Page 102 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“Tomorrow? Isn’t July 4th today?” Rod nudged his husband before spooning jam onto a slice of toast.
“Yes, but they hold the rodeo on a weekend so more people can come, both participants and spectators.” Wyl shoved a slice of bacon in his mouth, followed by a forkful of egg.
“Did you ever compete?” Rod bit off a corner of jam-covered toast dipped in runny egg yolk.
Wyl washed his swallow down with coffee. “Walt and I competed in different sports in high school.” His coffee mug thunked to the breakfast bar. “Remember the story about kids calling me Wyl and him Won’t because Walt didn’t play football? Blackfield High didn’t have a rodeo team, so he competed with the college team. He won a couple of ribbons, as I recall.”
“Did you ever win any ribbons?” Rod shoved the rest of his egg onto his fork, along with a bit of toast, and lifted it to his mouth.
“No ribbons for me. There are no ribbons in football.” Wyl grabbed another triangle of toast and tore it in half, wiping the egg from his plate before popping it in his mouth.
“I wish I had been there to lust after…I mean…see you play.” Rod watched Wyl and waited for a reaction. Wyl never passed up an opportunity to tease.
Wyl gave him a sideways glance. “That makes you a child molester. You graduated from college while I was still in high school.”
Rod socked him in the shoulder. “Shut up! You wouldn’t have noticed me in high school. You were a big, tough football player, and I was a skinny, nerdy guy with few friends. Besides, I didn’t know what gay meant.” He forked his last bite of toast and swiped it through the runny egg on his plate before shoving it into his mouth.
“Yes, but you aremyskinny, nerdy guy, and it took 25 years, but I did notice you. Although I remember interrupting your crying spree to beg you to give me another chance.” Wyl grinned and picked up his plate to take to the sink. “Besides, I love you.”
Rod shook his head. “Uh-huh…sure…make me feel old, then whiney, then a predator, then guilty, all in the span of five seconds.”
“Did it take that long?” Wyl smirked.
“Shut up.” Rod set his plate in the sink and turned to walk out of the kitchen with smug satisfaction. He’d show Wyl who was boss. “Just for that, you’re doing clean-up duty alone this morning.”
Wyl grabbed silverware from the sink and let it clatter to the porcelain surface as he cried, “Ow-ow-ow.”
Panic tore through Rod. If Wyl was hurt, he’d never forgive himself for his attitude. He flew to the sink and grabbed Wyl’s hand, inspecting it for damage. “Did you cut yourself?”
“Gotcha.” Wyl wrapped his arms around Rod, trapping him in a wet-handed embrace. “Now help me clean up these dishes.”
“Bastard!” Rod playfully pushed Wyl away and opened the dishwasher. “So, who represents Sterling Ranch in the rodeo?”
“Charles and Doug. They participate in the team roping competition.” Wyl handed Rod a rinsed plate.
“What’s team roping?” Rod added the plate to the dishwasher.
“It involves two cowboys working together to bring down the calf.” Wyl handed over the second plate. “The first, known as the header, does what the name implies and ropes the head of the calf. The other cowboy, known as the heeler, ropes the heels or hind legs of the calf. Together, the two are tasked with bringing the calf to the ground.”
“Wow,” Rod said, adding the second plate to the dishwasher. “That takes a lot of skill and coordination, right?”
“It takes two cowboys who can sense each other's movements and anticipate the moves of the calf.” Wyl gathered a fistful of silverware and rinsed it before handing it to Rod. “They need responsive horses. Charles and Doug work well together and use two of our best horses.” He grabbed the coffee mugs from the counter and rinsed them out.
“I thought we rode the best horses on the ranch.” Rod sorted the silverware and added it to the basket his way.
“The best horses for us, yes. But our horses aren’t trained in rodeo competitions. Charles and Doug spent time making sure their horses were trained to compete.” Wyl handed the coffee mugs to Rod. “When ranching duties are done, they can practice all they want.”
“I can hardly wait to see this. I never attended a rodeo.”
“I’ll sit next to you and tell you what’s going on, and you can whisper in my ear like I do yours when you take me to the opera or the symphony.” Wyl held a sly grin as he turned off the water.
“You do that on purpose, don’t you?” Rod rolled his eyes, adding the mugs to the dishwasher.
“I like getting you worked up,” Wyl winked and grabbed a kitchen towel to dry his hands. “To tell you the truth, I even liked driving you crazy the night we went to the symphony in Big Spring.”
“Shit!” Rod shoved Wyl’s shoulder as he closed the dishwasher. “You don’t have a clue how much that turned me on. Besides, you hesitated to tell me you were gay.”
“I didn’t want you to know.” He offered the towel to Rod. “Even after I made you tell me you were gay, I didn’t want to be theme tooguy.”
