Marcus was just passing through Texas when he met Kent. In his cowboy hat, low-riding jeans, and black boots, Kent looks like the type of guy Marcus desperately wants to love.<br><br>But two years later, he's discovered Kent is cold and distant, the quintessential American cowboy, and spends more time drunk than sober. Marcus can never predict his mood and blames himself for the flailing relationship.<br><br>Then, one day when Kent rides into town, Marcus finds a young runaway hiding in their barn. Luke is warm, loving, and quick to please ... everything Kent is not. Though the answer seems obvious, Marcus finds himself torn between the boy who demands his love and the man whose love he craves.

Cowboy

“I’m not sure?” Luke answers with a


shrug. Beneath the table, his foot nudges mine and I stare at the


0.00display on the register, I’m not looking at either of


them, I can’t. “Long yellow peppers.”


“Those would be banana,” Kent tells


him, his voice curt, his no shit, Sherlocktone. If he were


a different man, now would be when he thanks Luke for helping us,


but he doesn’t.If he were different,I think, frowning at


the register tape like it might need to be changed, then I


wouldn’t let Luke touch me the way he does, would I?“Marcus?”


Kent asks. I feel my mouth pull into a harsh pout as I glance up at


him, only to find him holding out a few folded bills. Nodding at


the car in our driveway, he tells me, “The marigolds.”


I wonder again if he saw anything before


coming into the tent, Luke’s hand in my lap, my slack cheeks, my


parted lips and half-closed eyes. Taking the offered money, I ring


up the purchase and try to think of something to say, it’s too


Chapter 30