Page 52 of Rainbow Rodeo

“We should take the long way around, do a little exploring, huh?”

“We should. We can climb up the hill in the residential and see all the stuff from up there.”

“Works for me. I’m full to bursting, and I could use a wander.”

Tank paid for supper, waving him off when he would have protested. “I got this. No worries.”

“Well, thank you, sir. I owe you one.” Dalton felt a little like he was being wooed. He sorta liked it.

“Yep.” Tank seemed pretty cheerful about that, so he let it go. They headed out, the cool evening air almost chilly, and the night quiet compared to inside the restaurant.

The sun sank down behind the mountains, the sky going orange and pink. God, that was lovely. They climbed the steep hill on one side of town, trekking up to the very top so they could look down on the lights.

“Damn, that’s pretty. Look at all that.” He dared to lean against Tank a little.

Tank took his hand. They were out of sight of anyone who wasn’t in one of the houses around, so they walked like that, just wandering.

It felt so decadent, like this odd fantasy come to life. The lights down there twinkled, and Tank’s fingers were warm around his, and everything seemed amazing.

He gave a little prayer, just a hint of thanks. Life was good.

Tank pulled him closer, wrapping an arm around him. “It’s nice up here, huh?”

“Yessir. This is…. Thank you.”

“Oh hell, honey. Thank you for coming up with me.”

He squeezed Tank’s fingers. It had been a damn good last-minute decision.

“Think we walked off enough supper?” Tank asked.

“I do. Want to go do things that would frighten fish?”

“Fuck yeah.” Tank steered him back down the hill. “You go up another block, there’s a trail where you can hike to Doc Holliday’s grave.”

“Yeah? We can go up tomorrow.” Tonight he had plans.

“It closes at dusk, but it’ll be a nice little hike to work out the sore.” Tank chuckled low. “Then we go soak.”

“Sounds good.” He loved the idea that tonight would give them soreness to work on.

They made it back down to the walking bridge, the scene totally different now that it was dark. It wasn’t frightening, but the buskers were out, and couples holding hands. The lights from the pool cast a glow on everything, and they ran back from the mini golf course to the hotel, laughing like kids.

“Y’all have a good night?” Rocket was sitting out in front of the Hotel Colorado, right there on a bench.

They stopped as if someone had hit them. “Yessir. We did.” Tank was starting to sound annoyed.

“Good deal. You want to go have a beer?”

“Nope. We got plans. Sorry.” He wasn’t interested. Not at all.

“Night.” Tank tugged him past, heading for their room. They were inside before Tank shook his head. “What the hell is with that guy?”

“He’s just an ex. Really. It’s a little weird that he’s here.”

“Yeah? Well, if it’s gonna bug you, we can head off to Telluride or something.” Tank rubbed his arms, looking into his eyes.

“No. No, I’m happy with you here. We have plans for tomorrow.” He was going to text Dustin and tell him that if he ended up dead, Rocket was to blame.

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