They didn’t speak the entire way back, and Adam slid off Colt when they got to the barn, handing the reins over to Harley, the friendly young man who, it had been explained to him earlier, was helping at the farm as part of his course curriculum at agricultural college. Flashing Harley a quick smile, Rico managed to get down from the horse without killing himself and ran after Adam, who’d already trekked halfway back to the house.
“Adam. Wait.”
But he kept going, and Rico sped up to a jog until he finally reached him at the top step of the back door. “What’s going on? Why’re you running away from me?”
Rico’s breath came in short pants, and Adam studied him for a moment before entering the house, still not answering his question. He walked toward the big kitchen table but didn’t sit, choosing to brace his hands on the wooden surface and keep his head bent low. Rico laid a hand on his back, but at the first touch, Adam flinched.
“Please don’t.”
“Talk to me.”
“I know you’re trying to help, but…I can’t. This is why…” He stopped and shook his head. “I’m not running away from you. It’s me. I’m running away from myself, only every time I wake up, I’m still there.”
Remembering how hard Gideon had been on himself and how he’d said Jonah refused to give up, Rico wanted Adam to know someone did care. Flinging aside the question of why Adam’s pain mattered to him, Rico ignored his protest and pulled Adam close, holding him tight. At first Adam struggled to break free, but Rico held firm until he gave in.
They stayed like that, chest to chest, Adam’s face buried in his neck, their hearts pounding together. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but I’m here if you want to talk.”
“Thanks,” Adam said, but nothing more.
When they broke apart, Adam gave him a quick but faint grin that didn’t fool Rico for a moment. “I’m fine. I shouldn’t let them get to me is all.” He went to the refrigerator. “Want a beer?”
“Yeah, sure.” Rico sat at the worn table and took the bottle Adam handed him, its coolness a welcome respite against his heated skin. “Who are they, though? And what did they mean it was your fault Wayne is dead? Who’s Wayne?”
A muscle ticked in Adam’s jaw. “They’re Garrett Jenkins Sr. and his son, Garrett Jr. They own the farm across the road. And Wayne was Garrett’s younger son. He died when we were seventeen.” Adam took a deep swallow of the beer.
“You were friends?”
“Yeah.” Adam finished the beer in two more healthy gulps and set the bottle down. Rico expected more of an explanation, but Adam offered none and instead, a familiar gleam entered his eyes.
“Now, my parents are out for the rest of the day, which means we have the whole house to ourselves. I’m not looking to talk about people like the Jenkinses, who I don’t care about and never will. I’m dirty and sweaty and smell like horse. What say we take a shower and then you make good on your promise to me from last night?”
The lust between them fired hot now that Adam had thrown out the challenge, and Rico deliberately drank his beer slowly and set his empty bottle on the table next to Adam’s. He stood, then grasped Adam around the nape of his neck to kiss him, sweat and dirt be damned. He and Adam were different than Gideon and Jonah; there was love between his friends, not merely a physical relationship with the raw desire to have sex each time they saw each other.
“Yeah, let’s go. I want to see you spread out on the bed, begging me for it.”
And after they’d washed and dried themselves in the shower, Rico made good on his promise, pounding Adam hard and fast, listening to the filthy curses streaming from Adam’s mouth as he slid inside him. Rico came hard, covering Adam’s large body with his own, his lips pressed to Adam’s damp, curly hair, their legs tangled together in the sheets. They drifted off to sleep, and Rico awoke to Adam’s tongue playing skillfully over his skin, licking him everywhere, rendering him helpless on the bed. That wicked, flickering tongue left Rico a burning, shaking mess, forcing him to bite the pillow to keep from screaming out loud when he came so hard he saw stars.
But even afterward, lying limp and sated in a puddle of sweat, Rico couldn’t stop wondering who Wayne was to Adam and why the two men had said Adam had killed him.
Chapter Ten
One month later,Adam lay in bed, staring at the cracks in the ceiling, hoping for guidance. He was in so much trouble, and he had no clue how to extricate himself, but it was a problem of his own making. Gazing at Rico sleeping next to him, one muscular thigh flung across the bed, dark hair curling over his brow, a fresh ache of pleasure-pain settled in the pit of Adam’s stomach.
Despite everything he knew about Rico Estevez, which admittedly wasn’t much more than when they first began sleeping with each other—how Rico repeatedly stated he shunned all relationships and refused to acknowledge even to his best friend, Gideon, that the two of them had been sleeping together for several months now—Adam had gone and fallen in love with the man.
Hard.
No matter that Adam lectured himself on the foolishness of continuing to sleep with Rico after that trip to Texas. He’d known from the moment he’d picked Rico up at the airport that being together under the same roof for even the short span of two nights would prove too much of a temptation for his heart, which had already begun to stir after years of lying withered and dormant.
A buzzing noise drew his attention to the nightstand, and Adam watched the screen light up with the wordDad. Rico remained asleep, dead to the world, and Adam smiled to himself. He’d been on shift for three days straight, and before that Rico had been working hard at the graduation parties he and Gideon had been hired to cater, so the two of them hadn’t seen each other in over a week. When he came to Rico’s straight from his shift, Adam had barely made it through the front door before Rico tackled him to the floor. His entire body hurt, but it was worth it. The phone kept ringing, and he nudged Rico.
“Hey, you have a call.”
Rico cracked open one eye and reached for him.
“Fuck them. C’mere.”
The phone stopped, and Adam leaned over to kiss Rico, drawing a heavy sigh of pleasure. He trailed his tongue over the thin white line of a scar along the curve of Rico’s cheek.
