Chapter 6

The lights came on around noon, which was handy, because neither one of them were going to have even one bar phone charge left. They'd made bacon and eggs for breakfast, slept in front of the fire, and played hand after hand of cards.

Honestly, Sterling was fun to hang out with, and he wasn't stuck up or afraid to head out to the barns in the cold and feed.

Hell, he liked the guy. He wasn't terrified of babies, and he seemed to be interested. Like, truly interested. Benji thought Sterling might believe he was straight, because he seemed to be trying to hide it, but Benji saw the glances, the heat.

Still, he wasn't going to be all "hi, I'm gay" over the man. It wasn't fair.

Maybe once he wasn't trapped here, sure, but he had to be honest, that whole we're-stuck-together-in-one-room thing was only good for romance novels.

In real life, it was a little sketch.

"Aw, that's almost sad," Sterling said, laughing as he blinked at the kitchen light.

"I know." He had to grin. "Though I probably need to call and see how the roads are out past this little lane, huh?" He'd end up missing work tomorrow if it was really bad, and it was going to take a few days to get Sterling's rental towed. "Once I charge my phone."

"Yeah. That's a good thing." Except the grimace told him Sterling didn't really want to talk to anyone.

"We don't have to tell yet, you know. No one knows we have lights. The animals are fed. It's Sunday, and the ski slopes are over the moon." Maybe he shouldn't make the offer, but it felt right.

"I'd love that." Sterling chuckled. "This is better than the hotel, I guarantee it. Thanks."

"Rock on. Charge everything, just in case. I'm going to run a load of baby clothes, for lo, the stink is strong with this one!" He waggled his eyebrows, making Sterling laugh again.

"He's got it going on. I thought other kinds of babies left a smell, but they have nothing on human." Sterling went to grab a laundry basket. "Point me toward the hamper."

"The little one in the baby's room. I usually never let it get this full." He did a lot of tiny loads of laundry.

"You got it." Sterling hummed, coming back with a loaded basket and a wry smile. "Okay, show me how your machine works. I don't want to mess it up."

"It's simple. I wash his stuff on delicate with Dreft. Baby skin." He winked and together they got the laundry started. He reckoned Sterling was one of those guys who took his laundry to the laundromat and paid someone to do it for him. And his shirts were dry cleaner-pressed like a lot of cowboys he knew. Well, he thought they were. There had been some hanging in the truck, though Sterling's bag had mostly contained pullovers and sweaters.

"Oh, the stench is already better." He cracked up, letting himself feel his laughter. Xavi was awake and happy, so he wasn't worried about startling him.

"I can tell too. So does he go to daycare while you work?" Sterling was watching Xavi, a little smile on his face. Maybe Xavi reminded him of someone.

"Yeah. The same place I went when I was a kid. It's not fancy, but it's been run by the same family for decades. It's also close to my office, so bonus." Especially when Xavi was brand-new, and he was feeding that boy every two hours. He would run over, feed him, and run back.

"Oh, that's nice." Sterling chuckled. "My si—sib and I had a great, uh, babysitter. She was good to us."

"Oh yeah? I went to daycare. My mom's a schoolteacher—I think I told you. My father was in insurance—he worked at the Allstate agency when I was a little boy. He was killed in a skiing accident."

"I'm sorry. That sucks." Sterling clasped his shoulder, and he felt that same jolt of awareness he'd had every time they'd gotten close enough to make contact. It was enough to raise the hair on the back of his neck.

"It's been a very long time, but thanks. I have lots of good memories about him, so I want to love Xavi as much as he loved me." He'd been angry, sure, but he was over that. Accidents happened. He'd learned that in his line of work.

And his mom… she was a rock. She was his backup in every way, and he had her too. He was lucky as hell.

He paused, then went ahead and asked. "What about your folks?"

Sterling snorted. "They split up years ago. Mom travels. Dad does cowboy shit."

"Oh. That's—" He pondered that, because it was cool. "Like rodeo cowboy or rancher?"

"Oh, he was a rodeo man once upon a time, so he still goes to events. And he has contacts all over the place." Sterling glanced away, and he thought maybe it wasn't as cool as all that, then, so he left it alone.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm not that brave. I put people together."

He'd seen enough hurt and pain pounding sand. He wasn't going to do it on purpose.

"You got the harder end of the deal. Anyone can do the stupid shit."

"I detect zero lies there, my friend." He had been on the doing end of a ton of stupid shit. "I may have indulged, in fact."

"Yeah? Well, see, now that you've sowed your wild oats, you can settle."

"That's it." The military liked to say it fostered responsibility. Yeah. Well, it also tore through all sorts of bad behavior and took a man with it.

"What else can I do, honey?"

Had Sterling called him honey? He glanced over sideways. It didn't seem calculated. There was no air of elaborate casualness to Sterling that spoke of any hint of seduction.

Which meant it was natural as hell, and that was way more disconcerting. And exciting.

Down boy, he told himself. One honey does not a wild pass make. He needed to remember that Sterling was passing through. And even if he wasn't, Benji had a baby to raise.

Still, Sterling was his type, top to bottom—broad-shouldered, tiny butt, callused hands. He could go for that in a hurry, and he did like Sterling's sense of humor.

But he seemed… restrained. Like, unwilling to talk about himself. And that was weird enough to make him wonder.

Hell, folks had secrets. That was none of his, for sure. But he wasn't sure he could let a guy with that many secrets into Xavi's regular life.

Fuck, he was going in circles he didn't need to. He was sure Sterling would be gone after he dealt with whatever family thing he was in town for.

This was a fun friendship out of time. Nothing serious. Nothing real. He didn't even have the man's phone number.

"Benji? You okay?" Sterling was staring at him.

"Yes. Yes, lord. I was woolgathering. I'm ready to see if we can't find something amazing on the TV. What's your poison?"

"Oh, I like bombs. Cowboys. Murder documentaries. Disney movies. I'm easy."

"I like that in a guy." Benji realized he probably should have said person, but hey, Sterling had pulled out the "honey".

"Yeah? What about you? What do you watch?" Sterling watched him like he was a touch magical.

"I like police shows—NCIS is my favorite."

"Oh, man, every time I go down that rabbit hole I start back at that first episode on Air Force One and then I never get past that season. I like it, though. And I like the Hawaii one."

"I do too. I like—cop shows. Criminal Minds, CSI, NCIS, all of them."

"Then we should have an a-thon."

"Popcorn?" Benji asked, because why not?

"Butter and salt?"

"Hell, yes." He did love a greasy, salty snack. "I'll grab the pan."

"Where are the kernels?" Sterling went to the cabinet he pointed out, then grabbed a couple of big bowls, too. The man was getting to know his kitchen.

By the time they were done, the weirdness was gone. They settled in, Xavi on a blanket on the floor, and got the TV fired up. It was his big indulgence from right before Xavi had been born, and it was still crystal clear with damn good sound. A nice toy.

"This is cool," Sterling said. "I never get to only sit and watch."

"No? I try hard to take Sundays for this." He didn't figure he'd have it forever. Soon there would be T-ball, soccer, 4-H, scouts.

"The last time I got to watch the TV without being on some kind of job it was a Super Bowl. Like, five years ago."

"I get that, in a way. That's why I stopped doing hospital work. The four twelves thing was nuts, and I started to get snarly."

"I'm just now learning the value of downtime." Sterling gave him a slow smile that heated him right up.

"It's important. I keep telling myself that one day I'll miss long sleepless nights when my son is being a night owl."

"Mmm. Yeah, maybe. It seems to work that way, huh? When you want to sleep, they turn into car-driving maniacs."

"And when you're young enough to stay up all night, they can't have a conversation with you." He didn't mind being awake as much as in the long hours of the night when he remembered he'd chosen this life, this baby.

Not fair, but it had been his choice, one hundred percent, and he wasn't a hypocrite. He had everything on earth he wanted, except for a partner.

That was more than damn near anyone.

"It's like everything else. Checks and balances to keep us humble. At least that was what this old cowboy I knew on the circuit always said." Sterling's wry twist of lips told Benji he wasn't sure he believed it. "Still, it would be nice if stars aligned once in a while."

"No shit on that. Stars. Explosions. UFOs. I'm easy." He scrolled to NCIS. "Let's do this, man. Eventually they're going to guess that we're hiding out here."