Page 12 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight

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nly problem was, Grady couldn’t stop wondering about it.

If Cole could ride like that, it meant he’d probably had a damn good horse.

Horse like that? Well, you’d get more for selling it to someone who wants to ride it, not just selling it on to get rid of it.

Chloe was a damn pain in the ass, and maybe Cole would be the only one who could ever ride her properly, but no way a horse like her would end up at the slaughterhouse.

Grady had come into town to pick up a piece of machinery he’d ordered to upgrade the header.

He decided to stop in at the bar for a beer.

Because that was the other thing. Normally he only needed to scratch that itch every now and then.

But lately, Grady felt like he needed to blow off steam weekly.

He ordered a beer and nodded acknowledgment to the guys warming the bar. He sipped and made eye contact with Chris.

Chris nodded back, holding Grady’s gaze for a moment longer than everyone else before he went back to talking to Steve.

Steve had been running his dad’s farm for at least a year now, but no doubt still had a lot of questions because he’d gone to the city straight from school and had missed the worst of the heat cooking the land these last few years.

He’d have to adapt like the rest of them had.

Grady finished his beer, shook his head at Donna when she came over to ask if he wanted another one, then headed out.

He went down the alley between the bar and the grocery store, stepped into the alcove, lit a cigarette and listened as the sound of boots crunching on the gravel came towards him.

Grady took a drag, and Chris stepped in front of him.

“Grady.”

Grady nodded, dropped the cigarette, crushed it under his boot and went for his belt. Chris sank to his knees in front of him. Grady pulled his dick out, gave it a few strokes as Chris leaned forward and gripped Grady’s hips.

Chris sucked the head into his mouth, then sank all the way down.

Grady let out a long exhale and focused on the pleasure of that wet heat engulfing his dick as Chris got him hard with a few quick sucks before settling into a good rhythm. Grady groaned quietly, rocked his hips, felt his dick bump the back of Chris’s throat.

Chris brought one hand off Grady’s hip, wrapped it around the base of his shaft and jerked him off in time with his mouth. His suction was ruthless in a way that’d get Grady there fast.

Grady let himself go into the feeling of that hot mouth, that tight pressure. He came with a grunt. Chris pulled off and spat into the dirt. He stood and went for his own belt.

Grady tucked himself away, did his buttons up and fixed his belt before dropping to his knees and returning the favor. Chris was already hard, so Grady sucked him down and sucked him off in the same way he liked it done on himself—efficiently.

“Jesus Christ,” Chris muttered above him as he rocked his hips forward.

Grady let him use his mouth, and that always did it; Chris was shooting off within a few minutes.

Grady stood and spat. Chris chuckled and fixed his belt.

“You were on the Cole settlement,” Grady said as he caught his breath.

Chris finished with his belt and glanced up. Grady couldn’t make out his expression that well as dusk fell around them, but his voice was easygoing as he replied. “Yeah, while ago now though. Not much left in it. What’re you after?”

Grady shook his head in response to the question. He couldn’t believe he was asking. But here he was, asking.

“Just wonderin’ what happened to their horses.”

Chris blew out a breath, stepped back into the alley and paused while Grady came up beside him.

“Ain’t got no horses left.”

Grady offered Chris a cigarette. He took it, and they headed back towards the road.

“I figured. Shipped ’em for slaughter?”

“Hmmm,” Chris took a drag. “Think they were good ridin’. Think Stewart’s missus took ’em for the school. Cost a pretty penny, but y’know he’s whipped for ’er.”

“I know it. All of ’em?”

“What, you need some horses? Can get you some better ones than that. Got a good guy in the city if you can manage the ex-racers. Cheap, too.”

They were on the street now, and the light from the bar windows lit up the asphalt with two elongated rectangles. The place buzzed with noise, but otherwise all was dark, quiet.

“Nah, just been thinkin’ on it.”

“That’s a mighty peculiar thing to be ponderin’ on.” Chris looked back at the bar as he said it. “You comin’ back in?”

Grady shook his head.

“All right.” Chris flicked his cigarette out and went back in through the old wooden door, the buzz of male voices spilling out onto the street before getting muffled as the door swung shut. Grady made his way back to his truck.

He thought about it on the drive home. Not that there was much to think on, but that didn’t stop him going back and forth on whether or not to say something, put the kid’s mind at ease.

At least she wasn’t dead. Maybe. But was that better?

Grady had watched Cole ride Chloe for one day, and he swore the kid was already in love with her.

The thought of someone else using a horse he’d presumably had since he could take riding seriously? Must’ve been torture.

Still, Grady would want to know if it was him. He drove up over the little hill before descending down to the house. He put the truck in Park, got out, went on up to the house, and decided he was going to tell him.

Grady went in and looked into the living room, expecting the kid to be up reading like usual, but he wasn’t there.

He must’ve turned in already. Or maybe he was reading in bed.

Grady had caught him at it before, staying up to all hours while he devoured another book, the choice of which made no sense to Grady.

Last he’d seen it was To Kill a Mockingbird and Grady had said, “You’ll like that one,” and Cole replied he’d read it before, he’d read them all before, and Grady didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

He got his boots off and climbed the stairs. The light from the lamp was spilling out of the kid’s room, the door wide open. He laughed under his breath.

He figured he’d guessed right.

Grady got to the door and stopped. Cole was asleep, book on his chest, one leg straight and the other up and cocked to the side; and from the angle it was hard not to notice how hard Cole’s dick was under those threadbare sweats.

Grady swallowed. He didn’t look away. Kid was hung.

Grady flicked his eyes up to Cole’s face and watched as he took deep, even breaths.

His lips were parted and his brow was creased like he was thinking on something bad even in sleep.

He looked back down at Cole’s dick like his eyes were drawn there by a magnet, made out the length and width of it against the material.

Grady felt his own dick responding and backed out of the room like he’d done something wrong.

He shook his head and headed for the shower, told himself not to think on it, and anyway, it was natural to get turned on if someone else was.

Grady stripped out of his clothes and got the water running. He stepped under the spray and had his hand around his dick before he could think too much about it. He got some soap around himself, lathered up, and knew he’d be drawing this out since it’d be the second one tonight.

He was like a teenager again. Only thing was, once he started stroking himself, he felt the pleasure spike quickly, and he was jerking it fast and rough, coming with harsh breaths under the sound of water hitting the tiles.

He got his breath back and stood under the spray until it went cold.