Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77980 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 390(@200wpm)___ 312(@250wpm)___ 260(@300wpm)
And he was obsessing. Christ, when had he become the obsessive sort?
Every time August Reynolds came into his life.
And he loved him too much to care.
He got to Deacon and Grady’s a little early. He wasn’t sure why it was important, but he wanted to arrive before August, Reese, and Lewis did. He parked and jumped out, Sweetie and Midnight with him. He liked bringing them to Deke and Grady’s. It was a family reunion of sorts since their dog Moose was Midnight and Sweetie’s pup.
A few months back, they’d moved out of the home Deacon had shared with his wife, who’d passed away. It had taken them a while to find exactly what they were looking for, but they wanted a space of their own, one without memories around every corner.
He and the dogs headed around to the back of the house, where he knew everyone would be. Moose immediately got up from where he was lying in the shade of a tree and ran over to greet them.
“Hey there, boy.” Clint petted him, the dog licking his face before running off with Clint’s animals.
The yard was beautiful. They’d been doing a lot of work on it. There was a pool, a covered patio, and a nice built-in grilling station beneath it. On the other side, they had a pen with a few miniature Scottish cows—which was random as hell to Clint but something Deacon and Grady had wanted.
The two men were sitting in chairs. Roe and Holden weren’t there, but Sean, Wyatt, and Scout were sitting by the pool with their feet in it.
“Hey, Clint!” The kids waved at him.
“Where’s Reese?” Wyatt asked.
“He’s coming with his dads,” Scout replied.
His dads. Clint tried not to focus on the fact that it sounded like they were together. “Yep. They should be here soon.” He headed over to Deacon and Grady. “Hey, guys. How’s it going?”
“Not bad. How about yourself?” Deacon said as they got up to greet him.
“You’re fine. You can sit.” He took a chair beside them. “And doing okay.”
Grady said, “I hear August’s ex-husband is in town for a few days. How’s that?”
“No idea. They just flew in this morning. They arrived on an early flight. August went to get them, and then they went home for a couple of hours before heading here.”
“So you haven’t met him yet?” Deke frowned.
“Nope. It’ll be okay, though.” At least he hoped it would. Clint had to admit he had a bad feeling that something was about to go down. “The boys stayed here last night?” Clint changed the subject. He didn’t want to let himself stress about this all day.
“Yeah,” Grady said. “Scout loves spending time with them. With Reese too. They really hit it off. He hates going home. Not because he doesn’t want to be with his family, but he has friends here, and that’s a big struggle for him in Georgia. Breaks my damn heart.”
“The world can be a cruel place sometimes,” Clint said. “I hate that he deals with that, but y’all are doing right by him. You’re giving him a reprieve where he can totally be himself and surrounded by people who love him for who he is. That’s a gift.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate that.”
Their conversation was interrupted when Roe and Holden arrived, followed by Colby and Vince. Clint hadn’t spoken to Colby since the night they went to the bar, but his friend seemed like his normal self, laughing and talking with everyone.
August, Reese, and Lewis were the last to arrive. Butter and Reese jogged around the house first, heading straight for the kids, who seemed to be waiting for him before they swam. Clint couldn’t help watching for August, his heart thudding when he saw him. He was laughing at something Lewis said—and there was that ugly face of jealousy again.
But then, his gaze immediately fell on Clint like it was drawn to him, like he didn’t have to actually search Clint out and would always just know where he was. The smile he shot in Clint’s direction held a different heat, a different passion than when he’d laughed with his ex-husband. Clint felt it deep in his chest.
August pointed him out to Lewis, the two of them heading his way. Before they could reach him, Butter found her way to Clint first, clearly excited to see him. Clint knelt, giving her loves, only she stuck around longer than Moose had, like she was seeing an old friend.
“Hi, sweet girl,” Clint told her. “Did you miss me? It’s only been a day.” He nuzzled her neck, looking up when a shadow fell over him.
“Hey, you,” he said to August, standing. His fingers twitched with the urge to reach out for August, but he didn’t. Clint’s plan was to follow August’s lead, and he knew they were working into this slowly because of Reese.