Page 20 of Redemption Ridge Vol II

“I’m glad she was the one who stepped onto the porch,” Tyler told him. “I would’ve arrived at the truth eventually, but we might’ve wasted six more years like Nick and Cash.”

“Is that what you talked to Nick about?” Owen asked.

“Yeah, some of it. I’d recovered a bit after Hope’s truth bomb, but I was feeling raw after watching you guys dance. I told Nick I felt like a third wheel and didn’t want to make things harder for you and Keegan to be together. He flat out told me you two weren’t together. He said that wasn’t what love looked like, and I started asking myself what it would look like.” Tyler paused to take a deep breath. “And then I saw love reflecting at me in the mirror in the booth. You have a smile that you only show to me, and your eyes don’t twinkle for anyone else. And I started thinking about what it would be like to touch you and kiss you. Then you made my dick hard when you kept grinding against me.” Tyler cupped Owen’s face and ran his thumb over firm lips. “Then you kissed me.” He inhaled deeply as emotions surged inside him again. “I love you. Not through power of suggestion or because of a jealous, knee-jerk reaction. I love you because you’re my person.” And just like that, the riotous emotions inside Tyler quieted.

Owen didn’t react for several seconds, not even to blink. “I’m dreaming, right?”

Tyler shook his head and kissed Owen, long and deep. “Not a dream,” he replied once they separated.

“That kiss could be part of the fantasy.” Owen smiled wryly. “I’ve dreamed of that mouth on me so many times.”

Tyler leaned forward and propped an elbow on the large console between the seats. “And where do I kiss you in your dreams?”

Owen opened his mouth to answer, but a knock sounded on the passenger window. They sprang apart like naughty teenagers and turned to see who had interrupted them. Keegan stood on the other side of the door, wearing a wry grin on his face.

“I didn’t even see him approach the truck,” Owen whispered as he hit the button to unlock the door.

Tyler wouldn’t have noticed a tornado barreling down on them. He righted himself in his seat and reached for his seat belt. “How was therapy?” Tyler asked once Keegan climbed into the truck.

“Pretty good,” Keegan replied. “At least my homework assignment is more fun than usual.”

“Homework?” Tyler asked.

Owen reversed out of the parking spot and shifted into Drive. “He gets weekly assignments to ensure he’s putting in his time and staying committed to the therapy plan they developed on his first visit.”

“Owen makes sure I stay on track,” Keegan said. “I told Bryant how helpful you’ve been, and he says you’re a natural.”

“At what?” Owen asked. “Nagging?”

Keegan snorted and said, “I’m also rolling my eyes.”

Tyler smiled because it was the most animation he’d seen since Keegan came to live on the ranch. He glanced over at Owen and caught his big grin too.

“Bryant says you’re a natural at guiding people through trauma. He thinks you should change careers?”

Owen’s smile wavered, and he glanced into the rearview mirror. “I like the career I have,” he replied. “What’s your homework assignment?”

Another deflection. Tyler bit back a sigh. Somehow, someway, he’d help Owen realize his value.

“He wants me to put myself in situations and places that normalize homosexuality,” Keegan said.

“Then you just have to come out of your bedroom and talk to people on the ranch,” Owen replied.

Keegan laughed. “I said the same thing, but no dice. Bryant acknowledges the ranch is a safe, welcoming environment for me to recover, but he warns it can be as insular as the Salvation Anew compound.”

“I don’t know what insular means, but I don’t like the sound of it.” Owen’s voice was a low rumble, and he had a white-knuckle grip on the steering wheel.

“It can mean a few things, but I think Bryant means it’s self-contained and isolated,” Tyler said.

“I guess it could be,” Owen admitted. “I just didn’t like the ranch being mentioned in the same sentence as that cult.”

“I had the same reaction,” Keegan admitted. “Then Bryant explained it would be too easy for my brain to act like a pendulum, swinging in the opposite direction to make me think I’m only safe to be gay on the ranch. He wants me to see queer folks like us interacting and engaging like our straight counterparts.”

“So, like a gay bar or club?” Owen asked.

Keegan laughed. “Yep.”

“Wow. I might’ve done better in school if I had homework assignments like that,” Owen said. Then, he smiled at Tyler. “You game?”