Page 59 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
“I gotta get us stocked for winter,” he said into the dark of the room.
“Yeah,” Cole replied. It fanned like a breath over Grady’s side as Cole pushed his face against Grady’s skin.
“I was thinkin’ of drivin’ up north to Redbo County to do it. Usin’ the warehouses.”
“Yeah?”
Grady nodded. “Yeah. I ain’t done it before, but I reckon it’s better to get it all that way instead of goin’ into town every damn week. ’Specially with the feel of this winter.”
Cole nodded, the movement rubbing against Grady’s ribs.
“Makes sense.”
“You wanna come?”
“To the warehouses?”
“Yeah.”
“Just to the warehouses?”
Grady shuffled around and looked down. Cole wasn’t looking at him, so Grady couldn’t get a read on what he was really asking from the expression on his face.
“Well, yeah.”
“Not to the town?”
Grady thought about it. He’d figured they’d pull into the town to get something to eat and drink. Better eating and drinking up that way.
“We don’t gotta go into town if you don’t want to.”
“What do you want?”
Grady huffed and squeezed Cole against his side.
“I want my hand to help me get stocked for this damn winter.”
Cole breathed a laugh.
“And if you wanna go to the warehouses and bypass the town, we can go to the warehouses and bypass the town.”
Cole rolled from his back onto his side, pressing himself more firmly against Grady’s side and over his chest. He reached downand fiddled with the drawstring on Grady’s pants. Grady was on a hair trigger with that kind of thing from Cole, so he was stiffening up, but he got the feeling Cole wasn’t looking for that lately. He clearly had his reasons, and Grady didn’t know how to ask. He placed his hand on top of Cole’s to still it.
“We can go into the town if you want,” Cole said after a while. He sounded like he was drawing on everything he had to make the words come, like the thought of it was worse than going into battle.
Grady laced his fingers with Cole’s and brought them up to his chest. Cole’s breath fanned over his skin, tingling Grady’s bare nipple a hair’s breadth from Cole’s lips.
“I ain’t got no business in that town.”
Cole nodded. He tried to move his hand out from under Grady’s and push it down. Grady could feel the tremor in it. Grady tightened his grip and held it where it was. Cole exhaled roughly; it was a sigh of relief, and Grady frowned.
“I reckon we should get some sleep.” His voice sounded like gravel, surprising him.
Cole kissed his side and breathed, “Okay,” and Grady could feel his eyelashes fanning over his skin as he closed them.
He listened to Cole fall asleep, held his hand tight and lay awake for a long time.
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