“Damn, isn’t she the cutest thing? I forgot how exciting this was. It makes me want my own horse again.” Tucker’s voice was soft and full of awe. It raised goose bumps on Micah’s arms.
Being this close to Tucker and sharing this with him shouldn’t be a big deal, but Micah was tired and his emotions needed somewhere to go now that the scare was over. He just wanted to wrap himself up in Tucker and rest. Micah needed to remember Tucker shoving him away earlier this evening.
A hand landed on Micah’s shoulder, urging him to turn. “Micah?”
Opening his eyes, Micah spun around.
“You still have the gloves on.”
Well hell, so he did. Micah peeled off one glove then the other and tossed them in the corner.
Lifting Micah’s face with one finger, Tucker leaned in. His focus narrowed on Micah’s lips. With a dazed expression, he moved forward as if to kiss Micah.
Micah’s stomach tightened into a knot and the barn was suddenly stifling. He stepped back. “Don’t.”
Sighing, Tucker nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m sorry about this evening too.”
Knowing he shouldn’t, Micah rested his trembling hands on Tucker’s arm. “It’s okay, but we should probably just stay away from each other.”
“What? No.” Tucker glowered, then his expression softened. “Let’s call it a truce. We were good together tonight. Like old times.” He smiled. “Why can’t we bury the hatchet and try to go back to how we used to be?”
Micah wanted it to be that way too, but could it? He was afraid to trust in it. Afraid he’d end up melting at Tucker’s feet, begging him for anything he was willing to give. Tucker had always affected him that way, but it was worse now, more intense.
Probably due to the years of unrequited love
, Micah’s inner voice sneered.
Stepping back, he dropped his gaze, staring at his feet. Against his better judgment, Micah nodded. “I’d like that.”
How pathetic was that? He should tell Tucker to keep his distance. Micah had pretty much already made up his mind to do just that, but the truth of it was, he’d do anything to be in Tucker’s presence, even pretend not to love him.
Chapter Seven
Micah flopped on his bed with his legs hanging over the edge. His glasses slid up a little too far and he had to readjust them. The last couple of days had been wonderful. Since the night in the barn, he and Tucker had settled into a nice routine. But something wasn’t quite right. Micah couldn’t put his finger on it, but Tucker seemed a bit preoccupied and he was going out of his way to irritate Duncan. It appeared as though Tucker was keeping tabs on the man, which was unusual, because Tucker generally ignored people he disliked. At least he used to, but then he’d been away for a while and Duncan was an ass. Micah wasn’t complaining, he was enjoying the hell out of making Duncan uncomfortable. It was really immature of him, but he’d take his kicks where he could get them. He and Tucker were getting along well and Duncan was not happy, so all was right in Micah’s world…for the moment anyway.
A slow grin spread across his face followed by a giggle. The look of horror Duncan displayed at dinner tonight when Tucker had kissed Micah as he passed the rolls was priceless. True, Tucker shouldn’t be kissing Micah and he was going to address that, but tweaking Duncan made all the harassment Micah had received from Duncan over the past two months worthwhile.
All throughout dinner, Duncan had glared at Micah. He’d just smiled, which seemed to make Duncan angrier. Why did he hate Micah so bad? Micah would have said it was because he was gay, but Duncan had disliked Micah before knowing that. Could Duncan resent that Micah was such a part of the family? Every time Jeff, AJ, Ferguson or Juan expressed joy over Micah’s newly wedded state and how he was now officially part of the family, Duncan tried to divert their attention. It was odd. Why did he even care? He was the one who had left and betrayed his kin. Micah’s placement in the family shouldn’t be of any concern to Duncan.
The door clicked shut, followed by a sigh.
Rising onto his elbows, Micah studied Tucker. Maybe making the deal to try to regain their former relationship wasn’t such a bad thing after all. At least it wouldn’t be if Tucker would quit confusing matters with a touch here and a kiss there.
Tucker leaned against the closed door, his arms and feet braced out like he was expecting someone to try and get in. “Damn. He looks bad.” Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “I should have come back sooner.”
Oh damn.
Micah had forgotten that Tucker had gone up to see Ferguson after dinner. Micah, Jeff, AJ and Juan had gotten used to how the cancer had affected Ferguson, but Tucker had not. “You’re back now, that’s what matters. Did you have a nice visit with your grandfather?”
“Yeah. I did. He fell asleep on me though.” Tucker pushed away from the door and flopped next to Micah, making the bed bounce. “He was really happy about me marrying you. I didn’t think he’d remember me telling him about it yesterday, but he did.”
“Yeah, he mentioned it this morning when I saw him. Pretty fucking weird. I don’t think he realizes it’s fake.” Micah frowned. How could Ferguson not know it was fake? And why would he be so happy? It didn’t matter. If anything made Ferguson happy now, Micah was happy. “He tires easily. Rest is the best thing for him. He’s not hurting when he’s asleep.”
Micah shook his head. He didn’t want to go down this road. He’d agonized and grieved too much already. It didn’t help, and he sure as hell didn’t wanna make Tucker feel worse.
Micah grinned, trying to lighten the mood and change the subject. “I’m still waiting for Jeff and AJ to corner me and ask why.” He dropped to his back and rested his hands over his stomach. Their family had all been genuinely happy, but they knew darn well that Micah hadn’t seen Tucker in years. They knew something was up. No one wanted to alert Duncan to their business though, so they pretended like it was the most normal thing in the world to find out that Micah and Tucker had married. How odd was that? They’d known Micah and Tucker were both gay, but… God, he loved his family, the weirdos.
“Yeah. I figure we’ll get the third degree once Duncan leaves.” Tucker turned his head to look at Micah. The sadness in Tucker’s eyes was still there. “I wonder if Duncan’ll pop off again and give me an excuse to whoop his ass?” Tucker’s brows pulled together. “What the hell does he want? Can’t he tell no one wants him here? I understand Granddad is his father too, but he hasn’t bothered to come visit over the years, so why now?”
Micah wanted to kiss Tucker’s lips and make it all better. No, he didn’t.
Guh!
What were they talking about?
Oh.
“Don’t know. None of us has really kept our feelings for him a secret. At least he didn’t bring your mother.” Micah met those deep brown eyes. A weird fluttery feeling started in his belly. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he licked his lips. “I think if he’d brought her, I’d have kicked his ass on sight, regardless of Ferguson’s feelings. Duncan’s enough to deal with right now. That man is either smart or lucky, I haven’t decided which.”
Micah needed to get a grip. Being this close to Tucker was always hard, but after that kiss at dinner… Micah couldn’t stop thinking about that stupid kiss and it was really beginning to piss him off. When had he become so weak? He was supposed to be ignoring their attraction. In fact, he needed to talk to Tucker about that.
“You would’ve had to beat me to—” Glancing at Micah’s lips, Tucker furrowed his brow. His dark lashes partially concealed his eyes as he leaned forward, bringing them almost nose to nose. Everything seemed to slow down. The tip of his tongue appeared between his lips. His breath fanned across Micah’s chin.
Micah couldn’t breathe. He was afraid to. If he did anything, Tucker would come to his senses and Micah didn’t want to risk that.
Yes, you do,
cabron
! Move back, clear your throat, scratch your nose, just do something.
Tucker’s eyelids fluttered then flew up, making his eyes wide. He shook his head and jerked backward with a groan. “How’s your stomach feeling?” Tucker whispered.
“Fine,” Micah whispered back. The hair on the backs of his arms stood up.
“You work too hard. I think you should just stay in the house and relax for a couple days. You’ve been doing stuff since we got here.”
Grrrr… Unbelievable.
Micah really didn’t want to listen to a lecture on his health again. It helped break the spell though. “Oh hell, I swear if you don’t stop—”
“Okay, okay…” Tucker held his hands out in surrender. “Make noise.” Pushing himself up off the bed, Tucker locked the door and checked it by turning the handle. “I’m going to take a shower, but I’m not done discussing this.”
More like he wasn’t done trying to boss Micah around.
Wait.
Did he say—?
Ah,
dios mio
.
Micah closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Tucker in the shower, naked, dripping wet, right in the next room—
“What? Make noise?”
“Moan and grunt.” Tucker crossed the room and pulled the curtains, before going into the adjoining bathroom.
“Ugh.” Trying to get his heart to slow, Micah sat on the bed. What was Tucker doing?
“Micah…”
Micah opened his mouth to ask why, then snapped it shut. Why not just turn on the radio? Did Tucker really think Duncan was listening to them? Micah glanced at the door. There wasn’t that much space under the door, probably less than an inch. It was doubtful anyone was standing outside it. Micah went to the door, lay in front of it and looked under. His glasses shifted when the frames touched the floor but he could still see through them. It didn’t look like anyone was there.
“What are you doing?” Tucker kept his voice low and leaned against the bathroom threshold, a smirk on his handsome face.
“What’re
you
doing?” Micah got to his feet.
“Looking for shaving cream. Why aren’t you making noise?”
“Ugh!” Micah stomped his feet in place a few times.
Tucker rolled his eyes. “You sound like a dying cow.”
“I don’t think anyone is out there listening,” Micah whispered back, walking closer to Tucker. “The shaving cream is in the cabinet to the left of the sink.”
“Thanks.” Grinning, Tucker dragged a hand over his face and through his short, dark blond hair, and turned back toward the bathroom. “Try to sound like you’re having sex. Duncan’s in the room across the hall.”
“Oh.”
Oh!
Micah rolled his eyes at himself.
Dork.
Shaking his head, he went back to the iron-framed bed. He sat on the edge and bounced a little. The bed protested nicely. This could be fun. He pulled off his shoes and tossed them away. Bouncing again, he let out a long, ragged moan. Just like old times, he wondered why he let Tucker talk him into these kinds of things.
Oh yeah, ’cause you’re in love with him and would do anything for him.
Micah was really gonna have to stop that. He groaned, but it added to the sex noise.
“Oh Lord. Don’t overdo it. You just got out of the hospital, remember?” Tucker disappeared back into the bathroom.
Of course he remembered. Tucker wouldn’t let him freaking forget. “Oh, oh yeah. Mmm…” Crawling onto the bed, Micah hopped on his knees a little. The bed squeaked. “Oh yeah, baby.”
Take that, Duncan. ¡You
pendejo
!
The water turned on in the bathroom and Micah grunted, trying to cover the sound. He climbed to his feet and wobbled on the soft mattress. Bending his knees, he made the bed squeak again. Would the bed hold him if he actually jumped? He’d always wanted to jump on a bed. His mom would have killed him when he was a child. Jostling the bed, he glanced around the room. The floor was wood. If he jumped, would the bed be too loud? “Oh yes, yes, yes.” He moaned for effect. He really, really wanted to jump. “
Micah
,” his mother’s voice admonished in his head. He could almost see her shaking her finger at him.
Fuck it.
Micah’s feet left the mattress and the headboard
thunked
against the wall. “Oh yeah, baby, take it.” His glasses slid down his nose and he had to push them back up. This was fun. He’d wanted some fun back in his relationship with Tucker, but what an odd way to get it. Micah stifled a chuckle.
The water shut off.
“Oh yeah, take that cock.”
Tucker appeared in the doorway with half his face covered in shaving cream and his mouth hanging open. “What. Are. You. Doing?”
Holding his glasses with one hand, Micah jumped and lifted his legs, coming down on his butt.
Clunk, clunk, screech.
The bed walked back and forth on the wood. “Oh yeah, baby!” He hopped back up, grinning from ear to ear. “You said to act like I was having sex,” he whispered. Dipping his knees a few times, he made the springs bounce. Chuckling, he hopped in a circle. “You like that, baby?”
“Micah,” Tucker snapped out.
“What? You said—”
“I top. Stop with the ‘take it’ stuff. And quit jumping on the bed before you hurt yourself.”
What?
“
Dios mio.
”
Micah froze mid-bounce. When he came down, his teeth slammed together.
Ow.
“Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re irritated because I’m pretending to top?”
“I always top.” Tucker crossed his arms and leaned against the door, staring at him incredulously.
Despite Micah’s resolve to get over his infatuation, the little giddy feeling started up again. The stark reminder of their one time together came crashing back. It had been good before Tucker had run out on him while he slept. There was just something about having a nice hard cock up—
Micah frowned. His irritation with Tucker was coming back. “Just what’re you insinuating?” He hopped on the bed a couple times in a row. He was not some wuss because he liked to get fucked, damn it. And he was getting really tired of the whole “you’re just out of the hospital” crap.
“I’m not insinuating anything. I’m stating a fact. I top. Always.” Tucker’s brow furrowed. It became apparent why opposing football players in college had feared him and why businessmen probably still did, but that glare didn’t work on Micah. “No one, especially my family, would ever believe otherwise.”
“Well, I get to top in imaginary sex.” Micah pushed the wire frames back up his nose and resisted the childish urge to stick his tongue out.
“No, you don’t.” Pushing away from the door, Tucker strode forward, scowling now. He looked mean.
This was the most ridiculous conversation ever. Micah should just drop it, it was beyond silly, but he didn’t. “Oh yes I do.” He jumped a few more times. “Oh yeah, baby. Take. It. You like my big fat cock up yo—”
Tucker tackled him.
“
Oof.
” Micah landed flat on his back in the middle of the mattress with a bounce. The bed screeched across the floor and the headboard slammed into the wall. Shocked, Micah looked up into wide, dark, fathomless eyes.
Tucker stayed braced above him, holding himself up with his muscular arms. His knees bracketed Micah’s thighs and for several seconds, Tucker just stared. Finally, he shifted his gaze to Micah’s lips. Half of Tucker’s face still had shaving cream on it. He should have looked ridiculous, but he didn’t. The chiseled jaw appeared even more masculine.
Micah licked his lips out of self-consciousness. “Tucker, I, uh— Um.” He cleared his throat. “Get the fuck off me.”