Page 75 of No Rules

Wait, what? He tripped over his feet but steadied himself with fast reflexes, saving him from falling.

“Careful, baby boy. Don’t want to have to carry you down this mountain.”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. Sorry.”

“You okay? You look as if something spooked you.”

Spooked? That wasn’t the right word. More like shocked. How had he not realized he’d fallen in love with Ryan? All the signs had been there, but he’d been blind to them, maybe on purpose. Because what good could come from this when Ryan would never see him the same way? Ugh, he cared for Alex, that much he was convinced of. He’d become more than a fuck toy for Ryan. But the gap between fuck toy and love was wide, and it would never be bridged.

“I’m fine. Lost in thought for a moment.”

Ryan studied him for a beat more, then shrugged. “Okay.”

Shit, what did he do now? Could he continue the way they had, pretending nothing had changed? What choice did he have? Telling Ryan how he felt was a surefire recipe for disaster, with the potential for Ryan breaking off things between them. No, he couldn’t risk that. And what reason would he have for telling him when he knew it could only change things for the worse? Pretending was easier. Safer. And it wasn’t like he needed to try to protect himself from the emotional pain when things would inevitably end. Too late for that.

“Look.” Ryan pointed ahead. “That’s gotta be the summit.”

Alex shook his head, refocusing. “Yay, we’re almost there.”

A minute later, they stood side by side, taking in the vista in front of them. Far below them was Lake Moreau, a tiny blue puddle from this height, surrounded by forests. As far as they could see, mountains stretched out into the distance, most of them with white caps. The higher elevations had already gotten the first snow, then, which didn’t surprise Alex.

“Damn, this view is pretty spectacular,” Ryan said. “Though I’m not sure which way is Vermont.”

Alex grabbed the compass he had clipped to the strap of his backpack and checked their bearings. “We’re looking straight east, so to the northeast is Vermont and the White Mountains, and to the southeast should be New Hampshire and the Green Mountains. We can’t see in that direction, but to the north, straight to our left, is Lake George.”

“Damn.” Ryan did a slow pan from left to right. “Never knew New York was this beautiful.”

Alex grinned. “You’re genetically wired to dislike anything other than Texas.”

“True, true. But I gotta admit this is impressive.”

They sat on a rock, so close their shoulders almost touched, and Alex dug into his backpack, pulled out some meal bars, and handed one to Ryan. “Here.”

“Thank you, baby boy.”

“I’ve always wondered why you started calling me that.”

“What, baby boy?”

“Yeah.”

Ryan shrugged. “Because it pissed you off. You had this whole innocent look of a sugar baby looking for a Daddy.”

“A Daddy? Not quite my kink, but thank you. Also, I’m very much not a sugar baby.”

“Yeah, so I’ve noticed. I had you pegged wrong.”

Alex quirked an eyebrow. “Did I hear that correctly? Did you just admit you were wrong? The great, infallible Ryan Mason admits he’s wrong?”

Ryan shot him a dark look. “Don’t be an asshole about it, okay? Or I’ll figure out some fitting punishments.”

“Oh, are you gonna spank me if I’m bad, Daddy?” Alex teased him.

“Jesus, I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

“Yup, you’ve awakened the brat in me.”

“We’ll see how long that lasts when I smack my crop on your ass, boy.”

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