Leaving Home, Chase, A. [best ereader manga .txt] 📗

making Chaz want to help him in whatever way he could, even

though he didn’t know what was wrong.

“Should I head over right now, or maybe we could meet for lunch, if you’re not doing

anything?”

“What would I be doing? Hell, my mother doesn’t want to see me or even acknowledge

me, so why not have lunch with you?” Sarcasm dripped from Peter’s words.

Well, it wasn’t a ringing endorsement to go out with him, but Chaz would take it. “I’ll

meet you at Steamboat’s in ten.”

“Fine with me.” Peter hung up.

Chaz tucked his phone away before finishing his packing. He grabbed his bags, and

smiled at the idea of going to spend time at Hardin’s ranch. It actually would be fun to do some work around there, if Peter let him. It had been a year or two since he’d gone back to his parents’ ranch in Arizona.

He used to love riding his horse while herding the cattle. Some nights he’d ride out in

the desert to watch the moon rise—that was his favourite time. Being out there with only his horse for company had been peaceful, and he’d spent a lot of time thinking about his life. It had been one of those nights when he was fifteen that he’d admitted to himself he was gay.

Of course, he’d never said anything to his parents. The only one who knew was

Matthew, and that was because his brother had caught him kissing a guy when Matthew was

visiting on leave. Matthew had taken the whole thing quite well, which had surprised him.

They had been raised in a very conservative family. Nothing had ever been said about

homosexuality, but Chaz’s father would use derogatory insults, and Chaz had always known

his father would definitely turn against him if he ever found out.

So he’d never taken anyone he cared about home. Then when his father had died two

years ago, Chaz had told his mother about his personal life. She wasn’t happy and thought it was wrong, but she didn’t disown him, or anything like that. It might have been because

Matthew and his other two brothers had supported him.

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LEAVING HOME T.A. Chase 43

It was because of how his own family had reacted that Chaz had been so amazed about

Peter being shunned by his family. Heck, Chaz’s mom didn’t like the idea of him being gay, but she still loved him and talked to him as often as possible.

After picking up his bags, he walked out of the room to head to the lobby. He’d check

out, then stroll over to the restaurant. Chaz paid his bill before turning to go out to his truck.

“Hey, Chaz. What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were leaving the country

for vacation.”

He winced inside, but smiled as he faced one of his fellow bullfighters walking towards

him. “Sam, what’s up, man?”

“Not much. Just picking up some extra work.” Sam held out his hand.

Chaz shook it. “Plans changed at the last minute. Came here to meet a friend. Heading

out for the last couple of weeks of break. The rodeo’s over with, man. Shouldn’t you be back at your place?”

“Decided to hang out here for a little while before going back home. Taking a break

from the kids.” Sam glanced around, then motioned towards a set of chairs in a corner of the lobby. “Can we talk for a moment?”

“I’m supposed to meet a friend for lunch.”

Disappointment flashed in Sam’s eyes. Chaz could tell that whatever he wanted to talk

about was important to the man. He took a deep breath and nodded.

“All right, Sam. Let me call my friend and let him know I’m going to be late. Then I’ll be over there and we can talk.”

“Thanks, Chaz.”

He watched Sam stroll over to the chairs. Chaz dug out his phone to call Peter, then

waited for him to answer.

“Hello, Chaz.”

“Hey, Peter, I might be a little late. I ran into a friend, and he wants to talk to me about something important. I couldn’t say no.”

Though he had to wonder why Sam would want to talk to him. Chaz knew he was well

liked among the riders and the bullfighters. Mostly because he did everything he could to keep them safe, even if it meant he got injured in their place. He considered most of the men he worked with friends, but he wasn’t the guy they came to when they had problems, that

was for sure.

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LEAVING HOME T.A. Chase 44

Yet there sat Sam, waiting patiently for Chaz to finish talking to Peter. Had someone

told the younger man that Chaz was a good guy to have a chat with? Who would have done

that? No one would ever accuse Chaz of being the wise old man who gave good advice.

“That’s all right. I can do some work while I wait.” Peter still didn’t sound happy, but

Chaz was pretty sure it wasn’t because of him.

“Thanks. I’ll call you as soon as I’m done to let you know I’m on the way,” he told

Peter.

“Sounds good to me. I don’t have anything to do this afternoon, so take your time.”

Chaz laughed. “Honey, I have no idea why he’d want to talk to me about anything. I’m

not the best at advice.”

Peter chuckled. “Who knows? Maybe you’re the best one for the conversation.”

“I don’t know about that. But I have to go. I’ll call you in a little bit.”

“Okay. Bye.” Peter hung up.

After putting his phone away, Chaz walked over to where Sam waited. He dropped his

bags on the floor next to the chair before he sat.

“What did you want to talk about, Sam?”

Sam glanced around the lobby, obviously checking to make sure no one was close

enough to overhear them. Like anything we talk about will bring the world to a halt if someone hears.

“I wanted to ask you about your back.”

Chaz stiffened slightly. He’d forgotten Sam had been there during the last event when

his back had gone out, and all he’d been able to do was lie on the floor in the changing room while Sam and Danny had done the