Then he shifted, scooting up to use my pillows as a backrest. Naturally, I moved with him, turning so I could see his face without needing to let him go. Cy just stroked the back of my head, smoothing my hair down over and over, almost like it was soothing for him.
"Luke Barrett, huh?" he finally asked.
"Yes, but we're talking about you first," I decided. "What happened, Cy? I was waiting for an invitation to a wedding, and now this?"
"Yeah." He glanced away, his eyes landing on my mirror. "Um, Kindle met some guy at work, and they'd been hanging out in the evenings. He forgot to mention this 'friend' was gay, and I was dumb enough to trust him. Ended up at the same bar doing happy hour with some of the guards from the jail. I didn't know he was there. They didn't know I was. Figured it out when the guys I was with lost their shit about the queers."
"Oh no," I groaned.
"Oh yeah," he assured me. "So, I kinda made a scene, called Kindle out. The guys from the jail figured out that I was takin' it up the ass, and um, I kinda only had one option left. I headed home, threw my shit together, and fucked the fuck off. Quit my job the next morning so I wouldn't have to deal with the bullshit, and here I am."
"I don't care if you're gay," I teased. "Or taking it up the ass, giving it in the ass, or anything else."
"Shit, I can choke back a dick better than you could ever dream of." Then he smiled at me deviously. "I'd also hit your ass in a heartbeat - or pussy. Still kinda like those well enough. Been a while, though. Might not remember what to do with them."
I slapped his chest, knowing he was giving me shit. "Mine's occupied, thank you very much."
"Which brings us right back to that hot fucker outside. Seriously, Vi? That's the infamous Luke?"
"I know!"
He moaned playfully. "He's got a nice ass, and those guns of his are something else."
"He doesn't have guns," I huffed.
"Arms," Cy clarified. "I would let him pin me down. Shit, I kinda threw him up against his truck and had a few bad thoughts. So, you traded in Ash for a cowboy, huh?"
"Ash and I are just friends," I reminded him. "Who don't complain or act weird the next morning."
"Kinda what I thought." And he poked me in the ribs. "You always play that down, but I know you've had a piece of him."
"First one," I admitted. "And third, and so on. But we really are just friends. Just a lot safer to take him home than half the weirdos on tour."
Cy's smile was slipping away as I talked until he clenched his jaw. "I don't really need to know about his exploits though, ok?"
"He's not really into guys," I told him. "Cy, it was you. I mean, he's played around, but for him, you were the only one worth feeling something for."
"I hate the way we split up. He didn't really give me any choice, though," Cy tried to explain. "I was barely seventeen, with another year at Southwind, he'd just ended his sentence, and you two were heading off to Europe. I made it clear that I wasn't going to be doing anything, and Ash didn't say shit. Not until the last minute. Then, all I could think was that he was going to be out there, surrounded by all that hot ass, and I..." He grunted. "I fucked up. Looking back, I know he was trying to find his boundaries, trying to make a joke of it because he didn't know how to ask, or even tell me he'd been thinking about modeling, but all I heard was that he was done with me. And I'm pretty sure he hasn't said more than two words to me since."
"What are you going to do when he shows back up?" I asked.
Cy just kept petting my hair, but his eyes had lost focus. "Try not to out myself in front of your little toy out there? Fuck, I honestly don't know, and don't you dare think that's me saying I don't want to see him. I do. More than you can imagine. I'm just not sure how it's gonna go, and I can't promise some fists won't fly."
"Keep it outside," I told him, "and try not to break anything. Yourselves included. I'm kinda coming to terms with the fact that having a dick means your brain short-circuits a lot."
He chuckled. "Like Luke? Pretty sure he didn't like the way I was groping you."
"He doesn't." Even as I said it, I snuggled into him again, making it clear that wouldn't stop me. "I also have no idea what he'll do when he realizes that you prefer his ass to mine."
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Cy teased. "I'm on a rebound, babe. Might need a little stupid to help me get over my crushing loss. That, or I could always dye my hair. I mean, that's what you girls do, right?"
"I dye my hair because I like it," I reminded him. "And it has nothing to do with men. Although I do need to find time to go to the salon."
"Let me drive that Audi and I'll go with you. We can leave the cowboy to worry about what his piece of ass is getting up to." Cy twirled a strand from my ponytail around his finger. "I'm guessing we're gonna need to head to Dallas for this?"
"McKinney's fine," I assured him. "And Luke's trying. I mean, he's already made it through Ash's bullshit, so try to be nice to him?"
"He's currently having his assumptions of his place in the world challenged. It's natural for him to react with violence, because his primal brain is telling him to fight back, but there's not a damned thing for him to fight against, 'cept me and Ash. So, yeah. I'll cut him some slack. I kinda get it."
