“Nope, not like that. Well, not really. Vince is a flirt, which doesn’t bother me. He knows it doesn’t, and if it did, he would quit. We just… We’re busy, we have our own lives, and that works well for us. We don’t have expectations of each other. He likes to go out more than I do. I’m a homebody most of the time, so even when I’m in town, we spend a lot of time apart. We have a good time together, but we’re busy with our careers. That comes first for us.”
Roe bobbed his head, probably ridiculously. He was glad Holden and Vince found what worked for them, but he couldn’t imagine it. He wanted…more. He wouldn’t be satisfied in a relationship like that.
“What about you?”
“I keep him locked in my room,” Roe joked, and Holden laughed.
“Not what I meant.”
“I had a boyfriend. We were serious. We lived together. I thought he was the one.”
“You don’t have to say.”
“Nah, I don’t mind.” It sucked and was still painful, but he’d moved on. “It was difficult sometimes because I spent so much time in Harmony. I was realizing I wanted to be here more. I’d done the city thing, made some money, had some fun. I wanted to be closer to my son, my family. Richard worked from home, so that helped. We tried long-distance at first, but that wasn’t working for either of us. I’m not really built that way. I wanted him to move here, because I loved him, and like I said, we were serious. He agreed, but it didn’t last long. A couple of months. I came home from work one day and he was packed, said he was heading back to the city. He didn’t like small-town life, didn’t like being a stepdad. The family thing wasn’t in the cards for him.”
“Shit. I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t meant to be, is all,” Roe replied. “Can’t really expect someone to uproot their life and move here. It’s not for everyone. And unless there’s a sudden influx of single, queer men in the area…”
“Asheville’s not far. It’s not a big city, but there have to be more options.”
“There are. That’s where I go when…well, when I need to get laid.” They both chuckled. “But I haven’t really dated since Rich. Haven’t had that connection. Again, it has to be someone who’s good with Wyatt and wants the same life I do.” At his age, Roe didn’t see himself finding that. Ready to change the subject, he asked, “Food good?”
“Yeah, thanks for this. We gonna head back out there, or did I wear you out? I can go all day.”
Aaand…that statement went straight to Roe’s cock.
When Holden realized what he’d said, he lowered his lashes and shook his head, a grin stretching his lips. It was too sexy—he was too sexy.
Holden added, “Well, that too, but it wasn’t what I meant.”
“That’s what they all say, man.”
They joked around and chatted while they finished their lunch, then went to the barn and gave it a few more hours’ work.
When a familiar car pulled down the driveway, Roe said, “Linds is dropping Wyatt off to stay here tonight. You wanna have dinner with us? Marilee and Sean are welcome too.”
After spending the day with him, Roe realized something about Holden just clicked with him. He had friends around town, of course, and Deacon over in Everett, whom he got along well with. Roe grew up here, so he knew every-damn-body, but Holden felt a little different. Like Roe had a friend here now he had something in common with that he didn’t have with anyone anymore.
He wasn’t surprised when Holden said, “Thanks, but that’s okay. I don’t want to interrupt family time.”
He was just about to tell Holden it wouldn’t be an interruption when Wyatt came running over. “Hey! Dad! What are we gonna do tonight?”
“We’ll talk about it in a minute. Wyatt, say hello to Mr. Barnett.”
“Hi, Mr. Barnett.”
“Hi to you too, but if it’s okay with your dad, you can call me Holden. Mister just makes me feel older than I already am.”
Roe laughed. They liked Wyatt to be polite and respectful in how he spoke to others, and part of that was addressing people the way they wanted to be addressed, so he said, “Holden’s fine if that’s what you want.”
“You have a good arm,” Holden told him. “I’ve seen you out there with your dad. I loved sports when I was your age too.”
It was ridiculous for a swell of appreciation to fill his chest, but it did. Rich hadn’t been a bad guy, but he just hadn’t been a kid person. He hadn’t ever really tried to engage Wyatt—not that it should matter that Holden did. He was just a buddy being friendly.
“Yeah, as long as I keep my grades up, Mom and Dad let me play every sport I want. Baseball and football are my favorites. I want to play in college.”
Holden nodded. “I bet you will, then.”
Lindsey joined them, and Wyatt asked, “Sean doesn’t like to play?”
“He likes football.”
Roe squeezed Wyatt’s shoulder. “We’ll have to get a game going with all of us.”
Holden didn’t reply to that, but Roe had a feeling it was more because he wasn’t sure about Sean. “I should head out. I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”
They’d agreed on a wage and the work Holden was going to do for the barn. Roe was off Sundays and Mondays, but he was working at the farm the next day to help his brothers. He was going to haul some tools over here first for Holden, though.
Before he turned to go, Holden introduced himself to Lindsey. “Holden. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She shook his hand. “Lindsey. I see Roe’s putting you to work. He’s good at that.”
“Be nice, woman,” Roe teased.
Holden smiled. “I’ll leave you to your family time. Have a good one.” Without a backward glance, Holden walked away, and Roe had to force himself not to watch him go.
“I’m gonna go find Zeus!” Wyatt said.
When he was gone, Lindsey fanned herself. “Damn, that man is hot.”
For whatever reason, Roe couldn’t find it in himself to respond.
CHAPTER TEN
Holden
Over the next couple of weeks, Holden spent a lot of time in the barn. Monroe had shown up bright and early Monday morning with a truck full of tools and saws he would need. Then a couple of days in, Monroe had taken Holden into town with his truck so they could get some of the wood he’d need for different projects. The first ride turned into more, as Holden needed more supplies as he went.
He didn’t have to go with Monroe, of course. He would have been able to figure it out himself, but Holden liked spending time with him. It was nice to feel like he had a friend in a town he still didn’t feel all that comfortable in. He wasn’t really into the whole everyone-knowing-each-other thing, and hell, the number of people who stopped Monroe every time they went out together was ridiculous. Even when they left Harmony and went for supplies in Everett or Chelsea, people knew Monroe Covington.
One thing that had surprised Holden, though—well, two things had surprised him. The first was how well he and Monroe got along. The Covingtons were basically Briar County royalty. Where he grew up, they’d had a similar family, and they’d harassed Holden and his family—judging his dad, picking on Holden and Marilee when they were kids. He hadn’t ever given a shit what they thought, but Marilee had.