Page 24 of Cowboy Seeks Husband
When Walker had gone, a strange hush settled over the house. Then all at once, everyone scrambled for the stairs. Ben and Roan alone remained where they were.
“Do you feel like the odd ones out?” Roan asked him.
Ben laughed, a surprisingly cheerful sound from the big, broody guy. “You could say that again.”
They gathered their bags and ambled up the stairs too. By the time they got upstairs, there was one bed left in each bedroom. Roan glanced at Ben, who shrugged. “They’re both top bunks.”
“Figures.”
Ben went right, and Roan turned left. He ended up in a room with Victor, Jaden, Peter, Chad, and Antoine.
“Hey, it’s Retching Roan,” Antoine called out. “Dude you’re not going to sleep above me, are you? What if you puke again?”
“Leave him alone,” Jaden said before Roan could open his mouth. He was lying on one side of the queen-size bed and Victor was spread out on the other. “You can switch with me, if you want, Roan. You know, if you don’t want to be on top of that idiot.”
Antoine sputtered. “As if he tops anyone!”
“Thanks,” Roan said, eyeing the queen bed. Victor took up about two thirds of it, and Jaden looked a little cramped. “But I’ll be fine.” He glared at Antoine. “And if I barf I’ll make sure to aim for your head.”
“Asshole,” Antoine muttered, but his cheeks stained red and he turned away. Typical weak bully.
“So what do you think about all this?” Peter asked. “I have to say the houses on other shows I’ve seen were always a lot fancier.”
“It’s a farm,” Victor said, stretching his arms above his head. “What did you expect?”
Roan tuned them out and hunted for a place to hang his clothes. There was plenty of closet space and a foldaway rack for each suitor to hang their clothes on. He’d brought enough stuff for two weeks all packed tightly in his two bags. It meant he’d be wearing the same things a few times, but that couldn’t be helped. And the contract stated that whoever was left in the final two weeks would be dressed by the sponsors of the show, so that was pretty cool.
Final two weeks. Would he even make it? Everyone was so gorgeous. And ruthless. And they all got bonus points for not puking in front of their cowboy.
The sun was starting to set, and Roan didn’t feel like hanging out in the house the whole evening. They’d have to talk about things as a group soon enough. About food, for one thing. Keeping the place clean, for another. Twelve people in one house wasn’t going to be easy, even if they would start falling away next week. What if it was him? Maybe he was unpacking for nothing. He dropped his stuff and left the others talking amongst themselves. From the bedroom across the hall came raucous laughter and Roan was secretly glad he didn’t have to be in there.
For now, he let it all go, went downstairs, and stepped out of the backdoor leading from the kitchen.
“You can go on the porch but no farther,” someone to his right said. He was starting to get so used to all the crew milling around he hadn’t even noticed the guy.
“Okay.”
There were still people around but decidedly fewer. The lights of several cameras blinked at him as he made his way into the heat. A low hum of cicadas had been omnipresent all day but the lower the sun sank, the louder they seemed to become. He swatted at some unknown bug as he explored the big back porch, taking in the grassy and moderately rolling landscape. Less hilly than Ohio but not as flat as he’d imagined, either. The horizon was interrupted here and there by huge oak trees, their limbs spidering dramatically out of the trunk. A pond glistened in the not-too-far distance, and Roan’s jaw clenched shut as his eyes widened. Were there alligators in there? Would they come up to the house? He hoped not.
“Oh, hey.”
He spun around and came face-to-face with Ben. They were so in sync, it seemed, that he wasn’t even surprised to see him. “Hi.”
Ben’s smile was sweet. “You escaped too, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s been a pretty wild day. I just wanted some peace.”
“I can go, if you want.” Ben jerked his thumb back toward the house.
“Nah.” Roan grinned and went to sit in one of the rocking chairs that overlooked the quiet fields with grazing cows. “I think you’re kind of a peaceful guy.”
Ben didn’t smile again, but he did sit right beside Roan, who was suddenly a lot more aware of the cameras pointing toward them. “Yeah, I guess I am.” A blessed breeze came from across the fields and they both sighed and then chuckled. “Where you from, Roan?”
“Ohio. You?”
“Florida.”
“No way. So this heat is like home to you, I guess?”
