Page 21 of Head Above Water

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Hazard asked. “Your father has cancer and isn’t doing well. Your mama is caring for him, and your brother is keeping the ranch going. What the fuck are you doing to help?” Hazard growled as the other men all nodded, glaring at Willard. Hazard looked at him, and Bryce nodded. Hazard backed away and let Willard get to his feet.

“I came to get my stuff.”

“Then go get it.” He’d had enough and wasn’t going to beg his brother to stay. Willard wasn’t interested in the ranch, only the things it could provide for him. Bryce watched as Willard brushed off the dirt before staking toward the house. He barreled inside, the door snapping closed behind him, and Bryce shook his head.

“Thanks for the backup,” Bryce told Hazard.

“He wasn’t going to hit you again,” Hazard said angrily. Bruce turned to the other men, who all stared at both him and Hazard.

“Is it true?” Dusty asked. “Are you and he… together?” He seemed as uncomfortable as Bryce felt, but he’d be damned if he was going to let it show.

“Yeah. Hazard and I have danced around each other for a long time, but we finally got our act together.” Some of the men groaned, and then money changed hands. Those bastards had bet on them! He didn’t know whether to be angry or amused by the whole thing. “We’re seeing where things go, and if any of you want to leave, then I can make that happen. But I won’t tolerate any bigotry or trouble, and if you can’t live with that, then I can get your pay, and you can go. No hard feelings.” He met the gaze of each man. Most of them shrugged.

“I got a sister who has a wife,” Dusty said, adding his own stare. “As far as I figure, it don’t matter who a man loves as long as he can do the job. This is a good place to work and always has been. I don’t expect that is going to change.”

Damn, he had figured he’d get resignation, not support.

“I got a cousin who lives with two guys,” one of the other men said with a shrug. “And I’d say they could beat the shit out of any one of us.”

Okay… this was strange.

“I say we all get back to work,” Danny called, and the men drifted away, back to their tasks. “You sure about this?” Danny asked once the others were gone. “People are going to talk.” He seemed as cautious as Bryce would have expected of all the others.

“Let them,” he snapped, and Danny grew quiet, but his eyes said a hell of a lot. “What is it?”

“Are you two going to go around holding hands and calling each other baby and sweetheart? Or some shit like that?”

“What goes on when we’re alone is no one else’s business, and the reverse is the same. If we want a private life, then we better keep our lives private, if you know what I mean. Theydon’t need to be in our business any more than I want to be in theirs. Is that what you wanted to know?” He didn’t want to lose Danny, but he wasn’t going to apologize for who he was. Not any longer.

“Yes. Thank you. Now, what are we going to do with the herd? I was thinking of moving some of them back to the areas we vacated. That will spread them out. The area is reviving with the rain.”

“Let’s give it a few more days, and we can see how it looks. If I’m going to have to sell, then we’ll have to cut the ones to go from the herd, and we can separate them then.”

“Good idea,” Danny told him. “Thanks.” He strode off to check on the men, and Hazard went inside the barn.

“Are you okay?” Bryce asked, following him.

Hazard whipped around. “You should have talked about it with me first before you opened your mouth.” Man, he was angry, and Bryce felt a stab of cold right in the pit of his stomach.

ChapterNine

“You shouldhave known better than to do that,” Hazard continued, his voice soft, but with a razor’s edge.

Bryce groaned. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. We should have talked about it before I said anything. But you saw they’d been making bets. It was just a matter of time.”

“Yeah, but it should have been my time… or our time. Not just your time.” He sighed, and Bryce nodded. “If there is going to be an us, then we have to talk over shit first.” At least some of his anger seemed to have slipped away.

“I’m sorry,” Bryce said softly.

“Do you really mean that, or are you just saying it to get me to stop being mad at you?” Hazard pressed, holding on to his anger because it was what he had to shield himself right now.

“I am. I know I made you feel exposed and vulnerable, and I shouldn’t have. Just because I was ready to talk about what we have doesn’t mean that you were. I was stupid.”

Hazard rolled his eyes. “No. You were a guy who is used to being in charge and getting what he wants. But if you want this relationship to work, then you have to accept that there will be things that affect me, and we need to talk them over first. This isn’t just a you thing… it’s a we thing.” Hazard growled and held his head. “Why do I feel like I just turned into a teenager?” And why did this make his head throb?

“Because your boyfriend did something dumb,” Bryce told him. ”Yeah, the guys took it well, but we didn’t know they would. I shouldn’t have taken that chance and put you in the spotlight like that.” Bryce took his hands. “I know you tend to be quieter and stay more in the background.”

“Fine,” Hazard said. “I know you weren’t doing it to be mean. I just want you to include me. Okay?” He couldn’t go through life with someone else making his decisions or speaking for him. That was too much.

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