Chapter Six

DAKOTA

Well, that was blunt.

Dakota turned to look at the big stranger. “Why do you ask?” He had a fairly good idea why, but he wanted to hear what Bryce had to say. Dakota was getting some serious curious straight boy vibes from him.

“No reason. Just curious.” Bryce blushed. Even that was adorable. This guy looked like he stepped out of a GQ, and now he was trying to flirt with Dakota. At least that’s what Dakota thought he was trying to do. If so, he sucked at it.

Bryce looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s none of my business.”

“It’s fine,” Dakota said. “I’m not insulted or anything. It’s just kind of a random question. Unless you’re as bad at flirting as you are at driving.”

Bryce rolled his eyes and covered them with his hand. “Oh, God.” He slid his hand down a little bit, looking at Dakota over the edge of his fingers. “I’m actually better at driving,” he confessed.

“That’s, well, I was going to say that’s hard to believe, but no. No, it isn’t. You have zero game.”

Bryce raised his eyebrows high and crossed his arms over his impressive chest. It did very nice things for his arms. “I’ll have you know in the right circumstances I got game like you wouldn’t believe. You could even say I’m a professional.” He grinned at some secret joke.

“Is that right?” Dakota asked.

The silence stretched, and the tension between them grew. Dakota soaked it in. It had been a long time since he’d felt anything like this mix of attraction and anticipation. He had started to believe he never would again.

“So?” Bryce asked. “Are you?”

“I am, for what it’s worth. Are you?” Wasn’t that the million dollar question? Dakota really hoped the answer was yes. Bryce’s combination of almost intimidating physical strength, sex-god body, and adorable incompetence was doing funny things to Dakota’s heart.

He’d known Bryce for twenty minutes, and he was already wondering how it would feel to have him behind him on the bike. Amazing, was his guess.

Bryce stuck his hands in his pockets, shifted his weight to his good leg with a grimace, and looked down. “I don’t know.”

That was unexpected. “You don’t know?”

Bryce’s blush went from pink to dark-red. “I’ve never…you know. With a guy. But I think I might be.” He sighed, searching for the words. “I think I might be attracted to guys. But I don’t know. How do you know for sure?”

So many answers to that question crowded into Dakota’s brain. He struggled to find an appropriate one, then decided to go with the truth. He grinned, and his voice slipped down into what Kyle had called his sex voice.

“Well,” Dakota answered, “the best way to be sure is to give a guy a blowjob.”

Bryce licked his lips. Dakota was standing close enough to see his pupils dilate despite the bright sunshine. “Yeah? Was that how you knew?”

Dakota laughed. “No. I think I’ve always known. My parents said I told them I was in love with a little boy in my homeschool group when I was seven. A little young for blowjobs. But I did try to kiss him.”

Bryce’s expression was a strange combination of confused and disappointed. “So, I’m probably not. Gay. Right? I mean, I would have known by now if I was. How could I not have known?” That last part was said more to himself than Dakota. “I’m sorry. Ignore me. Thank you for the help.”

There was no way in hell Dakota was letting this drop. If Bryce wanted to have a gay crisis on a Sunday morning on the side of US 34, Dakota wasn’t going to stop him. “Oh, no. Keep going. Obviously, something is on your mind. And now I’m curious. And to be honest, not completely uninvested in the outcome of this conversation.”

The wind picked up, tossing the pine branches until they sounded like a distant surf. The breeze carried a hint of winter on its back, and Bryce shivered.

“Did it really never cross your mind?” Dakota asked.

Bryce shrugged and twisted away from Dakota. “I don’t know. Maybe. There was this one kid on my hockey team when I was fourteen. Joey Delvecchio.”

“Yeah? What about him?”

Bryce gave a soft smile like he was remembering something good. He shook his head. “God. That was twenty years ago. I wonder where he is now? He was just, like, fascinating to me. Everything he did. I wanted to be around him all the time. And he was built, you know? I was all skinny still. And he had a mustache at fourteen. And muscles on his arms.”

“Did you ever do anything with him?”

Bryce’s eyes opened wide. “God no. I could barely talk to him. He was way too cool for me. And a better hockey player back then.”

Dakota nodded. Oh, yeah. That was a gay crush if he’d ever seen one. Imagining Bryce as a scrawny teenager with a crush was too adorable for words.

“So what brought on this soul searching right now? Is it my incredible hotness?” He grinned.

Bryce’s smirk surprised Dakota. “Yeah, actually. Kind of.”

Now it was Dakota’s turn to blush. Which was ridiculous. He’d been hit on much harder and much smoother; these awkward attempts shouldn’t be affecting him.

Bryce chuckled.

“So, supposing you are attracted to men. We won’t give it a label yet. Would it be so bad? Would your family disown you or something?” Dakota asked. Bryce was an adult, but Dakota knew that family opinion still mattered to some people even after they were adults.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so.” Bryce answered, covering his mouth with his hand and shaking his head. “It might be a problem with my job. But,” he pointed at his knee. “I’m kind of on a leave of absence for a while.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“I don’t -,” he started. “I’m so tired of saying I don’t know. How could I not have known? It’s weird to think I wouldn’t be the person I thought I was this whole time. I mean, I was married. To a woman.” His voice rose at the end as if even he couldn’t believe it.

Dakota really wanted to let Bryce talk it out, let him figure things out in his mind. That would be the right thing to do. But it was getting colder out here, they were standing on the side of the road, and all Dakota could think of was kissing him. He wanted to get his hands on Bryce’s body in a way he hadn’t wanted anything in a long time. Sex would definitely take his mind off all the bullshit with the farm better than a ride on the bike.

“If you did discover you were gay, or bi, or something other than one hundred percent straight, you’d still be exactly the same person. Maybe even more who you really are.”

“My ex-wife thought I was gay. And she’s known me since I was seventeen.”

Dakota laughed, then slapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

Bryce gave a wry smile. “It’s okay.” He gestured to the canyon walls rising over them on either side of the road. “At least I picked a gorgeous place to have a crisis. And a gorgeous guy to have it with.” He blushed again.

Dakota wanted to eat him alive. “You think I’m gorgeous?” He tilted his head and smiled, sticking his hands in his back pockets.

Bryce looked down at the ground, took a deep breath, and looked back up.

Dakota inhaled. Bryce might not be sure if he was gay, but Dakota knew that look. That was lust in Bryce’s eyes.

“Well, thank you for the compliment. You’re smoking hot, but you probably already know that.” Dakota took a few steps towards Bryce. “And you’re curious?”

Bryce pushed back his long hair with both hands and gave a deep sigh. “I’m definitely curious,” he said firmly.

Dakota tried to get a read on the man. He seemed determined and a little bit excited. Dakota licked his bottom lip and saw Bryce’s eyes drop to his mouth. “Why are you having this conversation now? With a total stranger?” Dakota asked.

Bryce smiled. “Because you are a total stranger. And you don’t know who I am.”

No, he didn’t, and he didn’t care. Actually, he liked it better this way. God, the guy was gorgeous. He had deep brown eyes flecked with gold and a smile that could charm birds from the sky.

Bryce raised one eyebrow and grinned. “So, tell me why giving a blowjob is the litmus test for gayness.”

Watching Bryce’s mouth say blowjob did things for Dakota. “Enjoying a blowjob from a guy doesn’t prove much. Blowjobs feel good from anyone. But if you enjoy giving them, and you’re not a woman, that generally means you’re not one hundred percent straight.”

“What about,” Bryce looked around to make sure he wouldn’t be overheard. He dropped his voice, “What about sex? Like, real sex?”

“There’s no such thing as fake sex unless you’re watching porn. It’s all real.” Dakota assured him. “But I’m assuming you mean anal sex?”

For the first time, Bryce looked like he was in a little over his head. He turned away, running his hand through his hair. “Yeah. I mean, if you like that...”

Dakota moved closer until he could feel the heat coming off Bryce. “Plenty of straight guys like getting pegged by their girlfriends. And plenty of gay men never have anal sex. It’s not mandatory. Some guys just top. I’m telling you, blowjobs. If you’re going to be gay, you’ve gotta suck a dick.” He watched for Bryce’s reaction to the crude language.

Bryce swallowed, ran his hands through his hair again, then reached out and touched Dakota’s hip. “Yeah?” His fingers curled briefly around Dakota, then pulled back. “Sorry.”

Dakota wanted that warmth back sooner rather than later. The idea of being this sex god’s first anything was burning through his veins. He hadn’t known he had a thing for virgins until right now. He’d never been anyone’s first anything before.

“Let’s back it up.” Dakota circled his finger. “Have you ever kissed a guy?

“No.” His eyes dropped to Dakota’s mouth again, and he licked his lips.

Oh, God. They might not make it to blowjobs, but Dakota was going to be this guy’s first kiss come hell or high water. “How old are you? Thirty?”

“Thirty-four.”

“Wow. Sweet thirty-four and never been kissed.”

“Shut up,” Bryce said with a laugh. “Um, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty-four. But enough about me.” Dakota opened the hatch on the SUV and threw the tools loosely in the back. Dakota took a step closer. “So, do you want to try a kiss?”

“Right now? Right here? With you?”

“Unless you want to go straight to the blowjob.” Oh, shit. Dakota hadn’t meant to say that. Not consciously. But now his body was saying fuck yeah.

Bryce didn’t punch him. If anything, he looked aroused.

This whole situation was seriously unexpected, but so tempting. Dakota wasn’t the anonymous hookup type. He wasn’t the dating type either; past performance indicated he was a crap judge of character. Maybe it was a time for a change. But starting with blowjobs was a little too full steam ahead. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

He started to step back, and Bryce grabbed him. They both looked at where Bryce’s hand wrapped three-quarters of the way around Dakota’s bicep. “Or not,” he said. His free hand grabbed onto Bryce’s shoulder, and he pushed up onto his tiptoes.

Bryce’s head tilted down.