Casey grinned. “I do.”
“Do you think anyone else suspects anything?”
Casey shook his head. “Most of the guys don’t think about men looking at each other like that, even knowing Blake’s gay. I noticed because I watch Blake all the time.”
I scowled at him, and he laughed.
“The man is fucking hot. How could I not watch him?”
“He really is. And thanks for being supportive. I didn’t think anyone out here would even give me a chance.”
“Everyone deserves a chance. And you’re nothing like I thought you were.”
“I probably don’t even want to know what you thought.”
“A rich boy running through his father’s money, thinking he’ll never have to work. That’s what I assumed for the first few days you were here, but then you got it together, and now you work as hard as any of us.”
“I don’t think anybody works harder than Blake.”
“You’re good for him.”
I studied my boots. “Nah, I’m just a lot of trouble.”
“You being here is forcing him to think about something other than working this ranch. He needs that. He needs someone who makes him take a break once in a while.”
I hadn’t thought about it that way. Blake had done so much for me. I needed to do something for him for a change. Maybe I could encourage him to do something just for fun one day soon.
The day was cooler than it had been for a while. It was nice being out on horseback with Casey. We chatted about my experiences with school. I told him how I’d been so resentful at being forced into a major my father thought was proper that I’d gotten back at him by spending as much of his money as I could, drinking myself into oblivion, and sleeping through class most days. Basically, I’d given up on myself.
“I never went to college,” Casey said. “I’ve been working ranches since I managed to graduate high school. I almost quit, but my mama made me stay and get my diploma. If I hadn’t had her behind me, I don’t know where I’d be now. Nowhere as good as this, that’s for sure.”
“Were you out in high school?” I asked.
“Fuck no. I’ve really only been out since I got hired here. Because Blake was, I figured this was my chance to just be who I am.”
I smiled at him, happy he felt like he could share that with me. “I’m glad you took the chance. You deserve to be the person you want to be.”
“It’s not easy. I don’t get many chances to go out or anything, but it does feel good not to hide all the time. Back in high school, I tried to date girls and be like my friends, but I just couldn’t keep it up. I got tired of pretending, so I took up with some kids who really didn’t care who you were or what you did as long as you provided them with some alcohol or weed.”
“Is that how you ended up almost quitting.”
“Yeah. My mama told me off over and over for skipping school and coming home drunk, but nothing changed until one day I had some friends over and things got wild. They broke some furniture and ransacked the kitchen. The whole place stunk of cheap weed. My mom came home from work and just about tore them apart. She told them if she ever saw any of them again, she’d call the police. I was so angry with her, but it was the best thing that could’ve happened to me.”
If only my dad had cared that much. “Does your mom know you’re gay?”
“Yeah, I told her when I took this job. She’s all right with it. I don’t think she gets it, but she told off her ‘friends’ at her church when they dared talk about what a sinner I was.”
I grinned as I imagined that. “I think I’d like to meet your mom.”
“Maybe sometime you can. She lives in Houston now. After I graduated, she decided to go back to school. She works as a nurse at Houston Methodist.”
“That’s awesome. You’re really lucky to have a supportive parent.”
“I am, and I’m sorry you don’t, but you’ve got other people who are happy to support you, like me and Blake.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
It was nearly time for dinner. We raced back to the barn, untacked the horses, and made sure they had plenty of water and hay to eat after their long day.
“Maybe sometime we could go to Houston together,” Casey suggested. “You don’t really have to meet my mom if you don’t want to, but…”
“I’d like that. We could go out, and I could be your wingman.” I’d never thought I’d end up with both a friend and a Daddy when I’d slunk back home to the ranch in disgrace.