“It kept. Hungry?”
Beau nods, so I carefully maneuver us in the hammock to be sitting in the hammock like a swing, then grab the tray of food.We share the meal together, picking at the food until it’s halfway gone. One beer is enough for both of us, so we make our way inside once the breeze turns just a little too chilly.
Once the dishes are washed and put away, I guide Beau back towards his bedroom. The past few nights we’ve gotten a small tradition going. We finish our day by standing at the doorway of our rooms in our pajamas and talk about our days. It’s always delightfully domestic and it always makes me feel some type of way. Some perfect type of happy.
Beau heads into his bedroom, and I head into mine. Once changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt, I lean against the doorjamb, arms crossed over my chest. When Beau opens his door, my breath lodges in my rib cage. He fills the entire doorway like usual, but something about the sight of him tonight, softened around the edges from admitting the weight he’s under with the farm… it just feels like something special is happening between us.
Something so real that the idea it could slip through my fingers terrifies me.
“Alright?” Beau asks, eyes flitting between mine.
I smile warmly, emotions clogging my throat. “Perfect.”
“I’ve got a busy few weeks at the farm.” Beau runs his hands over his tired face. “But I want you here, like having you here. I just gotta get through this season, then we can settle in, figure out what kind of life you want here.”
“Beau, this is exactly the life I want. There’s no getting through seasons. Alright?”
Beau ducks his head for a moment, and when his gaze lifts back to mine, there’s relief etched across his entire face. Relief that someone like me could want everything he has to give. Everything about my childhood, the fast cars, the money, the drugs, none of it could ever compare to the simple, quiet life that’s promised for me with Beau. There’s something to be saidabout a kind and gentle life. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, but never realized. Not until Beau.
“Thank you.”
I cross the small hallway to press a sweet kiss against his perfect mouth. “Always, handsome.”
His hands wrap around me to hold my body tight against his, and I allow it, letting him take comfort from my presence. We stand together for a short while, until finally sleep comes for Beau. I watch as he heads into his room, then listen intently for the sounds of him climbing into bed. Once I’m sure he’s asleep, I climb into the guest bed, and sleep comes for me with the smell of cedar and home clinging to the edges of my subconscious.
A weeklater Beau forces me into comfortable clothes one afternoon with an infectious grin that’s full of mischief. I love seeing him this way. With me he’s sweet, gentle, but also so silly that I can’t help but fall for him a little more every day. Dressed in gym shorts, an old shirt, and one of Beau’s worn-in ball caps, I feel like a totally different person. In the best sort of way.
The truck rumbles down the old asphalt roads that kick up mirages in the distance from the still-stifling Florida heat. Oak trees laden with moss line the road, cutting shadows across the road where the sun cuts through. I can’t explain how some place so magically feels like home after so many years of feeling aimless. Feeling like there isn’t anywhere in the world that I belong. But with Beau’s hand on my thigh, country music filling the cab through the speakers, my heart settles in a way that once seemed impossible.
Beau turns down a dirt road, the truck spitting up dust around us. I fight back an indecent moan at the sight of hisforearms as he handles the wheel. Bigger men haven’t usually been my thing, but Beau’s been exactly my type since I laid eyes on him. Big and broad, with a heart of gold, a heart that’s tender for me. Apparently, that’s my type. Maybe it always has been, and I just didn’t know until Beau.
Surprises aren’t something I have ever enjoyed. But Beau, he gets a pass, and always will, because surprises from him usually end up meaningfun. I expect Beau to take me to a nice dinner, maybe to a movie, but instead he aims the truck further away from town. My grin grows wider as the concrete road turns to gravel, then to clay dirt. Putting the window down, I unbuckle my seat belt, and hang my head outside.
“Be careful!” Beau shouts, his right hand painfully tight on my thigh.
“You drive so slow!” I shout back, letting the air whip through my hair.
“Precious cargo,” Beau murmurs darkly under his breath. But I hear him. And I’m in love with him. So deeply, wildly in love, that my heart glows with the force of it. Hanging my torso out the window, I hold my hands out to feel the wind whip against me, all the while feeling Beau’s tight grip on my thigh keeping me from floating away.
Recognition hits me. The truck comes to a crawl in a wooded area. Beau climbs out of the car to open the chain-link fence, then comes back to drive us through. He keeps his eyes off me, but I can see the smile at the edge of his lips. He can’t hide that from me. The truck crawls down a tiny clay road, until finally the clearing opens up to the river that feeds into the spring. Beau looks absolutely disgruntled, so I lean back into the cab to press a kiss to his frowning mouth.
“You make me feel alive.”
“You almost gave me a heart attack.”
I kiss his pliant mouth again, until he opens for me, letting me sip at the sweet taste of him. “I keep you young.”
Beau sighs softly against my lips. “Get out of the truck.”
Well, no arguing with an order like that. The water is just as blue green as I remember. Just as calm. The cicadas aren’t as loud now, but they still buzz faintly in the background. The sounds, smells, even the color of the sky comfort me like an old memory in the darkest of times. Magic is at work here in Clay Springs with Beau. A scary kind of old magic only found among the loud buzz of cicadas and Beau’s gentle smile as he kisses me whole.
When I glance over at Beau, my eyes practically bug out of my head. Shirt halfway over his head, his muscled stomach shows off just for me under the bright yellow late afternoon sun. The moment his head pops through his shirt, he hastily tosses the shirt into the truck, and levels me with an absolutely devilish grin.
“Get naked, Trevor,” Beau says, voice low and demanding.
An uncontrollable shiver rolls through my entire body, tip to toe. Disobeying Beau was never an option. Clothes have never flown off me faster. A deep chuckle from Beau has my head swinging his way, only to see a flash of his perfect bare ass before he dives into the water. He breaks through the sparkling water and his hands come up to brush water from his eyes. Beau grins that wide, infectious grin at me, and I’m a total goner.
“Waitin’ on you, sweetheart,” Beau drawls.
