Page 59 of Rainbow Rodeo

Dalton came in, shot him a smile, and washed his hands. “Hey, stranger.”

“Hey. You doing okay?”

“I am. Thanks for the help. You made it easier.”

“No problem, honey. I don’t mind a bit. Deb says we have time to sit a little if you want, but I figured we’d go on.”

“Let’s go. That way when we light, we can stay.”

“Sounds good to me.” He led Dalton to the truck, reaching over to touch once they were inside the cab. “Boo.”

“Eek.” Dalton took his hand.

“Brisket sounds real good, huh?” They’d bonded over food a lot. That and hot sex. Nuclear hot.

“Brisket does. We’ll get the sides and the desserts, then whatever we need for us.”

“We need some Cokes. Some kind of chips. What’s your position on Doritos?”

“Doritos are magical animals. I like to mix them with hot Cheetos and sour cream and onion potato chips and peanuts.”

Tank tilted his head to one side. “Snack mix. I approve.”

“Exactly! A little bit of everything.” Dalton looked so pleased. “I want some cereal too. I like that in the middle of the night, sometimes.”

“Lucky Charms?” Tank got the truck moving. There was a store called City Market right on the edge of town. It was a Kroger thingee, he thought. That would be a great store to get their stuff.

“I’m easy.”

“Cool.” He wanted to ask all sorts of other questions, but he wasn’t sure if Dalton would think he was nuts or what.

“We got all the pantry basics—oil, salt, pepper, coffee, Dr Pepper.”

“Good deal. Hot sauce?” He put hot sauce on almost everything.

“I got Pace and Cholula.”

“Now that’s great news.” This was fun as hell, learning about each other, playing house.

“Hot sauce is proof God loves us.”

“You know it. What do you think about jalapeño poppers?”

Dalton grinned. “I’ve never met one I didn’t love.”

“I’ll make some tonight for the cookout.” He was getting jazzed about the grilling and smoking.

“Just make sure I get some. These guys are wolverines about peppers.”

“I’ll put a plate of them aside.” Tank could puff up big.

Dalton’s smile made the offer worth it. Hell, he’d put back two.

They pulled up at the store, and they both took a moment to admire the view of the ski mountain when they stepped out of the truck.

“Look at that….” There was a longing in Dalton’s voice, something all Texans seemed to have, this fascination with the mountains.

“I know. It’s something, huh? You wonder why they called it Purgatory.”

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