by RJ Scott
Riley held his breath, Eli worried his cancer would be back, and even though Robbie wanted children, he accepted that Eli was nervous. It had been enough just to get Eli to agree to marry him, let alone expand the family.
“And?” Riley asked, needing to focus on something other than his embarrassing meltdown.
“It's big, but we’ve talked to Marcus; he’s a good guy, says he’d help us work our way through it all.”
Riley pulled Eli into a close hug. “I’m pleased, this is huge,” he said. He didn’t just mean the expansion of Eli and Robbie’s family to three or more, but this was evidence that Eli had resolved some of the issues in his head around cancer, or at least had come to terms with them.
“Don’t go telling anyone except Jack, not until Robbie and I have signed on the dotted line.”
Riley mimed zipping his lips and nodded. “Promise.”
The tantalizing scent of barbecue drifted their way, and Eli sniffed the air. “Let’s get food.”
Riley wasn’t feeling completely settled, but he listened to Eli, and he knew himself that Hayley would be fine; he was just an overprotective idiot who needed his head examined.
He couldn’t see Hayley when he and Eli got back to the barbecue, which was a shame because Riley wanted a hug right at that moment, but he was happy to carry Connor around on his back again pretending to be a horse. He’d find Hayley in a bit.
And he would try his hardest to let her go to college without getting too emotional.
Well, apart from the crying, obviously.
Chapter 10
Post-barbecue, there was the huge cake with all its multilayers. Eden had collected it, because there was no way they could have it in the house; it wasn’t the kind of thing that fit into a Tupperware container. Singing happy birthday as the evening drew in, and then getting to hug his kids, was heaven as far as Jack was concerned. The cake was a huge success; a towering thing that had the horses and the ranch and the kids, with the surprise layers; Jack hoped that Hayley realized what they were, for Riley’s sake. He hadn’t needed to worry.
“Drift plain with saucer topography, Paleozoic upper and lower carboniferous, Pleistocene Kansan drift.” She pointed at the colors. “This is so cool.”
Logan had sidled up to her, half hugged her as she blew out her candles, and Jack couldn’t fail to notice she leaned into him a little. Not for long, but enough that it made Jack think that shit was about to hit the fan. What if she told Logan how she felt? Not the ‘I’m gonna marry Logan’ talk from when she was younger, but this fresh bloom of young romance that Logan could destroy in a single word. It didn’t matter that Logan was a good guy, and Jack’s nephew, this was Hayley’s heart that was on the line here.
“Okay?” Riley said as everyone gathered around for a slice of cake. Jack didn’t have to say a word. He inclined his head in the direction of Hayley and Logan sharing a huge slice of ranch and horse on a plate. Logan leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she smiled and then it happened, Logan walked away and Hayley followed, and suddenly they were out of sight around the corner of Jack and Riley’s barn.
Jack wanted to follow, and he could feel Riley’s tension as well. He already imagined the division of labor if the shit hit the fan. Riley would console Hayley and Jack would pummel Logan into the ground. Metaphorically of course, after all Logan was his nephew.
When Hayley reappeared, with Logan a few steps behind her, she didn’t look as if she was crying, or devastated, or anything of the things Jack had been expecting. She was smiling, and wait…oh shit.
Was Logan holding her hand?
With everyone gone, the ranch was a different place. The hundreds of small lights were switched off, all except one row that Jack had left on around the front door. He liked their glow, and he could always tell people he wanted them up for the kids. Everything else they would sort in the morning. He closed and locked the door, and came face to face with Riley and Hayley at the table nursing hot chocolates with a plate of cookies between them.
Jack couldn’t eat another thing, but in this family, chocolate and cookies were symbolic of a need for a conversation.
“We have a drink for you Pappa,” Hayley said.
Jack slid into his seat, opposite Riley and next to Hayley. Maybe this was where she told them that she was over Logan. Maybe he’d told her that she wasn’t his kind of girl, that maybe he wasn’t even into girls. Jack didn’t know, but he braced himself for the worst.
“So tonight, Logan asked me out,” she said, and sipped her chocolate.
“He did?” At least Riley had the power of speech; Jack mostly wrapped his question in an incoherent grunt.
“He said we could meet for coffee, that he’d come and visit me in Denver.”
“What did you say?”
“Yes, of course. I thought when he arrived with Cassie that she was his girlfriend, and it made me feel sad, and angry that I’d never had the chance to show him me, grown-up me I mean. But she’s just a friend, and they’d come straight from a party and she borrowed some of my stuff.” Hayley leaned forward, “I found her and Luke out by the stables kissing,” she said, conspiratorially. Then she leaned back, “anyway, Logan didn’t kiss me or anything, but I like him and I wanted to let you know.”
She was obviously waiting for them to make a comment. Jack was at a loss. What they wanted for her was a guy with a purpose, who looked after her, who came from a family that respected the concept of family as much as they did, someone who made Hayley smile.
He was going to let Riley have this one, let him say what they thought, but Riley was silent and was looking at him. Wait? What? Riley gave him a look, that one which said, she’s your daughter too.
“I like Logan,” he said, and then coughed. “I love Logan, of course I would, he’s my nephew, and he’s grown up, and…” He flailed for anything else to say that didn’t sound really weird. “I hope you have fun,” he added lamely. Riley raised an eyebrow, and clearly Jack hadn't done so well on the awkward conversation front.
“We want you to be happy,” Riley began. Oh this should be good; Riley was not going to be happy about this at all. Not that it was to do with Logan specifically; just any boy anywhere near Hayley. “And I think Logan has always made you happy, and sometimes…” He reached over and grasped Jack’s hand. “…you just know, you feel it’s right. I hope, no, we hope, that you have fun on the date, and that Logan is aware your Pappa has a shotgun.”
Jack couldn’t help the snort of laughter that escaped him. Logan was very aware of what was in the gun cabinet.
“So when are you meeting?”
“He said he’d come up to see me in a couple of weeks.” Her cell vibrated and her face lit up. “It’s him.” She pushed up from the table. She kissed Jack’s cheek and hugged him, and then it was Riley’s turn. With a wave and a smile she headed for bed.
Alone in the kitchen the two men stared at each other.
“Logan,” Riley said.
“Yep,” Jack replied.
“She always said…”
“Yep, she did.”
They sat in silence for a moment. The house was quiet, the twins and Max in bed, Carol asleep, Hayley in her room.
“You remember what you said…” Riley began.
Oh Jack remembered exactly what he said, and fuck, now that Riley was on the same page they needed to get out there now.
The Barn. Their place.
Chapter 11
Riley was determined that this time he would be the one taking care of Jack. That was from the minute the door shut on them and Riley locked it. They kissed, but when Jack pressed him back against the door he switched their places in a smooth move and had the upper hand. Jack made a show of reversing the hold, but his lips were parted and his cock hard and Riley knew this was all on him now.
The first thing he did, because he needed a taste of Jack right now, was to drop to his knees onto the blankets that were there for this purpose, and nuzzled Ja
ck’s groin. He smelled of denim, barbecue smoke, and Jack and Riley didn’t hesitate to unbutton the fly of Jack’s best jeans. He pulled the pants enough to get to Jack’s boxers, and slipped them down just below Jack’s balls, and he finally had what he wanted. For a moment he stared, because he wanted to savor this part where he knew Jack would move, and maybe beg, or at least moan in need.
“C’mon,” Jack whispered, and moved against Riley, and that was what Riley’d been waiting for. He chuckled and pressed his face to Jack’s cock, his tongue tracing a pattern on the soft skin. Jack groaned, that was the last hint Riley was getting, and he was happy to go with it.
He licked and sucked and Jack didn’t move an inch. That was the deal, Jack wouldn’t move until Riley said he could; the power was incredible and Riley was so hard in his pants it hurt. He adjusted himself, loosening his jeans, until his own erection was free, and with one hand slipping the length of it, he went to town on Jack’s cock. There wasn’t an inch of it that wasn’t worshipped, and when Jack’s thighs strained and his breathing sped up, that was it, Riley pulled off. He didn’t want to miss Jack coming with Riley’s cock in his ass, and that wasn’t going to happen if Jack finished now.
Riley used Jack to stand and for a while they kissed, Riley taking care not to grind against Jack, because fuck, he really wanted to have his husband bent over and… he couldn’t even think about it.
“There.” He nodded toward one of the corners where Jack had left a table. He’d sanded it smooth, it was just the right height and as they crossed to it, Jack removing his boots, jeans and boxers, Riley grabbed the lube from its hiding place.
Jack leaned over the table, spread his legs a little and Riley stared… at the toned skin, strong thighs, at Jack’s ass, which was gorgeous, and at Jack looking back at him with one raised eyebrow. In seconds he was stripped, completely naked, and he yanked at Jack’s shirt and T-shirt until they were off as well. He just wanted all that flesh available to mark with his teeth and hands. He couldn’t resist smacking Jack’s bare ass, and Jack didn’t complain, just pushed his ass out against the crack of Riley’s palm. The handprint was faint, but his skin pinked, and Riley did it again. He cataloged the way Jack tensed, and the delicious sound of Jack’s groan, and ran a hand over the warmth he was creating there. Riley squeezed lube onto the base of Jack’s spine and then smoothed it down to Jack’s ass, cracking his hand one last time on Jack’s other cheek and at the same time rubbing his hole.
“Riley, fuck.”
Riley pressed his finger inside, kissing Jack’s spine, adding more lube and pressing down on Jack’s shoulder so he was flat on the table.
“You’re beautiful.” He ran a hand from shoulder to ass cheek where it was still warm. “I’m going to fuck you so hard.”
Jack moaned and pushed back on Riley’s finger, so Riley added another, and then he couldn’t wait any longer, slicking his cock and holding Jack still.
“I love you,” Riley said, his voice cracking, as he paused until Jack could take him inside, and then he was in, and Jack writhed, and Riley held him.
“Riley, harder, fuck me harder.”
Riley set up a punishing rhythm, and watched Jack grip the corners of the table. This angle was perfect, he was so deep, but he worried Jack’s thighs would mark against the wood, and then he knew he wanted that, and he didn’t pull out and, fuck, Jack wasn’t moving back.
“Am I hurting you?” Riley managed.
“Harder,” was Jack’s only reply.
“I’m close,” Riley said, and then he was fucking his way inside and coming so hard he shut his eyes and shouted Jack’s name. Without ceremony he pulled out, turned Jack and pushed him back on the table, pulling him forward a little, gripping his scarlet ass cheeks and swallowing him down. Jack scrabbled for balance and then lost it, coming hard up Riley’s throat, whimpering and unsteady and gripping Riley’s hair tight.
“I love you,” he said as the last tremors left his body, and Riley helped him up. Funny how seeing your lover, your husband, unsteady on his legs, made you feel a million kinds of powerful and smug. Which lasted until he saw Jack wince, and then he felt guilty.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked urgently.
Jack chuckled. “I’ll feel you for days,” he hooked his hands around Riley’s neck, “and no, you didn’t hurt me.”
They kissed deeply, as if it was the punctuation to what they’d just done, coming off the high, and just being together. When they parted Jack smiled at him. “That was intense,” he murmured.
Riley should have apologized, or gloated, or felt weird, or something, but he didn’t. Because, fuck, that had been intense, so instead he used two simple words. “I know.”
Back in their bed they slept like the dead right through the night, but when Riley woke he was still twisted up with Jack, wrapped in his arms, and caged by his legs.
And it was the best morning wake-up, ever.
Showered and dressed and having kissed Jack thoroughly, Riley made his way to the kitchen and was surprised to see Eli sitting at the table watching Toy Story with Max. Carol was cooking breakfast and the twins were ready for school and waiting for Robbie to drive them as he’d promised he would.
“Morning,” Riley said, “You okay?” he always asked that whenever he saw Eli, couldn’t help himself, and expected Eli to come back with some quip in his defense, but this morning he was serious.
“I’m great,” he said, but he didn’t sound great, he sounded nervous.
Riley’s chest tightened and he felt the world stop. In a haze, through Robbie picking up the kids, to Carol taking Max for school. Was this the news they never hoped to have? That Eli was ill again? Eli looked shocked, but Robbie acted pretty normally this morning. He kissed Eli as he left with the twins, nothing out of the ordinary.
Riley put off the inevitable as long as he could, making him and Eli coffee and hesitating to sit down.
“These came yesterday.” Eli slid an envelope to Riley.
All Riley could think was, this has to be bad news.
I don’t want to read the letter. Please don’t make me see the letter.
Eli continued, “And I don’t know what to do.”
“Shit, Eli…”
“They’re only eight and six, but still that’s old enough to have seen so much, and what if we’re not like you and Jack, what if we can’t do this? What if it’s wrong for us to think we can even do this?”
Riley blinked at Eli, and then checked out the paperwork, and abruptly everything made sense. This wasn’t a scare, this wasn’t Eli relapsing, or coming out of remission, or anything like that. This was the adoption at its final stages. Little Louise and Jeremy, parents killed in some weird murder-suicide pact, had been matched to Eli and this must be the letter that confirmed that, finally, Louise and Jeremy would be moving to Eli and Robbie’s place. On the ranch. Here. Which meant they had a support network of people who could help.
“It’s like pre-wedding nerves,” Riley said, and hoped Eli understood what he was trying to say. Eli shook his head, so nope, Riley was talking out of his ass.
He continued, “I remember the day you started this process, I remember witnessing the signing of the forms, the talking to the counselors, and your doctors, it’s been nearly a year and it’s taken every moment of your time, and now suddenly, it’s done. It’s like the night before you’re getting married—you’ve spent so long planning the wedding that you’ve forgotten the reason you’re getting married.
Eli’s eyes widened, as if maybe some of what Riley was saying was actually making sense. Jack was so much better at this sort of thing than he was; Riley used analogies that got muddled and sometimes made things worse.
“What if I can’t do this—?”
“You can do this.”
“And what if I get ill—?”
“You won’t.”
“And what—?”
“Eli, stop! You can sit there all you want looking at all the worst possibiliti
es, but these kids need a stable family, a network of people. They need wide open spaces, and horses, and friends, and you can give them that. You have a heart full of love and you’ll be a great dad.”
“You think?” Eli was pale.
“What did Robbie say?”
“He hasn’t seen this yet, if I show him it will be real.”
Riley reached over and cuffed Eli upside the head. “Idiot,” he said with affection.
“Okay,” Eli said, and breathed slowly and deeply. “I can do this.”
Then he smiled and normal I-can-defeat-it-all Eli was back, and with it his sense of humor. “Did you really just say I had a heart full of love?”
Riley huffed a laugh, “Bite me.”
Eli stood and Riley hugged him for a long time. The door opened and Robbie coughed to clear his throat.
“You macking on my man, Riley?” he asked wryly.
Riley released his friend, hugged a surprised Robbie and then let them have the kitchen in peace.
He needed to find Jack, not to tell him because that was Robbie’s news to tell, but just to hold him close and tell him that the world was a wonderful place and that he loved him.
Oh, and yeah, to tell him the news as well.
Obviously he wouldn’t be able to keep it inside. Jack would just have to act surprised when Robbie told him.
The amount of secrets Riley had told Jack? Well, Jack was a good actor now.
This wouldn’t be the first time.
Louise and Jeremy had visited the ranch before, they both knew Riley, and they loved Jack and his horses, but this time it was different. They were moving here permanently and Louise was incredibly protective of her brother. The siblings held hands a lot and looked at each other when one was asked a question. The start in life they’d had was one that Riley wouldn’t have wished on any child.
Robbie and Eli had built an addition to their house, two bedrooms, both with big beds and a shared bathroom. Robbie had been the one to suggest the big beds, because the children liked to sleep together; were probably used to it. They’d decorated them both neutrally, and along with Hayley’s help they’d filled closets with clothes and toys. None of it was on show, there was no trying to buy affection involved.
