Rory’s Rock

Chapter 2-1

Chapter 2The first thing Rory became aware of—and it snuck up on him gradually—was the pleasant smell. It was earthy, male, warm, safe. Then there was sound. Someone was snoring. Did he snore? But if he were asleep then…Someone was knocking. Rory tried to rouse himself to tell them to come in, but he felt too comfortable, too safe to bother. Feeling was the next sense to come online. This wasn’t his regular pillow, not that it was uncomfortable or anything. Said pillow then shifted under him and Rory became aware the pillow was a shoulder. Reluctantly opening his eyes, Rory’s confusion didn’t lessen at the lack of daylight. But instead of disturbing him, the darkness felt oddly comforting. He closed his eyes again and rubbed his face on the pillowcase. So soft and warm and…Rory snuggled closer into the warm body that was wrapped around him. He lazily ran his free hand up the soft, hairy belly.

The bedroom door opened. “Guys.” There was the sound of bootheels on the wooden floor. “Time to get up. Barry will have breakfast on the table in a quarter of an hour.”

“Go way,” Rory mumbled. It wasn’t breakfast time. He never slept late.

“Rory. Wake up.” His shoulder was shaken.

He opened his eyes. Liam’s face, illuminated by flickering candlelight, was leaning over him.

“It’s time to get up.”

Rory tried to punch his pillow, but it felt hard and un-pillow-like. He lifted his head and looked down at a wide shoulder. He blinked and shifted his gaze upward. “Zane?” Then the events of the previous evening all came back to him.

Liam’s expression softened. “Be careful. He’s straight.”

Rory yawned then rubbed his face. He felt rested. He’d had one of the best night’s sleep he could ever remember.

Liam touched the wick of his candle to the one on the nightstand nearest Rory. “Remember, breakfast in fifteen minutes,” he said before leaving the bedroom and closing the door softly behind him.

Rory tried to extricate himself from Zane’s embrace without waking the man but when he twisted around, Zane’s grip tightened. Rory felt something huge and hard press into his thigh. His eyes widened. It couldn’t be that big! It took every ounce of Rory’s self-control not to reach down and check. Rory was also sporting wood and his bladder was starting to send signals that it needed to be emptied.

“Zane,” Rory said softly. “Time to get up.” But the man snored on. He attempted to pry Zane’s arm off his waist, but it was like trying to lift an iron bar. “Zane!” he said more loudly and more urgently.

Zane grunted and pressed his face against the side of Rory’s head, causing Rory to shiver at the brush of the man’s beard. It was surprisingly soft.

“Need the bathroom!” Rory squirmed and Zane relaxed his grip enough that Rory could escape. However, Rory immediately felt the loss of Zane’s body heat and began to shiver. As he tiptoed across the wooden floor to the door, Rory spared a quick look back at the bed. Zane was blinking his eyes. Zane’s T-shirt had ridden up and he was scratching at the exposed skin. Rory held in a moan as he dimly remembered stroking that belly with its soft pelt of fur.

“Breakfast in ten minutes,” Rory said before opening the door. He interpreted Zane’s grunt as confirmation the man had heard and understood.

* * * *

“The radio said the temperatures were in single digits overnight. Hope no one felt the cold. Did everyone sleep okay?” Barry asked, laying a huge platter of fried eggs on the table.

They were eating breakfast in the kitchen, the dining room being too cold due to the lack of power. Rory liked the ranch kitchen; it felt cozy and domestic.

Liam and Wayne had their mouths full so just nodded their heads in answer to Barry’s questions.

Jimmy smirked. “I was plenty warm enough and slept just fine.”

Barry rolled his eyes. “I know that, I could hear you snoring.”

“I don’t snore!”

“You so do,” Jake put in.

As ever, Barry was on top of the situation and raised his spatula. “Boys!” He didn’t even look in Jimmy’s and Jake’s directions. Instead his gaze was trained on Rory. “Sleep okay?”

Rory nodded and blushed. He was saved from giving a verbal answer because he was still chewing. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he was wide awake and ready to face the day. Yes, he could attribute that to having to wash in cold water, but the true cause was the full and uninterrupted night’s sleep he’d just enjoyed.

“And you?” Barry turned his attention to Zane.

“Me ’n’ my little buddy slept real good.” Zane slung an arm around Rory’s shoulders and pulled him closer to Zane’s side.

Barry raised a questioning eyebrow but thankfully was distracted from making a comment by Zane belching loudly and the others teasing him about it.

Due to the weekend and the continuing storm, there were few chores assigned to the men.

“Well, like I said yesterday, I need to go into town to do some shopping,” Barry said, wiping his mouth and rising to his feet.

“I’ll drive,” Jake said.

“Me, too,” Jimmy added.

“You can’t both do it.” Barry shook his head and began to gather up the empty plates and platters. “I’m more than capable of going into town on my own. I expect the CDOT trucks treated the roads last night.”

Rory was pretty sure the city was responsible for the local roads, but didn’t voice his opinion. And given how far out of the way they were, if the trucks had reached them at all, it would have been well after the ice storm had started.

“But the driveway hasn’t been salted,” Jimmy said.

“First on my list,” Liam said.

Barry returned to the table. “So you see, I’ll be fine.” He touched first Jimmy’s cheek then Jake’s.

“You still might get into a wreck.” Clearly Jimmy wasn’t giving up.

“Exactly,” Jake added.

Barry huffed. “Gee, thanks.”

Yet again, Rory wished he had someone who cared about him like that.

Barry reached over for the coffeepot, gave it a quick shake, then cradled it to his chest. Looking first at Jake then Jimmy, he said, “I’m sure the two of you could find something more useful to do on the ranch than go into town with me. You’ll just get bored. I’m only going to a couple places, including the grocery store.”

“No we won’t,” Jake insisted.

Barry looked at him sceptically.

“Besides.” Jimmy smiled triumphantly, “We need to get your Valentine’s gift.”

“And that takes both of you?”

“Not letting him pick,” Jimmy protested, pointing at Jake. “He’ll just buy something in red.”

Wayne groaned. “That’s the color of Valentine’s, dumbass.”

“Jimmy!” Barry picked up a large serving spoon and pointed it at Jimmy in warning. He acted so quickly Rory didn’t even have time to tense up.

“We’re both going into town,” Jake said, folding his arms over his chest. “And I’m driving.”

Jimmy opened his mouth but another waggle of Barry’s spoon had him closing it again.

Rory probably should go into town himself as he needed to buy and mail off a gift for his friend Debbie. They shared the same birthday and Rory had literally and metaphorically hidden behind Debbie when their birthdays had been “celebrated” in the home. Not that the staff did a whole lot to mark the occasion. Debbie was loud, large, and didn’t take any s**t from anyone. Much to Rory’s embarrassment, she would often fight his battles for him, although he always tried never to get in any battles in the first place. Debbie was the closest thing Rory ever had to a big sister and she was the first person Rory had come out to. Although, when he did, she gave him a hug and told him she’d already figured that out.

Rory’s announcement that he’d follow Barry, Jimmy, and Jake on his motorcycle was met by a chorus of disagreement from everyone at the table.

“The roads won’t be safe enough for that,” Liam said.

“No, they won’t,” Barry added.

“I need a couple of things, so I’ll take you,” Zane said, slapping Rory on the back.

Not expecting the blow, Rory pitched forward, narrowly avoiding faceplanting into his placemat. “Thanks, but you don’t need to.” Rory had hoped to use the time off the ranch to regroup after being in such close proximity to Zane overnight.

Zane shook his head. “Guys are right, roads aren’t safe, not for a motorcycle.”

* * * *

Buying gifts for Debbie was easy. She’d never met a box of candy she didn’t like. So Rory crammed as many sugary treats as would fit in a flat rate priority box and stood in line at the post office to mail it out. All while buying the candy and standing in line, Zane asked Rory questions about Debbie, his time in the group home, and why he was there in the first place. This last topic was the hardest to avoid answering. Rory knew Zane was genuinely interested, not meaning his questions to be intrusive. All Rory would say was when his mom died, his dad wasn’t able to raise him so he had to go into care.

“You didn’t have any grandparents or aunts and uncles?” Zane asked incredulously.

Rory shook his head and said he was an only child. His mom didn’t have any siblings, and they’d lost touch with his dad’s older brother. Rory wasn’t in the habit of making small talk but thought if he started asking his own questions about Zane’s family, it would deflect attention from Rory’s own. “What about you? Are you from a big family?”

“Mom and Dad aren’t very tall. They keep saying they don’t know where I came from.” Zane laughed.

Rory smiled, both at the joke and the fact Zane had misunderstood his question. “Any brothers or sisters?”

“Sister, Betsy. She’s a few years older than me.” Zane smiled. “She’s short, too.”

Zane’s family sounded close knit. The family home was a couple of hours drive away and Zane visited his parents twice a month on his days off.

“Should have gone to see the folks today but…” He gestured towards the front door of the post office. Someone was just walking in, their clothes dusted with snow.

Finally it was his turn at the window and Rory quickly paid the fee—he’d already counted out the exact money—and they left the warmth of the post office. Sure enough, it had started snowing and the sidewalks were becoming slick. A group of rowdy teenagers pushed passed them, shoving at each other. When a snowball landed squarely on the back of one of the teens, he turned around to glare angrily at Rory and Zane. Rory unconsciously stepped closer to Zane and would have moved behind him if another snowball hadn’t struck the same teen, this time on his front. This was followed by laughter from the thrower and threats of retribution from the victim.

“You cold, Ror?” Zane asked.

Ror? That was new. Made him sound like a lion. Rory sure as s**t didn’t feel leonine.

Zane slung an arm around Rory’s shoulders and pulled him into the big man’s side. “We’ll go in here. Need some cheese anyway.” He guided Rory into Walmart, which was packed with shoppers, no doubt stocking up to weather out the storm. The aisles of holiday items nearest the entrance were particularly crowded. Rory hated crowds so was grateful for Zane’s reassuring bulk, even though the big man had withdrawn his arm. A group of six or seven Asian women were gathered at the head of one of the aisles, all were talking rapidly and Rory wasn’t sure if any of them were listening.

Standing almost a head taller than most of the crowd, Zane was easily able to look around. “Jimmy’s over there.” Zane moved Rory behind him and after a series of polite “excuse mes,” powered his way through the knot of gossiping women, who miraculously parted.

Fearing he’d either be left behind or swallowed up by the crowd, Rory stuck closely to Zane’s broad back.

“s**t, it’s crowded in here,” Jimmy told Zane and Rory. At a disapproving tut from a woman to his left, Jimmy touched the brim of his hat. “Sorry, ma’am. Miss.” He nodded to the young girl who had a fist tightly clenched in the woman’s skirt.

“Had any luck finding gifts?” Zane asked Jimmy.

Jimmy shook his head no. “There’s tons of red shi…uh, stuff,” his eyes briefly slid to the woman, who was moving away, “but I can’t find anything purple for Barry.”

There was a momentary gap in the crowd and Rory spotted a display of teddy bears of various sizes, each wearing a white T-shirt with a large red heart on its front and the words ”Be My Valentine. Rory pointed. “What about getting him a bear?”

Jimmy looked, then frowned and shook his head. “Not purple.”

“No, but you can probably buy purple ribbon here. You could then tie a purple bow around the bear’s neck.”

Jimmy mustered up a cautious smile.

Warming to his theme, Rory added, “And you must have a scrap of purple fabric back at the ranch, a bandana or something. You could cut out a heart shape and sew it over the red one.”