Page 5

5

DYLAN

I was trying my best to stop yawning, but I was tired, down in my bones.

It was nearly midnight, and I was waiting outside my cabin for Amber to pick me up. She’d mentioned something about seeing what the ranch sky looked like at night, wanting to coordinate her wedding jewelry with it, and wanting to get a second opinion before she committed to the idea. I would’ve had a proper chance to see the night sky earlier if I hadn’t been cooped up with Amber in her wedding planning cabin, going through what felt like cabinets full of various necklaces, bracelets, earrings.

Thankfully, she’d allowed us to have a break for a very late dinner. And now, I was desperately sipping on a coffee, trying to wake my brain back up. This was the last thing scheduled on our to-do list for the day, and I couldn’t wait to be done with it.

My bed was calling my name.

“ Dylan?” A familiar voice called out from a pick-up truck. I looked over and spotted Cole, his hair perfectly windswept, his rough yet gentle hands gripping the steering wheel, his bruised cheek only serving to remind me of how willing he was to get into a fight for me?—

Nope.

This can’t happen.

I needed to get my shit together. I needed to drink, like, a gallon of coffee or something. My sleep deprived brain was just confused and very, very tired.

“Just waiting on your sister. She said she wanted to take me to one of the cabins on the edge of the ranch to look up at the sky,” I replied. “Because the sky is…different there… or the best there… somehow…”

“Yeah. She’s not going to make it.” Cole shook his head. “Her fiancé surprised her an hour ago. Showed up back from some work trip. She sent me to show you to the cabin instead.”

“Oh.” I took a huge gulp of my coffee as I approached the passenger side of the truck. “In that case, I promise not to get into another fight on the way over there. Gotta keep your other cheek safe, just in case you want to turn it next time.”

Cole lightly chuckled. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

The ride over to the cabin was gorgeous. I stared up at the sky through the window, a smile on my face the entire time. I had no idea how we were going to coordinate Amber’s jewelry with the literal stars in the sky, but she’d been right about the view. In the city, it was rare to see the sky so clearly, only hints of stars making their way through the skyscraper’s lights. It was also rare for me to spend so much time looking up at the sky like this, anyway, so much of my time spent looking down at my phone or my work laptop.

I spared a look over at Cole, his attention fully on the dirt road in front of us. He was beautiful, too, against the backdrop of the night, something about the ranch speeding by his window and the little specks of light flowing through his hair every so often. I felt that chest tightening feeling again, the one I’d managed to push way down back at the barn, the same one I’d felt at the bar when he’d taken that punch for me.

The same one I needed to find a way to numb or get rid of before I said or did something extremely stupid.

Cole was straight. It was painfully obvious. There was also the fact that I’d heard Amber mention Cole’s ex-wife in passing, a detail she hadn’t dwelled on because it didn’t matter too much anymore. Apparently, they hadn’t had any kids together, and she’d never been super close to the family.

I returned my attention to the window, not wanting to delude myself with any more thoughts of Cole?—

Oh.

It was raining.

And it was raining hard .

Cole pulled up to a remote cabin on what felt like the edge of the property line. He hastily got out of the truck, pulling open my door before motioning for me to rush inside. Once we were both in, I took a moment to look around the place, noting how small it really was.

Well, small for the Stratton Ranch, anyway.

It was a one-bedroom cabin, complete with a fireplace, a bachelor’s kitchen, and not much else. There were some supplies stacked up in the corner and a few books scattered here and there, but besides that, there wasn’t much else to the place.

“Was this place built just to hang out and stargaze from the front porch?” I asked, still looking around. “I’m not used to the cabins out here being so… rustic.”

Cole laughed. “No. We might be rich, but we’re still practical. This is a resting place for the ranch hands. There are a few of these places all around the property. You don’t want people suffering with no way to get inside anywhere. Especially if they’re all the way out here.”

Cole nodded towards one of the windows. “There’s also the matter of storms taking people by surprise. We’d be stuck out in the car if it weren’t for this place.”

“Stuck?” I pressed. “Are you saying we can’t go back to the main area? Because of the storm?”

“With the way that rain is coming down…” Cole paused. “We could try but I don’t think it’d be worth it. Might as well stay put until it’s safe to go back.”

“Shit.” I groaned. “Welp, it’s a good thing I already had dinner.”

I watched as Cole put another log into the fireplace, the room feeling so much warmer for it.

I didn’t remember it being that cold outside, but maybe the storm had brought the temperature down. I felt myself shivering in my rain-soaked shirt but couldn’t think of any other options. It wasn’t like I’d brought backup clothes to the cabin, and there was no way in hell that I was going to strip down in front of Cole. I was already feeling way too weird and vulnerable around him, I didn’t need to somehow up the ante even further.

There was also the fact that one of us was attracted to the other…

And the other just wasn’t.

I closed my eyes for a moment, letting my mind drift away from thoughts of Cole, back towards wedding planning, my life in the city, literally anything that wasn’t being stranded in this cabin with the cutest cowboy ever.

A few seconds later I felt Cole take a seat beside me on the floor. I looked over and noticed that he was shirtless?—

Shirtless?

I blinked a couple of times, wanting to make sure that I wasn’t seeing things. “Uh, Cole?”

“Yeah?”

“Where’s your shirt?”

“It’s wet. I’m letting it dry a little closer to the fire.” He pointed towards his shirt in front of us. “You might want to do the same. I can see how bad you’re shivering from here.”

“Uh…” It felt like my brain was short-circuiting as I took in every bit of his bare chest. Cole was just as hot as I’d expected him to be, his muscles toned by working on the farm, his shoulders broad and perfect. It was like he was built by and for the outdoors, the perfect image of a cowboy, even down to the way he carried himself, all rugged and wise.

“You okay, Dylan?”

“Uh…” I heard myself repeat the phrase, truly unable to think of anything else to say. Not wanting to come off as a total space case, I quickly pulled my shirt off and threw it down next to Cole’s. I then crossed my arms across myself, hiding the majority of my body, not interested in anything Cole had to say about it.

Wait.

Why the hell would Cole have anything to say about my body?

He isn’t thinking about me that way.

I slowly uncrossed my arms, trying to play it cool. Cole’s eyes were on me, though, his gaze lingering so long that I felt my face getting hot from the attention.

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t be mean.” I crossed my arms again. “I get it. You’re all… muscly and super manly.”

“That’s not what I was thinking.”

“Then, what were you thinking?”

“Nothing.” Cole casually brushed away the topic. “Do you want to sleep head to foot? I have a feeling we’re going to be here all night.”

“Head to foot?”

“In the bed.”

I let out a nervous laugh. “No, thanks. I think I’m good here.”

“What? On the floor?”

“One-hundred percent.” I laughed again, the sound coming out cracked. “You can take the bed. I’ve heard sleeping on the floor sometimes is good for you anyway?—”

“Dylan.”

“Yes?”

“We’re both adults. We can deal with sleeping in the same bed.”

“Especially because I’m not your type!” I tried to joke around with him.

But Cole’s face remained a straight line. “Come on. You need your rest and so do I. We both have important work to do in the morning and having a bad back isn’t going to help it any.”

Is this hell?

Is this what hell is like?

I was completely unable to sleep with Cole’s body so close to mine. We’d placed a blanket between us to give us a little more space, but I couldn’t pretend like he wasn’t right there . My thoughts were running a million miles a minute as I stared up at the cabin ceiling, quietly wondering how many hours we had left until the morning.

I had no idea how I was supposed to get through the rest of the night.

“Dylan?”

“Yeah, Cole?”

“You awake?”

“Yeah, Cole.”

He shifted beside me, rearranging himself until we were head to head and feet to feet. I held in a whimper as his face appeared next to mine, every part of me wanting to reach out and run a hand through his hair or rest my head on his chest or?—

“I can’t sleep,” he interrupted my thoughts with his words. “I… don’t know why.”

“Sometimes people have trouble sleeping in strange beds,” I replied. “Something about it not feeling right.”

“I don’t really have that problem.”

“Slept in a lot of cowgirl’s beds, huh?” I laughed at my own joke. “I’m not surprised.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why aren’t you surprised?”

“Because I have eyes?” I laughed again. “When was the last time you looked in a mirror, Cole Stratton?”

“When was the last time you looked in a mirror, Dylan Reid?” His voice was low. “I saw you trying to cover up earlier. You don’t—that’s not?—”

“I get what you’re trying to say.” I offered him a small smile. “And thanks. Sometimes straight guys are weird about giving a gay guy a compliment. They think it’ll make us forget they’re straight and try to hit on them or something?—”

My words were cut off by Cole’s mouth suddenly pressing against mine. One of his hands went down to my waist, pulling me even closer into the kiss, Cole’s tongue sliding in deep. I moaned against him, as my hands went towards him, pulling him closer to me too. Without thinking, I ran my fingers through his hair, his tongue still exploring my mouth, my leg wrapping around his waist?—

And then, it was over. Cole rolled away from me, as far as he could, even turning his back to me for good measure. “Goodnight, Dylan.”

“Goodnight… Cole.” I felt exposed and embarrassed, unsure about everything that’d just happened.

Why did Cole kiss me? Just because he could?

Was he willing to hook up with me just because I was there?

Still, that didn’t make him not straight…

But it did make him a complete asshole.

I burned with something for the rest of the night, a mix between rage and sadness that carried me all the way through the morning. I wasn’t here to be Cole’s plaything during his free time. I was here to do a job that I was damn good at, a job that no one else could ever replicate. I was a one-of-a-kind someone, and Cole didn’t get to treat me like I wasn’t.

I wasn’t going to let this cowboy make me stupid.

Even if our kiss was the best one I’d probably had in my entire life.