding in meet-the-boyfriend at the same time. Although neither of them was completely unknown to the family, the mixed-up relationship between Cassidy and her and Travis definitely added a new twist.

  Thank God for Vicki. She’d swept in from the moment they’d arrived and taken control of Ashley. Beth had been pleasant enough from the first moment, and Jaxi as well, but there was something slightly off. Some lingering hesitation. Glances that lasted a little too long. Conversations that cut off a touch too quickly.

  The old Ashley would have made some deliberately dirty comment to prove she didn’t give a damn, only…

  She did care. Far too much.

  For the first time in her life, it wasn’t about doing what she wanted. Taking what she pleased and damn the consequences. She’d gotten possessive over her guys in a way like she never had before. Maybe it was part of growing up, maybe it was about emotions.