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"It's cold. Has it gotten colder?"

"Maybe. At least you've got a decent coat now. Probably need something on your face. I have a bandanna."

"I don't need your snot-rag."

"That's not what it is, but suit yourself. Hold on."

Tyler clicked his tongue and Brandy lurched forward. Alec groped for stability, his arms closing

tight around Tyler's familiar warm abdomen. And though he clung to the broad man physically to keep from falling, his mind drifted again to adolescent fantasy. What he would have given to have been

rescued from academic purgatory by a big brawny brute of a man on a wild stallion, their legs nestled snug in the leather cradle of a saddle.

A gust of cold wind on his face brought him back, drunken, and to his dismay aroused, the

steady movement of the horse forcing his swelling crotch into Tyler's rear, separated only by layers of denim and undergarment, grinding.

He panicked, steering his mind toward things that would nullify the arousal. He thought about

his life in DC and Mac, the man he'd convinced himself he'd loved… cheating on him. Again. He

thought about the book—yes, the book—the one he couldn't seem to get started. He wanted to write a book about music. How ridiculous was that? He wanted to write a book about how music brings

harmony to our lives. How do you start something like that? It wasn't a book. It was a notion.

"You're awfully quiet back there," Tyler said, as they turned off of the town road onto Penny Lane, and heading up the trail to Beulah Mountain.

"I'm sleepy."

"I'll be sure and stop if you fall off."

Alec gripped Tyler tighter, relishing the larger man's frame and his body heat. "You're so

warm."

"You're drunk."

"No, I'm not," Alec said, trying his best not to slur.

"Liar."

That's the second time he's called me that, Alec thought. But both times he hadn't used the term as accusation so much, more as if Tyler was daring Alec… to prove him wrong. And Alec wanted to.

After the breakup with Mac, he had realized that hewasa liar. He had been lying to himself for a long time… for the length of their relationship, and relationships prior. Something had pulled him here, out of his routine… something subconscious and deep. He felt as if he was on the precipice of something he needed to acknowledge, something profound… but lingering intoxication and Tyler's warm body

were too tempting to resist.

His mind returned to the present.

It's past midnight, I'm in Montana, and again I'm on a horse with a man…The realization

was exhilarating, and under sober circumstances might have been terrifying. But he wasn't scared. In fact, Alec had never felt safer or more secure than he did at this moment, with his arms around this…

thiscowboy… not in his adult life anyway. He had always been the caretaker, the giver. And here was a man he barely knew looking out for him. It was a welcome change.

How in the world did I get here?

When they reached the cabin, the snow had dwindled and the moon was bright. Tyler helped