Page 61 of On the Land, We Shoot Straight
Grady shrugged. “Reckon my mama would disagree.”
Cole raised an eyebrow. Grady was always impressed when he did that, got the one up in a high arch and looked all serious and clever.
“She never wanted this for me,” Grady said. He’d never talked about it, never given it much thought, either. “She always said I woulda been better off if I had a choice.”
“What do you think?”
Grady shrugged again. “I never thought about it. Daddy trained me for it, and that was that.”
“Do you like it?”
“Like what?”
“Workin’ the land.”
Grady poured a coffee, slid it to Cole and poured his own.
“Yeah,” he said slowly after a while. “I reckon I do.”
Cole nodded like that was the right answer. Grady smiled at him.
“Could always get your own place,” Grady said.
Cole snorted. “Yeah, with all my millions.”
Grady kept on smiling. “Ain’t done yet, son.”
Cole laughed. “You’re a real riot.”
They lapsed into silence, and the birds and the rush of water filled it.
Cole drained his coffee and got up. He made his way down to the river. His lithe body cut a fine gait as he moved, his hair past his shoulders now and catching the breeze, the jet-black strands whipping to part and reveal his pale neck.
“You comin’?” Cole glanced over his shoulder at Grady as he said it, a serious look on his face. But the invitation in his eyes was a lot like the invitations Grady was used to getting in town.
Grady drank the last of his coffee and followed. Cole leaned back against the trunk of the biggest tree so they were sheltered from the road and pulled Grady in by his belt. Grady braced his hand on the bark by Cole’s head and leaned down to kiss him. Cole kissed him back, lazy and slow. He tugged Grady closer until they were pressed together from the hip. Grady maneuvered so his thigh was between Cole’s legs and rubbed him through the fabric. Cole started to grind into Grady’s thigh, those little moans and gasps in Grady’s mouth dialing him right up.
Cole pulled back. He slid his hands down Grady’s shirt, reached farther down and unfastened his pants, gaze fixed on his task. Grady grabbed him by the wrist. Cole looked up. Grady searched his expression—Cole looked serious, aroused, sure of himself. Grady let him go. Cole held Grady’s gaze for a moment more before he was dropping to his knees. He got Grady’s dick out and took him between his lips. He encouraged Grady to fuck his mouth with his hands on his ass. Grady got to it. He relished that wet heat, the perfect suction, and he let himself draw it out, even though he was ready to come from simply grinding. But he held himself on the precipice and lost himself in the feel of Cole sucking him off, in the way Cole had learned everything he liked and brought to the task the same focused intent he seemed to bring to everything.
When Grady came, it was almost a surprise. Cole moaned as he finished him off. He tried to clean him up, but Grady yanked him to his feet and dropped to his knees. He pressed Cole’s hips against the tree, got his dick out, and sucked him off like he had something to prove.
Cole did not last long. His cut-off gasps and moans, his hands gripping Grady’s hair, his come sliding down Grady’s throat was a blur.
Grady tucked him back into his pants, then himself, and left their pants unfastened in his haste to stand again. He slid his hand up into Cole’s hair and huffed a smile-laugh into his mouth as he kissed him. He glimpsed Cole’s eyes crinkle as he caught his breath and kissed him back.
33
T
he heart of winterblew in as harsh and violent as Grady imagined it would. They were stocked and cozy in the old farmhouse—as rough as she looked, she still provided good insulation, a great, roaring fire, and dry warmth. Cole came down the staircase on the first day of real rain, dressed for riding in his usual pants and shirt and just a sweater.
“You gonna put a jacket on?” Grady asked as he laced his boots, Cole stepping around him at the base of the stairs.
Cole shrugged and grabbed his boots. He sat next to Grady and pulled them on.
“Don’t wanna sound like your mama.” Grady stood.
“Then don’t.”
