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’ll take him a cup, like I do every morning. With a nonchalant


shrug, I’ll shove my hands deep into the pockets of my jeans, rock


back on my heels just slightly, stare out at the plants or the road


or maybe even further, out to the horizon, where a thin haze blurs


the boundary between earth and sky. I’ll clear my throat so my


voice is sure and strong when I tell him we have to talk. We


have to talk—that’s how it always starts, doesn’t it? The


He’ll know what I want. In my mind, I believe


it’s that easy, he’ll turn and see the look in my eyes and just


knowthat we’re through, I won’t have to say the words. I


won’t have to tell him that Luke is a better lover than he is, I


won’t have to cuckold him with any intimate details. Maybe he’ll


wish me luck, me and my boy. Maybe he’ll dig out the money in his


back pocket, peel a few twenties off the roll that I know he’s


saving for drink, shove the bills into my hand and shake his head


Chapter 58