He lets go and nods at the door. “Out, Hoyt.”
“Just a quick jerk-off, dude. Or some more making out. Or …” Damn. How desperate do I sound right now? “You aren’t gonna make me go back to the bunkhouse with this in my pants, are you?”
He burns me with his eyes. “Don’t make me carry you like a sack of chicken feed across that yard, because I will.”
“Well if you do, you’d better watch your eyes, ‘cause my dick is so hard it could poke one of ‘em out.”
He slowly grows closer to me, then closer, then so close my back is against the door again. His face is in front of mine.
“Hoyt … don’t …” His voice is soft, barely there. “Just don’t … don’t make this complicated. Don’t tell anyone. Keep this between us. I’m not ready for all the eyes of Spruce to be on me.”
“Me neither. Who would I tell anyway?”
“No one, that’s who.”
“Harrison, c’mon.”
He takes hold of my arm—gently, to my surprise—pulls me out of the way of the door, then opens it. His eyes are like pages of a book spilling out, full of emotion and uncertainty, but he keeps silent as he steers me out of his house.
“Whatever it is you want,” I tell him, now out on his porch, “I want it, too. That’s all I’m sayin’. That’s all I’ve got.”
Harrison looks me in the eyes. “All I want … is for you to be up at the ass crack of dawn to do your work.” He swallows, averts his eyes, then says, “Night,” before closing the door on my face.
Chapter 14
Harrison
You’d think on a big farm it’d be easy to avoid someone.
So why, no matter where I turn, do I always seem to run into Hoyt?
He’s by the barn grooming all of the horses, and every time he rubs their flank with his brush, his tight butt does this distracting wiggle in his jeans.
Then he’s magically at the chicken coop right when I walk by, and I see him talking cutely to them, crouched down, his tank top pulling up his back just enough to show a peek of his skin and the waistband of his underwear. And as if sensing me, he glances over his shoulder, meets my eyes, and smirks.
I think I’ve found my solace with the sheep, only to find that Peepers has locked her eyes on me, and I’m left wondering if all the animals on this farm really are horny and sexually frustrated.
Goddamn it, Hoyt.
If only I realized what kind of summer storm last night would summon, I’d never have answered that door.
I can’t stop thinking about him. The way his lips felt against mine. The way he clung to me as our mouths wrestled. I can still hear the gasps of air from his lips between kisses, as if he’s making them in my ear right now. I close my eyes for just one second, and I’m right back in my cabin last night.
I didn’t want him to leave.
But I couldn’t let him stay.
How could I possibly encourage anything with an eighteen-year-old who doesn’t have the first clue about the world? In what dimension would it be right for me to take advantage of his youth and his innocence and his hunger for exploration?
His curious hunger.
His insatiable appetite.
His restlessness and frustration, which is so much like mine.
“Another weak spot?”
I turn my head. Hoyt is strutting over to me, thumbs hooked in his front pockets, a cheesy smirk pasted over his face. Why is he walking around today like the canary that’s outsmarted the cat?
“In the fence,” he clarifies, as if I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Is Madam Peeps trying to escape again?”
“No.”
He stops and leans against the fence next to me. Our elbows touch. “See what I mean? About her?”
I frown. “What?”
“How Peepers always looks like she wants to fuck something senseless? I’m tellin’ you, she’s horny.”
I roll my eyes. “You wouldn’t be able to tell if an animal’s in heat if it came right up to you and humped your ass.”
“Is that what you wanna do?” Hoyt gives me a pointed look. “You wanna hump my ass?”
My heart flies up into my ears and fire burns in my cheeks. I look away, fuming. “For fuck’s sake …”
He nudges me with his elbow. “C’mon. It was a good joke. Hey, isn’t this fun? It’s like we got a secret or something. You and me.” He lets out a squeaky chuckle. “Damn, now I wanna hump my ass.”
“Be my guest.” I shove away from the fence and head off.
He catches right up to me. “Don’t you think it’s kinda fun? It’s something to take your mind off the monotony of all this work, at least, if you look at it that way.”
“I don’t find the work monotonous,” I say back, annoyed. “If you don’t like the work, maybe farm life isn’t for you.”