Bend (3 page)

Bailey Bradford

16

reputation for not liking twinks, but that’s just a label, it isn’t
who
you are. Don’t let what other people think shape you, okay? If someone looks at you and forms an opinion based on how you look rather than the kind of person you are, then fuck ‘em, they aren’t worth your time.” That was one lesson she’d learned well herself.

Josh gave her a half smile and rubbed at his stiff hair. “You’re right, I know that. It’s just hard sometimes…” He puffed out his cheeks and exhaled in a huff. “So, overkill, then. Can we fix it?”

Annabelle glanced past Josh and spotted Max and Bo heading over from the bunkhouse. “Sure we can. Come on!” Switching her hold on Josh into a firm grip on his hand, she rushed him to the bathroom, ignoring Chance and Rory’s curious stares as they bypassed the kitchen. Within moments, and with the help of the detachable showerhead, Annabelle had the goo rinsed from Josh’s hair. A quick hit with the blowdryer and just a small amount of gel, and she could see the cute guy from the doctor’s office emerging.

“Now, take off your shirt.”

Josh looked startled for a second, then he unbuttoned the shirt and handed it to Annabelle. His white T-shirt was tight and showed off his chiselled abs beautifully.

Annabelle stroked her hand over them in appreciation, knowing Josh wouldn’t take it as a sexual move.

“It should be a crime to hide those things away. Come on, Josh, time to meet the crew.”

Annabelle held out her hand. Josh took a deep breath and pasted on a smile that only looked half-forced.

“All right, let’s do this,” Josh muttered. “But next time, I get to choose where we hang out.”

From the wicked glint in his eyes, Annabelle had a feeling she knew where they’d be going, and damned if that didn’t chase off the lingering bits of her gloomy mood.

“Come on, relax,” Annabelle coaxed. “I promise not to let any of them eat you.”

“Relax, she says,” Josh muttered as he let himself be lead out to the back patio. As soon as the sliding glass doors opened Josh would swear he could feel everyone’s eyes on him. He was half-scared to peer around Annabelle and see if he was right. Annabelle took the choice BEND

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from him, tugging with her good arm—and damn, the girl was strong—pulling him right up beside her. Josh was so nervous he didn’t think to watch where he was going, which was why he tripped over the door’s track guide. Of course he just
had
to catch his toes on it. He stumbled and slammed into Annabelle’s back, sending them both into a frantic fight against gravity.

Annabelle only had one good arm to flail, as her sprained wrist was currently held immobile with a sling. Josh knew he was going down, just as he knew if the other people gathered outside hadn’t been looking when he and Annabelle first opened that damned door, they were certainly looking now. Which would figure, since Josh landed on his ass hard enough to rattle his brains. He threw his hands up in time to catch Annabelle, or, more accurately, two handfuls of her ass.

“Oh shit, ohshitohshit!” Josh’s arms gave out, driving back until his elbows smacked into the wood deck. His hands were still firmly in place, which was how he stopped Annabelle from falling onto him—at least until his sweat-slicked skin began sliding against the deck. Josh’s arms wobbled and he tried to steady them but it was no use. He couldn’t seem to control his own body. There was no way this was going to end well; he was already mortified and his strength was vanishing rapidly. Another wobble of his arms combined with more sweat, then Josh’s elbows slid and Annabelle landed ass-first on his chest, knocking the breath from his lungs and sending tendrils of pain shooting out from his sternum.

Maybe he’d die—some bone chip would spear his heart and put an end to this whole humiliating afternoon. His ex hadn’t called him a drama queen for nothing. Josh shut his eyes and tried to breathe, hearing nothing other than the pounding of his heart. Maybe Annabelle had landed with enough force to shove that organ into his head. Annabelle’s weight suddenly vanished from his chest and Josh finally sucked in some air. If he whimpered a little when he did so, Josh figured it couldn’t possibly make him look less a fool to Annabelle’s family and friends.

“You okay?” A big hand grabbed Josh’s shoulder and shook him. Josh’s teeth clacked together and he swallowed the snarl threatening to bubble out. What kind of idiot would think trying to snap his head off his shoulders would be a
good
thing? Josh pried his eyes open and found himself looking at a male version of Annabelle…a really large male version.

Rory, then
. Dark blue eyes laced with a liberal dose of concern stared back at Josh. “It was BEND

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kinda shitty of Annabelle to pay you back for breaking her fall by trying to crush the life outta you.”

Josh snorted and groaned when the sudden jerky motion it caused in his chest sent a lick of pain through him.

Rory frowned. “Do you need an ambulance? Did Annabelle break you?”

Josh blinked and noticed more faces had appeared. He recognised Chance but there was an older man with a sun-creased face and dark eyes, and another man also older, less fine lines and wrinkles, but his hazel eyes looked older than they should. Rory’s frown deepened and Josh realised he hadn’t answered Rory’s question.

“She didn’t break anything.” Josh’s next breath was easier, the pain slipping away and leaving him with nothing else to focus on but his embarrassment. “And it was my fault. I tripped going out the door.”

Rory’s lips twitched and he arched a brow. “Are you naturally graceful, or do we make you nervous?”

Cheeks stinging, Josh nodded. “The last one, yeah.”

“Huh.” Rory transferred his hold to Josh’s hand. “Must be Chance’s mean glare. He thinks it makes him look all sexy and studly. Ready to get up?” Josh nodded and started to rise, only to stop when it occurred to him people would need to step back and give him some room rather than loom over him.

Chance tugged at one of Rory’s blond curls, making the man snicker. “I didn’t glare at him once we left that doctor’s office. All right, back up people.”

“Uh huh, but you did before then, right?” Rory stood and pulled Josh up with him.

“Just ‘cause he’s young and cute, no doubt. Thought I broke you of that.” Chance mumbled something Josh couldn’t hear and wrapped an arm around Rory’s hips. The look the two men shared caused a totally different kind of pain in Josh’s chest. He wanted someone to look at him like that, wanted to see his love reflected back in his lover’s eyes. His ex had told him more than once that men didn’t love each other, not like that, they just weren’t capable of it. Josh had been afraid it was true, but now, seeing Rory and Chance—hope flickered to life inside him, warming him and bringing a smile to his face.

Annabelle stepped in front of him, patting his cheek and then his chest with her good hand. Josh grunted when she prodded at his chest. “Little sore there,” Josh pointed out.

Annabelle crossed her eyes at him and took his hand again.

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“Well of course,” Annabelle agreed. “Now I know just where to poke if you get out of line, Joshie.”

“Joshie?” Chance snickered and shook his head. “Christ, Annabelle, why don’t you just go ahead and neuter the poor kid instead. Gotta be less embarrassing than having it done verbally.”

Josh couldn’t quite bring himself to glare, but he did manage to look Chance in the eye.

“I
like
it when
she
calls me Joshie. Anyone else…” He trailed off, not really sure how to make that into a threat. Wasn’t like Chance or Rory couldn’t stomp his ass in the ground. Probably.

Josh glanced at the other two men and found them both watching Chance with big smiles on their faces.

“Anyone else calls him Joshie, and I’ll castrate
them
,” Annabelle announced in a sing-songy voice. “With my fingernail file. He’s
my
Joshie.” Annabelle tapped her index finger against her chin. “You know, I should probably come up with nicknames for all of you—”

“Gotta check on the steaks,” Chance muttered.

“I’ll help,” Rory added quickly. “Make yourself at home,
Josh
.”

Annabelle turned to look at the other two men. “Max? Bo? Don’t even try to run off.”

Josh snickered as the two men stopped their retreat, doing a one-eighty and returning to stand by Josh. Annabelle introduced them, and Josh soon found himself relaxing and enjoying their company, even if he did feel a little jealous now and then. It wasn’t a mean sort of jealousy, not at all. Josh would rather see the love flowing between Max and Bo, and Chance and Rory, than not, and even if he didn’t ever find that for himself, at least now he had cause to look for it, hope for it.

“Makes you a little envious, doesn’t it?” Annabelle asked with a wistful note in her voice. “Like there’s maybe someone out there who can love you as you are, flaws and all.”

Josh slipped his arm over Annabelle’s shoulders. “Annabelle, any man—straight man, I mean—would be lucky to have you like that. Probably even some of the not-so-straight ones, too.”

Annabelle shook her head and stared down at her lap. “I don’t know, Joshie. I’m stubborn, and mean, and never know when to quit. I don’t see how that would make me a prize.”

Josh frowned so hard he felt a headache start up in his temples. Who’d told Annabelle that load of shit? Or that any of it was a bad thing? Even being mean had its place, and, while BEND

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he hadn’t known her very long, he had yet to see Annabelle be mean when there wasn’t a good cause for it. And it wasn’t really mean—if she was a man, it would have been called assertive or aggressive, but put those same qualities in a woman and that woman was a bitch. As far as double standards went, it was one of the worst. Josh shelved his anger and questions for now and used his other hand to press Annabelle’s head to his shoulder.

“You’re the best woman I’ve ever known, the best person for that matter,” Josh whispered, brushing at Annabelle’s curls. “And no matter what line of bullshit someone else has told you, you
are
a prize, and a treasure, and everything someone could want in a lover.”

Annabelle huffed and looked up at him with watery eyes. “Not everything. I’ve got the wrong parts for you.”

“You wouldn’t want me anyway,” Josh told her. “You need someone as strong as you are, and I would never have had the nerve to grab Doc’s balls like you did. You’re my hero.”

As Annabelle laughed, the sadness leaving her dark eyes, Josh decided he’d do what he could to help Annabelle find her special someone. “Maybe we should go out tomorrow, hit up a club or two.” Not that he wanted Annabelle to find some hook-up in a meat market, but it’d be good to get her out, make her laugh, let her see how many men were interested. He just wouldn’t let any of them touch her. Later he’d figure out how to put his plan into motion.

“We could go to the Xxchange.”

Josh nudged Annabelle’s head with his shoulder. “That’s a gay bar. I was kind of thinking we could go to Barking at the Moon or somewhere like that.”

Annabelle gave him a look that told him she knew what he was thinking. “And I was thinking the Xxchange.”

“Oh.” Josh tipped his head up and watched a fat white cloud roll by. Annabelle was trying to find
him
that someone special! “I doubt lightning will strike twice. Just ‘cause Rory and Chance met there and found their happily-ever-after doesn’t mean I will. That place was definitely a fuckstop.”

“What’s a fuckstop?”

Josh cringed and looked at Chance, who was now standing in front of him, Rory pressed to his side. “Uh…a place where you stop to get fucked? ‘Cause it’s pretty much a sure thing? Like, uh, some clubs.”

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“Like the Xxchange,” Rory said, chuckling as Josh felt his cheeks flame. “That where you were talking about?”

“I…” Josh really wanted that bone chip to take him out, any time now. “Maybe?”

Chance’s bland expression made Josh babble. “Yes? But I didn’t mean anything bad, just that it’s not a place a guy goes to find anything more than a quick—uh, unless he gets lucky, like you two did, and chances of that happening again aren’t good, so—”

Bo walked over with Max at his side. “Josh has a point. I spent years in places like that and never found anyone interested in more than a one-off. Course, now I have Max, and he was sure worth waiting for.”

Max blushed a deeper red than Josh ever had, but his eyes gleamed with happiness and his lips curled up in a sweet smile. “Bo…”

“You know it’s true, sweet man,” Bo crooned, kissing Max noisily. “I have to brag about what a great guy I have, don’t I?”

Annabelle made a gagging noise as she sat upright. “Okay, all this mushy shit is getting a bit nauseating for us poor singles. I think me and Joshie are going to get out of here for a bit. Come on, let’s leave before they start doing something gross like having a big gay orgy or singing and doing the Macarena.”

Laughing, and a little worried about what plans Annabelle might be coming up with, Josh said his goodbyes quickly but sincerely and followed Annabelle inside.

BEND

Bailey Bradford

22

Annabelle pulled up in front of Josh’s apartment at nine o’clock sharp. She checked the parking lot carefully, looking for any signs of danger. There was only one flickering streetlight in the vicinity, and the neighbourhood was run-down. All in all, the place was more than a little creepy. Maybe now that he’d been hired at the hospital, Josh could move to a nicer place once the lease here was up. Annabelle had been inside his apartment exactly one time before and while he kept the place immaculate, it was still a total, complete dump.

She toyed with the idea of asking Chance to let Josh live in the bunkhouse with her, Max and Bo. Josh could pay rent since he wouldn’t be working at the ranch and Annabelle wouldn’t have to worry about someone murdering her best friend while he slept. Chance would probably go for the idea if for no other reason than to shut her up, and Rory, Max and Bo all seemed to like Josh. It was hard not to when he was such a charming mix of bravado and humility. Being so cute didn’t hurt any, either. But, getting Josh to agree might prove difficult as he also had a stubborn streak in him and a need to prove himself, although Annabelle hadn’t managed to pry that story out of him. Yet.