Chapter 15
R yder waved at his brother. “Good signing. We’ll be there at the show.”
He wanted to close his eyes and relax for two shakes.
“I’ll hook up with you after the show.”
“You know it.” He shut the hotel room door and locked it.
Charles was sitting on the couch in the common area of their suite, and he could feel those eyes on his back. “Locking the door to keep him out or us in?”
“Both. I just needed a second to breathe, you know?” Breathe and focus.
“Come sit.” Charles held out one arm and curled it around his shoulders as he sat. “That was quite a day.”
“Yes, Sir. It was…busy.” He leaned in, cuddling in close. Busy and a little stressful.
“It was. Roper seems to have endless energy.” Charles was settled though, quiet and still.
“He does.” Ryder was always a little slower to move. To breathe. To make a decision.
Charles kissed his head, nuzzling his hair. “What’s on your mind, cowboy?”
He shrugged. He knew, but he didn’t know if he wanted to get into it. “I’m just a little bitchy.”
“Is it about the meeting tonight after the show?”
He nodded. He didn’t like Gresham. Never had. There wasn’t a reason. He simply didn’t.
“You don’t have to go just because Roper wants you to. You know I’ll back you up. I’ll even say no for you if you need me to.” In fact, he’d wanted to do just that earlier.
“I don’t want to fuck up his chance for money, but…” He didn’t want to do this.
“Ryder. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Period. He can talk to this man himself, and if it doesn’t work out for him on his own, he’ll deal with that. He has to live his own life.”
“It’s just creepy.” He turned to face Mister Charlie. “I don’t like how he looks at us. It feels like porn. Roper says I’m being stupid, but—I don’t like it.”
“Hm.” Mister Charlie sighed. “I see. So it’s not just that you don’t want to do it. You don’t want him to do it either?”
“I wish he could see it, but…he won’t.” And Ryder couldn’t make Roper do anything he didn’t want to.
“I wondered about that myself. What can I do to help? Is being there tonight enough? Would you like me to try to talk Roper out of it?”
“Just have my back when I say no? Please? I’m retired.”
Mister Charlie turned to him and caught his chin in warm fingers. “I promise. I will always have your back.”
Instead of tensing, he relaxed, melting into the touch. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll have yours too. I swear.”
“Thank you.” Mister Charlie kissed him gently. “You and I are a team now.”
“I like being part of a team. It’s my natural state of being.” In fact, he had been born to it.
“It can be very nice. You need to be your own man too, though. You should think about what you want and what you need for yourself.”
“I did. I have. You’re the one I want, no question.” And he knew that. The rest? He was figuring out.
Mister Charlie gave him a nod. “That makes me happy, but there is more you need to think about. More you may need. More that I can give you.”
“Okay.” He wasn’t sure he was following, but he did know he was going to make it work.
Mister Charlie just smiled and leaned deeper into the couch. “So, bowling went better than I’d anticipated.”
“I’m glad?” That was good, right? It felt right.
“Was that a question?” Charles gave him a playful look. “I won. By the skin of my teeth but numerically speaking I was the winner.”
“You did! We should play again. What’s your position on pool?” He was way better at that than bowling.
“I played a bit when I was younger. My family had a table in our game room, and there was one in the dormitory at college.”
“I know the rules, but I’m not a shark or anything.” He was best at cards or board games. He enjoyed them.
“You know me. I like cards. Poker is about as competitive as I get. Or Risk. I’m ruthless at Risk.” Mister Charlie’s laugh didn’t really leave his chest; it just rumbled around in there.
“Oh, yes. We have fun with rummy, don’t we?”
“We do. You’re very good. It’s nice to have some friendly competition.”
“It is. It’s fun to play.” He loved the way they talked together, enjoyed one another during their games.
“And safer than eight seconds on a bull, for sure. How long do you think your brother will continue to ride?”
“Until he gets the injury that knocks him out of the game.” Just like him.
Charles nodded. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“It’s how this works, right? We play until we can’t.”
“Yes, but we’re not talking about your average sports injury here.” Charles sighed. “I apologize; it’s not as if you don’t know this. But I worry for Roper.”
“So do I. Every day.” But that didn’t matter. Not even a little bit. Roper was a cowboy.
Mister Charlie rolled his eyes. “Cowboys. I’m sorry that your career ended with such a terrifying injury, but I am very glad you’re right here instead. I believe I was the winner of that show.”
“I—I bet I was scared, but I sure don’t remember a bit of it. I know Roper was there, and I know they called all the family, because they weren’t sure I’d wake up.” He’d been overwhelmed.
Charles’s arm tightened around him. “How long were you out?”
“Ten days. Like I said, I don’t remember it at all.” It wasn’t even a blur.
“Your family must have been…well. I know a little about how your family must have been. Except I knew Tad wasn’t ever going to wake up.”
He squeezed Charles’s hand. “I’m so sorry. That had to be so very hard.”
“It was at first. After a while, it was mostly very lonely. But I made him a promise, and I kept it, and I feel good about that.”
“I—is it weird that I don’t know what to say? Because I don’t.”
“No. No one really does. Nobody understood it. Sometimes even I don’t, except that I’m a man of my word, and I made a promise.”
“You’re a good guy. I swear, you make me proud to know you.”
“Thank you,” Mister Charlie sighed. “I am proud to know you too.”
“Thank you. I want you to be, you know.” He sort of needed it.
“Mhm. Yes. I know. And I want to be the kind of man you need.”
Ryder didn’t think that was going to be a problem. In fact, Charles was perfect for him.
There was a knock on the door, and Charles got up like he was expecting someone. “I’ll get that.” A man handed Charles a bag when he answered the door, Charles gave the guy a tip and closed it. “Special delivery.” The bag landed in his lap. “We needed some…provisions.”
He peered inside the bag to find a bottle of lube and a box of condoms.
Charles grinned at him and sank back down onto the couch. “I had to order the M&Ms to make the delivery minimum.”
Ryder couldn’t stop laughing, because that was at once ridiculous and adorable and wonderful and dear.
Not to mention the hotness quotient.
Mister Charlie laughed with him. “The delivery guy gave me a thumbs up.”
“He knows you’re going to get lucky.” He winked at his lover, a soft buzz building in the pit of his belly.
“Lucky-er. Luckier. I believe I am already quite lucky. I have a cowboy in my bed. I’ve seen the movies.” Mister Charlie winked at him.
“Have you? Are you suggesting I’m an archetype?” He reached up, stroking Charles’s lips, loving on him.
“No. Next to you, the movies exhibit an appalling lack of imagination.” Charles gently pinched one finger between his teeth.
The little sting made him gasp and scoot closer, rubbing them both together. So fucking hot.
Charles let his finger go and kissed him in that gentle, slow way he had the night before. Taking time, driving him mad.
“You make me want to hump you like a naughty puppy,” Ryder confessed, his breath coming faster, harder.
“Mmm. Naughty puppy? Well, not yet, pup,” Charles whispered against his lips. “Tonight, after everything. When I have time to make it just right.”
“Oh, so long.” He guessed that gave him something to look forward to, something to want and wait for.
“I know. It’s good for us to want a little when we already know we can have whatever we desire. You will understand what I mean as the night goes on. It feels good.” Charles was speaking softly, and it felt intimate, those words only for him.
He nodded, caught like a fly in a web. All he could do was listen close.
“You’re used to things moving faster, I know. That can be sexy too. But first times aren’t something we ever get back, and I want it to be so good for you.”
“It’s been a little bit.” And he hadn’t done that a lot anyway. Blowjobs and handjobs were less intimate.
“That makes two of us. I haven’t since Tad.” Charles leaned back to look at him. “I apologize. I shouldn’t keep bringing him up. I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“You loved him. You can talk about him.” It wasn’t like Mister Charlie had left his husband for Ryder or something.
He got a slow nod. “I did. Thank you.” Charles took a breath and straightened up. “What time do we need to be where? Because I was promised another preshow milkshake.”
“Seven o’clock is when the show starts. So we can have a shake and wander, if you want. We have lots of options to explore, even the casino floor.”
“Do you gamble? I’ve played some poker, but I don’t enjoy the gambling part as much.”
“I don’t. Bull riding was enough, but I like to watch everyone else.”
“So let’s wander and drink.” Charles rummaged around in the shopping bag and pulled out the M&Ms. “Peanut. My favorite.”
“I know. You eat the yellow ones first, every time.” Every single time.
Mister Charlie got up off the couch and offered him a hand. “I do. I love that you pay attention to the things that matter to me, and even the little things that are unimportant.”
He got a quick kiss. “Come on. I’ll share the yellow ones with you.”