“Soon, huh?”
God. He couldn’t wait to have Jason’s hands on him, easing the hurt.
“Yeah. Yeah, soon.”
Jase nodded, took a big, deep breath.
“I got you, Mini. You know that. Good or bad.” Bax copped a feel. “This is good.
“Yeah. I was thinking there was no way.”
“Well, you were wrong, huh? Imagine that.” It felt as if a lead weight had been taken off his chest.
“Yeah. Yeah, I just… This is gonna be hard, fooling everybody. Lying. And when they find out, I’ll be like a freak.”
Bax gave Jason another hard, one-armed hug. “No. I mean, you are a freak, but not because of this.
“Fuck you, man.” Jase grinned, shook his head. “I was all ready to… I mean, I was fixin’ to give up and now…”
“Now you cain’t.” No way. No fucking way. “Hell, I bet you anything, first time you get in the arena with a bull, you can outrun him, too.
“I’m not ready for that. Let’s get your cast off first,huh?”
“Why? You’ve said more than once that I’m the slowest bull rider alive.” They’d wait, though. He wasn’t willing to let Jase out there without him.
“Yep. You get down there and stay.” Jase’s lips went tight all of the sudden.
“What?” Lord, now what was his damned cowboy thinking on? “What is it?
“It ain’t nothing. I just… I ain’t ever gonna get to see you ride again, Bax. I ain’t gonna get to pull your rope no more.”
“You’ll be there, Mini. Hell, you’ll see me in your dreams.” Like a fist to the gut, that was, and he glanced around quick before he stopped Jason cold and turned him for a kiss.
Jason grunted and grabbed him hard, kissing him like the world was coming to a fucking end, right then and there. Bax moaned, trying to figure out his arms and legs and shit, almost tipping ass over teakettle. He didn’t care a bit, though, he just kissed back.
Jase was fucking pissed—he could see it in the tight lines beside Mini’s eyes, taste it in the kiss.
Stroking the back of Jason’s neck, Bax leaned his forehead against Mini’s and stared into those furious eyes. Even if Jason couldn’t see him, he wanted to look right into them. “We’ll figure this, Jason. I got your back. You got mine. In all the ways we need, okay?”
“This ain’t right. I’m not supposed to be fucking tickled about riding a fucking barrel. I’m supposed to be getting ready for Michigan and looking at your fine fucking ass.”
“Uh-huh. And I’m supposed to be sitting in my own bed in a hotel and watching you and wishing.” He wasn’t saying it was a good thing—this whole fucking situation sucked. He wasn’t sorry about them, though.
“I wouldn’t give your ass up, even if I could see again.”
“No. Not gonna happen.” That had him smiling a little,kissing the corner of Jason’s mouth. “That’s one thing that ain’t gonna go back to the way it was.”
“No. We can’t close that box back.” Mini eased up a little, heart slowing right down.
Bax took a deep breath, patting Jason’s back. “You know it. You hungry? Or you want to go test out that shower again?”
“I want some time, just us. Then we’ll deal with Missy and them.”
“Then come on.” Bax put Jason’s hand back on his arm, feeling like he’d weathered a mini tornado.
“I’m with you, man. I’m with you.” A Mini tornado. Damn. Damn, that was funny.
They were walking fast by the time they got to the guest house, both of them breathing hard. Bax closed the door behind them and turned Jason for another kiss. Fuck, he loved that taste.
