Marilee frowned, and…well, she looked at him like he was crazy. “What makes you think that?”
“We were outside the other night, talking. Vince called, and I told Monroe it was my boyfriend. He got all weird, took off, and I haven’t talked to him since.” And then it was his turn to stare at his sister like she was crazy when Marilee busted out laughing. “What is so funny, brat?”
“I’m sorry, it’s just…I really don’t think Monroe Covington is a homophobe. Everyone actually says he’s gay, but I’ve obviously never come out and asked him, and I’ve never seen him with a man.”
“Wait. What? Really?” Huh. Holden hadn’t seen that coming. “What about the whole kid-wife/ex-wife thing?” Not that gay men had never been married to women or had kids with them.
“Well, I don’t know how true it is. These are just rumors, but from what people in town say, Roe and Lindsey have been best friends their whole lives. Roe came out. It was a big deal, you know, because the world is shitty like that, but Lindsey always had his back. His family too. Roe left at eighteen, and from what I heard, she was heartbroken. Roe is a family man, though, and he visited often. Then suddenly Lindsey was pregnant, Monroe was the daddy, and they were gonna raise the baby together but as best friends. Roe still lived in DC, but he came back a couple of weekends a month. At one point, he had a boyfriend. I never met the guy. I think the distance became too much for Roe. He didn’t want to just be a weekend daddy and, well, again, Roe belongs in Harmony. Apparently, he and the guy broke up. I don’t know the details. Roe moved back here, and he and Lindsey raise Wyatt together. They’re not dating or anything, but folks like to talk. They all assume the two of them will end up together one day, which confuses the fuck out of me if he’s gay. Maybe he’s bi? I don’t know. Or it could simply be small-town talk.”
Wow. That explained why Monroe and Lindsey seemed so close. If Monroe was bi, Holden could understand why the townsfolk would think they’d end up together. They were great when Holden saw them.
“She never married?” Holden asked.
“Nope. Doesn’t date much either.” Holden was quiet for a moment, just taking it all in, as his sister continued, “As far as I know, there are no other out men in town. I suppose there have to be, but I haven’t been made privy to it. So he really doesn’t date either, unless he leaves town to do it.”
Holden didn’t know how Monroe did that. He couldn’t imagine living in a place like Harmony permanently as a gay man. While he wasn’t close to a lot of people, he enjoyed queer spaces. He guessed Monroe had just been surprised when Holden had announced his boyfriend.
When he couldn’t sleep again that night, he spent way too much time thinking about Monroe’s dark eyes, his story, and wondering about him and Lindsey.
CHAPTER NINE
Monroe
Roe had been busy as hell the past couple of days. He’d had a store employee call in sick, and his family had needed both his and Wyatt’s help at the farm.
Still, he woke up early on Sunday morning to get to work on the barn. He needed that kind of activity today. Manual labor worked his body in a way he enjoyed, and also gave him time to think.
He got out of bed, took a leak, and started coffee before heading into the shower. The second the warm water pelted against his naked skin, he couldn’t stop his thoughts from drifting to the man next door. It would be a whole hell of a lot easier if Roe wasn’t so damned attracted to him—and if he hadn’t recently found out he was gay. That had his imagination going places. And, well…he needed to get off…
He let his hand drift down his body before wrapping it around his already stiff cock. It wasn’t like he didn’t jerk off in the shower most days. This time, he just so happened to be picturing Holden.
It was rough, which wasn’t his favorite, so he stepped out of the spray, squeezed some conditioner into his hand, and got busy again. He had waterproof lube, but he hadn’t taken it in with him.
Roe squeezed his shaft just the way he liked, rubbing his hand over the sensitive head, then stroking himself again. His balls were already heavy with his load, sensation traveling from his prick throughout his body.
He closed his eyes, stroked faster, used his other hand to tug his nuts just enough, then slid a finger behind his sac to rub his taint, then his hole. He didn’t penetrate himself, just spread his legs and rubbed circles around his rim, jacking himself at the same time.