“Are you guys going to help with the cooking?” Taylor asked. “Or are you just going to stand there?”
Sam took Bo’s hand and started for the front room. “I’m going to show Bo the horses.”
“Typical,” he heard Taylor mutter behind him.
“We don’t put guests to work, Taylor,” his mom said.
“Bo’s not a guest. He’s Sam’s boyfriend.”
The smile on Bo’s face was pure sunshine as they slipped back into their running shoes. Sam led him outside and around the side of the house to the horse corral out back.
“Your sister seems nice,” Bo said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled between them.
“Meh,” Sam said. “She’s okay.”
Bo elbowed him in the arm. “Shut up. You’re super close, I can tell.”
“We always have been,” Sam agreed. He didn’t miss the wistfulness that crossed Bo’s face.
“You look a lot alike, you and Taylor.”
“I’m the better-looking one, though,” Sam teased.
“I won’t argue there.”
There were only two horses in the corral when he and Bo arrived. When they spotted Sam, they came over for a greeting.
“Hey, guys. This guy,” Sam said to Bo, referring to the chestnut horse, “is Jelly. And this one,” he rubbed the nose of the other chestnut, this one with white markings on his forehead, “is my horse Moby.”
Bo grinned so wide his cheeks must’ve hurt. “Can we go in?”
They went into the corral and Bo let both horses get acquainted with him. When they nosed at his waist, he laughed and said, “Sorry guys, I don’t have any treats. What you’re smelling is probably an aroma of lingering-chicken.”
Sam chuckled and leaned back against the corral, one foot hooked over a rung, and let Bo talk to the horses. Bo’s light hair glowed in the afternoon sun and his entire face shone with happiness. It was a far cry from the mood he’d been in this morning. Sam’s heart soared knowing he’d had something to do with putting a little bit of light back in Bo’s step.
“That’s some smile you’re wearing.” His mom leaned her forearms next to him on the corral and nodded at Bo. “Your man’s a quiet one.”
“Not usually,” Sam said. “He hasn’t talked about it, but I get the impression that he doesn’t have a really good relationship with his family. I think ours threw him for a loop.”
He and his mom watched Bo run his fingers through Jelly’s mane. When his fingers snagged on a particularly huge knot, he frowned and crossed to a bucket in the grass on the other side of the corral, picking through it until he found what he was looking for. He returned to Jelly with a brush designed for manes and tails.
“He had a pretty crap morning,” Sam told his mom. He spoke quietly so his words didn’t carry to Bo. “I had a feeling the horses would cheer him up.”
“I think his good mood has less to do with the horses and more to do with you, hun.”
Her words made him smile.
Bo used the brush to untangle Jelly’s knot. Without bothering to brush out the rest of the mane, he returned the brush to the bucket.
“Your man knows a thing or two about horses,” his mom observed.
“He lived and worked on a horse farm for a while when he was younger,” Sam said.
His mom made a “Hmm” sound. Sam knew that sound. It was the sound his mom made when she had an idea percolating in her head.
“What?” he asked, wary.
“Nothing,” she said. “You bringing Bo for dinner tomorrow night?”
“I was thinking about it.”
“Bring him. It’ll do him some good, I think.”
Jesus, even his mom could tell Bo was lonely as hell.
She tipped her head in the direction of the field at the back of the property, where a group of riders emerged from the tree line. “Your dad’s coming back with the riders. Lunch’ll be ready in about ten minutes. Once the guests are gone and the horses settled, grab him and come eat, okay?”
She was gone before Sam could respond. Bo came over and sat on the railing next to him.
“How many horses do your parents have?” he asked.
“About a dozen.” Sam counted six riders behind his dad, and with the two in the corral, it meant the other three were in the stable.
“Does he need any help getting them settled?” Bo sounded eager to spend more time with the horses.
A couple of his parents’ stable hands came out of the stable. Sam gestured to them. “No, he’s good. My parents always have a few stable hands to help out with the smaller day-to-day stuff. Usually students in the equine management or animal biology programs at the University of Guelph.”
“Equine management?” Bo sat straighter on the railing.
“Mm-hmm.” Sam side-eyed him closely while running a hand up and down his calf. Bo’s bare skin was sun-warmed against Sam’s hand. “It was Taylor’s major too.”
Bo might still be trying to figure out what he wanted to do with his life, but to Sam it was blatantly obvious: The man was happiest around animals. He’d mentioned this morning that he didn’t want to run a rehab centre like Big Sky because he didn’t like saying goodbye to the animals. That was understandable. Yet the way he’d talked about living on a horse farm when he was younger, the way he lit up while talking to Jelly and Moby, how he’d come to attention when Sam had mentioned equine management… How did Bo not see it?
Sam pushed off from the railing and stood in front of Bo. Bo widened his legs and Sam stepped between them. Placing his hands on the railing on either side of Bo, Sam leaned right into Bo’s personal space.
Bo’s eyes were dark pools of warmth, and even though he squinted against the sun, the gold flecks in them were still noticeable.
“You’re okay,” Sam concluded.
Bo nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay.” He pulled Sam into hug. “Thank you,” he said against Sam’s neck.
Sam placed a small kiss on the side of Bo’s neck before pulling back. “Come on.” He took the sunglasses off Bo’s head and gently placed them over his eyes. “You ready for lunch?”
Bo smiled at him. “I’m ready.”
Bonobo: Are you still alive? Should I send out a search party?
S.P. McAuley: Sorry! Been super busy lately.
Bonobo: Don’t worry about it. So have I :)
S.P. McAuley: Yeah? Anything to do with the guy you told me about a couple weeks ago?
Bonobo: [sends blushing-emoji] He’s my boyfriend now :)
S.P. McAuley: Good for you! Coincidentally, I also have a new boyfriend.
Bonobo: [sends gif of clinking beer glasses] Here’s to us!
S.P. McAuley: LOL
Bonobo: I was just messaging to say the new chapter was brilliant!!!! When’s the next one coming out?
S.P. McAuley: So demanding.
Bonobo: Hey, I’ve seen your Tumblr page. I know I’m not the only one asking.
S.P. McAuley: True.
Bonobo: I noticed you didn’t answer any of them.
S.P. McAuley: Also true.
Bonobo: Will you answer me?
S.P. McAuley: …You’re sworn to secrecy.