Extreme Bull

one, and Jeff had teased him from behind it. Now Jeff’s legs were on the outside of the pedestal, and if Clay tried anything, at least one table would have a clear view of everything he did.
    “You fucker,” he said quietly as he surfaced again with his napkin.
    “Strategy, my friend; it’s all superior strategy.”
    “I’ll get you back. You know it.” Clay knew he was turning red, so he took the opening and turned their talk to riding. Soon, they were arguing over specific rides they had taken and what certain bulls had done to throw them as if nothing more suspicious than their rivalry in the ring hovered between them.

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    When they walked outside after leaving money on the table, Clay could see his breath in the air. “How far you figuring to drive today?”
    “Oh, about to Joplin, if I can make it,” Jeff answered.
    “I know a rest stop a little further on, outside Lincolnville.”
    “I bet you do.”
    “Well… want to meet up there?”
    Jeff paused for a moment. “Maybe.” Clay looked after him as he walked to his trailer. He was pretty sure he would be sleeping warmer tonight.

    CLAY was still uneasily on his best behavior when they left the diner he knew of on the outskirts of Lincolnville. None of the cowboys ever stopped there. In Joplin, familiar fast food franchises lined the route, and it was easy to get something familiar that reminded them of home.
    But Clay always liked this little diner. They had country food like a chicken fricassee with dumplings that reminded him of his Aunt Dora’s. And Jeff had seemed to like it too.
    They’d both eaten in complete silence until they couldn’t eat any more.

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    He was careful to let Jeff pay for his own check. Didn’t want this to smell like a date in any way. Because it wasn’t, it was just two friends—
    “What?”
    “I said, want a smoke?” Jeff held out his packet.
    Clay shivered when his fingers brushed over Jeff’s, warm despite the frosty air. They wouldn’t be able to stay outside too long tonight. “Thanks. Follow me, and I’ll show you where the rest stop is at.”
    “Right.”
    It made Clay feel happy to see headlights in his rearview mirror again, especially when they followed him off the highway and into the lot off the side of the road. This rest stop was empty. There were no amenities at all, except for a lonely water fountain by a falling-down fence next to the view over the river. But that made it better. Hardly anyone ever stopped here. It appealed to the drifter in Clay.
    He got out and walked to the fence, waiting. The light was fading from the sky in shades of blue and pink and yellow. The bare branches of the short trees were black except for patches of snow that clung to them. The river slipped along smooth as silk, reflecting the last light in the sky against the dark banks.
    He felt rather than saw Jeff come up beside him and lean on the fence. “Nice view.”

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    “Always liked it.” Clay watched as the pearly skies became grey and the water provided the last gleam of light in the desolate landscape. He pulled up his collar against the cold, but he didn’t want to go inside the trailer. Not alone, anyway, but he was too scared to ask Jeff if he wanted to go with him. Just for a drink. Nothing more.
    Clay felt warmth against his side and looked to his left.
    Jeff was staring right at him with an expression that made him feel funny inside. Desire simmered under his skin; he wanted to reach out to Jeff, but he just couldn’t. And then Jeff leaned in closer to him, his tongue parting Clay’s lips, slipping inside, penetrating Clay’s defenses in a way that a kiss from a woman never had. He pulled Jeff against him, sucking eagerly on his tongue, loving the feel of the hot, wet muscle twining around his.
    Usually Clay never made noises during sex, let alone kissing, except for maybe some polite ones, but he heard himself whimpering desperately now. He grabbed Jeff possessively and held him tight in the relief of just feeling that hard body against his again.
    Finally he had to pull away to breathe. “It’s cold out here.”
    Jeff simply stood within the circle of his arms, their cheeks pressed together, and waited. “Yeah.”
    “Come on.”

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    When they were inside Clay’s trailer, the door between them and the world outside, only then did Clay feel safe enough to surrender to the