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

Tentatively I pick up the flower. I bury my


nose in the soft petals and just smell pollen. A flower.For


all his plants, Kent’s never given me anything like this before.


The agave in the corner, that’s it, but it doesn’t bloom, it’s not


So he was in here. While I was in the shower


with Kent, Luke was in my room. Did he lie down on my bed? Press


his head back against my pillow, twirl the flower between his


fingers and wait for me? These walls are thin—did he hear me moan?


Did he hear Kent’s quick grunts, my breathless gasps? Does he


realize it was him in there with me in my mind, that it wasn’t Kent


who got me off but him? God, how could I ever tell him


I dress quickly, ashamed. He makes me feel


like this, like I’ve cheated on him, on himand he’s not


even my lover, how does he dothis to me? There’s a cup on


my bedside table, still half-full with drinking water, and I stick


Chapter 33