Roped In

by A. M. Arthur

  Colt settled in to talk about his very favorite topic.

  * * *

  Avery had some anxiety about Colt going off alone with his father, but not a lot. Wayne Woods’s reaction had been extremely low key compared to what Avery had honestly been expecting. The entire family had reacted with a lot of joy, and only a small amount of anger or resentment over Colt’s long disappearance.

  Once the two men went outside, Avery and Brand returned to their seats. Rem joined them by bullying Brand to scoot deeper into the bench. “So Colt’s really queer, huh?” Rem asked.

  Brand didn’t bother hiding his eye roll.

  “Very much so,” Avery replied in his best professor voice. The voice that suggested his student was a special kind of idiot for asking.

  Rose plopped a glass of lemonade in front of Rem. “Don’t be rude, Remington. Mr. Hendrix is a guest.”

  “Sorry, Ma,” Rem said.

  “Please, call me Avery,” Avery said. “I’m only Mr. Hendrix when I’m teaching.”

  “You’re a teacher?” Brand asked.

  “Part time UCLA, yes. Mostly online courses. And I’m preparing to defend my PhD at the end of the spring semester.”

  “Damn, Colt got himself a professor.”

  Avery grinned. “I love history. I supplement my teaching income by consulting for films, television, and other creative projects. Consulting is actually how I met Colt again.”

  “Again?” Rem repeated.

  Avery briefly described his first relationship with Colt, and then launched into his work on the ghost town. Brand knew this, but Rem and Rose listened with rapt attention. Rose had a tender smile on her face as she listened by the counter, captivated by her long-lost son’s life in California. Rem still seemed suspicious, but he’d spent more time without Colt in his life than with him. “We’ve been incredibly happy. It isn’t easy being apart, but we love each other enough to make it work.”

  “Good on you, man,” Brand said. He held up his bare left hand. “I can’t find anyone who wants me long term.”

  “That’s cuz you fart too much to keep a girl around,” Rem replied. He showed off his own gold band. “Nearly four years now. Shelby’s a waitress at the diner in town, and we’ve got a three-year-old daughter named Susie. Great kid.”

  The timing made Avery wonder if it had been a shotgun wedding or not, but Rem did look happy as he talked about his family. “Congratulations,” Avery said. “Brand told us a bit about how your family has expanded. I imagine family dinners get a bit noisy.”

  “You bet, but Mom loves having a house full of her kids and grandkids.”

  Rose returned to the table with a platter of sandwiches. “Normally, we’d wait for your father, but heaven knows how long he and Colton will talk, so eat up.”

  “Colton is his full name?” Avery asked. News to him.

  “He never told you his given name?”

  “No, I suppose I assumed his name was simply Colt.”

  “Well, it’s a good nickname, but no name for a baby.” Rose left to deliver them all small plates, as well as a bowl of potato salad.

  Avery helped himself to a thick, meaty sandwich and small portion of salad. He was too nervous about Colt’s conversation with his father to eat much or too fast, even though the food was delicious. The potato salad was definitely homemade, the pot roast super tender. Rem and Brand teased each other over random things, and also asked Avery questions about his life, Colt’s life, and Avery’s consultation work.

  The conversation shifted to the ghost town, and Rose got excited when Avery said he knew Westin Bentley, one of the costars of her favorite western show Quick Draw. “Will he be at the ghost town opening?” she asked.

  “I have no doubt, since the place is named after him,” Avery replied, delighted by her excitement. It had never really occurred to him that Wes had been an actor for years, long before Avery met him, or that he might have fans out in the wide world. “Tell you what, Mrs. Woods, I’ll call Wes and see if he can send you an autographed headshot. And of course, your entire family is welcome to attend opening day.”

  “Traveling that far would be so overwhelming. I’ve never been out of Texas before.”

  “Well, you consider it, and I’ll make sure you get that headshot.”

  “That’s so kind, Avery, thank you.” Rose wandered off with a dreamy smile on her face.

  Rem leaned over the table. “You just made yourself a new best friend. I swear, she cried when that show was canceled, and she followed all the gossip magazines when the scandal with the star broke.”

  “Wes didn’t leak those photos, and he’s had a chance to publicly defend himself recently.”

  “Dude, I don’t care, that’s Mom’s jam. Now, if you tell me you’ve got a direct connection to Emma Stone, then we can talk.”

  Avery laughed. “Sorry, no, I’ve never met the lady.”

  “Bummer.”

  Rose ate her own sandwich at the counter, where she kept gazing out a wide window, possibly spying on her husband and son. So much love existed in this house, and it fueled Avery’s hope that Colt could reestablish a relationship with his blood family.

  Everyone had finished eating by the time Colt and Wayne came in through the back door, both men smiling. Colt met Avery’s gaze and his smile widened. Avery’s heart kicked with joy, knowing without words that it had been a good talk.

  “You men must be hungry,” Rose said. “Sit, I’ll get you plates.”

  Colt scooted in next to Avery. Rem and Brand both excused themselves, and Wayne sat across from them. Rose delivered plates and forks, then joined her husband. Avery looked on in silent wonder as father and son shared a meal for the first time in sixteen years.

  It was the most beautiful sight Avery had seen in his life.

  * * *

  Colt gladly accepted his mom’s invitation to stay for dinner, and he silently cheered when she said she’d call in his sisters and get them over, so Colt could meet the rest of his family. So far, so good, and Brand assured him his sisters would be kind, but he couldn’t guarantee how their husbands would react.

  He and Avery spent the day touring the ranch, both on foot and horseback. Avery was getting more comfortable in the saddle, and he impressed Brand by hauling himself up without aid. Rem and Father had to get back to work, but Brand took the afternoon off to hang out with them. Brand had always been a quiet teenager, not much interested in sports or dating, and he hadn’t really changed.

  The sprawling acreage was as beautiful as Colt remembered, but he’d completely fallen for the rockier terrain of Clean Slate. While he’d grown up here, Woods Ranch no longer felt like home. He also didn’t feel like a stranger here, and he’d found peace with his father. Tentative, fragile peace, but he’d take it.

  They returned to the house around five, so they could brush down the horses before it got totally dark. Cars were already parked by the main house when the trio emerged from the barn, dusty and smelling of horse and leather. Familiar things. Colt walked into a bustling, noisy house filled with adults and small children, and he kept Avery slightly behind him as people came forward.

  LeAnne was easiest to recognize by her big belly, because she’d changed a lot from the adolescent girl he remembered. Curvy body, her blond hair cut short and close to her head, with a hot pink streak on one side, she approached him holding a little girl on her hip. “God Almighty, Colton, you look amazing,” she said as she came in for a hug. She introduced her husband and her kids. “And that handsome man there must be the Avery Ma mentioned on the phone.”

  “He is,” Colt replied.

  “Avery Hendrix, it’s a pleasure,” Avery said, then did his charming hand-kissing thing.

  LeAnne giggled, but her husband didn’t look amused. He had a half glare on his face, which told Colt all he needed to know about the guy. It al
so told him that either Mom or LeAnne had laid down the law about rudeness, because he didn’t say a mean word in their direction. He didn’t say anything at all.

  Neither did Sage’s husband, and her hug was shorter, a bit less loving. Like Rem, she’d been young when he left, only eleven, so she had to relearn him, too. Just like Colt had to relearn his family members, find his place among them again. Colt spent time before dinner playing with his nieces and nephews. Sage’s stepson was a bit standoffish, and that was likely his dad’s doing. Colt really hoped those poor kids didn’t grow up to be homophobic bigots.

  The long dining room table barely fit all the adults and the necessary highchairs, and Father brought extra folding chairs in from the downstairs closet, but they managed. Colt was seated on Father’s right, which was a symbol in itself that Colt was part of the family again. Avery was on Colt’s right, sandwiched between him and Brand on his other side.

  Colt nearly cried when he saw what Mom had fixed for supper: crispy pork chops with garlic mashed potatoes, fresh string beans, and homemade applesauce. Colt’s personal favorites. When Sage asked, Colt retold the story of where he’d been, and how he’d gone from police officer to handyman, leaving out the bank robbery debacle. Admitting that failure to his father had been nearly as freeing as admitting the truth to Mack, and it had assuaged a lot of the guilt he still carried.

  One of her sons got excited about the ghost town launch, so Colt talked more about that, with Avery pitching in facts and local history. Colt felt like he’d said the same words over and over again today, but he’d repeat them until the end of time if it meant he got his family back. A family he’d walked away from in order to live his best, truest life, and who’d accepted him back into the fold—maybe not completely by all, but his parents were the most important part of the family.

  Everyone else would, he hoped, follow their lead.

  After a gut-busting dessert of fudge brownies and coffee, Mom invited him and Avery to stay the night. Colt politely declined; Avery was funny about using other people’s clothes and toiletries. But he and Avery agreed to push their flight home back another day and come visiting tomorrow. He hated saying goodbye, but it was temporary. He’d see his parents and his brothers again, and his sisters promised to try to stop over at lunchtime.

  As Colt drove away from the ranch, a strange kind of peace settled over him. A chunk of anxiety he’d lived with since he left the first time broke off and melted away. He grinned at the open highway, then reached over to clasp Avery’s hand.

  “So you and your father are okay?” Avery asked.

  “Yeah. Yeah, we’re okay. He says he doesn’t understand it, but he’ll try, because he loves me. And I’ll be patient, because I love him, too.”

  “Of course, you do.”

  “Thank you for coming with me and being a rock throughout all of this. I couldn’t have done it without you, Avery.”

  “You are so very welcome, love. So very welcome.”

  Colt set the cruise control, then relaxed into his seat a bit while the wild terrain buzzed by in the dark, headlights illuminating the path ahead. The path toward a brighter, fuller future than he’d imagined that morning. And Colt couldn’t possibly be happier.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Avery flopped face-first onto the king bed in their hotel room, exhausted after two full days of visiting with the Woods clan. Not physically exhausted, of course. It wasn’t as if all the ranch hands got together for a big game of flag football. But the mental gymnastics required to remember how to behave around Colt, so as not to be too “gay” about their relationship, was exhausting.

  Colt was too busy interacting with his family to notice, but Avery did. He measured every smile, every gesture, and tempered every instinct he had to touch Colt. Hug him, kiss him, do the little things they didn’t have to think about in private, or even at Clean Slate. Here they had to ease the Woods family into their relationship, and it fucking sucked.

  He also couldn’t begrudge Colt time with his family he’d so sorely missed. Around his brothers, Colt seemed more of the impulsive guy he’d once been. The one who acted without really thinking through to the consequences, like the guy who’d walked off the family farm and into a new life.

  Colt climbed onto the bed next to him and reclined on his side, head resting on the palm of his hand, and grinning like he’d won a million-dollar lottery. “I kind of hate that we’re leaving tomorrow, but too much of a good thing kind of wrecks it, too, you know?”

  “I understand, believe me,” Avery replied. He loved seeing Colt so happy and in his element with his siblings. “I’ve gotten to see a new side of you, and I’m so excited for you. Your mother is an amazing cook. I didn’t think anything could top those pork chops, but her short ribs were astonishing.”

  “She knows her way around fresh meat.”

  Avery snorted laughter. “Don’t say things like that about your mother.”

  Colt caught on to the innuendo and gave him a playful shove. “Ew, don’t put those thoughts in my head!”

  “You said it, you big dork.”

  “Dork, huh?” Colt half climbed on Avery’s back and kissed his cheek. “Wanna fool around, hot stuff?”

  “Ugh, maybe after a shower. We both smell like horse, and it’s distracting.”

  “You never minded it at the ranch.”

  “That’s because we were at the ranch. Right now, we’re in a pretty hotel room in a big city. It just feels…odd.”

  “I get it.” Colt slid off him. “Go hop in first, I want to check my emails. There was no Wi-Fi at the ranch.”

  “Okay.”

  Avery was finished and drying off before Colt walked naked into bathroom. “I thought you were going to join me?”

  “Got caught up reading something, sorry.” Colt’s eyes gleamed, and it wasn’t arousal.

  “Good news?” Avery asked.

  “Could be. Waiting for a follow-up email.” He pinched Avery’s ass, then turned on the shower. “You’ll just have to wait for the surprise.”

  Avery groaned. “You know I hate surprises directed at me.”

  Colt winked and climbed into the tub.

  Curious and a bit wary, Avery walked into the bedroom to get sleeping clothes. He passed Colt’s tablet on the bed, its screen still lit, an email open. Avery stared at it. He hated the idea of breaching Colt’s privacy, but he also hated surprises. And this obviously had something to do with Avery, so maybe glancing at the screen was okay?

  He would just look and see who the email was from. Maybe Colt was planning some sort of dream vacation for them the next time he had a full week off. It was okay to know that, right?

  The tablet screen darkened a bit, and Avery reached out without conscious thought and tapped it to wake it back up. The signature line at the bottom of the email made his entire body stiffen. Richard Ward, Dean of History, San Jose State.

  Why the hell was Colt emailing a college history dean less than an hour from Garrett? It couldn’t be about the ghost town restoration, because Colt wasn’t a part of it. Maybe Mack had inquired about something and forwarded it to Colt? But Colt said this was potentially good news.

  Curious and annoyed, Avery picked up the tablet. His temper grew as he read the email, reaching a boiling point by the end.

  How dare he go behind my back!

  He glared at the words until they blended together.

  “Avery?”

  Colt’s voice startled him into dropping the tablet onto the bed. He lifted his head and stared at Colt, who was watching him in only a towel. Colt’s own frown shifted into wide-eyed shock. “Oh fuck, you’re pissed.”

  “You didn’t think I would be?” Avery retorted, working hard to keep his tone even, and not accusatory. “You inquired about a university position in San Jose on my behalf, without my goddamn permission, Colt. Yes, I’m piss
ed.”

  “It was just an inquiry to see if they had a spot for a history professor. I was curious.”

  “Why? I told you I’m happy at UCLA, even though I didn’t get the tenured position, so why even be curious? Unless you know another history professor who is job hunting, you had no right.”

  Colt’s jaw popped open. “I just… I thought…”

  “Thought what? That if you handed me a gift-wrapped new job, I’d happily accept it and uproot my life to San Jose? That I’d be happy you interfered?”

  The guilt in Colt’s eyes said he’d hoped for exactly that outcome. They’d had this discussion more than once since getting back together, and Avery truly had believed that Colt understood. Neither one of them was ready to leave a job they loved for the other, so long distance had to work for them for now. But for some reason, Colt still assumed that it was up to Avery to move closer, and that fucking hurt.

  “I was trying to help,” Colt said in a small, wounded voice.

  “Well, this isn’t helping, Colt. A relationship is supposed to be built on trust, and I trusted you to understand my reasons for staying in LA, and instead you decided you could change my mind with a job opportunity. Did I like the San Jose campus? Sure. Do I like San Jose? Absolutely. Am I considering moving there in the near future? No. And I’m furious that you thought you could make that decision for me.”

  “I didn’t… I wasn’t trying to make the decision, I wanted to give you an option.”

  “Why? Have I ever intimated that you should leave the ranch and move to Los Angeles? Have I dangled a new job in front of you? No. Because I respect the fact that you want to work at Clean Slate. I thought you respected me in return.”

  “I do respect you.” Colt’s big body seemed to wilt. “I miss you when we’re apart.”

  “And I miss you, too. I don’t like that we live so far apart, but it’s the reality we agreed to when we got back together. You don’t get to try to change the rules after the fact, Colt. If one of us moves, it’s because it’s what that person wants, not what their partner wants. I’ve always been clear on that.”