“Hot, Jack,” Hudson whispered, stroking him through the shudders. “Jesus, you’re beautiful.”
“Blow my fucking mind…” And that would scare the fuck out of him, if he wasn’t so goddamn melted.
He floated through the rest of their shower while Hudson’s hands moved over his skin and washed his hair. Hudson didn’t ask him for anything, just let him enjoy the touch and the hot water.
It was the oddest thing, letting someone touch him, and if it hadn’t been Hudson, he’d have found a reason to go.
That was probably a good reason to go in and of itself, but he didn’t want to.
Hudson was smiling as he shut the water off, kissed him quickly, and grabbed their towels. “Look how relaxed you are.”
“You melted my happy ass.” He was sure moving slow. “I owe you brunch.” And an orgasm.
“Damn right. I want bacon.” Hudson toweled off his hair for him, still grinning.
“Crispy bacon, over-easy egg, hashbrowns, cantaloupe fruit salad if they have it, and a cinnamon roll.” He knew what Hudson liked.
“Gotta have my cinnamon roll.” Hudson winked and poked him in the abs, chuckling as he wrapped the towel around his own waist and went for his toothbrush.
He got himself shaved and cleaned up. Man, he was all gray these days. Not that Hudson seemed to care. Hudson didn’t seem to have any, but maybe the blond hair was hiding it.
Mackey said it made him look hot. He’d go with that.
Jack grabbed his jeans and tugged them on. Time to push his rubber band legs into boots and feed his man.
6
“Ellie. EllieEllieEllie oh my God.” Hudson jumped onto the barstool beside her. They’d texted after his meeting with the bull riders and agreed to meet before the event, and he could hardly hold in everything he needed to say.
Ellie laughed, eyes wide. “Well, hello, Hudson. I’m fine. How are you?”
Oh. Right. Manners.
“Sorry. How are you?” He took a deep breath. But he was dying to tell her, he needed another opinion. A conspirator. Something.
“Sore. Happy. All is well. Margarita?”
“Me too and yes, please.” He felt like a little kid who’d been told to sit on his hands. “I have to tell you something.”
“Tell. Tell. I want to know all.” She lifted her glass toward the bartender and lifted two fingers.
“Well, we slept late this morning and Jack was kind of… snuggly. Which he’s not much. You know him—gruff, manly, cowboy fucking, right? But it was awesome. And so… I… might have seduced him in the shower.” He rolled his eyes. “I totally seduced him in the shower.”
“Ooh… he doesn’t seem like the seduced type. He reads way more seducer-y.” She chuckled. “Is that even a word?”
“I don’t know, but that’s totally right. Well, I don’t know that he does much seducing; it’s more like incapacitating, but…” He blushed and sighed. “Anyway.”
“Okay, but that’s good, right? I mean, is there a world that’s bad?”
“No… no, it’s good. It’s all very good.” He wouldn’t be here otherwise, would he? Jack could push all of his buttons with a look. “I made a move. One he didn’t expect, and he loved it.”
“Hey, I think that’s a great sign. I mean, you have to figure he needs a little TLC too, right?” Her voice dropped. “My guy does.”
“For sure, but that’s not usually our MO. He doesn’t usually give me an opening, you know? He’s a cowboy with an agenda.” And he loved it. He had zero complaints. But this morning… that was something else. It gave him some hope that maybe Jack could be more than a once-a-year hookup—that he could convince Jack they were more than that.
“Yeah. He seems like the Marlboro man, kind of. Like he’s dear, but he’s… aloof too. Like he has a past.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A past?” He knew a little about Jack, but not as much as he probably should, considering how long they’d known each other.