“I don’t want to fuck up his chance for money, but…” He didn’t want to do this.
“Ryder. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Period. He can talk to this man himself, and if it doesn’t work out for him on his own, he’ll deal with that. He has to live his own life.”
“It’s just creepy.” He turned to face Mister Charlie. “I don’t like how he looks at us. It feels like porn. Roper says I’m being stupid, but—I don’t like it.”
“Hm.” Mister Charlie sighed. “I see. So it’s not just that you don’t want to do it. You don’t want him to do it either?”
“I wish he could see it, but…he won’t.” And Ryder couldn’t make Roper do anything he didn’t want to.
“I wondered about that myself. What can I do to help? Is being there tonight enough? Would you like me to try to talk Roper out of it?”
“Just have my back when I say no? Please? I’m retired.”
Mister Charlie turned to him and caught his chin in warm fingers. “I promise. I will always have your back.”
Instead of tensing, he relaxed, melting into the touch. “Thank you, Sir. I’ll have yours too. I swear.”
“Thank you.” Mister Charlie kissed him gently. “You and I are a team now.”
“I like being part of a team. It’s my natural state of being.” In fact, he had been born to it.
“It can be very nice. You need to be your own man too, though. You should think about what you want and what you need for yourself.”
“I did. I have. You’re the one I want, no question.” And he knew that. The rest? He was figuring out.
Mister Charlie gave him a nod. “That makes me happy, but there is more you need to think about. More you may need. More that I can give you.”
“Okay.” He wasn’t sure he was following, but he did know he was going to make it work.
Mister Charlie just smiled and leaned deeper into the couch. “So, bowling went better than I’d anticipated.”
“I’m glad?” That was good, right? It felt right.
“Was that a question?” Charles gave him a playful look. “I won. By the skin of my teeth but numerically speaking I was the winner.”
“You did! We should play again. What’s your position on pool?” He was way better at that than bowling.
“I played a bit when I was younger. My family had a table in our game room, and there was one in the dormitory at college.”
“I know the rules, but I’m not a shark or anything.” He was best at cards or board games. He enjoyed them.
“You know me. I like cards. Poker is about as competitive as I get. Or Risk. I’m ruthless at Risk.” Mister Charlie’s laugh didn’t really leave his chest; it just rumbled around in there.
“Oh, yes. We have fun with rummy, don’t we?”
“We do. You’re very good. It’s nice to have some friendly competition.”
“It is. It’s fun to play.” He loved the way they talked together, enjoyed one another during their games.
“And safer than eight seconds on a bull, for sure. How long do you think your brother will continue to ride?”
“Until he gets the injury that knocks him out of the game.” Just like him.
Charles nodded. “I was afraid you were going to say that.”
“It’s how this works, right? We play until we can’t.”
“Yes, but we’re not talking about your average sports injury here.” Charles sighed. “I apologize; it’s not as if you don’t know this. But I worry for Roper.”