Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

“ Y ou’re absolutely sure we have to go by horseback?”

Ames laughed, grinning over at Nathan as he tightened the girth strap on his gelding’s saddle. “Well, you’re the one who suggested it again. And that’s kind of the point of going camping. Roughing it a little. I mean, we could have taken the truck and gone someplace else, like the State Park, but I thought I’d ease you into it. So we’re gonna go to one of the line shacks that has a shower and a grill.”

Nathan chuckled. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I guess all the lessons I’ve been taking from you in the last two weeks will help with the riding then.”

Ames nodded. Nathan and horses were getting along pretty well so he’d decided they should ride. He had high hopes for the puppy he was going to pick up when they got back, too. Nathan needed a dog.

“I really appreciate all the hard work. I mean, I wanted to go camping with you before the school year starts again, and it’s gearing up for that.”

Sophie was going shopping with the grannies this weekend for school clothes, in fact. Even though she was homeschooling —he wasn’t sure how that worked, but he guessed everybody got to go do fun things together, and nobody wanted to be left out.

It was really generous of the grannies to take Sophie along and let her experience a little normal.

He’d asked her if she wanted to go camping with them, and she said, “Oh God no. Please. I like outdoorsy stuff, but the grands are taking me shopping.”

He laughed his ass off about that. And he was kind of excited about spending this time with Nathan.

Showing off. Doing his cowboy stuff, now that they were together and not kinda hating on each other.

He loved the idea of having this man to himself without any fear of interruption. Sleeping under the stars and scaring the wildlife with their noises.

“I brought a deck of cards because there’s very few situations in life where cards aren’t a thing.”

Ames chuckled at the hint of nerves in Nathan’s voice. “The bunkhouse will have games, too. It’s a real nice setup. Not quite as good as the big house, but fine.”

“So long as we don’t have to sleep in separate beds,” Nathan pointed out. “I’m not going out there to hang out with you in the great outdoors and have to sleep completely alone, unprotected from bears and scorpions and mountain lions and whatever strange things you have here in the desert.”

“Man, you come from Texas. You don’t get to complain about the strange things. You have Houston.”

“Hell, we have the catfish the size of Volkswagens at Lake Ray Hubbard. They live under the bridge.”

“Dude, anybody ever tried to catch them?”

“I’m sure they have, but I don’t think it’s ever happened. Surely that would be something in the news. Besides, who’s gonna eat that? Nasty.”

That got them into a long discussion about the difference between giant channel cat and whales and the eating habits of different people and it managed to get them all the way through getting the tack on and loading the saddle bags, which kind of surprised him.

But then again, Nathan could ramble about some food.

“We ready to go?” he asked.

“We have blankets, right? And toilet paper. Did we remember toilet paper?” Nathan’s eyes went wide.

That started him chuckling, “Come on. It’s gonna be okay, Greenhorn. You’re gonna survive this.”

“Hey! I know about surviving. You’re the one who put me on a horse for days. On my very first time. Days.”

Nathan swung up into the saddle with relative ease for someone who was new to riding. His butt settled in the saddle, boots in the stirrups. “Did I mention days? It was days.”

“Don’t make me beat your butt.”

“And here we are back on the kink thing. It’s not a car thing, man. It’s an on-the-road thing. We start going from one place to another and all of a sudden it’s all about the kink, Moriarty.”

“I think you inspire me. What can I say?” Ames loved that they always came around to the weird stuff. He had thoughts like that all the time, but up until now he hadn’t had anybody to share them with, so it made Nathan extra special.

They headed off up the northern trail, the horses happy to stay at an easy walk, and while it was hot, it wasn’t unpleasant

Nathan seemed much happier this time, his butt and legs way more used to being in the saddle. And Ames, well, he loved being outside. He loved being on horseback, knowing they were gonna go camp and maybe fish if he could convince Nathan to do it.

In fact, he didn’t know Nathan’s position on fish because they hadn’t had a lot of it since Nathan started cooking. He wondered if Nathan didn’t like it or if it was hard to get up here. Like, trout was one thing, but salmon and stuff, you kind of had to go to Santa Fe for that. Maybe to the Whole Foods, even, he wasn’t sure.

“How far is it to camp?” Nathan asked about half an hour into the ride.

He grinned. “About another three hours. Let me know when you want to stop for a break.”

“No, I’m good. I just wanted to know. This is actually not bad. The weather is good. The scenery is amazing. And the birds are pretty cool. I love the ravens.”

“Me too. They’re super smart. And up at camp we’ll have magpies.”

“Nobody that ever knew me back in Austin would think that I would be out here, you know?”

“No?” It wasn’t a surprise. Nathan didn’t seem to be the most outdoorsy of guys.

“No. I mean, I’m pretty attached to my phone and my Wi-Fi. And my knife kit. Not to mention my six-burner range—that’s a pretty big one too.” Nathan chuckled. “Seriously, I could go for weeks without doing anything more than restaurant, market, bar, and home over and over again.”

It sounded like hell on Earth. “What kind of market?”

“Farmer’s markets, of course!” Nathan wiggled in the saddle. “I love getting to meet vendors and seeing the different kinds of produce they grow through the year. That’s something I learned to love in Spain. They’re very big on markets.”

“There’s a large one in Santa Fe. We’ve gone to a couple here, huh? They’re not too disappointing.”

He hated thinking that Nathan was biding his time, waiting for a bigger, better opportunity. It frustrated him and pissed him off because he meant something, right?

“Disappointing? Dude, I have learned all sorts of things about indigenous food that I didn’t know. Also that New Mexican food is a totally different bird than Tex-Mex or Mexican or Baja Mexican or border Mexican or coastal Mexican. Oh my God.”

Ames tried hard not to frown over because, one, they were starting on their vacation, as short as it was, and it would be ridiculous to start it off grumpy. And, two, because it was real bullshit that he was going to get his panties in a wad because Nathan said he liked it here. Just because he what? Wanted to get mad. No. Not today.

Nathan was trying. He was gonna try, too.

“Yeah, you like that prickly pear stuff, didn’t you?” Nathan must have spent a hundred bucks on prickly pear syrup and jam and some sort of weird dried things.

“Yeah, buddy. Not only does it taste good, but it’s such a pretty color. You eat with your eyes, you know.”

“That’s really a gross visual, Nathan.”

Nathan tilted his head, and the horse started to follow the direction of the tilt, so obviously Nathan was clenching his thigh. “Oh, you have a point.”

“Straighten up, man. Relax your legs. Heels down. Pay attention.”

This was not a place to get dumped off a horse. There were altogether too many things that were going to poke the living shit out of a man that would prevent nookie later. No one needed an ass full of said prickly pear spines or yucca spears.

“Sorry.” Nathan righted both himself and the horse. “They really are responsive, aren’t they?”

“Yep. They feel what you want, and what you don’t. They’re curious enough to want to see what you see. And they’ll take advantage of you if you lose focus.”

“Kase says they’re smart enough to be evil.”

“Yeah.” He patted his gelding’s neck. “They so are. And they’re way bigger than say, a puppy.” He kept an eye on Nathan when he said it.

“Sophie says she wants a puppy. What do you think?”

“It’s been a while since my last old girl passed. I would be ready to get a new one if one fell into our laps…”

“You don’t have, like, trauma from losing her?” He could tell Nathan was curious in a genuine way.

“I smile now when I think about her. It was hard for the first little bit, and your heart has to be ready to try again. It’s the hardest part of loving them. But I adore animals. And in general, we outlive them.”

“That’s so sad. I’ve never had a pet. I was always so jealous when I was a little boy. I’d go down to the park and watch.”

“Are there a lot of parks in Austin?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s a great city, really. Lots of green spaces, tons of lakes and such.” Nathan grinned at him, shrugged. “It’s funny, because it feels western, but it’s not. It’s sort of western-adjacent. The university keeps the liberal tone, the hippies are still there—have you ever heard about Hippie Hollow?”

“‘Hippie Hollow’? No…” He imagined that was a head shop of some kind, where a seventy-something could score a joint.

“Clothing optional beach on Lake Travis.”

“Clothing—well, go them!” He laughed, tickled at that thought. “We call them hippie pools here.”

“I love it!”

“So…” He had to know. “Did you ever try it?”

“Hippie Hollow? God, no. I had investors, clients—that would never have worked for me. Dan would have died.”

Well, that didn’t make no sense. He thought that gay guys from the city were all out proud and shaking their thing at Pride events and stuff. He didn’t understand.

After all, he’d seen Nathan naked. He’d explored every inch at this point. There were lots of tattoos—all of which were cool, if not something he’d want on his body. Fun to trace, real pretty in the whole package—Nathan was meant for admiring. He had all his important parts. They all worked. Nothing smelled gross. Didn’t have crotch rot. Had a beautiful cock. Ames didn’t get it.

“Why? Was he embarrassed to go?”

“Oh no. He was very proper in all ways, but he was not interested in public displays of affection. He was interested in…” Nathan’s mouth twisted a little. “Shit, man. I can’t even tell you that he was particularly interested in me. He was interested in money, and I was the way to get that.”

Jesus.

“I’m not interested in your money. That’s for sure.” He closed his eyes a second, because that had popped out of his mouth. This could go one of two ways, and one of them was really wrong. He couldn’t believe he said that out loud.

“Well, thank God for that. I don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of.” Nathan started chuckling, and Ames was glad that it had gone the right way. Instead of the I’m-going-to-kick-your-butt-and-it’s-going-to-be-a-miserable-weekend sort of way. “You just wait. Ames. One day. I will get back to where I need to be.”

“Where’s that?” He didn’t want know this answer.

“I’m going to have a restaurant again. You watch and see. I’m gonna make this happen.”

“I don’t doubt you one bit.” It might break him, but Ames didn’t doubt it.

“Thanks. My mom used to tell me that everything happened for a reason. Maybe she was right.” Nathan took a deep lungful of air, blew it all out. “That’s a dream for…not today. Today. I’m going camping. I’m on a horse. It’s beautiful. I mean the sky just…oh, babe. I can’t even tell you.”

“You can see why all the artists come out here and fall in love, can’t you?”

“The land of entrapment, right?” Nathan’s expression made him want to tighten his thighs, feel Buck go and fly. It was wondering and open, and for a second Ames could see all the regret and shame and sorrow fall away, leaving Nathan young and happy. “But it’s true. The sky goes on and on and on and nothing interrupts it. Not a cloud. Nothing. I’ve only ever seen one other thing this blue that wasn’t fake.”

“What’s that?”

Nathan smiled up into the sky. “Your eyes.”