Mossy Glenn Ranch 3 -Saddles and Memories (10 page)

He ached, a hollow core of need he didn’t understand, but it wasn’t stopping the welling of pleasure bearing up from his balls. Andy rolled his neck, biting his bottom lip as his nuts drew tight.

A loud, garish sound startled him just as he was picturing Salt’s mouth gaping open, slack with impending orgasm. “Fuck!” Andy yelped, jerking his hand away from his cock as if he’d been busted in person instead of interrupted via phone.

With his hands slippery from the lotion, he couldn’t take the phone out of his shirt pocket. The ring tone told him exactly who was calling—his brother Brandt.

“Talk about a cockblock.” Andy grumbled some more as he wiped his hands off. His erection wilted enough for him to tuck it back in his briefs by the time he’d got the lotion off his palms. The phone had stopped ringing, too, but Andy knew his brother would just call back.

In fact, he was put straight through to voicemail when he tried Brandt’s number. Andy hung up and waited the few seconds it took for Brandt to call him back.

“Do I even want to know what you were doing?” Brandt began with and Andy’s normally calm nature gave way to his irritation.

“Get your damned mind out of the gutter, Brandt,” he snapped. “And don’t even try to tell me you weren’t making some kind of dirty innuendo, because I know you and that tone you used.”

Brandt huffed and Andy glared at the white wall across from him, seeing nothing but his own regrets. Too much time was spent wondering if he should have fought Brandt for Ty.

“You didn’t email me anything or fax me orders—” Brandt began.

“I’m tired.”
God, tired of so many things. Having my strings pulled like a puppet wielded by a spastic, sugar-snorting three-year-old.
“I’ve been gone all week, and just got home less than half an hour ago. I want food, a shower and a few hours of relaxing before tackling work again. Is that all right with you?”

Of course it wasn’t, Andy thought as Brandt rattled on about how he needed everything right now. Andy knew better. Everything was taken care of, and Brandt could damn well check the orders online, but that wouldn’t be as entertaining as fucking up Andy’s evening.

When Brandt showed no signs of winding down, Andy was tempted to hang up. Ty’s excited voice in the background, audible over Brandt’s griping, was the only thing that kept Andy from disconnecting the call.

“Can I talk to him?” Andy finally asked when Ty kept pleading with Brandt for a few minutes on the phone with Andy. “Just let me talk to him for a bit then I’ll get everything sent over to you.”

It was always the same, with Andy caving because he wouldn’t use Ty as a weapon against his brother. Brandt had no such compulsion, which was why he also had a majority interest in the company now than Andy did. Brandt controlled Ty’s shares, which meant he controlled pretty much everything important to Andy—Ty included.

Instead of answering Andy, Brandt addressed Ty. “I don’t know, Ty. Andy said he was really tired. He probably isn’t up to talking to you.”

“God damn it, Brandt,” Andy seethed. “There’s no call to hurt him!”

“You said you were tired,” Brandt returned with. “Too tired to—”

Andy snapped. “You put him on the phone or so help me, I’ll come over there—”

“Threatening me would be a very, very stupid thing to do,” Brandt said in a low, angry voice. “You don’t ever have to see Ty again, if that’s the way you want to behave.”

He didn’t have to see Ty? All Andy wanted was to see him, to talk to him! Giving Ty up when Destry had died, well, it’d almost killed Andy, too.

Brandt knew it, and he’d delighted in sweeping Ty away. Andy had been too stupid with grief and too gullible to fight. He’d also thought Brandt really loved Ty and would offer him a stable home with family and—

Andy shook his head. It was done. He’d just given in without more than a token argument and the reasons why didn’t matter. Brandt had told him Ty would never be allowed to stay with someone like him and Andy had believed it.

But he was tired of the threats. “I can sell feed for another company without being unemployed for more than an hour. We aren’t the only ones pushing organic product now.”

“You wouldn’t,” Brandt said. “You wouldn’t trash Destry’s dream.”

He already had, by letting Ty go. “I’m done being pushed around.”

“Uncle Andy has to go, but maybe he’ll call you tomorrow,” Brandt all but yelled right before hanging up.

Andy’s eyes burned. So did his gut. He pressed a hand to his belly and tried to suppress a sob. He hoped to hell and back that Ty didn’t believe Brandt, but considering how little Andy had got to talk to Ty in the past year and a half, he didn’t know why Ty would doubt Brandt. Andy had been made out to be an uncaring, selfish bastard.

Brandt had always been so jealous of Destry and Andy’s brotherly bond. Brandt was the youngest, though he’d only been two years younger than Andy. He’d never followed his brothers around, though. Brandt had always seemed to tolerate them even as he’d resented them. Destry and Andy had been close for several reasons, not the least of which was the fact that Destry was bi and Andy was gay. Brandt hadn’t held back his disdain of either of those facts.

Yet… They’d let their younger brother in on the plans to build a company, and let him invest. Given him shares they shouldn’t have. Andy had honestly thought, once Destry was diagnosed with cancer, that Brandt had truly had a change of heart. He’d been nicer, and seemed concerned for Destry.

Stop. Stop thinking about it.
Andy looked at the phone in his hand. He yearned for someone to talk to about all the bullshit and stupidity in his life, but the only person who came to mind was Salt. Surely Salt wouldn’t want to hear about his drama. They’d had great sex, and they’d conversed about general things, nothing too deep and meaningful. But it’d been nice. More friendly conversation than Andy had had with anyone else since Destry died.

More flirting and just plain fun, too.

Andy couldn’t remember yearning so badly to speak to someone he’d had sex with before. Even as he ached to talk to Ty, to see his nephew and tell him the distance between them wasn’t his doing, Andy also ached to talk to Salt.

Thumbing through his contacts, he found Salt’s and stared at it. What would Salt think if he called? When they’d both agreed to keep it casual, no strings attached?

More than likely, he’d think Andy was a clingy weirdo. Andy snorted and started to exit his contact list. For some odd reason, he must have accidentally brushed the text feature.

“Well, a text, that’s not as creepy, is it?” Then again, talking to himself was supposed to mean he was crazy. Andy didn’t care. He talked out his problems more often than not. It was an easier way to untangle his thoughts.

“I could just let him know I’m home.”
No, that implies I owe him a check-in. Definitely too stalkerish.
“Screw it. What’s he gonna do, dump me? We aren’t together.” But maybe they were friends, sort of. Friends texted each other just for the hell of it, right?

Before he could talk himself out of it, Andy sent a quick text to Salt asking him if he was going to watch the boxing event everyone had been going on about.

No, I don’t like watching two men beating the shit out of each other. Like the lovers, not the fighters.

Andy grinned. Yeah, he could get onboard with watching porn over fighting any time. Even the occasional sappy romance was preferable to a boxing match, although nothing beat a good action flick.

Within minutes, he and Salt were chatting via text. While it didn’t solve his problems, it did give him something else to concentrate besides his own misery. Later, when he’d taken care of everything and was in bed, he thought of Salt, and smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Nine

It was amazing how much he missed sex after having a few rounds of it with Andy. Salt was torn between being amused and irked at himself. He’d gone with nothing but his hand to get off by for over a year on more than one occasion. It shouldn’t have been so hard to do so again, but the way Andy had fucked him, and the companionship they’d shared when not having sex, was probably what was messing with his head.

That, and the daily texting they were doing. Strangely enough, none of it was sexual, either. It’d started when Andy had left, and for over two weeks now, they’d spent at least a few minutes every day sharing stories about little things, or just saying hi.

Maybe it was a bad thing that Salt looked forward to those texts more than anything else. He was beginning to suspect his heart was going to be in danger if he wasn’t careful. Andy was witty and charming, and despite them having screwed each other’s brains out, Andy wasn’t all about the sex.

If he had been, why would he have texted Salt so casually in the first place? Salt had already told him there was no need for strings. He’d be there any time Andy came to town.

But he’d been harbouring a secret hope, he now realised. So secret, he hadn’t even been aware of it. Every text he got from Andy fed that hope, and Salt would catch himself daydreaming about having a real relationship with Andy. Waking up with him on the mornings Andy wasn’t on sales trips, spending the evenings talking and hanging out together. Sex, of course, there’d be plenty of that, too.

Salt had some trouble picturing it all, but being around Carlos, Will and Troy helped to show him what a healthy, loving relationship could be like.

“Are you thinking about him again?”

Salt barely kept from jolting upon hearing Rocky’s question. He blinked and looked down at the barbed wire he’d been stringing. “Sneaking up on me while I’m fixing the fence is just mean, Rocky.”

She snorted and poked him on the shoulder. “Please. I made as much racket as a herd of bulls, you were just too busy thinking about lover boy to notice it!”

Salt was sure his cheeks were going to catch fire from the strength of his blushing. Hopefully his tan-darkened skin disguised any pink trying to make its way through. “I was trying to figure out how much wire to unroll for the measurements I made, plus the length to—”

“Uh-huh, sure ya were. I’ve seen you staring off with a goofy look on your mug more than once lately, and I think it’s sweet. If you ever tell anyone I said that, I’ll hurt you.”

Salt glanced over his shoulder at Rocky. “What kind of friend are you?” he asked, teasing her because it was fun.

Rocky smirked at him. “The best kind to have. I won’t let you lose a finger or an eye because you’re busy fantasising about fucking your stud instead of concentrating on stringing wire.”

Her bluntness still shocked Salt. He should have been used to it by now, considering that Rocky was his best friend, and yet he wasn’t able to keep from guffawing with embarrassment.

“You’re so cute when you’re all befuddled,” Rocky crooned right before cackling like the evilest witch in the world.

“I’m always cute,” Salt retorted as he stood up from where he’d been squatting. “Damn, my back…” He stretched and his lower back, had it been able to, would have whimpered with relief. “This growing old shit sucks.”

“Beats the alternative, which is dying young.” Rocky whistled loudly. Salt cringed. “Let’s have Ramsey and Duke finish over here. Ramsey needs to learn how to do his damned job.”

Salt turned and watched the two men approach on foot after they hopped out of the truck bed. “You made them ride in the back?”

“Why not?” Rocky asked, watching them as well. “Ramsey and his questions annoy the shit out of me. He’s a nosy fucker and if he were asking questions about how to do his job, I’d answer, but no. He wants to know everyone’s business. I’ve about had it with him.”

Salt cocked his head as he considered the younger man. “I don’t trust him. Just gives me a bad feeling in my gut, but he seems harmless, and besides, what could he do?” Salt was afraid he might resent Ramsey because the guy was young and sexy as sin. He didn’t trust his judgement on the man.

Rocky scooched closer to him. “Well, he could be a homophobic bastard posing as a gay man so he could get in here and kill everybody. Or something.”

Salt gawped at Rocky. “That’s more paranoid than anything I ever thought!”

“Close your mouth and keep it down,” Rocky murmured urgently. “I have some fucking awesome conspiracy theories I need to share with you sometime.”

He chose to ignore that offer, instead keeping them on track with discussing Ramsey. “He’s not a homophobe. I’ve seen him checking out every man here excluding myself. Heard some very, uh, indisputable sounds coming out of the room he shares with Baxter, too. Not every night, but enough to know they’re getting off together.”

Rocky jerked her gaze his way. “How’d I miss that?”

“If you didn’t snore so loud it rattles the windows you mighta heard them,” Salt informed her. “Anyway, he’s gay, but my gut tells me not to trust him. Don’t know why.”

“Maybe I should talk to Carlos.” Rocky went back to watching Ramsey and Duke.

“Not yet. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for a good man losing his job, in case I’m just being a jackass.” Salt nodded as the other two cowboys drew closer. “Hey, Duke, Ramsey. Rocky’s going to put you two on fence repair while we handle some other jobs.”

Duke nodded easily, but Ramsey frowned.

Salt didn’t like that at all. “Is this something else you never had to do at your last job?”

“I did it once,” Ramsey said with a defensive tone to his voice. “It was years ago, so I’ll need a refresher.”

“I can do that,” Duke offered. He was a plain-looking, easy-going man who carried a little softness around his belly despite how hard he worked. “I don’t mind showing Ramsey the ropes.”

“Or the barbed wire,” Ramsey joked cringe-worthily. Duke groaned.

“Keep cracking jokes like that and Duke’s liable to leave you in a gully wearing a string of spiked metal.” Salt at least tried to joke with Ramsey, but as always, there was some weird intensity to Ramsey’s eyes that made Salt think the other man was processing every word he spoke for a mysterious reason.

Shrugging off such paranoia, Salt waved at the men. “Call me on the two-way if you need anything.”