Firefly Lane (Briar County 1)

“Should I leave you two alone?”

“Not a voyeur? I don’t mind being watched,” Roe said, and Holden grinned.

“I think that’s a good segue into last night… That something we need to talk about?” Holden had fucked around with friends before, and then they just went on with their lives, but it didn’t feel the same with Roe. He wasn’t sure if it would happen again. Holden wanted it to, but also couldn’t say if that was a smart decision or not.

“Not sure, really. I was wondering the same.”

Holden nodded. Thought. Grabbed an apple fritter from the box.

“Can’t believe you’re eatin’ that thing. You should have the apple doughnuts at the farm this fall. They’re much better.” Roe seemed to second-guess what he said, because he added, “If you’re around, I mean.”

“At some point, I will be. Like we said, I’m not going to leave Harmony and never come back. As far as us, there’s a lot to consider. If we keep this up, I wouldn’t want Sean to get the wrong idea. He was already hoping you could get me to stay. He’s too young to understand some things, and if he thinks we’re together…”

“No, I get it. Things are a little different with Wyatt, but I wouldn’t want him to see you as my partner when that’s not really what this is. Lindsey and I have talked about that in the past, about not entwining him into the lives of who we’re dating unless it has the potential to get serious.”

Holden nodded. “Sounds like we’re on the same page with that part. I guess what’s left is to decide if you want to go back to how it was, or if you want to keep having fun with me.”

Roe’s stare turned dark, smoldering. Holden would have laughed at his word choice if his cock wasn’t already perking up.

“I want ya. I want ya badly.”

“That makes two of us.”

“I’m too damn old to play games, though. We’re friends, and we’re fucking, but if it gets complicated, we talk about it. I’m not sayin’ we gotta make a big deal out of it or anything, but I want lines of communication open. No games. We know what this is. It doesn’t need to become messy.”

Holden nodded, stepped forward, and flicked his tongue against the corner of Roe’s mouth. “You had some frosting there, and I wanted it.” And then Holden couldn’t have been more surprised when Roe took the roll and rubbed his lips with it, painting them in sugar.

Holden grinned. Fuck, this man was fun. He leaned in, licking, sucking, nibbling. Tasting Roe, coffee, and sweetness.

Before he knew it, Roe took over the kiss, pushing his tongue into Holden’s mouth, grabbing his ass and backing him up against the counter. He didn’t know where the treat had gone, and he didn’t care. Holden loved this, the feeling of two big, strong, hard bodies together. The rasp of Roe’s chest hair against his hand when he plucked at Roe’s nipples. “We get started on this, and I’m not sure we’ll make it out of the house today. There are too many things I want to do to you.”

“Is that a bad thing? I’m sex-deprived, remember?” Roe said, playfulness in his voice.

“I don’t want your mom to think I’m a flake. Is she expecting us?” Because he definitely wouldn’t mind taking Roe to bed instead, but…well, shit. He’d also been a little curious about the work his family wanted done. He’d enjoyed taking care of Roe’s barn, and after how much Roe had done for his family, Holden wanted to do the same.

“Shit. Yeah, I called her this morning.”

“Then we should go. When we get home, we’ll get back to making you come so hard your brains turn to mush.”

Roe cocked a dark brow. “Think that highly of yourself?”

“I do.”

“I’m holding you to that, then.” Roe stepped back and adjusted the very obvious erection behind his fly. Holden almost changed his mind and said they could stay there and he’d get on his knees for Roe, but he held back. Roe said, “Let me finish this, then I’ll finish getting dressed, and we’ll be on our way.”

“Aren’t you farm boys supposed to be up before dawn, dressed and ready every day?”

Roe finished chewing a bite of his food. “Hey, I was up. I let Zeus out, took care of the animals, then showered, and I was waiting for you.”

“Lies,” Holden teased.

It didn’t take Roe long to get ready, and before he knew it, they were in Roe’s truck, making the drive to Covington Acres.

“What’re Marilee and Sean up to today?” Roe asked.

“Not sure. She’s off, and I know she wanted to do something special with him. She feels bad all the time. Like she’s failing him.” Shit. He wasn’t sure why he’d admitted that. Technically, it wasn’t his business to share, but he felt too comfortable around Roe, like his secrets sneaked to the surface without him knowing and spilled themselves free.