26. Hudson
Chapter 26
Hudson
W orking outdoors all day long was now its own secret pleasure. None of the other guys on his team would have understood how good it felt to sweat and then be able to stop and cool off. To stand in the shade for a while and then get back to it.
Ty would have understood, of course, but while it might be good to talk about it, it felt better, most of the time, to push memories of the chain gang into the back of his memories. He’d had enough of trying to figure it out. Maybe when he was on the road, and his brain needed something to do, he might try to figure it all out.
In the meantime, life was good, and it was Thursday, the week nearing its end.
Having divested himself of his chainsaw and safety gear, Ty was standing beside him in the shade, drinking his second bottle of cold water, munching on some cheese, looking for all the world like a country boy who had never experienced a bad day, nor did he expect to. A bit of sweat darkened his fair hair around his forehead, and he’d been ignoring Gabe’s advice about sunscreen, for his cheeks were flushed.
“So,” said Ty as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve and screwed the little plastic lid back on the bottle. “Got a message from Maddy.”
“Oh?” asked Hudson. “What about?”
“I ordered some stuff,” said Ty, smiling in a flirty way. “And other things.”
“Stuff?” asked Hudson, and then he remembered their conversation from earlier in the week.
He saw it on Ty’s face the moment that Ty realized he remembered. Their sleepy conversation and Hudon’s insistence on having stuff before they fucked. Such a crass word to describe such a heavenly feeling, being able to give pleasure like that. Seeing Ty’s face, relaxed and happy. Ty in his arms, trusting, having been pleasured.
He’d been an idiot to push Ty away before, because this just kept getting better and better.
“She said she can bring it down,” said Ty. “But I don’t want her to have to make the trip.”
“We’ll ask Gabe to borrow the truck,” said Hudson. It was good to know how the process worked, and to know that Gabe would say yes. “But when? I don’t want her to have to hang around after dinner, when she’ll be wanting to go home.” Not in a million years did he want Maddy to be inconvenienced.
“Let’s call.”
They borrowed Gabe’s cell phone again to check in with Maddy. Another pleasure, so simple and yet so perfect.
“I’ll leave your package on the front porch of the office,” she said. “It’ll be safe till you get there.”
“We’ll come up after dinner,” said Ty. He smiled as he handed the phone back to Gabe. “Thanks, boss.”
“What’s in the package?” Hudson asked as they finished up for the day, since it didn’t look like Ty was going to tell him.
“You’ll have to see,” said Ty, lifting his chin as if he didn’t want to be bothered with pesky questions.
Hudson knew he would find out eventually, but it was fun to ask again.
“C’mon, just tell me.”
“No.”
“Please?”
“No.”
Hudson wanted to steal a kiss so badly, but the mess tent was full of people who might see.
Nobody would care— probably nobody would care—but Hudson didn’t want to flash his happiness around. So he kept his cool, and only kissed Ty when they were on their way to the truck. He pulled Ty to a stop, and there beneath the spreading arms of a quaking aspen, he kissed Ty good and hard, wrapping his arms around Ty’s body, holding him close.
“That’ll teach you not to tell me,” he said.
To which Ty responded, grin in place, “Then I’ll never tell and you’ll just have to keep teaching me.”
In the low light of early evening, soft clouds going to pink and pale purple, Hudson drove up the switchbacks, taking his time because Ty was leaning out the window, and the wind was in his fair hair.
The moment was bliss, pure and simple. He knew they would figure things out between them. It would take time, but at a moment like this, anything felt possible.
They pulled up to the office and waved at Maddy as she drove past them in her silver Honda four-door. On the front porch, the brown box from Amazon was waiting.
Ty jumped out to grab it, then jumped back in. Hudson drove them up the road to the top of the hill and parked in front of John Henton’s cabin. It was too nice an evening to go sit in their tent and the view of the sunset over the ridge would be amazing.
“You open it,” he said.
“It’s a little heavy,” said Ty. “I’ll open it, and then you get to look at the things I got you.”
Ty grabbed the lid and tore it on one side, rotated the box, and then tore it on the other. Then he tore down the center, making wads of crumpled brown paper pop out. Then he handed the box to Hudson, who took it.
The box was heavy, the contents mysterious at that point. He dug in and pulled out the first thing he came to, a packet of index cards.
“To help you study,” said Ty. “I’m going to help you too, but the index cards are like flashcards.”
The box also contained a packet of wide-ruled notebooks, some fancy pens, and, of course, the stuff , which in this case was a small bottle of Astroglide.
“Thank you,” said Hudson, and he meant it.
“Keep going,” said Ty, leaning close to look at the box. “I think there’s one more present in there. Something special.”
A bit surprised, Hudson rifled around in the box, sure he would only encounter more brown paper. But his fingers came across a long box, and he lifted it.
The picture on the front was of a red International truck, a small model with, as the box said, real moving parts. The tires were ink black, the chrome shiny against the red.
“The only Peterbilt they had was a wild purple,” said Ty in a matter-of-fact way, rather as if he didn’t know how the gift went straight to Hudson’s heart. “And they didn’t have any blue of anything, so red it was.”
Hudson lifted the box with two hands and stared at it. “It’s even got a little sleeping cab,” he said. “I’ve never driven a truck with a sleeping cab.”
“Then now’s the time,” said Ty. “Let’s take it out and play with it,” he said.
“You’ll break it,” Hudson said, though he was only joking. He knew Ty would be as careful with it as he himself would be. “Here,” he said. “Just be careful.”
He didn’t know if the model was meant to be played with or just looked at, but what did it matter? The smile on Ty’s face as he pulled the model out of its little box was well worth everything.
“Thank you,” Hudson said, meaning it. “For all this stuff. I can start studying right away.”
“And I’ll help you,” said Ty. “I’ll quiz you and root for you when you take the test and then I’ll go with you to Cheyenne. You’re sure to pass, and then we can celebrate.”
Hudson knew Ty was still struggling with feeling like he might be left behind, so he was making himself a part of whatever Hudson was doing.
But Hudson wasn’t going to leave him. Ty had such a lovely smile and pretty eyes, but more than that, he was just a good guy. He was decent and loyal. And if he wanted to fit inside of Hudson’s life. Well, Hudson was going to do everything he could to make that happen.
“Let’s take all this stuff back to the tent,” he said.
“Maybe we should get two trucks,” said Ty. “So I can play with one.”
“Or we should get a model horse for you,” said Hudson, as he revved the engine and put the truck into drive and laughed at the idea of two rough ex-cons discussing how they might play with toys. “To be in keeping with our respective careers.”
He didn’t want to talk about how Ty was struggling to find a job on the right kind of ranch, and he didn’t think Ty wanted to talk about it either. So, he drove them back in silence, parked the truck in the round gravel parking lot, and left the key fob in the driver’s seat.
It was such a weird feeling, even now, to walk away from a key like that, where anyone could take it. Old habits died hard, but they could die. He knew that now.
He also knew that new habits could be formed, and new ideas embraced. That new emotions like happiness and joy could become everyday occurrences. And that he liked having Ty walk beside him through the darkening woods, with the hoot owls making sleepy sounds, and the branches of the trees making a skra skra sound as they walked beneath them.
By the time they reached their tent, the wind had really kicked up. There was the high-pitched sound of a branch breaking in the trees, and he figured that come Monday, they’d have a lot of work to do clearing up all the fallen branches.
In the meantime, he had an evening with Ty. All alone, with no one to bother them. Everyone else would be huddled in their tents or gathered in the mess tent. They were safe.
“Hey,” he said. He curled his fingers around Ty’s elbow as Ty was placing all the things they’d bought on Hudson’s cot.
“Yeah?” asked Ty, coming easily into his arms, looking up at Hudson through his eyelashes, like a flirting damsel at a cotillion ball.
“You want to shower first?” asked Hudson, and though he was trying to be sultry about it, his breath caught in his throat, and he had to clear it before continuing in his regular voice. “Or after.” Then he thought about it. “Or both?”
“Oh,” said Ty, his eyes bright, cheeks flushed. “I kind of like you all sweaty, but maybe—” He stopped, his brows wrinkling. “It depends on who will be fucking who.”
“Um.”
Now Hudson was in a corner. While he’d done his share of fucking, even in prison—though that had stopped when he’d been placed on the chain gang—he’d never been fucked. Never been on the receiving end. He didn’t know if he could start now, though if there was any man he’d be willing to be taken by, it was Ty.
“Um,” he said again.
“We have the stuff, so there will be fucking.” Ty sounded stern and his expression was serious, though Hudson was gladdened by the fact that Ty had not pulled out of his arms. Even as he must be realizing what Hudson was thinking, he stayed close, enjoying the cuddle.
“We could flip for it,” Ty said in a joking way. Then his face softened, and he rose on his toes to kiss Hudon’s mouth, softly, gently. “I don’t mind,” he said. “You’d be good to me and so very gentle, I know it.”
“How long has it been?” Hudson watched Ty’s face very closely to make sure of the answer.
“Since before the chain gang, for sure,” said Ty. He frowned, and it seemed he was looking into the past. “In prison, a few times. The guy was nice, then he left. But the fields were so dirty, and the tents so awful, I just never said yes out there. Never got forced either, in case you’re wondering.” Ty raised his eyebrows as if making a point.
“Christ.” Hudson felt a sweat along his neck at the thought of it. “That’s good, otherwise I’d have to find them and kill them.”
“I know you would.” Ty was utterly serious as he said this. “Now. Light on or off.”
“Off,” said Hudson firmly.