Wild Trail (Clean Slate Ranch #1)(55)

“I’m sure he’s seen your ass before.”

“Sure he has, but not while I’m in bed with a hot guy I’ve just nailed.”

“And you nailed him very well.” Wes tilted his head up for a kiss. “I don’t even mind the peppermint-beer breath anymore.”

Mack laughed. “Wonderful. Up and at ’em, boss.”

They laughed and tickled their way through a long, hot shower like they were a couple doing it for the hundredth time. Mack’s complete ease with Wes continued to surprise him, and for the first time, he realized he was going to miss Wes when he left the ranch on Saturday.

I can’t get attached. It’s a summer fling, nothing more.

Reyes was reading on his bed when they emerged from the bathroom, towels around their waists, and he ignored them completely. Wes got adorably shy just then and took his clothes into the bathroom to get dressed. Mack simply dropped his towel by his bed and slipped into a pair of boxer shorts.

When Wes came back out, his damp hair tousled in a cute flyaway style, Mack walked him to the cabin door. He nearly asked Wes to stay the night, but that was a bad idea for so many reasons. The hint of sadness in Wes’s eyes almost made him change his mind; Wes didn’t want to go, any more than Mack wanted to send him away.

“I don’t know how I’m going to be hands-off with you tomorrow,” Mack whispered.

Wes grinned. “You and me both. Although if you drive me into town to see Dr. Weaver, maybe we can find a place to park and make out.”

“You’re a little temptress, you know that?”

“Yes, I do.” Wes leaned in for a long kiss that, if this hadn’t been a fling, might have felt like something a whole lot bigger. Almost like a promise. “Night.”

“Night,” Mack replied.

He let Wes leave, watched that departing ass for a moment before Wes disappeared into the shadows, and then he turned. Reyes was staring at him, both eyebrows arched.

“What?” Mack asked.

“Nothing, just...be careful?”

Mack didn’t patronize his best friend by asking for clarification.

Be careful with your heart.

He wasn’t entirely sure that he hadn’t already given part of it away.





Chapter Fourteen

On Saturday morning, Wes woke with a weird pit in his stomach and a sense of unease he couldn’t shake. He stared at the underside of Miles’s bunk, the room barely lit from the rising sun, uncertain why he felt so strange.

We’re leaving today. I’m leaving Mack behind.

The last two days had tested the limits of Wes’s physical restraint every time he was in proximity to Mack. The need to touch him, kiss him, lick him, bend over for him—so intense that it kind of scared him. On both Thursday and Friday night, he’d gone to Mack’s cabin for more amazing sex, and knowing Wes wouldn’t have that tonight...depressing as hell.

I got attached to my vacation fling. I was not supposed to do that.

To be fair to himself, though, he had a funny feeling Mack had done the same thing. The way Mack had clung to him during their shared shower, washing Wes’s skin for him, the long look as Wes said goodbye. Last night had been their goodbye, because at three o’clock this afternoon, Wes was leaving.

They hadn’t made each other any promises. They hadn’t even exchanged phone numbers. It needed to be a clean break, so they could both move on. Live their lives.

Except Wes wasn’t making a clean break. Even though he’d only known Mack for a week, Wes was leaving a small part of his heart behind with that gruff, papa bear cowboy.

No one else was awake yet, so Wes slipped into the bathroom for a long, hot shower. He jerked off to memories of Mack faux-fucking him in the shower on Thursday—an impromptu fuck with Mack’s dick riding the crease of Wes’s ass and conditioner for lube, and Christ, it had been hot. Wes hadn’t been sure he could get it up again, but both he and Mack had come twice that night, and it had been awesome.

So many awesome memories of this vacation. Back to the real world tomorrow.

The thought left him depressed as he got dressed. Conrad was starting to stir, but Wes wasn’t in the mood for his friends, so he slipped out of their room and crept downstairs. The house was pretty quiet, except for Patrice puttering around in the kitchen. He snuck out to the front porch. The sun was rising over the horizon, painting streaks of purple and red across the sky.

He rarely saw such gorgeous sunrises in the city. Wes wasn’t a morning person in general, so he rarely saw the sunrise, period.

A tall figure walking in his direction made Wes’s heart jump. Then he frowned when the person was Reyes, not Mack. He expected Reyes to continue walking toward his destination, but he came right toward Wes, hands in his jeans pockets, head ducked like he was nervous.

“Morning,” Reyes said.

“Yeah, morning.” Wes eyeballed him, curious and a little weirded out. Reyes had never initiated conversation with him, other than a few polite words when their paths crossed in the cabin. “Guess you’ll be glad you don’t have to keep spending your evenings with the horses.”

Reyes’s lips twitched. “It’s not so bad when you know it makes your best friend happy.”

His heart trilled. “Mack’s a great guy.”

“He is. He’s also a stubborn ass and doesn’t know when to get out of his own way sometimes.” He pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket and held it toward Wes. “Here. He won’t admit it, but he’s gotten attached to you. If you feel the same, don’t make this goodbye.”