Wild & Unruly by Laurel Alexander

Author:Laurel Alexander [Alexander, Laurel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lonely Rose Press, LLC
Published: 2015-12-17T23:00:00+00:00

*

Pete was loud and entertainingly drunk on the plane, dancing around the swank stand-up cabin and singing endless choruses of Waltzing Matilda, oblivious to the way Elliot and Jared were staring at each other. It was just after four a.m. when the jet finally landed at the private airport south of Sheridan. Elliot unbuckled his belt and grabbed his suitcase, hopping down the narrow little clamshell stairway onto the tarmac. The night was still dark and windy, but he could sense the mountains to the west.

Jared and Pete came down after him, arms wrapped around each other’s waists. Elliot turned away from the wide expanse of plain beyond the lighted runway and snorted softly as he grinned back at them—Pete was batting at Jared’s face a little like a cat, frowning in concentration, and Jared was carrying both of their bags in one muscular arm.

“Waltzing Margarita,” he sang, as they walked to the cars. “You’ll go a-waltzing Margarita with me…”

“Keys, Peter,” Jared demanded.

Pete held them out shakily, sighing as he warbled a thin, “Where is my Margarita…” He started turning his head around, craning his neck to peer into the empty bed of his truck as Jared tried to help him up into the cab.

“Margarita’s still in Gillette, Pete, with your mom,” Jared chuckled. He turned to Elliot as he shut the cab door behind him, tossing him the keys to his Ford.

“I’ve, uh, gotta take Pete home and put him to bed,” he said, scratching the back of his neck and shrugging apologetically. “You go on back to the ranch. Get some sleep?”

He smiled sweetly at Elliot, his face open and his eyes twinkling, and Elliot felt an unbearable pressure in his chest, a longing to grab Jared, hug him and squeeze and never let go. His fingers wanted to touch so badly, his whole body desperate to be pressed flush against Jared’s again, feeling the shift and give. The tension between them as they looked at each other felt like a variation on the first time—Elliot frustrated and impatient, Jared projecting calm. Only now there was a rich undercurrent to it, an ache of anticipation. They held each other’s gaze until Pete rolled down the window of the truck.

“The ghost dances with Matilda,” he said, words slurring together. “Even after the guy dies, all he wants is one more dance with his wife! That’s a god damn love story, right there.” His face crumpled a bit, like he was being hit with sudden emotion.

“I don’t think the song’s actually about…” Elliot started, as Jared turned to look up at Pete, who was hunched over, chin on the half-rolled-down glass. He looked like he might start to cry.

“Hoo boy,” Jared said, winking at Elliot as he walked around to the driver’s side of the truck. “Time for bed, Pete.”

Elliot bit his lip and nodded, walking stiffly over to Jared’s truck. He was still somewhat sore from the night before, but not unpleasantly so. His thighs felt like they had

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