As he ate, the general chatter rose up around him. It’d be movie night again, since it was so warm and still.
“We can duck out,” said Bede, lowering his chin, giving Galen’s shoulder a brush with his own. “Sound good?”
“Yes.”
Of course, it sounded good. The best. He was all in, but as he looked over at Toby and Owen sitting by themselves, comparing phones as they shoveled food in their mouths, he knew he’d been neglecting his team. “Were you guys able to scan and send your applications to the counselor?” he asked Bede.
“Yeah,” said Bede. “Micah ate it up.” Bede gave Galen a grin, as if to remind him of what a bad boy he was, and how he didn’t care about convention.
“And Toby and Owen?” Galen asked. He’d have to ask Toby and Owen personally, but it’d be nice to be prepared for the answer.
“Would you believe,” said Bede, his eyebrows flying up. “Toby’s got a background in woodwork. Carpentry. He’s a natural, the real deal, even though he’s only taken high school wood shop. And, turns out, Owen used to be a locksmith. Gotinto trouble over some gambling debts and went to the dark side.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s in the file,” said Galen, his spirits going up. “Did Micah say anything back about it?”
“Yeah, he said he was thrilled. Said he had contacts and could hook them up with an interview when the summer’s over.”
The summer being over was now a black spot for Galen that didn’t just threaten to grow larger and obscure everything else, itpromisedit. If he didn’t get new tenants in to help him pay the bill, he was going to lose the farm.
“I’m done,” he said, pushing his plate away from him.
“Me too,” said Bede, though he made the statement turn into a question. Then he leaned forward so nobody could over hear them. “Let’s go swimming. Just you and me.”
“I just need a towel and my swimsuit,” Galen said as he got up and cleared his place. Focusing on the small details rather than anything else.
“Why the swimsuit,” said Bede, whispering wickedly in his ear. “Maybe the others might come to the dock, but not until the movies are over. You know? Besides,” he added as they trotted down the wooden steps. “I’ll keep watch.”
Galen felt a laugh bubble up inside of him, and he gave Bede a shove. “Go on. I’ll meet you there.”
Once at his tent, Galen hurried into his swim trunks, grabbed a towel and a t-shirt to throw on afterwards, and slipped his cowboy boots onto his bare feet. This was perfect. Just Bede and him. He’d swim his troubles away, and then have Bede to snuggle up to afterward.
Chapter 34
Bede
After they came back from swimming and settled in Galen’s tent. Bede had done his best to pull Galen out of what seemed like a very dark funk. Despite all of his touches, the open-mouthed kisses to Galen’s neck, tender hands and mouth between Galen’s spread thighs, which produced very satisfactory sounds of pleasure, Galen still felt like a block of wood in Bede’s arms as they snuggled beneath the cotton sheet on Galen’s cot.
“Talk to me,” said Bede. “Please.”
He waited a long moment while the noises outside the tent, crickets and owls, distant laughter from the floating dock. When Galen didn’t speak, Bede leaned close and pressed his cheek to Galen’s head, twirled that soft hair in his fingers.
“I know something happened today,” he said. “Let me help.”
He thought he would have to wait forever, but Galen took a deep breath.
“When I first left the farm to come to Farthingdale Guest Ranch,” he said. “I was glad to leave it behind. You know. You leave home when it’s time. Except then my dad got sick. His name was Earl.”
Galen looked up at Bede, his gray eyes enormous, full of love for his dad. Bede hugged him close.
“Go on.”
“When he died, he left me everything,” said Galen. “The farmhouse, which was hand-built out of stone to keep the Wyoming winters out. There're acres and acres of fields, and the bend of Threemile Creek that kind of curves around all of it.”
“I can picture it the way you talk about it,” said Bede.
“There’s lavender and bees and we used to have goats, and dad talked about growing pine trees for Christmas trees, except we never got that started?—”
Galen broke off, turning his face into Bede’s neck, and Bede held him even tighter than before, talking about the farm low and fast, as though he were reciting his prayers.
