“Here, follow me,” I said, hopping to my feet and leading him to the barn, to the petting-zoo portion of the space. Linc, Sawyer, and Owen were repairing the stables for some of the horses that would be present for the event. None of them wore shirts, their muscles competing as though they were trying to look as sexy as humanly possible, glistening in the light flooding in through the small window behind them.
“What kind of porn did I just step into?” Carter joked as he looked to me, his brows hopping up to his forehead as he waved his hand in front of his face. “Where’s our fire department when we need them?”
Sawyer shook his head. “Our shirts got dirty, so we had to take them off. Maybe you should be looking somewhere else, considering you’re seeing someone right now.”
Over the past few weeks, since he’d become more involved in orchestrating the festival, Carter had begun dating a guy who was co-organizer for the event. It seemed the longer Carter remained in the Falls, the more reasons he had to stay. Kind of like Owen, who, despite his occasional returns to tend to business in Parlaisa, managed to spend more time with me—something I certainly wasn’t complaining about.
“Nothing wrong with admiring the view as long as I’m not trying out the equipment,” Carter told Sawyer, “though judging by the bulges in those jeans…”
“Okay,” Sawyer said, “I think I realize when I’m being flattered because you need something.”
“Oh, whatever could you mean?” Carter asked, turning to me and winking.
I stifled my laugh as Sawyer shook his head again.
“I’m a man down for the bachelor auction,” Carter finally said.
“And you thought of me because…?”
“Saw, I’m looking at your pecs and abs right now, and you’re going to ask me why I thought of you? We need hot men, and I thought of you. Come on. Do a buddy a favor?”
“Are we buddies all of a sudden?”
Carter groaned.
“Do we need to step out so you guys can chat?” Owen asked, his brows pulling together as he seemed to begin to feel as out of place in all this as I did.
“There’s no need for that,” Carter insisted. “Saw, I’m desperate…desperate to have your man bod to help me out with the bachelor auction.”
“So let’s see if I got this right: you want me to humiliate myself, strut my stuff, and practically beg people to spend money for a date with me because…”
“For charity,” Carter reminded him. “It all goes to the LGBTQ+ youth center. Think of the children.”
I snickered. “I don’t know that anyone will be thinking of children at a bachelor auction.”
“Maybe some of the children they could be making with this hot lineup I’m getting together,” Carter teased.
Sawyer groaned. “Can’t you ask Camden?”
Camden was Sawyer’s brother…and also the far more likely of the two to be involved in a bachelor auction.
“Jude and Camden have to miss the last half of the auction,” Linc said, “to get the ticket stand ready for the ball.”
“Jude and Camden, like together?” Carter asked, one brow raised higher than the other. “Is thata thingnow?”
“What?” Sawyer asked. “No, it’s nota thing. Jude’s straight.”
“Oh please,” Carter said. “Show me a straight man in Fever Falls, and I’ll show you a man about to fall head over heels just to get his ass in the air to take a D.”
None of us, not even Sawyer, could keep from enjoying his fairly accurate observation about what, at least within our circle, we’d noticed happening around town. Fever Falls seemed to have something so very magically gay about it.
“So Camden and Jude are out, Sawyer,” Carter continued.
Sawyer closed his eyes and shook his head. “You can’t find anyone else?”
“I don’t want anyone else. Iwantyou.”
Sawyer’s cheeks turned pink. “I’llthinkabout it.”
