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“I think just a little. I didn’t have to beat him, though.”

“No beatings necessary. If he’d grabbed my balls, we may have revisited.”

“I doubt you would have waited for me, honey.” Tank threw on a different pair of shorts and that ridiculous shirt.

“No shit on that.” He didn’t have to worry too hard on defending himself. He knew how.

“I told you how hot you were, right?”

“Huh?”Like this afternoon? Yeah. Yeah, told. Showed. All the good words.

“When you asked why you.” Tank strolled along, stopped to peer into the grill. “They might be closing up. Let’s get burgers to go.”

“Works for me.” They ordered burgers, fries, Cokes, and then leaned and waited for the food to be made up. They mostly grinned at each other instead of chatting, but the silence wasn’t weird.

After all, they’d known each other for a while now.

They headed back up the stairs, these coming right out at the hotel crosswalk. The burgers smelled damn good, and they set up in the little sitting area in the room, munching away.

Dalton tossed Tank the remote, and he found something pointless and forgettable on the tube. Sometimes a man needed to actually relax during his downtime.

His phone buzzed, Dustin’s name popping up with a picture of a huge steak and abet u wish u were here.

Yeah, no.

Steak was nice. Tank was better than any food.

“Everything okay?” Tank asked. In rodeo, any text or call could be bad news.

“Bubba’s having a slab of meat. He wanted to share.”

Tank blinked, one eyebrow lifted, and then he nodded. “Ah. We’ll send him a shot of Juicy Lucy tomorrow.”

“I can do that. He loves his food porn.”

“Yeah? I feel awful how I don’t know more about him.”

“He’s a good guy. Better than me. Smart, solid.” Dalton was a better rider, but that was it.

“Don’t sell yourself short.” Tank reached out to squeeze his leg.

“I’m not. I just know what’s what.” He was his daddy’s son.

“You’re a good egg, honey.”

“Half of one, anyway.” He snorted.Ah. Twin humor.

Tank laughed right out loud, a happy sound that made him smile.

Oh. Oh, that was cool. Someone who got him.

Tank crumpled up all their wrappers and rose, then took them to the trash. When he raised an eyebrow, Tank shrugged. “They start to stink, which would put me off my cuddle game.”

Cuddle game. Okay, he hadn’t thought of himself as cuddly in a lifetime. He couldn’t wait.

When Tank held out a hand, he took it. They moved to the couch instead of the chairs, but that still had a good TV view. Tank settled against one arm of the couch, then reeled him right in. Cuddle level expert.

He could… he could learn to need this.