Page 21 of Coming to Grips
Chapter Eight
They pass the “Welcome to Ten Rigs, Population 5632” sign and Jessie asks, “Any place special?”
“No, I’ll get out wherever you’re going.”
“You sure? I don’t mind.”
“I just needed to be away from the ranch. Gonna wander around on my own for a while.”
Jessie pulls into a parking slot along the traditional-looking small town Main Street. “Sure.”
Chase exits the car and looks at her over the roof. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you later.”
“See you.” She heads into the Bee Hive Hair & Nail Salon with a wave. Despite mucking stalls and working with the horses, Jessie gets her nails done faithfully every week. Just a simple French manicure like the ones Anna’d gotten. He’d asked why once, since they got ruined more often than not, and she said she likes to remind all the assholes they work with she’s still a woman. Although, how anyone could forget, he’s not sure. She’s got a decent-sized pair of breasts and she doesn’t camouflage them with loose shirts, although she never shows them off like Anna had done.
The sun is bright, it’s hot, and he wishes he’d grabbed a hat. But he’d been too freaked out by his reaction to seeing Kyle smiling at him and had wanted to get away as quickly as possible. He doesn’t even have his phone with him, which he’s gonna get grief for later. He hooks the thumb of his non-working hand into a belt loop since he doesn’t have his sling and heads up the block toward Town Square and some shade. The wooden bench under a huge oak tree squeaks softly when he drops onto it, slouching with his legs kicked out.
With no idea where to even start thinking about what happened, he drops his head to the back of the bench and closes his eyes. Today’s scene replays on the back of his eyelids. Bethany’s departure, Kyle’s approach, Chase’s pleasure at seeing him. It loops a couple of times, and then, slowly, other things start coming into focus too.
Kyle’s deep chuckle and booming laugh, both of which make Chase feel warm inside—more than just friendship warm, he’s gotta admit. Kyle’s corny jokes that never fail to pull Chase out of a funk. His long, strong fingers that knead the aches and pains away. The rounded muscles of Kyle’s chest and arms and the six-pack abs that he works so hard to maintain and that make Chase’s mouth go dry these days. He’d ignored all of that until now, chalking up any random thoughts to rebelling against women or some shit because of Anna, and, more recently, because of his concussion.
All the things Kyle’s done for Chase since the accident march through his mind as well. From cooking actual meals to getting him to and from rehab, tying up his sneakers to making his bed and folding his laundry. That care has made Chase feel cherished and special.
Anna’s assertion that Kyle has a thing for Chase rears up in his thoughts again, too, although it seems just as absurd now as it had when she’d said it. Not half an hour ago, Kyle had implied that he thought Chase liked Bethany and that maybe Chase ought to pursue her. If Kyle liked Chase, why would he even do that? So Chase still isn’t buying her claim.
“Well, hello, Chase, you doing all right, hon?”
Chase startles a bit at the sound, but recognizes the voice immediately. He squints open an eye to see Aunt Marva smiling down at him. Really, she’s his mother’s cousin and his first cousin once removed, but she’s more like a great-aunt. He straightens up and scoots over. “Um, no, not really…”
Marva sits beside him and pats his knee. She’s not wearing hernot-a-uniformuniform of khaki shorts, Rockport boots, and boonie hat, so she’s not on mail carrier duty today. Instead, she’s wearing a Rotors tee, knee-length denim pants, and Birkenstocks. Some sort of woven straw visor nestles in her soft gray curls.
“I heard about your arm. Is it bothering y—?” She stops talking; her head swivels as she peers around and across the Square; her lips purse. “What are you doing here?” she asks instead. “Are you here by yourself?”
“A friend gave me a ride.”
Marva kicks her feet out, crossing her ankles, and folds her hands over her stomach. “What’s going on, Buckaroo?”
The name he hasn’t heard in a while pulls a wan smile across his face. Marva’s like the town mom, but more than that, she’s actual family to him and, when things would get bad between Mom and Dad before they divorced, he’d stayed with Marva and Howard.
It’d been Marva on his mom’s side and his cousin Devin on his dad’s side who’d gotten him through the whole coming out thing with Kyle. He snorts humorlessly. Who better, then, than Marva to spill his guts to about this?
“I think…” He peers up into the maple tree, unable to see any blue sky through the thick canopy of leaves. “…I might have feelings for Kyle.”
“Well, Kyle’s a charming fellow, good looking, sweet when he wants to be,” she says.
She doesn’t question that he’s confessing a crush on someone of the same gender, much less it being Kyle. Marva’s one of the most open-minded people he knows. She truly embodies alive-and-let-livephilosophy.
“I don’t know if it’s real or just because he’s been taking care of me since the accident.” The showers and massages are between him and Kyle. No one needs to know about those. Any blush he’s feeling can be chalked up to the heat.
“I can see how that could be confusing.” Marva waves to an arm sticking out a car window.
Even though Chase can’t see who it is, he has no doubt Marva knows the driver by make and model alone. After delivering mail and packages in town and the surrounding area for over thirty years, Marva knows everyone.
“You and Kyle are closer than most men friends. Have you talked to him?”
“My sudden epiphany is what led me here. I was talking to this perfectly nice girl—woman—and Kyle walked up. Guess who I was happier to see? I freaked the fu—um, heck out and caught a ride to town.”
She smirks at his catch. “What’s bothering you most about the whole thing?”
