Page 77 of All of Us

“Hey, can I crash on the couch?” Dusty asked, then continued. “It’s cool if you two sleep in the bed, but I don’t think I should be driving.”

I had to agree, I would feel better if he were here overnight. “I don’t mind.”

“I’m going to go get ready for bed, then be back. I’ll let you two say good night.” Jacob gave me a smile and touched my arm, then walked toward my bedroom.

I took the opportunity to pull Dusty into my arms and gave him a soft kiss. “I’m going to miss you while we are gone.”

I realized then this would be the last time we would be together. “You mean so much to me, and I am so glad to have had this with you.” We kissed a few more times until I heard the bathroom door open. “Sleep well, I’ll see you in the morning.” I walked down the hall and let Jacob and Dusty have time.

When I was done in the bathroom, Jacob was in my bed, and I climbed in next to him. He rolled on top of me and kissed me deeply. “Thank you for tonight. It was wonderful being all together, and I am glad I got to see Dusty before he left town.”

“You mean a lot to me.” He kissed me again. “Roll on your side.” I did as asked, and he pulled me tight against him, then kissed the side of my head. “Good night, gorgeous.”

I knew it should feel weird to have one of my lovers in my bed and the other on my couch, but it didn’t. I liked that we were all together in one place.

When I got up the next morning, I felt disappointed when both of them had left for work. At least I wasn’t going to have to say goodbye to Dusty again.

Before starting my day, I went to a travel site and booked a ten-day vacation in San Diego. There were three weeks between the dude ranch and the DRACO tour. I knew I could talk to Arthur and arrange for me to do the photos without spending time alone with Dusty.

Once I got my confirmation, I looked at my ticket. We returned from the ranch on Thursday evening, then I flew out at 7:00 a.m. on Friday.

I went back to cleaning up and getting ready for my day.

Chapter twenty-seven

JACOB

The night the three of us had together was foremost in my mind over the next couple of days. It had been ridiculously busy, and I had to put two weeks worth of appointments into a few days so I could go to the dude ranch with Joe. I finally had a chance to talk about it with Dusty—the horse—getting it out there often made things seem clearer.

“I think I love them both,” I said while I rubbed his face. “They are so different from each other, and the three of us get along so well.” I cut one of the apples I had with me and offered him half.

He nuzzled me for more. “How did this happen? What do we do, Dusty? Is all of us dating each other viable?” I sighed and gave him the other half of his apple. “You and I could run away together and forget all about men. What do you think about that? If you could give me a solution to this problem, I’d appreciate it.” I knew that Dusty would tell me what to do if he could talk, but the best I got was comfort. While I groomed him thoroughly, I told him about each man and explained why I liked them. As I finished up, I gave him his second apple, then kissed him on the nose. I felt better saying a lot of these things out loud, even though he didn’t give me any solutions.

“How are you doing, Gentry?” Martin Wilson’s voice boomed from the other end of the barn. “You’re leaving town in a few days?”

“Yeah. I really appreciate that you are letting me go with Joe.” Nodding, he gave me a look I couldn’t quite interpret.

“Joe is a good man, and I will feel better knowing he has someone who cares about him protecting him.” He winked at me. “Hey, did you see the eagle family? The three of them are doing really well. They have two eggs, and they are all sharing the brooding duties. It’s nice that it’s worked out for the three of them.”

“Nature is amazing, how it can figure things out. I’ll take care of Joe, I promise.” I liked Martin, but it was weird how obsessed he was with the eagles.

He walked over and put his hand on my shoulder. “I know you will. Trusting you with his safety is easy for me because I trust you. Treat him like you do when you are collecting for me.”

I rubbed my forehead. His point was valid, but sometimes what he said made things more complicated. I wasn’t sure what he knew about our situation. Likely, he was aware of my reunion with Dusty and had probably heard that I was more than just friends with Joe. Yet Martin was still encouraging me and trusting that I wouldn’t fuck this up, even if he did just compare Joe—my boyfriend?—to semen collecting.

“That’s really something to think about, and I appreciate your trust, Martin.”

If he trusted me, then that was a good thing. There were more things I wanted to say, but I couldn’t find a way to put the words together. I gave him a smile, and he pulled me in for a hug.

Throughout the week, I sent Dusty and Joe text messages. I missed them both, my mind always on one or the other. I had asked Joe about dinner a few times, and he would reply late at night or come up with an excuse. It felt like he was avoiding time with me.

We needed to talk, but it would have to happen on the way to the dude ranch. At least we were staying in a hotel the night before, and the horses would stay with some friends of the Wilsons until morning. We hadn’t had any time to talk about the night all of us were together, and maybe there was a problem that we needed to discuss.

It was finally the day we were leaving for the dude ranch, and after Dusty was loaded into the trailer, I triple-checked that I had everything I needed. I sent a text to Martin letting him know I was leaving. As I got in the truck, he walked over to me.

“You have a good time out there. I know that you are leaving the horses at the Penbrook farm overnight. They will have a package for you to bring back.”

“I’ll make sure to get it. Let me know if you need anything. All the animals in my charge should be fine. Earl promised to take care of them, and nothing should come up while I’m gone. One of the younger ranch hands will also keep an eye on everyone.”