Two Sides of the Same Coin (26 page)

“I seem to remember you sayin’ that they’re open competition, women and men both compete in all events?”

“Yep, and some of those women are damned good too.”

“Events all the same?”

“For the most part, there are a couple of events that are just in gay rodeo. Wild Drag Race is one. That’s where you got three folks, a cowboy, a cowgirl, and a person in drag. They let a steer outta the chute, and the cowboy has to wrestle him across a line in the arena. Then the person in drag has to jump on the steer and ride ’em back across another line.”

He gave me a real suspicious look before askin’, “So which one of us would go in drag?” I laughed.

“Hell, buddy, I would. I done it before. Not that it was like real drag. I just bought some old dress I threw on over my clothes and a wig. I must have pictures somewhere.”

“You were comfortable with that?”

I leaned over and put my arm around him. “Mike, buddy, I’m a man. I don’t wanna be a woman, but I got enough balls to wear a costume for the rodeo or maybe Halloween. Sure doesn’t make me less of a man.”

“I gotta stop bein’ so uptight. Sometimes it’s hard though.”

“I understand. One thing, I wouldn’t be with you if you weren’t a real man.”

He smiled at me and licked my ear this time. He murmured into it, “Tell me more about the gay rodeo.”

“They have a couple of other gay events. One is steer decoratin’ and the other is goat dressin’. Steer decoratin’ is with two team members. One dogs the steer, and one ties a ribbon around its tail. The other is a team event where the team members run up to a goat and put some men’s briefs on it.”

“You’re shittin’ me!”

“Nope. Other events are pretty much the same, except for steer doggin’ or wrestlin’. Rather than do it from horseback, they do it right outside the chute. The rodeo grounds always have food, drink, and a dance floor. Lots of drag shows too.”

“I ain’t too excited about that.”

“Ain’t my favorite thing either, but in small doses it can be fun. If there’s no gay honky-tonk near the rodeo, then they have a dance at the hotel in one of the hotel’s ball rooms.”

“Hell, Jeff, let’s do it! The gay rodeo sounds like a lotta fun.”

“Great, so you wanna drive down with the horses, or just fly and risk it with some horse we don’t know and that doesn’t know us. They got stables at the rodeo grounds in case we do drive down.”

“How were ya thinkin’ of drivin’?”

“Since it’s in February, I reckon best way would be go down to the Columbia, and then to the I-5 and take that down, bypass LA, and drive on into Arizona.”

“Don’t make no nevermind to me, Jeffy; I was just wonderin’ about the route.”

“Okay. Lemme check it out; if the stock is halfway decent, we can fly, if not, drive. If we make a respectable showin’, maybe we can continue on through the circuit. I’ll have to win a buckle to give ya.”

“I ain’t no damned buckle bunny. Maybe we both need to win and exchange buckles.”

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Mike began kissin’ my ear again and then reached between my legs and started rubbin’ me through my underwear.

“I wanna suck your dick, Jeffy. I want to make you feel real good.”

His hand down there on my cock and balls felt so good I just told him, “Go for it.” I reached down to unbutton and then free myself, but he stopped me.

“Let me. You just sit back and relax.” He moved over so he was lying on his belly between my knees. He nuzzled my crotch and then unbuttoned my underwear. I sprung free.

“You smell real good, Jeffy, all musky and sweaty.” I felt his tongue begin to just flick out and explore. Just touching, the piss slit, the head, up and down the shaft, my balls. He began that circuit again with longer licks. Finally after repeating it about four times, he slid his mouth over my cock. He made a valiant effort to take as much of it as possible, and got about half in. I reached down and began playing with his hair. He used one of his hands to fondle and tug my balls, and with the other, he formed a tube and began moving that and his mouth up and down. It felt incredible. I was enjoying watching him almost as much as the feeling he was giving me. Every down stroke with his mouth and hand brought me closer. I could feel my balls tightenin’ up and my dick gettin’ harder and begin to swell.

“You keep that up and you’re gonna get a load.”

He pulled his mouth off of me long enough to say, “Let ’er rip, Jeffy!” He kept busy with his hand, and the moment he had me in his mouth again, I knew I was past the point of no return. I exploded into his mouth for what seemed like forever. He kept a hold of me until I started to soften. I pulled him up and kissed him. I could taste me on him over the wintergreen and tobacco of dip. I also smelled myself on his beard and face. The kiss was a long and sensual one.

“So what can I do for you, buddy?”

“Hell, I’m fine now. I just really wanted to make you feel good. That was enough for me for now.”

“Ya did make me feel real good. Just sittin’ here with ya in my arms feels real good.”

“I enjoyed that, Jeff. I wanted it, I got it, and now I’m fine.” I could feel that post-orgasm relaxation slide over me. Mike noticed it too.

“Let’s go to sleep, Jeffy. You asked me what I want, just hold me while we go to sleep. Okay?”

“You got it, buddy.” He settled down against the wall with his back to me. I buttoned up and slid in on my side and took him in my arms spooning against him. It felt nice, cozy, and comfy. It was starting to get cold in the cabin, but we were nice and warm. I must’ve drifted off to sleep almost immediately. I was gettin’ pretty used to being around Mike.

T
HURSDAY
dawned bright and clear, but cold with another frost. We were hoping to have the beeves down to the holding pens by about two. We gulped some coffee, and had some jerky and dried fruit. That would hold us for much of the day. We cleaned up the cabin, and got the horses saddled, and we were on our way pretty quick. I had an idea.

“Mike, buddy, hows about we go out for dinner tonight? I could use a big burger, lots of fries, and several beers.”

“Sounds fantastic, but this time it’s on me. Do ya wanna go to One Eyed Jack’s or the Schoolhouse Brewery?”

“How ’bout we try the brewery? They got pretty good burgers.”

“That’s a plan. So, is this another date?”

“I reckon so. You gonna put out again?” He looked at me and then laughed at the expression on my face that showed I was jokin’.”

“If ya sweet-talk me just right. What about you, you gonna put out after our date?”

“Dunno, can’t have ya thinkin’ I’m some kind of slut, puttin’ out two nights in a row.”

“I don’t think that at all, Jeffy. I know it’s just that my charms are irresistible.”

“Yeah, buddy, they are.” We both smiled at each other. It was nice to see Mike grinning and teasing back. He was definitely loosening up, especially around me. He was still overly reserved around others, but he was coming along fine.

We got to the cattle and began herding them down to the holding pens. We circled around them, and Mike started to sing. He started with the “Red Light Saloon,” a bawdy cowboy song about the high price of prostitutes. He was singing it soft and slow to calm the cattle. I began herding them from the sides and behind. They began a slow amble downhill. I started to sing with Mike. We finished the song, and then he began “Little Joe the Wrangler,” and I joined in. It’s a real sad song about a young cowboy who dies in a stampede. The cattle seemed to like it, and I reckoned they felt it was score one for their side.

We kept the herd moving and milling around. The aspens up on the hills had turned a golden yellow, and the grass was golden too. The green of the pines and gold of the aspens against the deep blue of the sky looked like a postcard. The sound of Mike singing was relaxing, and the occasional lowing from the beeves sounded calm. I could smell the earthy scent of the cattle. I realized that I could never sell the ranch. It was part of me as was this life; it wasn’t only the ranch, and cowboying or rodeoing, but just the area. The valley has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. I could see the High Cascades shining under a new dusting of snow. Occasionally I could see deer off by the trees. Living in the city, I had really missed things like watching the shooting stars the other night, or the brightness of the night sky, the ability to enjoy the outdoors almost just outside of my back door. I felt a surge of affection for Mike. He liked that stuff too. It was a bond that we shared. It was funny; I’d never met another gay man who spoke the same language as I did. Mike turned in his saddle and saw me looking at him. He smiled. I grinned back.

The morning moved on, and toward afternoon we came up over a little rise, and I could see the ranch buildings in the distance. As we got closer, Josh noticed us and opened the gates to the holding pens. Mike and I herded until the cattle were spread out a ways, and moved ’em toward the pens. The first cattle entered. Josh and José had put fresh water in the troughs and there was plenty of good hay in the mangers. The cattle smelled it, and it made the herding that much easier. Finally, we had them all in the pens. Josh and José mounted up and joined Mike and me in separating the steers. That took a couple of hours more, but we got it done with no problems. Finally, it was quitting time. Mike followed me up to the ranch house. His laundry was still all mixed together with mine. As we reached the mudroom, I turned to him.

“Mike, you ready for a shower?”

“Yeah, I am. You wanna go first?”

“Hell, buddy, the shower in my room is big enough for two.”

He looked at me for a second and then started to say, “I ain’t ever….” Then he smiled. We stripped off in the mudroom. Our clothes were muddy, had shit on them, and were a bit ripe. We headed upstairs. It felt great to be in the shower, and we took turns washing each other. I returned Mike’s favor from last night. I fingered him and played with his balls from behind while nuzzling, kissing, and biting his neck. He jerked off and came in record time. We finally ended the shower and dried off. We got dressed in clean clothes from the laundry basket. By the time we were ready to go to town, it was about seven.

We got to Winslett and parked on Main Street. The Schoolhouse Brewery used to be a genuine one-room schoolhouse. They have a deck out by the river, and sometimes live music on the weekends. They had open mike karaoke on Fridays. It might be fun to do that sometime. We took seats, and the waiter came by. He was a kid from town who had went off to college a couple of years ago.

“Hey, Jeff, Mike, you guys know what you’re drinkin?”

“Howdy there, Tim. I’ll have a Bear Paw rye ale.”

“Me too,” Mike spoke up and continued,” I think we know what we want.” I nodded. “I’ll have a green chile cheeseburger with extra fries. You up for some appetizers, Jeff?”

“Sure.”

“Okay then, two orders of onion rings and an order of buffalo chicken wings.”

“Sounds good, and I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger with fries also.”

“You guys must be hungry.”

“We are,” I answered. “We been herdin’ for roundup for the last couple of days. I been dreamin’ about the burgers here.”

“Jeff, you have any positions for wranglers? I’d like to get a job cowboyin’ next summer.”

“I just may, Tim. I’ll keep ya in mind. Since it’s so early, don’t be afraid to remind me a couple of times.”

“Sure thing, Jeff.” He headed back and turned our order in to the kitchen and pulled two pints of beer. He dropped them off at our table. Mike and I clinked mugs, and then we started drinking. Mike and I didn’t say too much, we just touched boots and enjoyed the food. We were both pretty tired.

“So, buddy, you gonna stay up at the ranch house with me tonight?”

“I was plannin’ on it.”

“Good. I was too. You’re awful easy to get used to bunkin’ with.” He just smiled at me. We made pretty short work of the food. I thought about ordering another beer, but I was tired, doing the driving, and there was beer at home. Mike paid the tab, and we ambled out the door.

Main Street was quiet. I could hear music from One Eyed Jack’s, but it was faint enough that I could also hear the rustling of leaves by the river. I’d ended up parking across the street from the brewery. As we stepped onto the boardwalk, through the quiet of the night I heard the buzz of motorcycles. We started across the street, and the buzz got louder. Just then from the road which went by the ranch up to the national park, came several motorcycles. We were just about three quarters of the way across the street. The motorcycles didn’t slow down, but I wasn’t worried. Main Street is pretty wide, and they had plenty of room. All of a sudden, I recognized the rider in the lead. He didn’t have a helmet on, so he was easy to spot. It was Porky. He aimed his motorcycle right for us and stepped on the gas. I pushed Mike out of the way and began a dive for the side of the street. I saw him pull out a pistol. He took a shot at me. Either I was real lucky or he was as bad of a shot as he was at fighting, ’cause it missed. I did hear it whiz by like an angry hornet. The window of the souvenir shop in front of us shattered. Luckily it was closed. People were coming out of the businesses, and I heard Mike on his cell phone calling the sheriff. As we sat and waited for the sheriff, I wished I’d been a lot rougher on Porky.

Chapter Eleven

M
IKE
and I sat in the sheriff’s office. I was shaky after being shot at, but felt bad ’cause when I pushed Mike out of the way, he’d fallen and scraped up his hands pretty bad on the boardwalk. I looked over at Mike and his bandaged hands.

“Jeff, for the thousandth time, I ain’t mad. I ain’t upset, and I’m glad you pushed me outta the way.”

“I know, buddy, I’m just a bit shook up.” Sheriff Johnston came from the back of the station.

“From what everyone says, they turned around and headed back up the highway toward the national park. No place for ’em to turn off until they get pretty far west. I figure someone will stop ’em fairly soon.”

“I shoulda sworn out a complaint the other day, Sheriff. I just figured after gettin’ his ass whooped so bad, we’d seen the last of Porky.”