Page 7 of Covington Acres

“What are we doing today?” Vince grabbed the sausage next.

“Not sure. You got any ideas? Don’t forget we have dinner at my parents’ tonight.”

Ah, the Sunday Covington dinner. They didn’t host one every Sunday, but Colby’s mama, Vicki, liked to get her family together fairly often. Being invited had felt strange in the beginning. Vince had no experience with a large family, especially one as close as the Covingtons. His parents had died when he was young, and Vince had gone to live with an aunt and uncle who’d never wanted kids. They weren’t bad people. They’d raised him, and he’d never wanted for anything, but they weren’t emotionally close. He hated putting it that way because he did know they loved him, but his relationship with them wasn’t what it had been with his parents. Not a day went by that Vince didn’t miss his mama and dad.

The Covingtons invited all their kids’ partners and friends into their home, though. Even before they knew Roe and Holden were together, they’d done it with Holden, and now that Vince and Colby were so close, they did it with Vince too.

“I have it on the schedule, dear,” Vince teased, putting the sausage in the pan.

“Are you going to make the yolks hard the way I like them?” Colby asked, making Vince cock a brow again.

“Remind me how I’m the spoiled one in this friendship?” The thing was, he had, in fact, planned to make the yolks hard the way he knew Colby liked. They’d learned a lot about each other, and most times, Vince could read Colby or would know what Colby wanted without him having to say a damn thing.

“We wouldn’t be in this situation if you didn’t hide my cereal.” Colby stood and walked over to him. “I’ll help. What do you want me to do?”

“Nothing, brat. Just sit here and talk to me.”

Colby lifted himself onto the granite island in the middle of the room. It was a nice kitchen. Vince liked cooking. Even though Colby didn’t do it much, he had a great setup. “I’ll do the dishes.”

“Just how I like it,” Vince teased. “As far as plans for the day…how about we start working on that area where you want to put trees in?” Colby didn’t have as much land as the farm, or even as much as Roe, but he had three acres, as well as a large shop he liked to hang out in. He kept mentioning things he should do to the house or his property but never actually started the projects. Vince figured that was likely because he did so much of that kind of work at Covington Acres. Colby was always helping others, or working on his family farm, but didn’t take time to do much for himself. Vince had taken it upon himself to push Colby along in that regard.

“You can’t want to do that on your day off,” Colby answered.

He wouldn’t mind a bit. He’d actually enjoy it. He was a natural when it came to plants. “Oh, I can’t? How do you know?” He reached for the drawer with the spatulas, which happened to be between Colby’s legs. The man spread them for him while Vince got one out of the drawer. Colby was an incredibly attractive man—brown hair that constantly needed a cut, messy and sexy, deep-set blue eyes, strong jawline and plump lips—but Vince never let his gaze linger. While the flirting had become a part of who they were as friends, Vince made sure to never cross a line with Colby. He respected the man and who he said he was. Plus, he meant too much to Vince to risk fucking up their friendship.

“Well, maybeIdon’t want to do that on my day off.”

“Then we won’t, but I can’t help noticing how often you don’t do anything for yourself. If you want trees in your yard, babe, then plant them. If you want pink flamingos in your yard, put those in too.” Vince couldn’t remember when he’d started calling Colby babe. It’s what he used to call Holden when they were together, but Holden was now engaged to Roe, and Vince still used the moniker with him. At some point, he’d started using it with Colby too, likely because Colby and Holden were the two people closest to him. It wasn’t romantic, just friendly.

“Uh-oh. You brought out the babe. You mean business,” Colby teased while Vince cooked.

“Babe is serious?”

“Yep. You say dear when you’re being playful about being roommates and babe when you’re telling me to get my shit together.”

Vince laughed. “Pink flamingos are serious business.”

“What about green flamingos?” Colby countered. “I mean, why do we have to be realistic?”

“I’ll find you green flamingos if you want. I bet Clint could make them.” Clint owned Clint Custom Steel and made unique designs.

“I don’t need green flamingos.”

“Who said anything about need? You want them, I’ll get them.”

Colby glanced away, his cheeks turning that pretty shade of pink again. It was fun making Colby blush because he figured every time Colby did, it was when Vince made him feel good about himself, something Vince enjoyed immensely.

“Smells good.” Colby changed the subject.

“It’ll be good. You’re so lucky to have me as a roommate.”

He meant it jokingly, but Colby’s voice was sober when he replied, “I know I am.”

Warmth flooded Vince’s chest. Strange how much he liked to make Colby feel good, but the thing was, Colby often did the same for him without even trying. It was little things like what he’d just said, little things Vince wasn’t sure should matter but did.

“You better.” Grease popped from the pan, splashing onto his stomach. “Ouch. Fuck.”

Colby immediately jumped from the counter and pulled Vince away from the stove. He bent and looked at Vince’s belly as if searching for a mortal wound. “You shouldn’t be doing this without a shirt on. I should have thought of that.”

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