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

Across from me, Luke gives me a halfhearted


smile and whispers, “It’s okay, Marcus.”


“I didn’t…” My words trail off in a sad


sigh, I don’t know what I want to say. It doesn’t matter anyway,


does it? I twist my fork through my noodles but I’m finished


Beneath the table Luke’s foot comes up


between my legs, his toes curling into my crotch gently. “I know,”


I wash the dishes and hand them to Luke—even


though we have a drainer, he insists on drying each plate. “It’s an


excuse to stand close to you,” he says, his voice low so it won’t


carry out into the living room, where Kent’s watching TV. He has it


up so damn loud, I’d be surprised if he couldhear anything


else. The more he drinks, I swear the louder it gets.


And Luke is practically standing on top of


me, he’s so close. When I scrub a plate, my elbow pokes into his


side, and every so often he’ll bump my hip with his to make me


Chapter 47