Page 22 of A Little More Forgiveness

Jesus. I’d never reacted so rapidly to a man, any man, in my life. I needed to get comfortable with people, go on a few dates before I began to feel anything at all, which explained why the men I’d met in Boston never stuck around for long. I was too uptight and unable to show my feelings or emotions clearly enough. Not that I wanted to date anyone currently, with my shitty life. I held onto my job by the tips of my fingers and lived in a tiny studio overlooking a parking lot. I had absolutely nothing to offer a potential partner, and who in their right mind would want to share what small amount I had anyway?

So why, when I’d known Gabe less than a day, did he have such a huge impact on me? He’d barely touched me, yet my skin was on fire, and I badly wanted him to touch me again, wanted to feel the warm pads of his fingers slide across my chest to my nipple and pinch it until I moaned.

Fuck. And yes, I wanted that too. Wanted to roll Gabe over, push inside him, feel him tighten around me, suck me into his hot body.

“Night, Leo.” His deep voice broke the quiet and pulled me out of my sex fantasy.

I swallowed a few times, trying to make my throat work. “Night, Gabe,” I eventually replied.

Curled over on my side away from him, I gradually lowered my hand down inside my boxer briefs to grip my hard dick and squeezed firmly to try to relieve the ache pulsing through the shaft. The action made me think what if this were Gabe’s fingers instead of my own wrapped around me, squeezing firmly until they slid down to my balls, cupping them, rolling them in his palm before sliding them up my shaft to lazily jerk me off.

The image seemed so real I had to clamp my fist tight around my shaft to stave off my orgasm, as my cock tried its best to ejaculate. Shit, shit, shit. It had been way too long since I’d fucked anyone and definitely not in the eight months I’d been back in Melrose Bay.

I decided to put my horniness down to my dry spell and the fact I currently lay semi-naked in bed with another man. Two gay men, and I was positive now Gabe was gay or, at a minimum, bisexual, in close confines, obviously these fantasies would occur, and my body would react to them. The scenario was normal, I reasoned, so I shouldn’t read too much into it, or get too worked up. Still feeling the phantom touch of Gabe’s hand on my chest, his fingers grazing my skin, didn’t help either. It was normal I repeated, nothing to get excited about. But try telling that to my still throbbing dick because I don’t think it got the memo.

Chapter Ten

Mitch

Awake minutes before the alarm went off at 5:27 a.m., I rubbed at my bleary eyes. Notwithstanding my aversion to the dogs on the sofa, I’d relented and let them sleep on the bed with me last night, their warm presence against my side a stark reminder of what I used to have.

Throwing off the bedclothes, I padded to the attached bathroom, then showered and got ready to start my day, thankful I’d been angry enough last night to not remove my boots and jacket on entering the cabin as I normally would. Leaving my outdoor clothes by the front door had been second nature until last night and my close encounter with Gabe.

Fully dressed, I slipped out the bedroom with minimal noise so as not to possibly wake the two men asleep on the couch. The door creaked a bit when I opened it, making me wince. I quietly headed into the living area, the dogs at my side, and had scarcely gone a few steps before pausing at the sight in front of me. Leo facing Gabe and snuggled in close behind him. They weren’t touching but they may as well have been.

They looked so good together.

Like lovers.

My chest lurched at the idea, and I tried hard to suppress the ridiculous pang of jealousy. I was the one looking in at the two of them rather than being included in their almost embrace. Jerking my eyes away, I forced my feet to move and walked over to the front door, slowly turned the lock, and quietly stepped outside. The sharp bite of cold air had me zipping my thick jacket up fully to keep warm as I headed directly to the stables to check on the horses.

As the only one living here, I had to rotate exercising them when riding the numerous trails crisscrossing the land. One in the morning, while leading another, repeating the process with the last horse in the afternoon. The circumstances weren’t ideal, and not what Katie and I had originally planned, as by now we should have been in the position to hire stable hands to tend the horses, giving us the time to work on all the other improvements for the property.

This reality, a stark reminder of everything I’d lost, gave me the necessary kick up the ass I needed to not allow my wayward thoughts of the two men asleep in the cabin to push me off track.

The sudden disappearance of the dogs from the stable and a small happy whine let me know I had company. Sure enough, I heard a couple of footsteps and then Leo appeared in the barn. He seemed only half awake and had a slight crease down his cheek from where he’d been laying on the pillow.

“Morning,” he greeted sleepily, his voice deep and gravelly.

“Morning,” I replied. “What are you doing up so early?”

He’d dressed in a pair of well-worn yellow work boots and faded jeans, soft from longtime wear. The light denim hugged his strong legs, highlighting firm, muscular thighs. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his fully fastened red jacket and he wore a cream woolen hat pulled down low on his head, covering his ears to keep out the cold. He didn’t look out of place here, which both surprised and intrigued me.

“I heard the dogs on the hardwood as you were leaving,” he said, “and if I’m here for a few days, I at least want to help out and be useful.”

On the surface his request sounded easy enough, but the be useful he tagged on at the end made me think it went a lot deeper. The stubborn and independent part of me should send him packing. The urge to tell him I didn’t need his help, didn’t need anyone’s help surged through me, and I was about to say so, when I caught the expression on his face. Hopeful and nervous, he refused to look me directly in the eye, as if he expected me to do exactly what I’d been thinking. But some emotion also lurked there, telling me he needed this, needed to be viewed as someone useful, worthy even, and his request would take a stronger man than I to deny when, to be honest, I needed every bit of help I could get.

“Sure. Grab a shovel.” His answering smile informed me I’d made the right choice. “Let me move the horses to the corral, and we can get to work.”

“I can help with the horses too. My mother’s family has a ranch in Texas. I used to ride and help out with the horses every summer as a kid.”

That was a surprise. I’d had him pegged as a city boy, the same as Gabe. Him having stepped foot on a ranch meant we had an affinity, a connection, however small.

“When was the last time you visited?”

“Not since college,” he answered softly, leaving a lot unsaid.

“I’m sure you miss it.”

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