Chapter 1

I awoke out of a deep sleep to ear-splitting sound.

“Oh, God. Make it stop!” I groaned and squeezed the sides of my head with both hands.

I shared a two-story duplex with Damien Ridley, my tenant. He loved his metal and hard rock at a decibel level that made my ears bleed.

Pushing aside my blanket, I got out of bed and stomped outside and down the stairs to bang on his door.

“Hey!” I yelled.

Of course, he didn’t hear me. I turned the doorknob and found it unlocked. I opened the door and stepped inside, only to see Damien standing with his long, muscular legs wide apart, head hanging back as he strummed air guitar strings, his biceps bulging as he practically humped the invisible axe.

Don’t get me wrong. It was a sexy sight. Damien’s shoulder-length blond hair was damp and curled slightly against his neck where the veins bulged out. He’d probably just gotten home a few minutes ago from his job at the nearby gym. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly open as he played along with the screeching crescendo of whatever big-hair band polluted the air at that moment.

Despite my reluctant fascination with his suggestive gyrations, I stalked over to his stereo system and hit the off button. Damien’s eyes popped open.

“What the fuck, man?” he said.

“The fuck is that it’s eleven o’clock on a Monday night, and I really need to get some sleep. What the hell happened to the damn headphones? Didn’t we have an agreement about that?”

“Oh, right!” He slapped his forehead. “Sorry, bro. I just…” Damien paused for a second and looked at me from head to toe, then back up again.

Too late, I realized I was only wearing my canary yellow boxer briefs. The snug ones. Great.At least I wasn’t sporting wood, though it was a near thing.

Clearing his throat, Damien continued, “Yeah, uh, I got home and I just hadto hear some Poison. Totally spaced the headphones, man. My bad.” He looked me over again and licked his lips, grinning a little. “Though, if you go to bed like that every night, I might be tempted to forget again just so I can see you in your sexy underwear.”

“In your dreams, metal boy. You may be hot stuff, but it’s never gonna happen.” I rolled my eyes and considered covering my crotch. For all the good that would do. Better to just man up.

“Never say never, Les,” Damien drawled.

We’d done this song and dance before, but I was usually fully clothed. “Look, just try to remember, okay?”

“You forgive me, don’t you?” Damien wheedled, those translucent gray eyes melting my resolve, as usual.

I sighed, scratching my beard shadow. To keep a smooth jaw line, I had to shave twice a day. Too much work. “Just put a Post-It note on the stereo or something. I get up at four ‘o’clock in the frickin’ morning, you know.”

“Yeah, man. Again, sorry. Consider it done.” And there were the dimples, along with his pretty, even white teeth. He must get lots of new memberships at the gym when he brought those out. I was a goner and I needed to leave before my dick started doing the two-step.

“Good night.”

“‘Night, Les,” he said.

I gathered the tattered shreds of my dignity and moved my Tweety Bird-yellow clad ass out the door. I heard a chuckle behind me as I left.

* * * *

As I lay down in bed and fluffed my pillows, frustration at being wide awake gave way to resignation. I was in lust with my neighbor, that tall, finehunk of a man that made me want to bay at the moon. I knew it. Heprobably knew it. Didn’t matter that we both swung for the same team. We were as different as horses and cows.

He loved metal and all things rock. I was a fan of country music and little else. I mean, I grew up on a ranch in the Midwest. All my parents and I ever listened to was country music. We breathed it, lived it, and sang it all day long. Patsy Cline was like the Virgin Mary to us.

They died a few years ago, and I had to sell the ranch to pay off old debts. The music was all I had left of them, along with the fun memories of growing up. I’d had the best time being a cowboy. I loved the land, the smells, and the hard work.

I still missed it, though it wasn’t really thatbad working as an assistant manager at the Ranch and Feed over on Myrtle. Being around the stuff in the store was a little like nostalgia for me. It kept the pain at bay.