Page 100 of The Texas Sterling Collection
Rod stirred at the movement before snaking his arms around Wyl.
“Babe, nothing I can say will compensate for how I lashed out last night. It was a very stressful evening for both of us, and I’m sorry I overreacted. Shifty’s hostilities are not your fault. The fire put us both under a lot of pressure. My mouth took over, with my brain in neutral.”
Rod nodded.
Wyl breathed in the scent of smoke, sweat, and Rod. “Baby, you mean more to me than anything in this world. The fire, the threat, and the potential loss overwhelmed me. I’m so sorry. Hurting you is the last thing I want to do, cowboy. I love you.”
Rod snuggled closer and hugged him so tightly that his breathing stopped. He didn’t care. This strong, confident man was the boulder he leaned on, the sturdy hand that pulled him out of the closet, the one who made his day brighter and his night cozier.
“I love you so much,” Rod eased his grip. “I didn’t mean to do anything to incite Shifty. I was only trying to protect you.”
“I know, baby. You were right to call Shifty on his attitude. Last night, we experienced a major incident, and we were both tired. As a result, I said things in haste and anger. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I overreacted, too.” Rod chuckled. “I said the f-bomb more times last night than in the past decade.”
Wyl caressed Rod’s back. “As I said before, you’re cute when you cuss. It’s a turn-on, actually.”
Rod laughed and leaned back to gaze into Wyl’s clear, green eyes. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”
Wyl laughed, and the tension in his chest eased. “I hear make-up sex is the best.” He leaned in to kiss Rod.
“Can we not fight like that anymore?” Rod’s eyes pleaded along with his words.
“I hope we have no more barn fires or rocks thrown through our front window. But even if we do, having you is more important than anything else. So, I agree, let’s not fight like that again.”
Rod sniffed Wyl’s shirt. “Ugh…we both stink. Let’s grab a hot shower, then have breakfast. I’m hungry.”
They tugged on their boots, locked up the office, and strolled toward the house. “The barn doesn’t look too bad from this distance,” Wyl said.
“I remember the fire chief saying the inside had minor damage,” Rod said. “We can do a thorough inspection after breakfast.”
“Felipe and the hands should be here by then. They’ll be able to clean out the wet mess inside, so maybe the horses can return to their stalls by evening.”
After a shower, they fixed breakfast. Rod fried sausage patties, then scrambled the eggs while Wyl made toast and coffee and poured juice.
“Are we insured?” Rod asked, stirring the eggs with a wooden spatula.
Wyl shook his head. “We don’t insure the structures, but we do insure the contents. The horses are the most valuable thing in the stable.”
“No insurance on the barn?” Rod asked. “What about the other structures?”
“We self-insure, babe. Insurance on the ranch structures would cost a fortune. The only buildings we insure are the bunk house for the hands, Felipe’s residence, and the stables where the hands store the ranch workhorses. And that is mostly for the protection of the dedicated ranch workers.”
Rod scooped scrambled eggs onto plates and added sausage patties. “That makes sense.”
“The biggest issue is the rock thrown through the window and the note tied to it,” Wyl said. After Rod set them on the breakfast bar, he added toast to the plates. “We don’t know who wrote the note, but I’m betting it wasn’t Shifty.” The note still lay on the coffee table. “He’s the rock-throwing kind, but I bet someone else wrote that note.”
They sat to enjoy breakfast. “Who would do such a thing?” Rod asked, drizzling honey on his toast.
“I don’t have a clue,” Wyl said. “Maybe the guy at the college who started the rumor about us kissing in the courtyard? You never did give me any details about that.”
Rod finished his bite of scrambled egg. “I guess it won’t hurt to tell you now. It was Alfonso Ortega.”
“My biology teacher?” Wyl gasped.
Rod nodded, chewing a wedge of sausage patty.
“What was his problem?”
