Chapter 13 Forest
forest
Working the ranch, hungover on a hot sunny day, was the worst torture there was and while I’d like to say I regretted it, I couldn’t say that I did.
Last night was unexpected in the best fucking way.
I had had a thing for Webber and Jude and if this was a way I could have them both, then I was all for it, but I wasn’t ready to see Jude and Webber kissing.
They surprised me, but honestly Jude surprised me even more.
As much as I had wanted to continue, Webber was right, we couldn’t take Jude up on his offer.
It killed me to say no because I didn’t think I'd get another chance with Jude, but I couldn’t take advantage of him like that.
I hoped he would remember what he was feeling last night and not bottle it up.
Jude was in serious need of just letting go. He was wound tighter than the asshole of a virgin.
“You ok there?” Colt called out to me.
“Yeah!” I wiped sweat off my brow for the fifteenth time today.
The alcohol was coming out of my pores, and I had already gone through both of my canteens. I was going to have to go back soon to get more water.
“You look like you went on a bender,” Colt chuckled.
“Fuck you,” I grunted. “I only had a few shots, but my liver is being a little bitch.”
“Ouch, even I know that’s rough,” Colt winced. “After thirty everything goes down-hill and it’s probably worse for you since you’re almost—”
I threw my empty canteen at him.
Colt laughed. “Forty.”
“Yeah, make fun of me and I’ll tell your girlfriend you were making fun of my age,” I grinned, since Nova and I were just about the same age.
His smile disappeared and it was my turn to laugh.
“That’s what I thought,” I grinned.
“Not cool, Forest.” He threw my canteen back at me and then added his for good measure. “Drink some water, can’t have you dying on me.”
“Thanks,” I said, guzzling the water down like it was my life-line.
“So, what were you doing out, going crazy on a Wednesday night?” he asked.
I froze, not knowing what to say, but opted for the truth.
“Webber, Jude and I went out,” I said, watching his expression.
Pursuing Jude felt wrong, but he was an adult, and he could make his own decisions.
“Shit, they are finally talking?” He raised his brow. “Fucking finally. How was that? Did you have to play referee?”
“No, they seemed fine,” I said, realizing that they did seem fine.
I expected awkwardness, but not once did they seem out of sorts.
“Good. Whatever happened must have been bad. We had never seen them fight like this,” Colt said.
“We had fun last night and they seemed ok,” I said, wondering if I should ask for more information.
Jude told me what had happened, but it always felt like he wasn’t telling me everything, like there was a big piece of the puzzle I was missing. But it wasn’t my puzzle to figure out, so I didn’t pry.
“That’s good. Jude’s always been in—”
“Colt, have you guys finished up?” Theo came through the radio.
“Yeah, just about,” Colt responded.
“Great, finish up and come home. Nova’s made some milanesa tortas,” he said. “That means you too, Forest. You look awful.”
I laughed.
“We’ll be there in about twenty minutes,” Colt chuckled.
“Let’s hurry the hell up so I can eat,” I said, my mouth watering thinking about that sandwich I knew was going to hit the spot.
I needed to eat and then figure out how the hell I was going to get Jude, Webber and me in the same room again.
“Go pick up Jude and bring him to my house,” I said to Webber, as I put the steaks in the fridge to marinate.
“He’s been ignoring me,” Webber sighed. “Since we all kissed, it’s like he’s disappeared."
I huffed. The little shit had been dodging me too, but I was stubborn as hell. If he thought he was going to leave, he was wrong, he couldn’t shake me that easily.
“Fine, go to Mae’s and pick up a strawberry shortcake,” I said, washing my hands. “I’ll go get him.”
“Ok, good luck,” Webber chuckled.
“What?” I growled.
“Jude can be a little shit when he wants to,” Webber said. “Maybe we should both go get him.”
“Of course he’d be a little brat,” I muttered.
“You don’t know the half of it,” he said. “I let it slide most of the time because he’s dealt with a lot of shit, but sometimes Jude is his own worst enemy.”
“Has he always put himself last?” I asked, grabbing a new shirt since I had made a mess of this one.
“Most of the time,” he sighed. “Growing up with Theo, he always protected him. Their parents were dicks to Theo, never believing his diagnosis, but also so impatient with him. Sometimes Jude was the only person in Theo’s corner, and I don’t think he’s ever learned that he needs to think of himself too. ”
“Why haven’t you helped him?” I asked, maybe a little too harshly.
The silence on the phone was louder than anything he could have said.
“I’ve tried, but not hard enough,” he said softly.
“I thought we had a great friendship, but I think I’m realizing maybe we didn’t.
I flew him out to Denver as often as I could so he would be able to get away.
Anytime he wanted to go see his favorite band, but said it was too expensive or made some excuse, I made sure we went. Maybe I didn’t try hard enough?"
Did Webber love Jude?
“Sometimes we can only help so much,” I said, feeling a little guilty for assuming he wasn’t helping his friend.
“Go pick up Jude, and if you need help SOS me and between the two of us, we can kidnap him,” Webber chuckled.
“Ok, I’ll let you know,” I said, hanging up the phone wondering if this was a bad idea.
Maybe this was all a bad idea. I didn’t do this kind of stuff.
My style was more of what Webber and I did.
We had fun for a night and that was it, but there was something that kept pulling me in their direction.
I needed to get Jude out of my system and in the meantime have a hot threesome.
We could have some fun while I was here and then move on because no matter what, I always got the itch to move on.
After my pep talk, I walked out to my car ready to drag Jude into it.
I heard the steady rhythm of a horse running.
I knew for a fact Theo and Colt were home with Nova and if they needed something they would have called me, so there was only one person who it could be.
It would be the first time I found him riding alone, and I knew Jude loved to ride when he was thinking.
He did it a lot in April and May. Now that I knew him and Webber had stopped talking at that time, it made sense.
I hopped into the ATV, driving to the stables to pick up Triton.
Hopefully, I'd be able to catch up to Jude before I lost which way he had gone.
I saddled up the horse, quickly heading the way I heard Jude coming from when he rounded the corner heading towards me.
He stopped abruptly and I had Triton continue to trot to him.
Jude eyed me warily and for a moment I thought he might bolt.
“What are you doing out here?” I asked, coming up next to him.
“Just going for a late afternoon stroll.” He shrugged.
“You ok?” I asked as our legs touched.
“Yeah,” he said, looking down at where we had touched.
“You don’t look fine,” I said, touching his shoulder. “Was Wednesday too much?”
He shook his head.
“Then what is it?” I asked, trying to be patient.
“I’m usually not like that,” he said, as his cheeks grew red.
“You don’t say,” I deadpanned.
He scowled. “You’re right, I’m innocent.”
His accent was pretty fucking adorable.
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said, wondering where he was going with this.
“I’ve never kissed Sam before,” he said, as he grew even redder. “I don’t know—”
“Jude—”
“Then I kissed you and—”
“Jude—”
“I liked it. I want—”
“Jude!”
He stared at me, wide-eyed as our horses moved a little from raising my voice.
“Did you like what happened between us?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“I can say I liked it too,” I said.
“But, Sam—”
“Is a big boy and if he didn’t like something he could have said no,” I said calmly. “By the looks of it there was never a time he wanted to say no, but if you are really worried about it, you need to talk about it, instead of running away from it.”
“It’s complicated,” he mumbled.
“Well, let's uncomplicate it,” I said. “Let’s go eat and talk.”
Jude studied me. “Sam is at your house isn’t he?”
“He’s grabbing dessert at Mae’s,” I said, turning Triton around. “Let’s go.”
Jude mumbled something, but I heard him following me. He stayed quiet as we undressed our horses, laying out fresh hay for them and giving them some celery I brought in earlier.
“I’ll come back with some watermelon,” I said, kissing Triton on his head before closing his stall. “I have some peaches for you, Ryder.”
I passed by Jude’s horse who I swore was just like his owner, a big brat.
He tried to play indifferent, but he loved the attention.
Jude was putting a few things away when I decided he needed some good attention. I grabbed him, spun him around and pushed him against the wall. I took his hat off, wrapping my hand around the back of his neck and kissed him hard.
He groaned when I licked the seam of his lips and he opened up for me.
I stroked his tongue with my own as I leaned against him.
Since I was a little taller, I liked that he had to look up to kiss me.
I liked the power dynamic it established because if my guess was correct, I think Jude would be a good submissive in bed, albeit a bratty one. We just needed to coax it out of him.
I ended the kiss with a small nip on his lips before pulling away. He leaned forward to chase my lips and as much as I wanted to give him more, Webber should be at my house by now.
“Come on, let me feed you and we can talk,” I said, grabbing his hand, leading him to the ATV.