Love Is Always Write Volume 4

flinch. "I thought you might have been in the shower. I wanted to think that's where you were, you know?" He went through the gate and walked under the eaves of the shed, leaning a hand on Goliath's rump. "Except you're out here, being industrious."
    "Show's cancelled," Jay said, staring at the ground. "Figured I'd get a start on cleaning up. Hit the road in couple of hours."
    "What about breakfast?" Renfield came over and nudged Simon for treats, and he absently scratched the flat forehead.
    "I'll just stop on the road."
    "You'll -- " Simon closed his eyes for a second, breathing in horse and wet hay and rain, waiting for the stabbing ache behind his sternum to subside. "Right. So that's it? One night and we're done?"
    Jay shrugged and shook his head, turning away so Simon couldn't get a good look at his face. "It wouldn't work."
    "What wouldn't work? Us?" Simon remembered Jay saying something similar yesterday, something about it not being a good idea. "Why?"
    "Just -- " Jay shot him a look composed of equal parts pissed-off and hunted. "It won't," he mumbled, and wiped his nose with the back of one hand.
    For no logical reason, Simon found himself smiling. Grinning, actually. "See, you're doing this ass backwards." Jay gave him a wary look. "First we have an argument. You say you want to break up with me, then I give you all the reasons why you shouldn't. Then we go to breakfast, and you're all pouty and sullen while I ignore you and enjoy my pancakes."
    "I don't pout," Jay said under his breath. "And we're not even -- "
    "Now you've got it." Simon nodded, raising his eyebrows as Jay scowled. "Where was I? Right: pancakes. Then we drive back here – still not talking – and then you give in and kiss me. Then we have really fantastic make-up sex."
    He walked up and took the manure fork out of Jay's lax hand. He dragged the tub over to the fence and leaned the fork on the outside, out of the way. He came back over to Jay and got right up close, staring into a pair of bemused blue eyes.
    "And I just go along with this?" Jay asked, mouth fighting a smile.
    "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't you?" Simon tipped his head to one side.
    Jay's chin dropped and he sighed and shook his head. This time, when his eyes met Simon's, they were bleak, all the humor gone. "Because I can't share you." He swallowed. "Because I don't want to be here when you move on to somebody else."
    Simon sighed. He didn't want to do this, but sometimes you had to take one for the team. He shoved Jay and then tackled him, both of them landing in the mud, tangled on their sides. It wasn't any more fun than yesterday, but it worked great as a delaying tactic.
    "There's never a guarantee," he said, when his lungs worked again. He rolled on top of Jay, who was still wheezing. "But the only way I plan on walking out on you is if you throw me out. Got it?"
    "You'll get bored." Jay dropped his head back into the mud with a splash. "I'm boring. You'll want to leave."
    "Right. Me, the guy with no life other than riding and internet porn will get bored with you. Try harder, sunshine." Simon leaned their foreheads together. "Just so you know? Sharing is overrated. I want you all to myself." He brushed his mouth across Jay's tight lips, licked a line from one side to the other. "And for the record? He was twenty-one, not eighteen. And it should have been you I was with, not some random twink." Simon eased away so he could see Jay's eyes, meeting his deep blue gaze with a steadiness at odds with the flutter in his gut.
    Jay growled and flipped them over, threading his hands through the hair at Simon's temples and holding him still. Jay swallowed, eyes still fixed on Simon's. "You're serious about this?"
    Simon nipped Jay's lower lip. "Totally. Does that mean we get to have phenomenally hot makeup sex now?"
    Jay smirked, and kissed him, hard and fast, with a trace of the sweetness of last night. He pushed to his feet, offering Simon a hand up. "Nope. Shower first. Then pancakes. Let's do this right." His hand tensed, almost as if he wanted to let go, and Simon laced their fingers together and held on. Jay took a deep breath. "I want this," he said. "I want you." He licked his lips and drew a deep breath, stretching the wet t-shirt. "I want us ."
    Simon stepped in close, tipping his head to meet Jay's mouth. "Now you're talking."
    THE END
    About the author: JJ Cassidy started reading M/M Romance entirely by accident, and wondered where it had been all her life. In the