“I used to come to your wrestling matches, ya know.” Hank’s steel-grey eyes suddenly lit up with excitement in the middle of his wrinkled face.
“You did?” Colton blurted, surprise coursing through him. An image of his uncle standing in the anonymous crowd of people, cheering for him, flashed momentarily through his mind.
“Yeah, it was easy for me to go because Walter never did.” Hank wiped at his ruffled, grey hair.
“Yeah, he never wanted to come. In the end I just stopped asking, you know.” The tightening in Colton’s chest increased at the memory of the few times he’d asked his father to come. In the end, he’d no longer bothered. “I never knew that you came to my matches…” Colton trailed off, kicking his dirty boot at the ground between the two of them.
“Yeah, I wanted someone to be there just for you, son,” Hank wiped at his stubbled chin. “You were nothing short of amazing. Spectacular. The way you moved on that mat. Never did see anything like it. Not before and not after. You were the best we’ve ever had in Hayley’s Peak.”
“Yeah?” Colton whispered, a mixture of pride and regret settling in his chest.
“Yeah, well that’s a long time ago now, ain’t it?” Hank shook his head as if waking from a stupor. “C’mon inside. You must be exhausted after the trip and the accident and all. Yeah, I know already. Better get used to it around these parts. Word travels fast ? especially deaths, accidents and divorces,” his uncle laughed.
A brief laugh escaped Colton too. His uncle surprised him. He couldn’t have been any more different from Walter. His father had been a man of few words and had become even more withdrawn when it was just the two of them left in the house. With Walter going off to the mill early in the morning, Colton would eat his breakfast alone in the kitchen and dinners were often spent in silence too, Walter refraining from asking about his son’s day.
Opening the back of the SUV and pulling out Colton’s suitcase, his uncle continued his comfortable rambling.
“You must be hungry too. Once you’ve settled in your room and just freshened up a bit, let’s head over to Tilly’s for some breakfast and then afterward you can get some sleep in. I ain’t expecting you in the shop until Monday morning anyhow. Thought I’d give you some days to get settled and rid of that jetlag.”
Colton took one last glance at the auto shop before he followed Hank up the steps to the wrap around porch. As the first orange-pink light emerged on the horizon announcing the arrival of a new day in the small town, Colton took a deep breath and readied himself for the next chapter of this life.
CHAPTER SIX
Henry
HENRY HADN’T BEENable to go back to sleep when he returned to his house from the extended walk home. As he lay back on the cool sheets, his thoughts kept circling back to Colton Dietrich. His attraction to the other man had been instant. Overwhelming. And unlike any other attraction he’d felt before. Even with Chad, it had been a gradual thing, developing slowly after a few introductory dates and initial kisses.
No, this was entirely different and unexpected. It was as if the air in the small consultation room had been charged with electricity that penetrated the surface of his skin. He’d felt lit up from the inside with an unprecedented need. Sure, Henry could appreciate a hot guy just as much as any other gay man, but what he’d felt in the early morning hours was completely new to him.
He'd had an urgent impulse to strip Colton out of his blood-stained clothes and lick him from top to bottom. It was almost animalistic, the need to feel the other man’s strong body beneath him. To map out every dip and curve of his muscled physique, inch by inch, until he could draw Colton’s body with his eyes closed from his memory only.
But it wasn’t only an urge to connect with the other man in a physical sense. It was more than that. Henry sensed a guardedness in Colton, and he wanted to strip away that shy exterior, layer by layer, until he saw the real Colton standing in front of him. Because he had a feeling that the real Colton was someone he wanted to know.
Henry suddenly felt like he was burning up. Despite the chill coming through the slightly ajar window in his room, his skin felt flushed and itchy. Trailing his right hand over his naked chest and pecs, he brushed at his sensitive nipples beneath his fingertips. He was already hard. He’d been all along while thinking about Colton. The hardness of his cock was bordering on painful, and he trailed his left hand down his abdomen and grabbed his firm arousal as his right hand continued to stroke and pinch his nipples.
Finding a slow but steady rhythm, Henry began stroking his length. Images of Colton flashed through his mind. His broad chest and slim waist. His solid thighs and firm ass. The scruff on his cheeks with specks of silver in between the dark brown. The serious mouth with full, pink lips. Hazel eyes, shy but alert.
A soft moan escaped Henry’s mouth as he continued to stroke himself to the thoughts of Colton. The masculine scent of the other man entering through his nostrils, setting all his senses on fire. The sound of his hand stroking against the slick hardness of his cock becoming a repetitive soundtrack to the images in his head. He recognized the small signs of his building climax. The tingling sensation at the bottom of his spine. The flex of his abdomen muscles. The buzzing sound in his ears. His breath coming out in heavy pants.
With a silent whisper of a name completely unknown to him until this morning, Henry spilled his release on to his hand and a strange calm settled deep in his bones.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Colton
HANK HAD FOUNDthem a table in a far-off corner at the diner, but they still appeared to be the center of attention as soon as they’d entered the place. Of course, Hank had mentioned to customers at the auto shop that Colton would be returning home to help him out, so people had been anticipating his arrival.
Colton had been a popular kid growing up in the small town and an even more popular young man in high school. Good at sports, especially wrestling, he’d been a guy’s guy never lacking in friends, places to be and parties to go to. And it didn’t make things any worse that he’d always been good looking. There was hardly a teen girl in Hayley’s Peak that hadn’t dreamed of dating and eventually ending up with the wrestling team captain. But Colton had never dated back in high school. He’d just been one of the guys. And before anyone could snatch up the handsome eighteen-year-old, he’d left town and joined the military.
Colton had just grabbed a menu when Tilly appeared at their table beaming at him.
“So, the rumors are true! If it isn’t the long-lost son returning from the war. Colton Dietrich, get off that chair and get your cute butt over here and give an old woman a hug!”
Colton smiled shyly at Tilly and stood from his seat. As he wrapped his muscular arms around the 5’2” waitress, she almost disappeared in his embrace.
“Good to see you again, Tilly,” Colton said while untangling himself from her firm hug.
“Well, the pleasure is all mine, handsome. Let me take a good look at you.” As she reluctantly removed herself from his arms, she instead grabbed his hands in a firm hold. The older woman took him in with rosy cheeks and moist eyes. Colton felt a tightness in his chest at the effect the long overdue reunion had on Tilly.
