Page 26 of The CEO and the Mountain Man

Which was neither here nor there.

I mean … I’d be lucky if a hot guy like Beau wanted to hit on me, but …psh. I’d made enough of my one experience in collegeto know I pretty much preferred women. So, you know. That was already settled.

Not the point.

“Whatever, Dad. Let’s go. I don’t want to miss the bus.”

We took the footbridge over the creek, since both of us needed to be at the barn. River brought his walking stick just in case but hadn’t needed it so far.

Beau, who was hard to miss, lit up when he saw us coming. “River, I hear you’re a real artist. You missed out on your dad’s blob horse yesterday.”

River stiffened, but I went with the joke. “Don’t make fun of my work in progress. I’ll finish it up today while River joins you and the youth group for swimming. By the time you come back, it’ll be perfect. You’ll see.”

River sent me a grateful look. Like maybe I’m not the worst father in the world, after all.

Beau’s brows met in the middle, but he saw River in his long-sleeve black T-shirt and black swim trunks, and, I supposed, decided to keep his opinion to himself.

“The family that arrived yesterday is joining Colt for a trail ride, but Miguel and the twins from that big family in cabin two are going to be joining us as well.”

The twins were a little younger than River, and I was reminded that they’d laughed their asses off when I went screaming into the creek the other day.

Good times.

“Miguel’s coming?” River asked, his voice a little high-pitched. “That’s good. He set up the rope and then missed all the fun. And I didn’t see him yesterday at all.”

Miguel … which one was Miguel?

Right as I had the thought, a familiar guy headed our way. He had a deep suntan and had his long, sun-streaked hair divided into pigtails. He was wearing an oatmeal-colored, open-weave tank top with jean cut-offs so short that the white pockets peeked out past the hem, a look he finished off with some artfully distressed cowboy boots.

Huh.

“Hey, Miguel!” Beau called out. Turning to me, he explained, “Miguel is one of the younger hands, and he always helps with the youth group.”

Miguel jogged up to us. He smiled at River. “You two joining us at the pool?”

Up close, Miguel’s nails were a scuffed turquoise, and he was sporting a black leather choker. Meanwhile, River was staring at Miguel’s chest. I followed his line of sight and caught a peek of silver visible through the tank top’s open weave.

Apparently, River’s type included pierced nipples.Great.

“Uh, I’m staying here,” I said, putting my hand on my hip.

Nope. That felt awkward.

Quick, how would a cool dad stand?

“But my son here, uh. River. He’ll be joining you.” As Beau waved over the twins, I tacked on, “It’ll be nice for him to hang around queer folks his age.”

Shit. Never once have River and I talked about how open or not he was. I just loved finding new ways to suck as a parent.

River snorted. “Dad, you look so scared right now.”

I sent him a grimace. “I just realized that I may have said something without your permission.”

He shrugged. “Miguel already knows I’m gay.”

I wanted to ask how, exactly, Miguel knew my son was gay but decided against it.

Because I was the cool dad. Or whatever.