“Are you okay with that?” Xander asked. He tried not to tense up, waiting for the answer and hoping that he hadn’t just messed things up.
“I am,” Wright said. He pulled back just enough to look up at Xander. His voice sounded sure, but his expression looked a bit pensive.
“What is it?” Xander asked.
“It’s nothing,” Wright said too quickly. He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. Xander pulled back and tilted his head, trying to read Wright’s body language and facial expression. He sighed after a moment and started twirling his finger in the hem of his shirt, something that Xander knew he did when he was nervous. He looked down at the ground between them when he spoke again. “It just kind of overwhelmed me for a second when you moved like that. Stalked toward me.” He finally looked up and met Xander’s eyes. “I know you would never hurt me, but I guess my brain is still stuck in fight-or-flight mode sometimes.”
“I’m so sorry,” Xander said immediately. He’d been so caught up in his own thoughts he didn’t think about how it would look to Wright. He held up his hands, wanting to step forward and wrap him in another hug, but hesitated.
“I don’t want you to have to think twice about it,” Wright said. He lifted his own arms and wrapped his fingers around the edges of the flannel he was wearing, tugging him closer. He pressed his face against Xander’s chest and took a deep breath. “I will always be up for you touching or kissing me, but maybegive me a quick warning or something before. I like the stalking toward the guy in the books, but in reality it’s a little scary.”
“I will,” Xander promised. “I’m sorry if I scared you, even for a second. I just- I couldn’t help it. You were talking and being all cute.” Xander smiled down at him and moved a hand to brush down some of his hair. Maybe he would want to get it cut tomorrow. “Are you still good to go out tonight?”
“And miss spending hours alone with you in the bed of your truck?” Wright smiled and this time it lit his entire face. Xander held his eyes for a moment before he bent down to kiss him again. This one was much softer, a quick press of lips. “I’m all ready for you to woo me. Again. And again.”
Xander huffed out a breath and closed his eyes, looking up at the setting sun. They had maybe an hour before the first stars would start coming out. “You don’t get cleared until tomorrow, Wright.”
“Sounds like a promise to me.” Wright smiled and Xander knew that this was it. These feelings were beyond real. No matter how they started, he couldn’t deny the way the young man in his arms made him feel.
Chapter Ten
~ Wright ~
He’d been doing well since arriving at the ranch. After his initial bout of stubbornness, as Xander called it, he spent weeks letting his body heal. He would rotate between hanging out in the guest house, sitting on the porch of the main house, and talking with those that lived or worked on the ranch. He liked everyone, they were all nice. Brett was in and out, and he’d even met a couple of the people living in the houses William designed. Him and Clark had stopped back by to check on everything when they came back from their honeymoon. Both of them were tanned and so, so happy. Wright wanted that.
The one thing he hadn’t done was get in the way of everyone working. He would lean against the fence and watch the horses or wave at the guys coming and going in the trucks. But he didn’t walk into the barn or wander away from the immediate yards around the houses. If he wasn’t walking around with Xander or driving in his truck for whatever reason, he stayed close. The last thing he wanted to do was mess something up and someone get mad at him. Or he get hurt again.
“You’re all good,” Doctor Pillar said once she shut the door to the room he and Xander were sitting in. “Scans are all clear, your eye has healed up nicely. You might have some scarring. Butblood work looks good too.” She flipped a few papers in a folder and then looked up and smiled at him. “You healed up nicely, Wright.”
“That’s good,” Wright said with a long sigh. He felt better, knew that he was going to get the clear today. He never did have any scares with bleeding or anything. Wright looked over at Xander and smiled. He’d settled on a baseball cap today instead of his usual cowboy hat. They’d spent hours outside last night, just cuddling and talking. Xander told him more about growing up on the ranch and helping out. He talked about his family, his parents before they passed, Patrick and Tracy and when the kids were younger. Paxton was nearly his age and hearing how she grew up with a loving family made him a bit sad. He tried not to compare them to each other, but it was hard. Everyone in the Lawson family was so supportive and accepting. Xander had taken his mind off of it by giving him his first ever blow job. He was pretty sure he could come again just thinking about the way his lips felt around him.
“Wright?” Doctor Pillar broke his line of thought.
He turned back and blinked, apologizing for the lost thought. She just smiled and Xander coughed into his hand. Wright chanced a look at him and saw him shake his head. He knew where Wright’s mind had gone.
“I was asking if you minded if Xander stepped out of the room so I could talk to you.” Her voice was calm and patient as it always was. She had long, dark hair and sharp features. Honestly, she kind of resembled Cher, in a third cousin kind of way.
“Oh, yeah, that’s fine.” Wright wasn’t sure what she needed to talk to him about without Xander there, but he felt comfortable around her so he wasn’t nervous. It was probably routine anyway. Xander stood, smiled, and promised to be just outside the room if he needed anything.
“I want to ask you a couple of questions,” she said. She sat back down in the chair and looked right at him. “They might be uncomfortable, but I need you to be honest okay?”
“Okay.”
“I know you’ve had quite a bit of trauma and while you have healed physically, I want to make sure that you’re doing okay in other areas.” She set the folder down and moved her chair closer to Wright sitting on the crinkly paper. He shifted, not sure where these questions were going to go. “How are you feeling? Not your body, but how are you handling everything mentally?”
“It’s fine,” Wright said. His voice was barely above a whisper and he was looking down, his hands fiddling with the edge of his shirt. He was wearing his own shirt today, but he wished he was wearing Xander’s. He liked the way that it sort of swallowed him, made him feel safe. It also smelled like Xander and the detergent he used. A reminder that he wasn’t back at home with his dad anymore. “I like living on the ranch. The Lawson’s are nice.”
“They’re good people,” she said. “And you feel safe there?”
“I do.” Wright smiled and looked up from his lap. He squeezed his hands into fists. “I haven’t felt this safe in a long time. It’s been the longest I’ve gone without getting hit or someone yelling at me for messing up since I was twelve. Maybe before that.”
“Is that something you’re scared of? Someone yelling at you or getting mad?”
“I’ve talked to Xander about it a bit.” Wright recounted their short conversation yesterday before they got in the truck. The entire night, he’d made sure to move slowly, always giving Wright a chance to say no. He hadn’t, but he appreciated the concern. He appreciated that Xander listened to him so easily. Wright didn’t have much experience with someone putting his needs first. “But yeah, I guess. I can’t help but feel like this isjust one big dream. Now that I’m healed up, I don’t know what’s going to happen and that makes me nervous.”
“Have you talked to Patrick or Tracy about it?”
“I was planning on it,” Wright said. “I spent a lot of years working around the house and doing things to earn my keep. I know I needed to take it easy to heal and everything, but now I want to help out. If they even have room for me to keep staying there. I don’t want to impose on their family and the houses are all rented out right now.”
