Page 37

Ziggy

Ziggy stared through the open doorway, eyes widening as Silas placed his carry-on down on one of the two single beds in the cabin.

“So, you and Silas will share this cabin, Ziggy,” Ethan stated, looking at the sheet of paper he held as he stepped off the porch. Apparently, he was unaware of the landmine he’d left behind for Ziggy to somehow deal with.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the man dressed in denim and plaid wearing a Stetson looking all kinds of fucking sexy. It wasn’t unfair, nor was it funny. Especially as Silas glanced up and offered a look that confused the heck of Ziggy.

What was his game?

“Jupiter, you’re next door with Wilder.”

“Say fucking what?” came a growl, and Ziggy at least had something else to focus on. Because thinking about being alone with Silas for a week in the same cabin? Nope, he wasn’t thinking about that right then with how long it had been since he’d had Silas on his knees—begging.

Ethan, a sexy cowboy with rugged good looks, didn’t so much as blink at the challenge in Jupiter’s gaze when the two faced off. Ethan nodded in a measured way.

“You heard, darlin’. You and Wilder are in there.” Ethan pointed to the cabin next to Ziggy’s.

“He’s not my PA anymore, Ziggy is!” Jupiter spat out. His usual flirty nature was nowhere to be found, gaining everyone’s attention. Only Ziggy was watching Wilder, who visibly paled at how adamant Jupiter was being about not wanting to share with him.

“No one told me you guys had swapped.” Ethan shrugged. His baseball cap shielded his eyes so Ziggy couldn’t determine why he got a feeling the man wasn’t being truthful. “You worked with Wilder, so what’s the issue?”

Had Silas set it up, so they’d share a cabin together?

Silas remained inside the cabin, acting like this had nothing to do with him, yet Ziggy couldn’t shake the feeling that was bullshit. If that was the case, then what did it mean? Was Silas just after getting his end away? Or was he after something else?

He wants us.

Don’t get your hopes up, not that I’m saying anything is gonna happen just because we’re alone.

They aren’t only my hopes, stop kidding yourself!

“I’ve no issue with who I’m sharing with,” Taylin’s glee butted into Ziggy’s thoughts.

“You’re mated, why would you care?” Rue asked, eyeing Monty like an unknown species. He lounged against a railing of a cabin on the other side of the one Jupiter had been allocated.

“Are we all sharing with our PAs?” Kodi asked, sounding way cooler than he normally did.

“Yep,” Ethan replied with a wide grin, his gaze sweeping over the group of men. “I emailed y’all with how this works. How many of y’all actually read what I sent?”

Isley was the first to put his hand up, then Lennon, Hollis, Frey, Bowie, and Monty followed. Thankfully, Ziggy wasn’t the only one who hadn’t gone through all the information. Wilder’s head shake came with a sniff and a puppy dog expression.

Ethan chuckled and shook his head, a gleam of interest appearing as he stared at Wilder. He had dressed for the part in skinny jeans and a T-shirt that stated ‘he likes to ride a cowboy’.

“Never mind, although it looks like this is your first lesson. Read shit you’re sent when it pertains to you.”

“Silas, get your fucking ass out here,” Laken snarled, not taking his eyes off Ethan.

Silas appeared in the doorway looking unconcerned, arms crossed as he leaned against the door frame. “You bellowed, Laken?”

“Why didn’t you say something about this plan?”

“You think I’ve got time to fucking spoon feed you?” He brushed past Ziggy, their knuckles bumping before he strode down the steps, his cowboy boots clacking on the wood. Ziggy had to resist rubbing at the tingling skin.

“I’m not. I don’t have time for that shit, and neither does Ethan.

This is a working ranch.” His stormy gaze traveled over all of them.

“You’re here to work. To learn what the true meaning of being a team is.

Here, everyone pulls their weight because it’s the only way to get everything done.

Sunup to sundown, there is shit to do, animals to be taken care of.

Y’all will learn how to do that, together.

That was what was in the emails you failed to read.

Sharing a cabin will be the last thing on your minds when your body is aching and all you want is some food, a hot shower, and a bed to sleep on. ”

“Now if we’re done with the hissy fit part of the day, drop off your gear and I’ll show you around the ranch.” Ethan sent an arched look at Jupiter, before his gaze swept the group of men.

There were grumbles and mumbles, but no one said anything more about their sleeping arrangements.

Ziggy dropped his own backpack onto the bed, not once looking at how close the other bed was to his, or allowing himself to look at how small the cabin was.

He wasn’t concerned about how rustic the place was.

He had no problem roughing it. His problem was the six foot six hunk in denim and how the hell he was going to resist him.

Outside, standing in a huddle with the other PAs, he noted Wilder was the last to join them, his expression revealing nothing but misery. Downturned lips and droopy shoulders left Ziggy feeling worried for his friend. He slung an arm around Wilder’s shoulder as he stood next to him.

“Don’t let him get to you,” he murmured quietly.

“Easier said than done,” Wilder muttered.

“Right, let’s get started,” called Ethan.

It was dark by the time they returned to the cabin, aching in places he’d never have considered possible. Covered in dust and convinced he’d be tasting the stuff for months to come, Ziggy wearily trudged up the steps.

Inside, he flicked on the light. It cast a dim glow over the twin beds and the small chest that separated them, a lamp sitting atop it. A built-in closet and a door leading into a shower stall were basically all there was inside the small space.

“Do you wanna shower first?” Silas asked quietly from behind him. The sound of the door closing made the situation even more real.

Out on the ranch, Ziggy could ignore who he was sharing with, much the same as his friends had done. Only problem with that? Nothing changed reality.

Ziggy didn’t look in Silas’s direction, something he’d refused to do after the first hour with how a denim clad Silas showing how he got that toned body had done him no favors. None. He’d fought his snake repeatedly until he had a headache over how often it got miffed at not watching Silas work.

“I’m easy,” he muttered through dry lips, searching for the cool box Ethan’s information said would contain bottled water for them.

Silas, as if knowing his thoughts, went to the closet and pulled out the cooler. Opening it, he pulled out two bottles. “Here, I’m sure you’re thirsty.”

A bottle of water appeared before his face when he didn’t initially step closer to Silas, forcing Ziggy to glance in the other man’s direction. Situation aside, he didn’t want to come across as rude.

“Thanks.” He took the water, opened the cap and drank deep. Suddenly, he found his throat dry for a whole different reason when Silas wore a sexy grin that was way too fucking familiar.

“You did great today. Ethan was impressed.”

Ziggy gave a chin raise, keeping his attention on the bottle of water he brought back to his lips to occupy them when he wanted to demand Silas strip and…

Keep going.

No, it’s over. Dating someone else now.

We haven’t had a date. You canceled.

We aren’t cheaters.

That’s right, we don’t want to cheat on Silas.

Ziggy groaned and threw the empty bottle into the small trash bin next to the cabin door.

“You okay?”

“What’s going on here?” Ziggy demanded, too tired and annoyed with himself to play games.

Silas chewed on his bottom lip as Ziggy held his gaze, searching for the answers but finding none.

“I made a mistake.”

“How so?” Ziggy asked cautiously, while his snake wiggled its tail.

“I should have been honest with you, and asked for clarity about Frey.”

Ears thumping with his pulse, Ziggy took a step closer to Silas. “Why didn’t you?” he asked hesitantly, feeling the hope rise along with his snake.

“’Cause I was a coward.” Color stained Silas’s cheeks, but he never looked away. “I dated a boy in school…” Silas’s gaze dropped to the floor and Ziggy reached out to take hold of his free hand.

“Talk to me.”

Silas released a deep sigh, his fingers intertwining with Ziggy’s, giving him a thump to the center of his chest at how right it felt to be touching again, even when it was simply holding hands.

“Do you know the story of how Booker and Taylin came to be my brothers?” Ziggy frowned, shaking his head. “It was the night I got attacked by a group of students.”

Silas stared at Ziggy, but he seemed to be looking right through him.

“There were always the haters at school. Divergents, no matter where we come from or how wealthy a family is, are scum. In the main, I pretended everything was okay and avoided the bullies. Then one day after school, I took a shortcut. One that my boyfriend, Jason, suggested so I could avoid the boys on my way home…”

The sadness rolling off Silas took Ziggy out at the knees, just chopped the fuckers right off when Silas focused on him. “It was a setup. If not for Taylin and Booker, they’d have beaten me to death.”

Ziggy wasn’t prone to outbursts, of getting angry to the point he wanted to inflict actual harm on someone else.

But the violence he felt forced him to let go of Silas’s hand for fear of crushing it.

His snake’s primal instinct was to find those boys—men, now—and crush them until they were nothing more than a bloody pulp.

Silas’s eyes sheened with tears as he threw his untouched water bottle on the bed, tucking his hands into his back pockets as he took a step away from Ziggy. “Anyway—”

“No, don’t you fucking dare act like it doesn’t matter.

Like it was nothing. And you don’t share this with me, then put back the fucking barrier,” he growled, seeing how Silas was doing exactly that.

He stepped into Silas and reached around him, pinning his hands into the pockets, bringing them chest to chest.

He searched Silas’s pained eyes. “I let go of your hand ‘cause I didn’t want to hurt you with how fucking angry I was—am.” It was a guess, but he knew he was right when he felt the tension releasing from the large body pressed against him.

Letting go had given Silas the wrong impression, and he was sorry for that, so he explained himself to remove any doubt the other man had as to his reasons.

“My snake wants to shift and, by whatever means possible, hunt those fuckers down and give them a dose of their own medicine. And when my snake gets like that, I have less control. It doesn’t happen often, so I am careful. ”

Silas pressed his forehead to Ziggy’s, his eyes closing.

A single tear rolled down his cheek and broke through any defenses Ziggy had tried to build.

The affection for this man left him struggling with his own need to declare his feelings.

He moved and licked the tear away, kissing the spot beneath it.

Ziggy calculated how much time they had before someone came looking for them to go to the bunkhouse for food. He swallowed back a sigh at how they couldn’t avoid mixing with the others, given it was the whole reason they were there.

“We need to talk. But the others will be expecting us at the bunkhouse for food.”

Silas’s lower lip trembled as his eyes opened and Ziggy held on to his rage, fighting his snake tooth and nail to keep his voice even. “We’ll shower, go eat, then come back here and figure out the rest… okay?”

“I’m sorry for being stupid. For not being honest.”

“Shush,” Ziggy got up on his toes and kissed Silas, soft as a whisper. “We’ll figure it… together.”

Was it that simple?