Page 1 of The Cowboy's Home
One
Skyler
Weddings were not something that Skyler had a lot of interest in, but of course, he was going to be there for his best friend. It was about time that Kyle would find someone to be in love with, as far as he was concerned. Yes, it probably meant that he was going to lose his best friend, at least partially, but it was worth it if Kyle was happy.
Kyle had been so miserable for so long. And so had Skyler, but there was no gorgeous, strong cowboy waiting in the wings to sweep him up. Kyle and Malcolm were so perfect for each other, and Skyler had long ago realized that he was not going to find anything even remotely like that for himself. Not ever.
Not that he was miserable. He was fine with being alone, with having a few good friends, like Kyle. And Malcolm had already made it clear that Skyler had a place here on the ranch. There was really no reason to go back to Seattle, where he and Kyle had originally come from.
It was enough just to be here, surrounded by all of these incredibly happy people. Malcolm and Kyle were so visibly in love, and the people here, even in Kansas, were so happy to witness that. It was a huge difference from Kyle’s own experience.
For a moment, he let his imagination go wild and thought about if he got married himself. He wasn’t interested at this time, or probably ever, but he went with it. He imagined his parents there, or even just his parents allowing his little sister to come. And then the image in his head cracked into a million little pieces and shattered because it was ridiculous.
It was more likely God himself would come down from Heaven and give him a thumbs up than his parents would.
Kyle and Malcolm were dancing, Kyle stretched way up onto his tiptoes, both of them so unbearably beautiful in the shimmering golden light. Kyle was whispering something in Malcolm’s ear, and from the slight flush on Malcolm’s cheeks, it was something sexually charged. Well, good for them.
But there was another dance going on, too. It had surprised Skyler a little bit when he’d realized it, but Malcolm’s younger brother, Derrick, and the enormous cowboy farmhand, Logan, were circling each other. Neither of them seemed exactly happy about it, and they were resisting it, but Skyler had the idea that they weren’t going to win.
It was like they were two oppositely-charged magnets. They could fight to stay apart, but it was hopeless. And if they did manage it, it would be a lot of work for a lot of pain. Time would tell, but Skyler was going to have to keep an eye on it. It would bother him otherwise. Derrick was a bit of a snob, but Skyler had had some good conversations with him about books that they’d both read. And Logan had been nothing but sweet to Skyler from the moment he’d arrived.
He surprised himself by hoping that they made it.
Did they realize that, throughout the party, they had been slowly drifting toward each other? It was all so fascinating.
Skyler drifted through the wedding, as he drifted through life, just watching everything. Not participating, just watching. He didn’t dance, he didn’t talk to people, not unless they talked to him first and that rarely happened. He had long ago come to grips with the fact that he was just not the sort of person that people were drawn to talk to. And it was probably better that way.
Then the DJ pulled a prank, one that changed Skyler’s life forever, although he didn’t know it just then. He called a special dance, one where all couples must be male/male or female/female. No straight couples allowed. It was, of course, a completely appropriate, if slightly bratty, thing for someone to do at a same-sex wedding, and the really funny thing was that, at first, Skyler didn’t even think of it as relevant to him.
All around him, people were pairing up. People who, absolutely guaranteed, had never considered themselves as being the sorts of people who would ever dance with another man or another woman, they were putting that aside and pulling each other tight. And Skyler was definitely in a position to know that was a special sort of magic all on its own.
Like it or not, people were changing. The world was changing. It was too late for Skyler to find acceptance, maybe, but it would be better for the next generation, and maybe that was all that anyone could really hope for.
“Skyler?”
Slowly, Skyler turned his head. He had to tilt it back and up to look up into the most intensely blue pair of eyes. Up and up some more, because the man who was speaking to him was a giant.
He was also one of the Hart brothers, like Malcolm and Derrick. That much, Skyler had picked up, and also that this one, Craig, had been in the military. Just like Derrick, who had been away at school, he had come back because John Hart, their father, was sick. Actually, that was the reason that this wedding was happening so fast. Neither Kyle nor Malcolm had been in a huge hurry, but Malcolm’s father had been.
He didn’t know how much time he had, and he’d wanted to see one of his boys, at least, settled and happy just in case the worst happened.
“Hello, Craig,” Skyler replied, and the weirdest thing happened then. His gaze was caught and held, if only by a moment, by the remarkable, heavenly sky-blue of those eyes. Craig was handsome, of course. Skyler had known it from the moment he first saw him. All of the Hart boys were handsome, and Craig was no exception. But the full impact of it hadn’t really been there for Skyler when they’d met. He had been so busy worrying about Kyle.
“Do you wanna?” Craig asked, and Skyler just stared at him blankly for a second. Why this man was talking to him, he didn’t get, not at first. But Craig was offering his hand and gesturing with his head toward the section of grass that was being used as the dance floor, and the meaning was clear.
Why Craig would be asking him to dance, that part, Skyler didn’t get. But that it was happening, that was undeniable. There were so many other men here that Craig could have asked, but for some reason, he was looking at Skyler. It was baffling.
“Okay?” Skyler said, only it came out more like a question. But it was a question that went unanswered. Craig grinned at him, probably the most handsome, wide, sincere grin that Skyler had ever seen from anyone, and Skyler placed his own hand into Craig’s.
He had never before realized just how small his hand was. Seemingly lost in it, Skyler was amazed at how Craig’s huge palm dwarfed it. But for just a moment, Skyler felt safe. It was not a sensation he was used to, and he quickly pushed it away, but it had undeniably been there. Even when he glanced away, he could feel the weight of Craig’s gaze on him, and he didn’t understand why.
It was a slow song, sweet and romantic, a man’s voice crooning about love and comfort and other things that Skyler also didn’t understand. But Craig just wrapped his arms around him, and it was the same sensation as when their hands met just before Craig led him out onto the floor. The same sense of being swallowed up, but also of safety. Craig was enormous, not only a good six or seven inches taller than Skyler but close to twice as big as him.
Other people were coupling up, wrapped around each other. Most of them seemed to be having a good time with it, and no one seemed actively uncomfortable. But Skyler’s gaze was pulled away when one particular couple, two incredibly tall, incredibly handsome, men drifted by together, not talking, just looking at each other.
Briefly, Skyler let a smile touch his lips. He had known it. It was Derrick and Logan, and they were lost to the world—not paying attention to anything else.
“What are you looking at?” Craig asked, and Skyler gave a little start as he was turned so that Craig could see Derrick and Logan. What would the man think about his youngest brother being wrapped around the hired help? Craig was clearly not all that homophobic since he was happily dancing with Skyler, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have some sort of subconscious bias. Craig was a military man, after all, and the military was hardly known to be a bastion of gay rights.
