Free Easton [Belt Buckle Ranch 4] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) by Olivia Black Page B

didn’t take him long to pick up his compact rental car before getting on the road and heading home. Except, he wasn’t going to the farm where he grew up, he was going to a small retirement community where his grandmother now lived. Gripping the steering wheel with his left hand, Easton realized that this wasn’t his home any longer. Another wave of depression crashed over his head.
    “Fuck!” he shouted out in the empty car. “Why did I even allow him to pull me in? Why did I fall in love with him? Why couldn’t I have just used him for sex?” He paused before finally asking the question he’d been wondering since driving away from the Twin Acres Ranch. “Why can’t he love me?”
    Easton swallowed the lump in his throat. This wasn’t the time to think about Trent and to keep asking questions he’d never hear the answers to. He needed to clear his mind and enjoy the visit with his grandma.
     
    * * * *
     
    Since the return of his foreman and other ranch hands, Trent hadn’t seen Easton. It was out of character for him to miss the young man, but he did. Each morning he woke up, hoping that Easton would walk into the barn, but he never did. When he’d called an end to their relationship, he was prepared to walk away, but he couldn’t.
    His heart actually ached without the cowboy around. He wasn’t sure when it had happened, but somewhere between the mind-blowing sex and the simple conversations, he’d grown attached and now, he wanted Easton in his life.
    The fear of losing Easton, the way he’d lost his parents and brothers, was no longer holding him back. After over a week with Easton absent from his life, Trent realized that he didn’t want to continue living alone. He needed to talk to the young man and hoped that Easton would forgive him, and consider a relationship even after the pain he’d caused.
    He was desperate to move Easton into his home so that he could take care of the young man. He’d avoided offering any real emotion out of fear, but he wasn’t going to live that way any longer and he had to prove it to Easton through action instead of mere words.
    Knocking on the front door, he impatiently waited. Normally, he wasn’t the type of man to chase after a lover, but Easton wasn’t just any lover. The young man had managed to get under his skin. He cracked Trent’s heart wide open and was now a permanently resident. And he knew he wouldn’t be able to live without the blond cowboy in his life.
    When the door finally opened, Trent straightened his shoulders.
    “Hey, Trent,” Jackson said. “How can I help you?”
    “I’m looking for Easton. Is he around?”
    “Um…” His eyes jumped around, looking nervous. “I…uh…Wyatt sent him on some errands.”
    “Oh.” Trent exhaled in disappointment. “Can you ask him to call me or come by my place? I need to talk to him.”
    “Yeah, sure, no problem. Is…uh…is everything okay?” Jackson seemed confused and Trent knew without a doubt that Easton hadn’t shared anything with his brothers.
    “Everything’s fine. I just need to see Easton.”
    Turning on his heel, Trent stepped off the porch as Jackson shut the front door. He really wanted to see Easton. He needed to talk to the young man before it was too late. Did you really think it would be that easy? Exhaling on a sigh, Trent opened the driver’s side door on his truck and made himself comfortable inside the cab. He didn’t want to come off as desperate, but after waiting this long to talk with Easton, Trent was willing to beg for forgiveness if necessary.
    Taking off his hat, Trent placed it on the passenger seat. He pushed a hand through his short hair. He had no idea what Easton would say or how he would respond. Their time together was explosive, but he’d hurt the young man. Each night when he sent Easton home, the cowboy looked disappointed and rejected. It would serve him right if Easton told him to get lost, but even if that was his response, Trent wasn’t