Page 56 of Covington Acres

“Talk to him,” Deacon said. “I had a whole lotta fear when I realized things were changing with me and Grady. I couldn’t have gotten through it without talking to him. Vince is a good man. The two of you will work it out together. The only way to do that is through honesty.”

Deacon was right, of course he was, but what if… “What if telling him how I feel, or might feel, makes me lose him?”

“Vince would never do that,” Clint assured him. And the thing was, Colby knew that, he’d just needed to hear it. “You have a lot less of a chance at losing him by talking to him than you do by shutting him out.”

“Yeah, yeah you’re right,” Colby replied. He knew Vince. He trusted Vince. He could go to Vince with this, and the thing was, hewantedto go to Vince with it. He wanted to share everything with the man who had come into his life and completely changed his world. “You guys are good at this,” Colby said playfully.

The three of them laughed. Jesus, he was so fucking lucky to have these people in his life. Now he just had to figure out how to tell Vince that he was maybe falling in love with him.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Vince

“You’ve been quiet,”Holden said, the two of them sitting in his truck after their day at work. Holden had picked him up that morning, and he’d ridden out to Covington Acres with him. The kids had been there half a day helping, and then they’d gone off to do their thing and enjoy their summer, Holden and Vince finishing up. “Everything okay?”

“Yes…no…yes.” He couldn’t seem to settle on an answer, and Holden chuckled.

“Well, now that we’ve sorted that out.”

“Asshole.”

“What is it, Vince?” he asked, serious now.

It was hard to talk about this with Holden, mostly because he didn’t want to out Colby. Technically, Holden could already tell something was going on with them, and he’d mentioned it at the barbecue, but Vince had been careful in how he’d responded. So he tried his best without any specifics because the truth was, he needed to talk to someone about this.

“Gregory is the only person I’ve ever been in love with,” he admitted. “I’ve liked a lot of guys, dated a lot of guys, and maybe I could have fallen in love with them, or maybe there were times I thought I was in love with them, but for whatever reason, it was that motherfucker who made me fall.” The worst person he could possibly care about. The man to hurt him more than anyone ever had.

“I fucking hate that bastard for what he did to you. He never deserved you, but none of what happened was your fault. Youcan’t help who you love, and it just so happened to be someone who wasn’t worthy of yours.”

“Twice,” Vince added, feeling like an idiot. “I’m worried I might have a habit of falling for men who won’t feel the same about me.”

“Colby?”

“Just…someone. And this person, they’re not like Greg at all. They would never do the shit he did, but that almost makes it worse.” Almost made it feel like he didn’t deserve love from a good man, that he would only attract the Gregs of the world. “For his own personal reasons, this guy doesn’t want a relationship. It was supposed to be just friends with benefits, but I don’t think that’s all I want from him. I can’t handle another broken heart, though. Me and love, maybe we just don’t fit.” Because if they did, why would he have fallen in love with people who didn’t want the same thing? No, not because Colby was an asshole like Greg, but that didn’t change the outcome that Vince would be the one getting hurt again.

“You and love fit. Don’t let Gregory make you fear giving your heart again. Hell, I was scared to ever give mine in the first place. If I hadn’t taken the chance with Roe, I wouldn’t have everything I have now. I would have missed out on the best man I’ve ever known—present company excluded.” He said the last part with a grin, which Vince returned. “I think you and this man fit. I might not have been able to imagine it before you moved here, but I see it plain as day now. Falling for someone is a risk. There’s always a chance it won’t work out, but there’s zero chance itwillwork out if you don’t try.”

Holden wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know, but the connection between his brain and his heart seemed to be severed. He could realize something, but that didn’t change the fear.

“Talk to him,” Holden added.

“Maybe.”

“Hey,” he said, making Vince look at him. “You’re not the type to give up on anything. You’re also not the type not to say how you feel. I’ve always looked up to that about you.”

Vince wasn’t sure what it was about those words, but they flipped a switch in him. Holden was right. Vince wasn’t the kind of man not to say what needed to be said. Greg had taken a lot from him, but he wasn’t going to let his ex take that.

“Look at you…falling in love and getting engaged, and now you’re an expert on romance.”

Holden chuckled. “It’s Roe. A good man makes a guy see things differently.”

Vince nodded, agreeing, but, “You’re a good man. It just took another good one for you to see it.” He saw the emotion wash over his friend’s face, saw he wasn’t sure what to say, but also how much he appreciated Vince’s words. He didn’t need to hear them to know it. “Now, drive me home, asshole. I got a man I need to talk to.”

He just hoped like hell this wasn’t a mistake.

“Can we talk?”Colby asked the second Vince got home, and his heart dropped.

“Yeah. I was going to ask you the same thing.” But hearing Colby ask it made the hairs on the back of his neck rise, made him wonder if Colby was going to tell him this was too much just when Vince wanted to tell him he might want more.

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