Page 75 of Brett and Rowdy

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“So tell me the difference,” Rowdy told him.

“Well, gas is, like I said, consistent and a cleaner operation, but coal or wood can give higher temps and make it easier to do odd shaped or large pieces. And I would love to do a few things that I’ve had to do by welding in the forge, you know?”

“Neat. Seriously. I can’t wait to touch them.”

“I love that, you know?”

Rowdy grinned at him. “Love what?”

Brett licked his lips. “The way you talk about my art. It makes me feel important, and it makes me feel like you get me.”

“I don’t, not yet, but I want to.” Rowdy shrugged and turned to face him. “I want to touch you. I want to learn all of the ways the curves and the sharp points feel. I want to touch the art. And you, and I want to learn you.”

Brett beamed at him, then he made sure to keep his eyes on the road because it wasn’t like Rowdy could tell. “It scares me a little bit, you know? I mean. It’s all too perfect.”

“What is?”

“You, the ranch, the forge. It’s like this place was waiting for me. And I have to tell you. I’m kind of pissed, because in a weird way, this feels like an I told you so.”

“Brett, I didn’t know you were a blacksmith when we were teenagers.” Rowdy was rolling his eyes behind those glasses, and Brett knew it.

“You also didn’t tell me that you had this amazing ranch, and that I could have had everything I ever wanted if I had just gotten my head out of my ass.” And it did feel a little bit like a lie, didn’t it? Like Rowdy should have explained or something, which was just not fucking reasonable. But it was a little bit how he felt.

“I didn’t know.”

That was the last thing he expected to hear. “What?”

“I mean, I knew I had a ranch, I knew we had land, but I grew up here. I was born here, and you have to remember, my mom left New Mexico with this guy and she said it was because of the money. So as far as I was concerned, I thought I was just going home.”

“Well, yeah, but?—”

Rowdy shrugged one shoulder. “And it doesn’t hurt that I’ve helped the place grow. Things have been improving. Dad and I have done a lot of things with the grandparents’ insurance.”

“I’m sure you have, I just…”

“You know, at some point, you’re going to have to stop blaming me for being a teenager. And even more, I think you’re going to have to stop blaming yourself for being a stupid teenager. We were kids. We did dumb things. You’re a grown-up now; you don’t have to keep doing dumb things. If you want to stay here for a while, stay here for a while. You want to leave, go. You want to stay here permanently; I bet we can work something out. But we’re not kids anymore. Hell. Madison is older than we were by what, four years?”

Brett had to chuckle. “About, yeah.”

Rowdy waved a hand. “Now you and I, we got chemistry out the wazoo. I think you’re a talented motherfucker, and I like you. But I am not the guy who’s going to live in the past. I’ve got too much to do. You don’t have to let this slip through your fingers again if you don’t want to, but the simple fact is this is your goddamn job. Your decision. All yours.”

“Dude, are you mad at me?” Because that seemed completely unreasonable.

Rowdy blew out a hard breath. “I am, I think a little, and I probably shouldn’t be. You were mad for a lot of years, but I’m not. I didn’t invite you out here to show you up. Or to trick you. Or anything. I just wanted to spend some more time with you. A couple hours wasn’t enough.”

“You’re right, a couple of hours wasn’t enough.” He reached out and took Rowdy’s hand. “I’ve been carrying a torch for you for a long time.” He cleared his throat, swallowed hard. “To be honest, I didn’t expect to see you ever again, and then I didn’t expect to like you again. I didn’t expect to find out that youweren’t still pissed at me. In my mind, you were still talking about me every day, thinking about me every day.”

Which was stupid, because he hadn’t thought about Rowdy every day. He hadn’t been celibate for the last twenty years. Hell, he hadn’t even been miserable for the last twenty years. His life had actually been okay. Great? No. Rowdy’s life had been great, sure, but then Rowdy’s had been awful too.

Rowdy had lost both of his grandparents in one single minute. He’d lost his eyesight in seconds. He’d lived the whole country away from his daughter, who he adored, obviously.

Brett’s life had been simpler and way lower key, but it hadn’t been bad.

“No, but I’m thinking about you now.” Rowdy’s words made him smile, lit a fire in his belly.

“I bet you are.” And just like that, neither of them was mad anymore.

They didn’t have to be. They had plenty of time to fight. Now they could go have enchiladas and breathe.