Page 66 of His Fresh Start Cowboy
Mom clucked her tongue. “Men and their pride. You’ll carry it to your graves, the lot of you.”
“Probably.” He looked at Hugo, who was an odd mix of contrite and sad. “You feel safe sleeping in the bunkhouse alone tonight? I can take one of the other bunks. Especially after a night like this.”
“I, um...” Hugo glanced at Mom but her expression was perfectly neutral. “I feel safe here on the land but it would, uh, be nice to have a friend nearby. Just for my first night.”
“I think that’s a fine idea,” Mom said. “You boys go get some sleep. Breakfast will be ready at eight.” She started tidying up the kitchen table and tossing away trash, so perfectly innocent about all this that Brand wanted to hug her. To tell her the truth about him and Hugo.
Not yet.
Brand went upstairs to get sleeping clothes and brush his teeth. Brutus met him at the bottom of the stairs and followed Brand out of the house. When they arrived at the guesthouse, only the bedroom light blazed. Hugo had done up the bottom bunk across from his and he lounged on his own bed, reading something on his phone. Hugo had even put his handmade “Live, Laugh, Fuck Off” latch hook rug on the floor by his bunk. Brand wanted to climb right into bed with Hugo and hold him all night long, but that obviously wasn’t what Hugo wanted. So Brand went into the bunkhouse bathroom to change his clothes and take a whiz, and then climbed into his bed for the night. His face still hurt but it was a small price to pay for defending Hugo’s honor.
“How do you feel?” Hugo asked.
Hugo had put his phone down and Brand met his gaze across the smallish room. “Sore but proud. We kicked their asses twice. How’re your hands?”
“Sore, but I got worse road rash when I crashed the scooter. I think I need to start wearing work gloves everywhere I go.”
Brand snorted. “Probably. You are safe here, Hugo. Not just on the land, but Brutus is out in the front room. He’s the best dog.”
“Yeah, he is.” Hugo looked at his lap briefly. “I don’t wanna risk us getting caught by asking you to sleep with me tonight, but, um, can I kiss you goodnight?”
“For sure. I love kissing you.”
Brand sat up, overjoyed when Hugo padded across the wood floor to sit on Brand’s bunk. Hugo cupped both sides of his face in a gentle grip and gave Brand the softest, most sensual kiss of his life. Careful of Brand’s cuts and bruises, Hugo made love to his mouth in the sweetest way possible, leaving Brand breathless and aching for more. But Hugo simply kissed the tip of his nose, then returned to his own bunk.
For as exhausted as he was, Brand didn’t fall asleep for a long damned time. He stared at the random shapes on the walls and floor, cast by the bright moon and lack of curtains on the windows. Hugo snored softly, the lucky bastard finding rest that eluded Brand. Eventually, Brand drifted in and out of sleep, only to come awake with a start, heart pounding in his chest. Someone whined nearby, and it took him several seconds to realize Hugo was in distress.
He scrambled out of bed and crossed the room to sit on the edge of Hugo’s bunk. Hugo’s face was scrunched and sweaty, and he clung to his thin blanket. With no a/c, the room was uncomfortably warm, but Hugo clutched at the blanket like it was a shield from the rest of the world.
“Hey, come on, H, wake up,” Brand said quietly. “It’s just a bad dream.”
Hugo jerked violently as he came awake, his upper half jackknifing into a vertical position. He held the blanket high against his chest for several long, agonizing moments before recognition smoothed his expression. “Brand. Sorry, did I wake you?”
“I wasn’t really asleep.” He unclenched one of Hugo’s hands from the blanket and held it tight, trying to give some of his strength to Hugo. “Bad dream?”
“Yeah, happens sometimes.”
“Do you remember what it was about?”
“No, I almost never do.” Hugo let out a long breath, then covered Brand’s hand with his. “Mostly it’s just the fear. Being trapped. Suffocated. Scared. Only the second time I’ve had one since I’ve been back to Texas.”
“When was the first?”
“The night after I saw Buck again for the first time in years. He made me feel like a helpless kid again, but not anymore. Tonight, I guess between being arrested and two fights, it just got to me.”
“Hey, I’d be worried if all that shit in twenty-four hours didn’t affect you somehow.” Brand took a chance on brushing a kiss across Hugo’s forehead, grateful when the younger guy seemed to relax even more. “It’s been a crazy few days.”
“No shit.” Hugo surprised the hell out of him by dragging Brand down on top of him, the blanket and top sheet separating them. But Brand swore he still felt Hugo’s enticing body heat between the layers of cotton. “I like this.”
“Me, too.” Brand pressed his forehead against the side of Hugo’s neck and breathed in the familiar scent of the man. A man he was very much falling for. And falling fast. “I was scared tonight. For you.”
He scowled. “I told you I can handle myself in a fight.”
“It wasn’t about you being able to defend yourself in a fight. It was just...” He bit back the instinctive urge to growl and kissed Hugo’s jaw instead. “I need you safe, Hugo. I can’t explain it, but I do.”
“Climb under the covers and keep me safe tonight?”
How was a man to refuse such a request? It took a minute or two for them to get the covers situated. Then Brand was curled up close to Hugo from behind, draping his broader body over Hugo’s slimmer one, loving the way Hugo fit there. Loving everything about this. Tucked close together, sharing body heat, despite the warm room. He nosed the back of Hugo’s neck, enjoying the scents of sweat and something like aloe. His shaving soap, maybe.
