“Vince does want to meet you,” Holden said. “I told him you grill more than anyone I know.”
“And you haven’t even tasted my food when it’s been smoking most of the day.” At least they were both playing the same game. The truth was, it likely wasn’t a game for Holden. He had a boyfriend, and Roe was his friend. Roe was the one crazy-attracted to Holden. “Saturday good, then?”
Holden nodded. “Yeah, Roe. Saturday’s good. Listen, I—”
Roe held up his hand, and Holden stopped. Roe didn’t know what the man planned to say, and he didn’t want to. He had a feeling it would be something that made him feel pitied. “Thank you again, for this. But it doesn’t sit right with me. I owe you for this.”
“I feel the same way about you and what you did for my family.”
Roe trembled. His heart thudded. Goddamn it. Why did this man get to him so much? Why did such a simple reply make him feel weak? Roe ignored it, kept trying to act normal. “You guys got plans tonight?”
“I, um…I’m not sure. Sean and Marilee ran to the grocery store.”
“I need to clean up after the chickens and the goats. I have some eggs for you guys too. I hope she doesn’t buy any.” He was rambling. Someone shoot him.
“Want some help?” Holden asked.
Roe wasn’t sure what it was about that question, but it knocked some sense into him. He wasn’t going to do this, wasn’t going to make their friendship weird. He enjoyed it too much. “Yeah, yeah I do.”
“Let’s have at it, then.”
And that was exactly what they did.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Holden
There was no reason Holden should feel strange about seeing Vince, but he did.
There was no reason he should feel guilty about being friends with Roe or having Vince in Harmony, but he did that too.
He was still trying to make sense of what that meant or what it said about him—especially the latter. Vince was his boyfriend. How could he feel almost…guilty for Vince coming to visit?
The thing was, in the days since he’d shown Roe the barn and Vince had called to ask if he could visit, he and Roe had hung out a few times, like always. They’d laughed and talked and worked, and sometimes it’d seemed like they were both trying too hard for…something. It was another thing that Holden didn’t understand. He was full of those lately.
He was also thinking about this entirely too much. Case in point, he’d mulled it over the entire way to the Charlotte airport.
Once he picked up Vince, the plan was to drive back to Harmony, where he’d take him to meet his nephew and sister. Then they’d go to their room for the night—at the only hotel in town—before their…whatever it was they were having with Roe and his family the following day.
Why had he agreed to that?
Why had Monroe asked?
Why did it matter?
Why did he still remember what Roe’s hand had felt like on his cheek?
Holden waited at the curb for Vince to come out. When he noticed him, his boyfriend had a duffel bag over his shoulder and was wearing a pair of athletic pants and a T-shirt. Vince smiled when he saw Holden, and he returned it, feeling the familiar fondness for the man.
When Holden got out, Vince said, “Get back in. You’re fine,” before throwing his bag in the back seat and climbing into the passenger’s. “Look at you. You’ve gotten a tan.”
“I’m outside a lot.” They both leaned over and pressed a quick, chaste kiss to each other’s lips.
Conversation flowed effortlessly the couple of hours’ drive back to Harmony. It had always been simple with Vince.
They were almost home when Vince said, “You look good, Holden. There’s something different about you…like you’re more relaxed or something.”
He couldn’t imagine why he’d be that way unless… “Probably because I’m not working and my sleep isn’t messed up from my flight schedule.” Though he still wasn’t the best sleeper and had never required much of it. “You look good too.”
“I always look good, babe,” Vince replied playfully.
They laughed.
“This town is cute as hell,” Vince added.
“Eh, it’s all right.”
He rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, go ahead and pretend you don’t like it. I hear it in your voice when we talk.”
“I like being close to my family.”
“Who live here.”
“I’m coming back home, Vince.” He couldn’t stay there. He had a life he had to get back to. A life he liked. A life that worked well for him.
“When did I say you weren’t?”
The conversation petered out after that, and soon they were pulling into the driveway to his sister’s place—to his sister’s place at Roe’s. Holden noticed Roe’s truck wasn’t there, but then, he would likely still be at work, so that made sense. He wondered if Roe and Lindsey had plans that night, or if Sean and Wyatt would hang out, or if Wyatt would be with his mom or one of his other friends. While the boys spent more time together and enjoyed it, Wyatt had a large group of friends where Sean didn’t.