Page 12 of Whiskey and Wildfire

We lay there in silence, the only sounds were the gentle patter of rain on the tent and our synchronized breathing. Gradually, I felt Logan’s shivering subside as warmth began to build between us. My body was hyper-aware of every point of contact - his back against my chest, my arm draped over his side, our legs tangled together.

I tried to keep my thoughts neutral, to focus on the practicality of the situation. But that didn’t stop my dick from having a mind of its own as usual. Slowly I felt myself thicken and pulse in my jeans, the thin denim the only thing keeping Logan from realizing what I secretly wanted from him. I got so lost in trying to make my boner go away that I didn’t notice Logan’s breathing had slowed until he began to snore softly.

With a sigh I pulled him in closer, still keeping my pelvis away from his ass. I breathed in the lingering scent of cologne and body wash that was days old now. I tried to memorize it, knowing that this proximity would only last for a couple more days. Once the cattle drive was over, Logan would go back to his life and I to mine. He was off limits, and I wasn’t interested in being tied down, anyway. If I gave in and things went south, I’d have to find a new ranch to work at and I didn’t want to start over.

Not again.

Chapter 5

Logan

To my great surprise, I slept like a damn baby the night before with Dakota’s arms wrapped around me. Although, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. I’d been pretty touch-starved for a while now and it was no big secret that Dakota was about as handsome as they come. Then again, there were a few people in town that didn’t agree with me on that front. For some reason, there were still a few that steered clear of him because he was Cherokee. They didn’t trust him, which made about zero sense to me. As far as I was concerned, he had much more reason to be mad at people like me after what had happened to his people. It didn’t seem fair that he should be treated like an outsider despite the fact he’d lived in Sagebrush for years now.

I was doing my best to try not to think about him in a romantic way, or a sexual way at the very least. Of course, the more I tried not to think about him, the more I did. He’d made it pretty clear he wanted nothing to do with me. Then again, maybe he thought I was like those other people in town that disliked him for no reason. I certainly wasn’t, but how would I tell him that? I couldn’t just walk up to him and say ‘hey, I’m not an asshole’ because that’s exactly what an asshole would say.

Or maybe I was getting it all wrong. Maybe he just wasn’t into guys. I’d never held a real conversation with the man, so I didn’t know him at all. I just thought he was hot, and that made me want to get close to him. Or at least in his pants.

Fuck… maybe Iwasthe asshole…

With a sigh and a groan, I forced myself up from the tree I was leaning against. The sun had slipped down below the horizon, and everyone was settling down for the night. Beau and Dakota were a few yards away, tending to the campfire. Meanwhile, I’d gone off to spend some time alone and think. Instead, I ended up just fantasizing about Dakota the entire time. I should’ve been trying to come up with a plan to get Caroline’s business off the ground. Our idea for a small rodeo-themed exhibition was a good one, but the logistics of pulling something like that off were crazy. I was already overwhelmed thanks to the tiny amount of research I’d done, and we hadn’t even started yet. It was going to be a monstrous undertaking.

As soon as I got to my feet, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. I looked up, a smile already on my face thinking it was Dakota. But, of fucking course, it was Beau, looking like he had something to say as usual. I’d done my best to be civil to him and failed, so I just gave up on the charade.

“What do you want?” I sighed, making it clear I didn’t want to speak with him.

“Can we talk?” he asked, tipping his hat up. “Just for a couple minutes. I promise I won’t take up much of your time.”

“Will it get you to stop bugging me all the time?” I said, fully aware of how rude I was being. “Will you stop pretending you want to be my friend?”

He cocked his head to the side like a confused puppy. “But I do wanna be your friend, Logan.”

“Because of Lucas.”

“No,” he said quickly. Then he stopped. “Well, partly. But I also wanna be your friend anyway. There’s not many like us around these parts and I figured… well, we should stick together, ya know?”

“You gotta be fuckin’ kidding me,” I scoffed, my brows furrowed as anger filled my chest. “Now you want to stick together?”

That stupid look was on his face again. He didn’t know what I was talking about.

“You’ve got your little fairy tale romance, everyone loves you, and not a single person got upset that you were gay. Sonowyou want to stick together, now that there’s no consequences for being who you are.”

“I’m not sure I know what you’re sayin’…” He looked so uncomfortable as he shifted back and forth, kicking at the dirt. “But I’m sorry for whatever I did to upset you.”

What little reservation I had inside me snapped in and instant and I found my voice rising with every word I spoke. “I don’t give a good god damn about your apology Beau. You may have thought you had a hard time coming out recently, but you weren’t sixteen years old with every single person you knew calling you a faggot to your face.” My face flushed with heat, my fists balling up at my sides. “And then people like you who claim that they never did anything that bad just sat there and let them continue calling me that and did nothing. You might as well have been shouting along with them for all I care!”

Even in the dark, I watched as all the color drained out of Beau’s face. His jaw moved like he was trying to figure out what to say, but no words came out.

“Everyone in town has always loved you. You were Mr. Popular, and you could do no wrong. Meanwhile I was the one they kicked dirt at while you said nothing to stop them. Then,when I finally tried to get out of this hell hole, everyone told me I was being stupid. That I’d never make it in the big city.”

I stopped for a second, my breath catching in my throat. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes, but I held them back, determined not to cry in front of Beau.

“And they were right I guess,” I muttered, more to myself than anyone else. “Now I’m back here with nothing to show for it and I’ve lost my best friend to you. I’ve… I’ve got nothing left.”

“Logan…”

“No!” I cried, slapping Beau’s hand away as he reached for me. “I don’t want your pity or your friendship. Go fuck yourself!”

With that I stormed away out onto the prairie, fully aware I was acting like a child throwing a tantrum. But I couldn’t let Beau see me cry. Not him of all people. He didn’t deserve that. And as far as I was concerned, he didn’t deserve Lucas either.

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