Home of His Own by T. Chase (classic fiction .TXT) 📗

He took off after Tony and tackled him right before the man made it to the porch and safety.

They fell headfirst into the snow. Brody landed on his back, cushioning Tony from the worst of the snow. Though after getting a face full of cold wet flakes, he rolled, laying on top of Tony and grinning.

Chapter Ten

Tony sucked in a sharp breath as the cold seeped in through his jeans and jacket. He stared up into Brody’s blue eyes and saw the twinkle in them. He bucked his hips, arching and tossing the man off him, just in time to catch a snowball flush in the face.

“Shit. You weren’t supposed to do that, Tony.” Randy’s laughter-filled voice made him look over at his friend. Randy stood, leaning against Les, mirth making it hard for the man to stand up.

Brody chuckled. “If you were in L.A., you wouldn’t be having this problem.”

A snowball smacked Brody chest high and dead center. Both Tony and Brody turned to see Les bent over, making another one. Tony winked at Brody and they both reached for snow.

Soon all four men were covered head to toe in snow. Yells and shouts filled the air.

At some point, Juan and Yancey had joined in. The younger boy had never played in the snow, so everyone helped him experience it. A lopsided snowman appeared with Tony’s cowboy hat resting on top of it. They stole a carrot out of the refrigerator for the nose.

Tony nudged Brody as Yancey wrapped his arm around Juan to share body heat.

“Go back inside and change your clothes, boys.” Les pushed Yancey back towards the house. “Don’t need you to catch colds. Especially if Juan is going to have to enroll in school on Monday.”

“Fuck. I forgot about that,” Tony mumbled as they all headed inside.

“Don’t worry. Your aunt made sure Juan had all his papers and stuff in order. She even had your sister sign over guardianship to you. Just in case something happens,”

Brody told him. “Hey Juan, don’t forget to give Tony that packet of papers you brought.”

“Gotcha.” Juan waved, acknowledging Brody’s words as he disappeared into his bedroom.

All the guys separated, changing their clothes and trying to warm up. Tony buttoned his jeans and sat down on his bed, staring down at his feet. The thought of what he was about to take on struck him. What the hell was he thinking?

He looked up as Brody peeked into the room.

“You coming?”

“Yeah, in a minute.” He went back to studying his feet.

Brody frowned and joined him on the bed. The extra weight caused a dip in the mattress and he rested against Brody’s bigger body.

“What’s wrong?” Reaching out, Brody took his hand and rested their entwined fingers on his own thigh.

“It just hit me. I’m going to be Juan’s parent.” He met Brody’s eyes. “What the hell was I thinking?”

Brody’s free hand cupped his cheek. “You were thinking about the support you never got and how you wouldn’t allow Juan to go without family. You remembered how you felt.”

“I’ve never dealt with teenagers. What am I supposed to do? How do I teach him to be an adult when I’m not even sure I am?” He gripped Brody’s hand, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

“You’ll be fine. Randy and Les will be here to help you out. I know Yancey isn’t going to be walking away from Juan, though that might change a little when he goes to college.” Brody dropped a kiss on Tony’s lips. “I’m only a phone call away as well.”

“What good are you going to be to me? You’ve never raised a kid.” He frowned. “Or have you?”

Brody shook his head. “I messed around with a girl or two when I was in high school, but even then I knew about condoms.”

“E-w-w-w, you kissed a girl?” He wrinkled his nose in mock disgust.

“It wasn’t bad. Just wasn’t what got me hot and bothered. Now, the guys on the football team with me. That was a whole other story.” His lover leered at him and then a serious expression crossed Brody’s face. “What I meant is you can call me when Juan makes you angry. Trust me, he will. Teenage boys can’t help that. You call me and yell at me. That way, you can go talk to him like a rational person instead of a raving lunatic.”

“You don’t think I’m going to screw this up and ruin his life even more, do you?”

Tony didn’t know why he was looking for reassurance, but he needed someone to tell him he’d do a good job.

“How can you screw up his life?” Brody stood up, pulled Tony to his feet and hugged him. “He gets to see that, for the most part, a gay man can live a normal life without being ashamed of who he is. At least here on Les’ ranch, he’ll be able to be himself. You’ll make him strong enough to live on his terms, not his mother’s or anyone else’s either.”

“Thanks. I needed that.” He buried his face in the spot at the base of Brody’s neck and breathed in Brody’s warm spicy scent.

“Come on. You still have to show me the rough stock.” Brody stepped away from him.

He let the blonde drag him from his bedroom. They put on dry coats and went back outside to check out the other animals. Tony wanted to try a couple of the bulls. It had been a week since he’d ridden and he was going to miss the next two events getting Juan settled in. Dusty and Burt met him in the indoor arena where the bucking chutes were.

The two retired bull riders were in charge of Les’ bucking bull program and friends of Randy’s from the rodeo circuit.

“Dusty. Burt. This is Brody MacCaffetry, Yancey’s older brother.” Tony walked over to check out the three bulls standing in the chutes. “New ones?”

“Got delivered while you were away.” The smaller of the two men shook Brody’s hand. “Dusty Spiess. Knew Tony