Page 73 of The Cowboy and the Rascal

“Do you want me to light the lantern?” asked Gabe. He sat up, gently drawing Blaze’s arms from his neck, knowing already that the answer was yes.

He pulled on his boxers and crouched in front of the shelf, looking for the box of matches, which he must have moved from their usual spot. As he did this, the hatchet Jasper had given him slipped from its nook and clattered to the wooden floor. Luckily, it had a leather blade cover and luckily it missed his toes, saving them from a good banging.

“What’s that?” Blaze propped himself on his elbow, the sheet draped around his hips in a come-hither way. “Do you have an actual axe in your tent?”

With a small huff of a laugh, Gabe found the box of matches, and stood to light the lantern, and when, finally, the lantern was lit, he turned off the overhead light.

Now the tent was as it should be, the way they both liked it. Bathed in golden light, the low hiss of the lantern accompanied by the nighttime sounds of owls, the wind in the pines. A lone cricket, or maybe two, singing a sad but hopeful chorus in the darkness.

“It was a gift from Jasper,” said Gabe as he slithered beneath the sheet, taking Blaze in his arms. “For my cattle ranch.”

“I didn’t know you owned a cattle ranch,” said Blaze, leaving sweet kisses along Gabe’s neck, the line of his jaw.

“I don’t,” said Gabe. “At least not yet.”

It felt good to tell Blaze about his someday ranch. It felt comfortable to talk about his dreams, and the life he envisioned for himself. One day. Some day.

In his chest, of course, sprung the hope that maybe Blaze would want to be a part of that. But maybe he shouldsaythat, rather than playing it so close to the vest.

“You ever think about working on a cattle ranch?” asked Gabe. He trailed his fingers through Blaze’s hair, the feel of the silky strands making him shiver with pleasure.

“With you?” asked Blaze. “I would want nothing more.” He smiled, his warm mouth moving along Gabe’s shoulder, as if he were already ready for round two. “But why did he give you the axe?”

“It’s a hatchet, really,” said Gabe. “It’s for when I have to go out at four in the morning in the middle of winter and break the ice on the water tanks for the herd.” He tucked his chin to kiss the top of Blaze’s head. “Still interested?”

“Always,” said Blaze. “But if that’s what you want, why are you here and not there, on this ranch of yours?”

“Can’t afford it,” said Gabe. “Still saving up.”

“Well, ask Leland for help.”

In the midst of scooting lower, taking Blaze in his arms, his body warming up to the prospect of pleasure, Gabe went still for a heartbeat, then continued scooting down until they were face to face.

“I can’t ask Leland for money,” he said, the words a whisper as he swept his lips across Blaze’s.

“Not money,” said Blaze. He clasped Gabe’s face in his hands, his expression steady. “But, you know. Something. I’m no financial expert, but he thinks a great deal of you to put you in charge of this project, right? So maybe ask him for a co-sign. Or if he could talk to his bank manager, put in a good word. Otherwise, it’ll always be a dream. Far away and unreachable.”

“It always seems far away,” said Gabe, then a little silence fell, feeling weighty and deep.

“Just think about it,” said Blaze. “Why wait on your dreams if you could do something about it. Hell.” He laughed, pressing his temple to Gabe’s shoulder. “I’d even get up with you. Yes, that early, just to break that ice. Can I get a hatchet of my own? From Jasper?”

“Yes.” In his mind, he knew Jasper would make a second hatchet, identical to the first. And in his heart, he absorbed Blaze’s straightforward advice into something that could help him be bold enough to approach Leland about this.

Of course, he would work making the valley ready for paying customers the rest of the summer, but after that, when autumn came, he and Blaze could drive north to look for some land, with Blaze hanging out the window, as he liked to do, the cool air whipping through his hair, the smell of tall grasses and fresh air circling inside the cabin of the truck.

With Blaze by his side, he now had a future worth working for, a future better than he’d ever imagined.

The End

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