He seems to settle into his seat, his eyes sending a challenge to anyone else, and that’s when I realize what he’s doing.
He’s backup.
Holy shit.
Kennedy brings our food and coffee out, still looking annoyed with us being here, but she doesn’t say anything else. Mr. Easton asks for a refill on his coffee, and she fills his cup before she takes off.
I can hear the quiet whispers all around us, but Oakley’s father is pretty loud when he says, “Yeah, my boy and his boyfriend came over for dinner the other night. You, of course, came up.” He chuckles. “I mean, football always comes up. So we talked about the game. I think he misses playing.”
“How is Oakley?” Wait. Did he just say boyfriend?
“He’s good. Real good. The boy actually followed in my footsteps, if you can believe that.” Easton Landscaping is the only landscaping business within a twenty-mile radius, and it’s well-known. “Well, sort of. He focuses more on fancy shit, like porch swings and fire pits, but he still does landscaping too. Hired his own crew and everything in Hayes.”
“Well, I’ll be damned,” I say with a smile. “And um . . .” I can’t help lowering my voice a little. “You said he has a boyfriend?”
The man is beaming proudly now, and my heart squeezes tightly in my chest. “Yup. Travis Wyatt.” He’s grinning wide. “My son wore him down.”
A surprised laugh comes from me because I never saw that coming. “Um . . . wow. That’s great.”
“Isn’t it? Crazy how unsure my boy was whether the town would be okay with it.” He squeezes my shoulder. “As if they have a say in who anyone loves around here.”
My eyes meet his, and I thank him silently for the comforting message and nod my head. I’m not sure what to say to him, but I’m grateful.
It seems like everyone else has moved on to other topics as we finish up our breakfast and chat a little more with Oakley’s dad. I pay the check, and we head out to my truck.
Once inside, Chance grabs my face and kisses me hard like he’s on the same high I am. It was fine.
I mean, sure, there’ll be some consequences from this. No doubt. The news will spread, and not everyone will be as kind and as accepting as Mr. Easton, but it doesn’t matter.
Because there will be some who’ll have our backs.
And we’ll stand up to anything that comes our way.
Together.
THIRTY-FOUR
CHANCE
I can’t believe that just happened.
I was nervous as hell. I can’t deny it. I was shaking like a leaf, but we did it. There’s no way the entire town of Kensley won’t know now. But Noah was so damn strong and determined, there was no way in hell I was going to stop him.
And it feels so damn good, now that it’s over.
We drive back to the old farmhouse that’s now my home, as well as Noah’s, and we immediately head out to the barn. One of the calico cats is very pregnant, and I’ve been keeping an extra eye on her.
I see her almost immediately, her stomach still popped out on both sides. The poor thing looks miserable. “Should we get her some milk?” I ask, wanting to spoil the sweet mama a little.
Noah chuckles and kisses the tip of my nose. “It’s not really good for them. But I did buy some of that wet food crap, so you can spoil your girl.”
I chuckle and can’t deny that makes me happy as hell. “Thank you. She deserves it. How many kittens do you think she’s carrying?”
He shrugs, petting another kitten who comes up and demands attention. There’s five now, including the mama cat. “The most I’ve ever seen a mom have was five.”
“Five?” My eyes widen in shock. “Holy hell.” I pet her soft fur. “Poor girl.”
He smiles, looking at me so damn fondly. I love when he looks at me like that. “She’ll be okay. I promise. My grandparents and parents always had a lot of barn cats. I’ve seen my fair share of kitten births.”
I scrunch my nose up at the thought, and it only makes him laugh harder. He pulls me to him by my hips and kisses me softly.
“I’ll walk you through it.”
“Oh, God. Can we just skip to the cute-kitten part?”
“We’ll see.” He kisses me again, and instead of asking him what that means, I let him deepen the kiss.
I’m completely gone for this man. “Are you worried?”
He shakes his head, placing his forehead against mine. “No. LeAnn was right. I’ve given enough to this town. It’s time they either give me something back or let me go. I can’t live my life in secret anymore.”
I nod, my forehead sliding against his. “You’re an amazing man, Noah Asher.”
“You’re more amazing, Chance Leighton.”
I kiss him, and my body responds to his. His fingers slide through my hair, tugging tightly in a way that goes straight to my balls. I’m about to suggest we go inside before we give the cats a show that’ll likely traumatize them, but he pulls back, releasing me before he takes my hand and doesn’t let me argue, leading me to the house to get the canned food for the mama kitty, who we named Mama. We feed her and the other cats before heading back inside.
I know going back to school next week is going to be a big deal. There’s no way our being a couple in Kensley won’t be. There’ll be whispers in the hallway and snickers in the locker room.
But I’ll hold my head high, and I’ll be as strong as I can for him because he’s right. No matter what happens, it’ll be okay. We have nothing to be ashamed of.
This isn’t like the situation that led to me being forced out of Big Bend. I was alone then. I had nothing. But here, I have Noah by my side, and he has me.
We have each other, and that’s really all we need.
THIRTY-FIVE
NOAH
Once again, I’m a bundle of damn nerves. This is new for me. Seriously. I’ve always been good under pressure.
I don’t regret walking into that diner, hand in hand with Chance. But now that school is back in session, we’re finally, truly facing it.
We walk down the halls of the high school, not holding hands this time, but side-by-side, and I let myself feel his strength. For the first time in my life, I’m depending on another person as much as I am myself for strength.
I grew up being taught that as the man, it was my job to be the strong one. All the time. Don’t cry. Don’t let them see you have any weakness. Basically, don’t feel at all. But I don’t have to do that with Chance.
I’ve learned just how toxic my upbringing was.
With Chance, we lean on each other. And it’s a beautiful thing.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says quietly as I look around and see various pairs of eyes on us, a lot of whispering going on. They could be talking about other things, but it’s almost certain that some of them are talking about us.
As we head toward the locker room and my office, we’re intercepted by Anthony. We all stop walking, and I hold my breath, waiting to see how this will go. He doesn’t look displeased, but he doesn’t seem jovial either.