“Sounds good to me.” He turned and hugged his mom and said bye to the rest of the group. Tawson waved bye as well and they headed toward the exit. The soccer field was indoors, which meant it took nearly fifteen minutes of moving through the crowds to get back outside. At one point, Vic had taken Tawson’s hand- presumably so they didn’t get separated.
“I’m glad I left my car parked on the other side of campus,” Vic said once they were finally out of the hub of the crowd.
“You don’t have to rub it in. I should have thought about that this morning.”
“We could just ride together,” Vic offered. “It isn’t like I won’t be at your place tonight anyway. And we can drive back together Monday morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Am I sure I want you stuck in the car with me for at least an hour while we navigate this traffic and gettinghome?” Vic rolled his eyes as he said it. Tawson laughed at the sarcasm, but let Vic lead the way. “I do need to stop at my apartment and grab some stuff.”
By ‘stuff’, Vic apparently meant his entire apartment. He mentioned that he would need to go grocery shopping too before Monday. Tawson was hopeful that maybe they could just spend the weekend together under the disguise of running errands. Laundry and grocery shopping sounded so domestic, but he’d take anything to spend more time with Vic. He was helpless. The thought of spending most of the weekend with him was exciting; he hadn’t felt like this in a long time.
Happy.
He helped him get his stuff in the trunk of his car and then got in the passenger seat. “I hope you can drive,” he said half-jokingly. “I can always drive if you want.”
“I’m very good,” Vic said with a smirk. His eyes darted down to Tawson’s lips and back to his eyes. “At driving, that is.”
“You’re good at a lot of things, baby.” The name came easily to him. He’d let it slip a couple times, but Vic didn’t seem to react one way or another. Another thing they should probably talk about.
“Do you want to grab some food on the way home?” Vic asked. “Or do you have food at the house? I’m going to have to feed the horses but I’m already hungry.”
“I can make us something to eat,” Tawson said. They were off campus now and the traffic was thinning out. He reached over and rested his hand on Vic’s inner thigh. Vic was wearing jeans, but that didn’t matter to him. The fact that Tawson could openly touch him without the fear of prying eyes was enough. “If you want to drop me off and do what you need to. You can also showerat my house.”
“This is going to be the best weekend,” Vic said. He took one hand off the steering wheel and dropped it to his lap, lacing their fingers together. Vic lifted Tawson’s hand and kissed his knuckles. He’d done that a few times before and Tawson wouldn’t lie- he loved the gesture. Vic looked over at him briefly and smiled. “I’m really happy. I just want you to know that. You make me happy.”
Tawson returned the smile easily. He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Vic’s shoulder. He didn’t want to distract him too much. “I’m really happy too, Vic.”
They spent the rest of the drive to the ranch in mostly silence. Tawson thought that he should feel nervous. But it was nowhere. Vic was amazing. He comforted Tawson when he told him about his past. He hadn’t run, hadn’t judged or accused him. Vic believed him and promised that they would take it at his pace. When Vic pulled through the gate and stopped to make sure it closed, Tawson decided to act. He held Vic’s face in his hands and kissed him.
Hard.
Passionate.
Tawson gave him everything he wanted to say, every emotion he felt when they were together in that kiss. One of them groaned, but he couldn’t be sure who. He explored Vic’s mouth with his tongue, tasting all of him that he could.
“I really need to go take care of the horses,” Vic whined. “But fuck, Tawson. Just wait until I come back.”
Chapter Nine
~ Victor ~
The night was hot and inside the barn wasn’t much better. There was a breeze coming through the open doors but that just pushed the smells around as he raked out each stall and dumped the manure into the compost pile at the back of the barn. They used to give it to the neighbors before his uncles bought it and now they sent it to their family farm for compost. They made the trip every couple of months.
He was sweating through his shirt in no time at all. By the third stall, he slipped out of his shirt and continued on. He made sure they had enough feed and fresh water for each of them. He called each of them in individually, hooking them to the grooming stall for a quick brushing and check before putting them in for the night. Chauncey didn’t seem to mind and “helped” by barking at random intervals, running in and out of the barn. Vic missed his dog during the week.
He checked off each of the horses on the list by the main door before running back to the porch. The horses must have been outside most of the day because it didn’t take too long. He had at least two more hours before anyone would be home. He saidgoodnight to the horses and closed the main doors, leaving the one to the paddock open. Their fence was more than secure and leaving the door open would allow for any type of breeze to go through. He really loved the horses, but the end result of sweat everywhere was less than ideal.
Vic slumped down onto the porch steps and grabbed his phone from his pocket. Tawson had texted him with what he was making- a Lemon Butter fish with steamed veggies. He didn’t eat a lot of fish, but it sounded amazing. He also texted his sister to ask if they were still eating, to which she responded that they were just getting their food. It’d been a mix up at the restaurant and they had to wait a bit for a table. He took a deep breath and finally stood up, heading toward his car.
Tawson was waiting at the door for him when he pulled up. Victor was smiling when he told Tawson what Paxton said.
“That’s good because you’re going to need a good, long shower,” Tawson said with a smile and crinkled nose. “Shoes off out here.”
“Yes, sir.” Victor did as told and Tawson went back to cooking. The whole place smelled like lemon. Victor was glad, because the last thing he wanted was to spend a night in a small room that smelled like fish. He noted the window was open to help too.
He made his shower quick, but once Victor stepped out of the warm steam, he realized he didn’t bring any clothes. He had the ones in his backseat still, but they were all dirty. He secured the towel around his waist and moved to the sink and mirror. Tawson had no use for a brush, to Victor’s dismay. And he hadn’t brought his toothbrush either.
