The guy in the leather jacket folded his arms and leaned against Luis's open window. He smiled, looked Luis up and down, and said, “We're good. No problem, dude.” His voice had a twang and his breath smelled like stale beer.
“I was wondering if you could help us out,” Jase said. “We're looking for a cabin not far from here.” Then he picked the directions out of the center console and handed them to the guy in plaid next to his window.
While the guy on the left studied the directions, the one on the right studied Luis. He glanced down between Luis's legs and licked his lips. When Luis smiled at him, he stared at Luis's mouth and made a fist.
Jase wasn't paying attention to any of this. He was too busy waiting for the guy in plaid to read the directions. But Luis could feel the guy in leather undressing him with his eyes and he couldn't wait to close the window and pull away.
A minute after that, the guy in plaid told Jase exactly where to go. He said he knew the cabin and he didn't live far from there himself. He said he even knew the family who owned the cabin, but told Jase they didn't come around much anymore. The guy's voice became more animated and he didn't sound as creepy as he'd sounded in the beginning.
And Luis felt such a wave of relief he sighed out loud and said, “Thanks so much. We would have been driving around all night if we hadn't run into you guys. Would you also happen to know where the Glatenfrissle Compound is?” This was the abandoned Pennsylvania Dutch compound Luis had read about on the Internet. He wanted to check it out before they went back to Cider Mill Farm and he figured these guys were local and they'd know better than anyone else.
The guy in plaid stepped back from the car. His face grew sullen and he lowered his voice. “We never heard of any place like that in these parts.” He glanced over at his friend on the other side of the car. “Did we, man? You must be thinking of something else.”
The information Luis had read on the Internet said the Pennsylvania Dutch compound wasn't far from here. How could they be local and not know about it? But the guy in black leather was still staring at Luis's legs, and now he had one hand in his pocket and he was playing with his dick. So Luis decided not to press the matter.
When the guy in leather didn't respond, the guy in plaid went to the other side of the car and smacked his buddy on the side of the head.
Luis blinked. But he was glad he'd smacked him in the head. At least it got his hand out of his pocket and away from his dick.
Jase clenched his fists, as if bracing for battle.
“We have to get going,” the guy in plaid said. “My buddy here can't take his eyes off your cute little friend in there.” Then he grabbed his buddy's arm and started walking backward to the sidewalk. “You guys have a good night.”
Luis turned to Jase. “Let's get the fuck out of here.”
Jase laughed. But Luis noticed his fists were still clenched. Jase often did things like this to keep Luis from worrying. He'd pretend there was nothing wrong when he was seething inside. “Stop worrying. They're a couple of harmless old country boys. I think that dude in the black leather is a real closet case and he's infatuated with you because he saw you hugging me. Maybe they are a couple and the other one got jealous.”
“Tell me about it,” Luis said. “He was playing with his dick the whole time you were talking to his friend. I've never felt so weird in my life.” Then he turned to see where the guys were, only they'd disappeared by then. Luis put up his window and pointed to the sidewalk. “Look, they're nowhere in sight. It's as if they disappeared into thin air.” Luis's imagination tended to run away at times like this. “Maybe they were ghosts.”
Jase laughed again. “They probably just slipped into one of those alleys between those old houses. They said they were locals. They probably know every nook and cranny in this little town. I'm just glad we ran into them and got decent directions. If we hadn't, we might have been driving around this town all night long.”
Luis put on his seatbelt and checked to make sure the doors were locked. Then he wondered if ghosts could get through locked doors. As Jase put the car in gear and pulled away from the curb, Luis tried to stop thinking about the way that guy had been looking at him. Jase was right; they weren't ghosts. They were just a couple of harmless country boys. The guy in black leather was hung like a bull, too. Luis had seen the outline of his dick in his jeans. And he probably was gay and in the closet and didn't know what to do about it, living all the way out here.
Luis knew what that was like. He'd been there himself when he was growing up in rural Tennessee. But he'd never actually gaped at a total stranger that way and tugged on his dick at the same time. The first thing Luis planned to do when they reached the cabin was check all the locks on the doors and the windows. Because if either one of those guys ever found out what Luis had planned for Jase that night, Luis had a feeling he'd wind up in big trouble.
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Chapter Four
When they finally reached the cabin, they unfolded from the Tahoe and pressed their palms to their chests at the same time. “I had no idea,” Jase said.
Luis gaped in horror and said, “It's not that bad.” But it was that bad. At one time it must have been a cute little cobblestone post and beam cabin, with a front porch and a brick path. But evidently Jase's employee hadn't kept up with maintenance, because the shutters were hanging from the front windows, the front porch sagged to the right, and the roof was covered with large branches and twigs. And this was only what Luis could see at night. It was pitch black out, still raining, and the only light came from the headlights on the Tahoe. He could only imagine what it looked like in broad daylight. “I just hope there's electricity. How well do you know this employee of yours?”
“I just hired him.”
“I see.”
Jase shrugged. “He warned me it wasn't perfect, and he said the town was a little unusual. Do you want to turn back and get a hotel in Lancaster? There has to be something. We can head home in the morning.”
Luis thought for a moment. Even though it wasn't perfect, there was something so romantic about being in the woods this way, that all Luis wanted to do was get naked and climb into bed with his husband. “Let's give it one night and see how it works out. If we don't like it, we'll head back tomorrow.”
Thankfully, there was electricity. They had a little trouble getting inside because the key wouldn't turn completely. But after Jase jiggled it a few times, they finally got in out of the rain. It was only a two-room cabin with post and beam ceilings laced with cobwebs. The main area consisted of a kitchen, dining area, and living room. The walls were knotty pine, the floors were barn board planks covered with hook rugs, and the far right wall in the living room had a walk-in cobblestone fireplace. The furniture was a mish-mash of old junk, with fake shaker chairs, a maple trimmed sofa with brown plaid cushions, and a rusted trunk in front of the fireplace. The windows were bare and there wasn't a TV or a radio anywhere to be seen. There was a damp, moldy smell that reminded Luis of an old boat he'd once been on in Alaska.