Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75871 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too.” Vince ended the call, his mind where it had been daily now. With Colby.
“I talked to my aunt today,” Vince said to Colby on their way home that night. “She’s excited for us to come out.” Vince was excited too. As much as he loved what they were doing, he could use a little vacation. Maybe they’d be able to figure out what the hell was going on with them before that.
“Shit. I don’t know if I’ll be able to make it. With Dad’s injury and him slowing down some, they’re probably going to need me. I figure it will be tough for both of us to get the time off work.”
Vince pulled into their driveway and parked. What Colby said made sense, and honestly, Vince should have thought about it himself, but… “You can’t work all the time. You have to be able to have time off. Your parents would never expect you not to have vacations.”
Colby sighed, then leaned his head against the window. “I know they wouldn’t, but things will be hectic for a while. Summer is always a wild time, and then we go into fall with the apples. You remember how busy it was last year. I hadn’t really considered the timing of the trip…and then both of us going. I just…things are going to be changing for me, I think. I should probably start preparing to take over the farm with Dennis. Trips should be put on hold until we get things organized.”
He got what Colby was saying, but Vince’s brain couldn’t help but focus on one part of it: “Things are going to be changing for me.” Did he also mean with them? Because things had always seemed fine with Gregory before they went to shit. Before things changed for Gregory and he realized Vince wasn’t good enough for him.
“With us? Because if that’s the case, I need you to tell me. I can’t—”
Colby’s head snapped up. “What? No. That’s not what I was talking about at all. Are things changing for you?”
Vince groaned. God, he fucking hated this shit. Hated the insecurity he now felt because of the way Gregory had treated him. This wasn’t him. He didn’t act like this. “No. Things aren’t changing for me.” Only they were, but not in the way Colby thought. Not in the way Colby might be ready for. “I shouldn’t have asked you that. You have a whole lot of stuff going on, and I’m putting my shit on you.” Christ, the last thing he wanted was to add to Colby’s burden, to push him in any way to make a decision he wasn’t ready for.
“You’re not. Fuck, you’re not. You’re the only thing keeping me sane.” Colby unclicked his seat belt, did the same with Vince’s, then rested his hand on the back of Vince’s head and pulled him close. Colby took his mouth, sweeping his tongue inside, and damned if Vince didn’t feel like he tasted a little sadness on him.
They dropped their foreheads together, and Vince said, “We’ll figure it out. We’ll put the trip off until things are sorted out.”
“No. I can’t ask you to do that. It’s your family, Vince.”
But the thing was, Colby felt like his family too. “You didn’t ask.”
Colby kissed the corner of his mouth. “I can’t figure out why you like me.”
“I have a list if you wanna hear it?”
Colby chuckled and pulled back. “Bet it’s not nearly as long as my list for why I like you.” Then, as if something just hit him, he dropped his head back and groaned. “Shit. I forgot I was supposed to stop by Clint’s. He made some stuff for Mama, and I need to pick it up.”
“Go inside. I’ll grab it.”
“No. You worked just as hard today. You shouldn’t have to do it.”
“I don’t mind.” When Colby gave him another look that said no, Vince added, “Baby, get that sexy ass of yours inside the house. Get some dinner going for us and rest up because I’m going to need a good hard fucking tonight.”
Colby had a lightness in his eyes that was real and honest. One that Vince wasn’t sure he’d seen in a while. “God, you’re great.”
“I aim to please.” And he did. He liked being the person Colby could count on.
“Thank you,” Colby told him, gave Vince another kiss, then got out of the truck.
Vince drove to Clint and August’s place, Labs and a golden retriever running at him to lick his face off as he walked toward Clint’s shop.
The other man came out just as Vince approached. “Guard dogs, they are not.”
“They’d protect you if they had to. They just know I’m a friend.” Vince knelt and gave them some love. “I’m here to pick up whatever it is Colby was supposed to grab. We got home and he forgot, so I came over.”