“MATTY, wake up.”
With a snort, Matty jerked awake.
“We’re here,” Brian said as he turned his pickup truck into the parking lot of the assisted-living center.
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” Matty apologized.
The two cousins had the day off, and they drove back home to spend it with Aunt Martha. It had been some time since Brian had seen his mother, and Matty was eager to visit her as well.
After signing in at the front desk, an orderly escorted them through the hallways to Martha’s room.
Martha lay in a motorized bed, set in an upright position so she could watch television. Matty couldn’t help but notice his aunt looked frailer since he had last seen her. Despite the frailness, she appeared to be well taken care of, and she was happy, judging by the huge grin on her face. “My boys!”
“Hi, Mom,” Brian answered, returning her grin.
Both cousins were pulled into her arms and given tight hugs and kisses on the cheek.
“Hi, Aunt Martha.”
“You look great, Mom,” Brian told her. “How are they treating you here? Are they taking good care of you?”
Martha dismissed Brian’s concerns with a wave of her hand. “I’m fine. You don’t want to hear about an old lady getting sponge baths. I want to know about you boys. Now, sit with me and tell me all about it. Are the Gateses treating you good? Giving you enough to eat?”
Matty and Brian each pulled up and chair, scooting them close to the bed.
“The Gateses are wonderful, Aunt Martha,” Matty said. “They are some of the nicest people I’ve met.”
“She already knows that,” Brian interjected.
Martha reached her hand out, and Brian laid his on top of hers. “I just want to be sure they take good care of you.” She gazed over at Matty. “Of both of you.”
Matty exchanged a look with Brian. Martha seemed almost desperate to know they were being taken care of, almost as if she was saying good-bye. He didn’t want their visit to be sad, so he changed to a new topic. “Did Brian tell you about me learning to ride a horse? I darn near broke my butt bone!”
Matty and Brian sat with Martha and proceeded to tell her enough stories to fill the afternoon. The tales and laughter didn’t stop until Martha tired.
Before they left, the boys showered her with hugs and kisses.
“We’ll be back soon,” Brian promised.
“BOY, I’m beat,” Brian said, stifling a yawn, as the two men walked into the bunkhouse.
Though night had fallen, most of the ranch hands were still awake. Clyde was asleep on the couch, and several others were sitting around the table playing cards.
“I’m a little wired,” said Matty. “I think I’m gonna stay up for a bit longer.”
“Okay. See you in the morning.” Brian called out a “goodnight” to everyone before disappearing up the stairs.
Matty walked over to the table. “What’re you guys playing?”
“No deal-ins,” George intoned as he dealt cards to the players. Everyone else ignored him.
Matty shrugged it off. If they didn’t want him to play, it was no use dwelling on it. He wasn’t ready to go to bed, so he headed back outside. He was just about to sit down on one of the porch rockers when he spotted the two dogs running through the yard.
Stepping down off the porch, he whistled. The dogs turned and came running back to him. Matty squatted down and showed them some love.
“You guys wanna go for a walk with me?”
Matty walked along the cattle fence with the two dogs. They ran around his legs, nearly tripping him on more than one occasion. He had starting walking the property nearly every night. It gave him the opportunity to stretch his legs before bed. It was also the perfect time to let his mind wander. As it often did, his thoughts drifted to the ranch foreman.
After their trip to the city, Baxter had avoided Matty like the plague. It annoyed the hell out of Matty. He was convinced Baxter knew it had been him in the rest stop bathroom. How could he not? He clearly went in there knowing Matty would follow.
Matty was used to men begging after him, lavishing him with time and attention. Taking him out to dinner, showing him off like a prize.
But not Baxter.
Deciding not to dwell on it, because that would only piss him off even more, he’d throw himself into his work instead. He’d be the best damn shit shoveler the Gates Creek Ranch had ever seen.
He actually found pampering the horses easy. They deserved it after working all day. When he had free time, he practiced riding with Sweetie Pie, and he was getting pretty good at it. He felt like he was settling in nicely, though the other ranch hands didn’t seem to want anything to do with him—with the exception of his cousin.
IT WASN’T until a week later that Baxter finally spoke to Matty, and Matty had to push just a little bit to even get that.
After a hard day of work, Baxter led Chestnut into the horse barn. He handed the reins to Matty, then turned and walked out without a word or even a glance.
“You’re welcome,” Matty mumbled under his breath.
Baxter turned on his boot heel and glared at Matty. “You got something to say, boy?”
“Don’t snap at me,” Matty barked back. He lowered his voice to barely above a whisper while he looked Baxter square in the eye. “You wanted it. We both did.”
Baxter’s eyes widened at Matty’s words. He turned sharply and practically ran out of the barn.
“Damn it,” Matty muttered.
He focused his annoyance into a calming energy and took care of Chestnut. He undressed the horse, then began to brush him down. “Your daddy is kind of a dick,” Matty whispered to Chestnut. “But so damn hot. I just don’t know if he’s worth the headache. What do you think?”
Chestnut hit Matty upside the head with his nose.
“Ow. That’s what I thought, too.” Matty gave Chestnut a sugar cube.
When it was suppertime, Matty took a break and washed up so he could eat with the other hands. He sat in his customary seat and filled his plate. Baxter sat on the opposite side of the table, near the end on Fred’s left. From Matty’s viewpoint, he could see the scowl on the foreman’s face as he ate his dinner.
“Hey, boss,” Dobby called out to Baxter. “We gonna start on that roof repair?”
“I didn’t make that trip to the city for nothing now, did I?” Baxter snapped without looking up from his plate.
One could have heard a pin drop after that. A moment passed before people went back to their food. Conversations had gone quiet. The only sound filling the room was the clinking of silverware against the plates.
Baxter shoveled his food down quickly, then got up from the table so fast his chair nearly fell backward. After dropping his plate in the sink, he stormed out of the house.
Apparently Baxter was in an extra-snippy mood, and it gave Matty a bit of perverse pleasure to know he was the cause of it. He spent most of the meal with a little smirk on his face.
After supper, Matty returned to the barn to clean and reorganize the tack room. He wasn’t really in the mood to deal with the others, so cleaning the tack room was a good excuse for some alone time. Lord knew the room was in desperate need of some TLC.
He was cleaning and organizing the bridles when the door creaked open. He turned to find Baxter standing in the doorway.
The man was pissed off. His eyes were dark with fury; his chest heaved with each breath. Baxter let out a noise that sounded remarkably like a growl. “You.”
Matty obviously knew Baxter was bigger than him, but he had never seemed as gigantic as he did right then, the way he angrily towered over him. Matty gulped and stepped back until he bumped against the wall. The big man was scaring him. Maybe he had pushed Baxter too far. Matty shook his head. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear.”
Baxter took two steps forward until he was standing directly in front of Matty. He bent his head down until his nose was not even an inch away.
Matty felt the man’s hot breath on his face. He smelled of cigars and whiskey combined with his musky man smell. Matty let out an involuntary whimper as his dick twitched and began to fill.
Baxter’s fist slammed against the wall next to Matty’s head, making Matty jump and then cringe. “Damn you,” Baxter snarled.
Matty opened his mouth to apologize, but he was unable to because his mouth was suddenly filled with Baxter’s tongue.
Matty’s knees went weak as Baxter ravished him. Just before all thoughts left him, he wondered if it was possible to get drunk from the taste of alcohol on Baxter’s tongue.
One of Baxter’s hands slipped between their bodies. It unzipped Matty’s jeans, then slid in to the fly. It fished around until it found Matty’s cock and set it free. His rough and callused fingers pulled harshly on Matty’s sensitive shaft.
Quickly jerked to the edge of orgasm, Matty’s balls drew up tight, and he thrust his hips forward. Pumping his dick into Baxter’s fist, Matty cried into Baxter’s mouth and came, hard and long.
Before Matty could even come down from his high, Baxter stepped back and unbuckled his jeans. His hands moved to Matty’s shoulders and gave a harsh push, sending the smaller man roughly to his knees. He thrust his hips forward, and the spongy cock head split Matty’s lips apart and then entered his mouth. Baxter held Matty’s head in his fists. He relentlessly fucked Matty’s face, using his mouth for his own pleasure.
The rough treatment made Matty’s dick go stiff once again in record time. He held on to Baxter’s trunk-like thighs and took everything the cowboy gave him. That thick cockhead battered the back of Matty’s throat, bringing tears to his eyes.
Baxter held back his grunts as he thrust like an animal. Matty loved it. This was what he needed. His own dick lurched and dribbled precome onto the dirt. He needed to touch it desperately, but he didn’t want to take his hands off Baxter’s legs.
Baxter suddenly backed up. Matty let out a needy whimper and leaned forward.
Baxter’s hand on Matty’s shoulder held him back. He used the thumb on his other hand to dip the shaft down, bobbing it against Matty’s lips. “I’m clean,” Baxter grunted. “You gonna do it right? You gonna take it?” he asked.
“Yes. Please,” Matty begged. He didn’t care. He wanted that perfect cock back in his mouth, and this time he wouldn’t stop until Baxter unloaded down his throat.
Baxter pushed his hips forward, sliding the hot head of his cock between Matty’s parted lips. Holding on to Matty’s head, he fucked Matty’s face hard and fast. “Take it. Swallow it.”
The cowboy pulled Matty’s head forward with his fists and froze. His knees buckled as he let out a stifled groan. Matty’s mouth was suddenly flooded with a delicious, salty taste. Baxter’s cock throbbed against his tongue, and a second jet of come blasted against the roof of Matty’s mouth. He swallowed eagerly, groaning and slurping loudly as he drank down every last drop.
Having taken care of Baxter, Matty gripped his own dick in his fist. Moaning around the still-pulsing bone in his mouth, Matty came again, spraying the dirt between Baxter’s boots with his second load of the evening.
Matty was still on his knees with his dick in hand when Baxter fled the tack room without a word.
He was completely stunned.
Was this how it was going to be between the two of them? When Baxter wanted his cock sucked, he’d get drunk, find Matty, and expect to be taken care of?
Oh sure, that sounded good on first blush, but realistically, would that be enough for Matty?
No. He wanted a relationship. He didn’t want to be the some closeted cowboy’s side piece, no matter how sexy he was. But then, could he ever have that in a place like this? Could he ever be who he really was, could he ever be truly happy here?
Matty didn’t know the answers to those questions.
By the time he returned from his nightly walk and crawled into bed, he still didn’t have the answers.