Page 91 of The Only Seconds that Matter
Victor smiled as he responded.I think you would qualify as a twink.
Don’t make me come over there and kick your ass.
Victor chuckled and stood, dropping the phone into his shirt pocket and stepping out of the office.He still had work to get to.
CHAPTER 26
Victor was kept more than busy the next few days, between boarders moving out and moving in, a water pump that stopped working, a fallen tree knocking down a fence that resulted in several horses escaping, and now Sprout had decided to colic, which required an emergency visit from the vet and several hours spent walking him in circles around the barn until he was willing to nibble at grass, which went late into the night.Victor told Hannah to go to bed, then set up a lawn chair outside of Sprout’s stall and checked on him every fifteen minutes, waiting for him to poop so that he could be assured Sprout would make it through the night.He had nearly fallen asleep in his chair when he heard a whistle that had him jerking awake and looking frantically around for the source.
“What areyoudoing here?”Victor asked Johnny’s unmistakably lanky silhouette at the end of the barn.“Isn’t it midnight?”
Johnny stepped further into the barn and out of the shadow of the night.“‘Fraid to say it’s another one of those situations where I either drive here or to the bar.I tried knockin’ at the house but all I got were the dogs barkin’ at me.Then I saw the lights were on down here.”
“Ah.Well, you caught me at a very glamorous time.I’m waiting for a horse to take a shit.”
“Oh?”
“He’s colicking.Or he was.I think he might be over it, but I want to make sure he poops before I go to bed.”
Johnny’s long strides had him at Victor’s side in no time.He leaned over and pressed his face to the bars, looking into the stall at Sprout.“Damn, he’s just a lil guy.”
“One of my lesson ponies.Picked him up at the same auction where I bought Midnight.”
“I’m glad he seems to be doin’ better.”
“Yeah, me too.The vet put a nasogastric tube in him with some mineral oils and laxatives, so I’m waiting for that all to make its way out.”
“Fun.Mind if I join ya?”
“Pull up a bale.”Victor gestured toward a hay bale a few stall doors over.Johnny grabbed hold of the twine binding and lifted it one-handed like it was as light as a backpack, then tossed it down at Victor’s side and collapsed onto it.He opened his thighs and stretched his long legs out, slumping down against the stall wall behind them.
“So.What made you want to drink this time?”Victor asked softly.
“I watched that movie.”
“What movie?”
“Brokeback Mountain.”
“Oh, right.The one Sarah told you to watch.”Victor paused.“Does she know you’re bisexual?”
“I dunno.We haven’t talked about it.”
“I think she knows, man.”
Johnny laughed.“Yeah, I guess there’s a reason she invited me to that rodeo, huh?”
“I doubt she’d ask you to go with her if she thought you were straight.”
Johnny snorted forcefully through his nostrils like a horse.“Never doubt a woman’s intuition.”He rubbed his hands on his thighs for a second.“I think Daisy suspected, too.Sometimes she’d make lil jokes about how I didn’t act like a straight man should.But maybe she was just startin’ shit to get me goin’.I don’t know.”
Once again Victor was reminded of why he did not like or trust Daisy, no matter how nice she acted toward him.She seemed like a schemer, and knowing how trusting Johnny could be, Victor could see how got him so tightly wrapped around her finger.
“How’d you like the movie?”Victor asked, figuring he should change the subject.
“My ass cried for two hours afterward.”
“Wow.”
