“Hello?” came the wary reply, quickly enough to suggest Monty hadn’t been entertaining someone naked.
He rubbed his nose, feeling ridiculous. “Monty, it’s Rue.”
The door buzzed open, no questions asked. It was one of the many reasons he liked Monty; the man knew not to question, even when it was called for.
Standing in his doorway wearing nothing but sleep pants, Rue kept his gaze from traveling over the slim, honey-colored torso. Rue could smell liquor, but Monty’s eyes weren’t unfocused as he stepped back to allow Rue to pass.
This is a fucking mistake.
Even as he acknowledged it, he walked inside. The click of the lock engaging got him turning.
The burning anguish that had accompanied him, which he’d refused to admit to, pressed on his chest, forcing him to gulp inair. Only it didn’t help. Didn’t stop him from floundering in a well so deep he couldn’t find his footing.
Go now. This is a mistake, his brain screamed.
Monty, wordlessly and without hesitation, wrapped his arms around Rue’s waist and buried his head in his chest. “Was it that bad?”
Shudders wracked his body, and he clung to Monty for reasons he just couldn’t explain, not even to himself right then when Popi was the person he should have gone to.
“Worse,” he rasped out through a throat so tight the word ripped at his vocal cords.
Fingers slid over his T-shirt making soothing motions. It felt nice, but it just wasn’t what he needed. He’d known why he was here, and so did Monty. The attraction had simmered like a pot on a stove, waiting for someone—or something—to turn it up.
When Monty looked up at him, Rue couldn’t fight the desire to let go after pretending it wasn’t there between them. Denial was futile when his heart hurt. Bled inside him, bringing back memories of a past he worked to outrun.
Just this once, he promised himself, dipping to taste the cherry red lips.Fool,whispered through his mind as he sank into the kiss. One he could admit, in this moment of madness, that he’d wanted for a long time.
He lost himself entirely when Monty parted his lips and kissed him with a hunger that matched his own. He prayed he’d be able to find himself after.
Just this once won’t change anything.
Chapter Two
Rue
Tired and tense, Rue drilled holes into Silas as Ethan, Darling Ranch’s manager, spoke.
“So, you and Silas will share this cabin, Ziggy,” Ethan stated, looking at the sheet of paper he held as he stepped off the porch. “Jupiter, you’re next door with Wilder.”
Just this once won’t change anything.Those words rang like a bell tolling his doom with what was about to go down, when he’d been struggling for weeks to keep his distance from Monty after his return from Drinkwater.
“Say fucking what?” Jupiter growled, and Rue bit back a groan, rolling his eyes to the blue sky, knowing this would not go down well. How could it when he knew what Ethan’s announcement meant for him to.
Ethan didn’t so much as blink at the challenge in Jupiter’s gaze when the two faced off. Ethan nodded in a measured way. “You heard, darlin’. You and Wilder are in there.” Ethan pointed to the cabin next to the one that he’d allocated to Silas and Ziggy.
“He’s not my PA anymore, Ziggy is!” Jupiter spat out.
“No one told me you guys had swapped.” Ethan shrugged, seemingly unconcerned by Jupiter’s behavior. His baseball cap shielded his eyes, making Rue wonder if Silas had indeed not given Ethan the updated information. Silas, like all of them, had a fucking lot on his plate… but Rue’s gut—which he always listened to—said Silas was up to something. “You worked with Wilder, so what’s the issue?”
Silas remained inside the cabin, possibly staying out of the bomb blast.
“I’ve no issue with who I’m sharing with.” His gaze shifted to Taylin, who grinned widely.
“You’re mated, why would you care?” Rue questioned, unable to stop his eyes skipping to where Monty stood looking unconcerned.Why wasn’t he pissed?
Monty lounged against the railing of a cabin on the other side of the one Ethan allocated to Jupiter.
“Are we all sharing with our PAs?” Kodi asked with an icy control he wasn’t known for.
