Surprising your lover always had its pitfalls, of this Buck Wilmington was all too aware. He'd jumped an early plane after feigning food poisoning to get out of the last part of a four day seminar in D.C., and while one of the guys and two of the women in the seminar he'd dodged were sure he'd planned to take in the sights and find himself a strip club, there was only one person he wanted to see naked today.
He hadn't even called in, just picked up his truck from long-term parking, raced out of town just ahead of commuter traffic, and headed straight for the ranch. Chris might be home already, he might not; that was part of the tension that sweetened a surprise.
Vin's jeep sat in the driveway. The Ram didn't. Okay. Readjust. Maybe Chris had dropped his truck off for an oil change, and Vin had given him a lift home. Keep your clothes on when you hit the door, Wilmington.
If only the guy inside had done the same.
Buck strode through the living room and ran straight into Vin in the hall. A naked, wet Vin. It was obvious he'd just stepped out of the shower. Water drizzled from the ends of his soaking hair and down onto his shoulders, and he'd been tucking a towel around his waist when they impacted.
The towel fell to the floor.
Vin's dick was half-hard.
And Buck felt a sinking in his gut like he'd felt the day he'd seen Chris spot Sarah across the campus quad.
"I come at a bad time?" he asked. He wasn't twelve, he wasn't going storm out or beat his friend up. Either of his friends.
"Yes!" Vin hissed, looking back over his shoulder. "What are you doin' here?" Every word was delivered barely above a whisper.
Buck planted himself, obstinate, in the middle of the hallway, and hooked his thumbs in his belt loops. "I came to see Chris," he said flatly.
"Well Chris went to meet you, and you're messin' me up here!" Vin snarled. "Scram!"
Scram? Like he was just going to leave his-- wait. "Wait. Where's Chris?"
"Vin?" The high feminine voice echoed down the hall, and two and two finally added up. Buck's heart swelled right alongside his prurient interest.
"You got a gal up here?" he asked, the leer spreading naturally across his face.
"Yes! What did you think I was do--" Vin stopped, and his jaw dropped open. Then he started cackling. Within seconds Vin was caught by a belly laugh that looked like it wasn't going to end any time soon, and Buck felt his ears warm up.
"Oh, just shut up," he snapped, rubbing at the heat on his neck. "It's not that funny."
"You thought Chris--and me--oh damn! Wait til I tell him!" He was laughing so hard, Buck could barely understand the words, but the last bit came out clear enough.
"You're not tellin' Chris anything, Junior," he growled, taking a threatening step forward.
"I'm--" Vin wiped tears from his eyes, tried again. "Oh, I'm tellin' him all right!" Cackle. "The look on your face!" Vin had joined his towel on the floor by this time, curled up against the wall and barely able to draw in breath.
Bastard. "How did Chris know I was coming home?" he demanded, trying to find his footing again and quash Vin's fun at his expense.
"Instructors called his cell when you ducked out. Thought you were bullshitting them and figured your boss ought to know."
And, knowing, his boss had driven into town to surprise him. "He's at my place?"
Vin, tears streaming down his cheeks, his wet hair leaving a darkening mark on the semi-gloss that covered the drywall, just nodded.
His cell phone was in his truck. He'd call this time, make sure they didn't pass each other on the highway... use the drive to figure out how to explain the conclusion he'd jumped to, but hell, it wasn't that big a leap, with Vin walking out of Chris' bedroom, and it wasn't hard to imagine what one of them might see in the other.
But Chris was a one-lover-guy, monogamy meant a lot to him. He'd be disappointed that Buck had even thought it.
Buck should have stayed in D.C.
Just then, a pretty filly, all curvy and fine boned and just as naked as Vin, stepped into the hall. Her blush was a deep pink, what he caught of it before she yelped and jumped back into Chris' bedroom.
"Sorry, ma'am," he called out.
Vin finally started to get control of himself, pushed up off the floor, and tucked the towel around his waist.
"She's pretty," Buck tried.
Vin nodded, still grinning. "So skedaddle."
"You two come up to do some ridin'?" He teased in spite of himself.
"You'd better worry about your own lover, Buck. Get your ass out of here and be ready to do some begging." Vin's grin broadened. "Though I figure you'll be on your knees for one reason or another, anyway."
"Everybody's a comedian."
Buck thought maybe he could explain his reaction in terms of a joke, a "hey, you'll never believe what happened." He had no doubt that Vin really would tell, and he was better off getting his own story in first.
Vin, interested in his own date and not Buck's problem, started pushing him toward the front door. "Go on, get out of here."
Buck walked slowly to his truck and slid in. Started the engine. Picked up his cell phone. Best get it over with, make Chris forgive him before they even saw each other, and maybe welcome home sex could be turned into make-up sex.
Yeah, that would work. He backed out of the drive as he hit the speed dial on his phone. "Chris, you'll never believe who I saw strolling wet and naked out of your bedroom."
Make-up sex was better than welcome home sex, anyhow.
The End
Follow-up story: Make-up Sex
