Free Snowbound by Scarlet Blackwell Page A

Hayden and that wasn't him.
    Oh God, when he'd set off for work this morning he hadn't expected today to be the day Hayden walked back into his life, not after the way he'd hoped and dreamed for five years and then some, and then finally lost that hope and made do with what he could get.
    Which was unfair to Will. Dylan was not making do with him. He'd been lucky Will had chosen him, despite Dylan's obvious flaws—namely that he was in love with a ghost from twelve years ago.
    ****
    As Hayden lay in the tub that night, he remembered taking a bath with Dylan. How they kissed, Dylan's strong arms around him. He remembered tracing the black ink of the dragon tattoo. He couldn't bear to go home, to his empty house.
    He was still waiting for his life to begin.
    He climbed out of the bath, dried himself, and dressed again. Then he took his room key and set off.
    He recalled the way to Dylan's house easily enough. He pulled up on the opposite side of the street and shut his engine and lights off. The police cruiser stood in the driveway. Behind it was a black SUV. So that was Dylan's man's car. Clearly a penis extension. Hayden drove a small car. He had no need to brag.
    The curtains were drawn over the lit living room windows. The bedroom was dark. Perhaps they were eating. Afterward, they would stack the dishwasher then climb the stairs. Maybe they would take a bath together and Dylan's man would stroke the black dragon.
    Hayden slid down in his seat. What was he going to do? Stay here all night and will Dylan to him by the force of his desire?
    The stairs light came on. A silhouette stood at the bedroom window, closing the curtains. Hayden remained still, staring up.
    Dylan saw him. He froze, looking down. Then he pulled the curtains tightly closed. The light didn't come on. Perhaps Dylan sat in the dark brooding, or perhaps he and his man were already fumbling their clothes off while Hayden sat outside like the most deluded, desperate, lovelorn admirer that ever lived.
    ****
    Dylan didn't tell Will that Hayden sat outside watching them. Nor did he tell him Hayden had walked back into his life that day. Will was well used to Dylan's silences, the brooding when he would drift away, remember the two-day love affair that had changed his life. They had never really discussed Hayden. Dylan had only said there had once been someone. Someone he'd lost. It was all he needed to say. Will knew Hayden cast a shadow over Dylan's life and he would take him to the grave.

CHAPTER NINE
    A bang in the distance awoke Hayden with a jolt. He blinked in the sunlight, his neck cramped and frozen, before his car door was wrenched open and a furious Dylan pulled him bodily from the vehicle.
    "What are you still doing out here, Hayden, you creepy fucking stalker?" Dylan held him by the shirt with one hand. Hayden stared into his flashing eyes. Broken and defeated, he stayed limp in Dylan's grip, holding his hands out to his sides as though he were under arrest.
    He saw Dylan's eyes shift from anger to anguish. The sheriff let go of him as another voice sounded.
    "What's going on?"
    Hayden's gaze turned and focused on Dylan's man as he strode down the driveway. Of average height and leaner than Dylan, his man had short, dark auburn hair and pale blue-green eyes. Apart from the fact he no doubt had a working leg and no limp, he was a carbon copy of Hayden in every detail.
    The two of them stared at each other. Dylan flushed. "This is my two-night stand of twelve years ago," he told his man scornfully. "He thinks he has some claim."
    Hayden sagged back against his car, leaden with misery. Dylan's man regarded him for another moment and then he turned and walked away without a word.
    Dylan clenched his jaw. "Get in your car and drive away."
    Hayden fell back into the driver's seat. He fumbled for the keys with an unsteady hand, his eyes burning.
    Dylan walked back up his driveway. He closed the front door before Hayden had started the engine.
    ****
    Dylan