welcome.”
Dez pumped her fist in the air. She was a part-time vegan, from what George understood, eating her tofu while also catering to Morgan’s taste for meat. Seemed odd to George, but whatever made the pair’s relationship work. Dez had volunteered to cook for the twins a few times, but they always found a polite excuse.
Curious, George tried the vegan pie instead of the other, which looked like supreme. Pizza wasn’t the healthiest thing anyway, and while George wasn’t as militant about his diet as he once was, he’d never be the guy who pigged out on junk food and soda.
“Who has plans for Thanksgiving?” Derrick asked once everyone had pizza, his deep voice booming in the large lobby. Like Morgan, Derrick used to intimidate George because he was tall and broad, but the guy was one of the kindest, most easygoing people George had ever met. And he was clearly in love with Slater, which sometimes made George a little jealous.
Not that he had a crush on Slater, or anything, but in the last two years since he began to caption gay porn almost exclusively, he’d...noticed men more. A former cowboy who’d left the country behind for his boyfriend and a new start, Slater was handsome in a way that appealed to George. Just like the trick rider he’d met this past summer on the Fourth of July had appealed to him.
Levi.
“We’re going north to see my folks,” Morgan replied to Derrick’s question, and for a split second, George forgot what time of year it was.
Thanksgiving.
“That’s cool,” Derrick replied, then looked between George and Orry. “You guys?”
“Same as every year, I guess,” Orry replied. “Frozen turkey dinners and work.”
“That sounds boring. Think you guys can take a day off work? My in-laws are throwing a big Thanksgiving dinner out in Garrett. Did the same thing last year, and I think it’s becoming a new tradition. I mentioned inviting some of my friends and Wes said, ‘The more the merrier.’”
“That’s very Wes,” Slater drawled.
George vaguely remembered Wes from one of his visits in the city with his boyfriend. Another cowboy. Slater’s old coworkers from his ranch job still regularly came by to see him, but George avoided the lobby when they were around. Too many unfamiliar people. And now he was being invited to a house full of them?
“What do you think?” Orry asked him, holding George’s gaze. Orry wouldn’t go if George said no, but George needed to stop being selfish. It had been seven years, damn it. His encounter with Adrian this past summer only proved that George needed to stop hiding. He had to find a fucking backbone and take his life back.
“Okay, let’s go,” George replied, his voice more confident than he expected.
Orry’s eyebrows rose. “Are you sure?”
Nope. “Yeah, I’m sure. Besides, you never turn down free food.”
Orry threw a wadded-up napkin at his head.
“Great,” Derrick said with a grin. “I’ll text Wes later and let him know we’re bringing guests. And don’t worry about bringing anything. They had a freaking feast last year and plenty of leftovers. Actually—” he looked at Slater “—I don’t remember seeing you there.”
“I wasn’t,” Slater replied. “The ranch is closed to guests that week, and since I wasn’t part of the skeleton crew tending the horses, I went up to see my family.”
“Ah, makes sense.”
George knew from casual conversation that Slater had a daughter in college, and he made frequent trips to Sacramento to visit her. “Is your daughter coming down for the big feast?”
“Yup.” Slater beamed like the proud dad he was. “She’s excited to see the ranch where I worked and meet some of the people I talk about, especially Wes. When she found out I knew someone who made movies and television, she practically begged to come.”
Nerves made his belly squirm, but the odds of anyone at this week’s upcoming Thanksgiving meal recognizing him from his ice skating days were slim to none. He’d grown up, changed his hair and in the world of competitive sports, seven years was a lifetime. “Will the trick riders be there?” George asked without thinking.
Derrick shrugged. “Probably. Why?”
“Just curious. I enjoyed watching their show back in July. What they do is very athletic and takes a lot of training.” Kind of like figure skating but he hadn’t told Dez or Morgan about that part of his life yet.
“I have a lot of respect for Robin and Levi,” Slater said. “It’s hard enough for some folks simply to mount a horse, never