Right Move--A Gay Cowboy Romance Read online

  Also available from A.M. Arthur and Carina Press

  No Such Thing

  Maybe This Time

  Stand By You

  Getting It Right

  Finding Their Way

  Taking a Chance

  Come What May

  Say It Right

  As I Am

  Wild Trail

  Roped In

  Saddle Up

  Lucky Break

  Hard Ride

  Right Move

  Also available from A.M. Arthur

  Cost of Repairs

  Color of Grace

  Weight of Silence

  Acts of Faith

  Foundation of Trust

  The Truth As He Knows It

  The World As He Sees It

  The Heart As He Hears It

  Their Life As They Live It

  His Faith As He Finds It

  Here For Us

  Sound of Us

  Uniquely Us

  Heart of Us

  Body Rocks

  Steady Stroke

  Hot Licks

  Unearthing Cole

  Understanding Jeremy

  Uniting Hearts

  Fractured Hymns

  What You Own

  What You Make It

  Melting for You

  Burning for You

  Waiting for You

  Saved

  Seen

  Heard

  Stronger

  Found

  Whole

  Feel

  Claimed

  Loved

  Save Me

  See Me

  Hear Me

  Find Me

  Prodigal

  Frozen

  Chosen

  RIGHT MOVE

  A.M. Arthur

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Excerpt from Getting It Right by A.M. Arthur

  Excerpt from Lucky Break by A.M. Arthur

  Prologue

  Three Years Ago

  Levi Peletier had long ago learned to trust his instincts, and instinct was what prompted him to pull over to the side of a country road in Wyoming to inspect an abandoned cardboard box. He wasn’t usually much for checking out other people’s trash, but he trundled onto the shoulder, mindful of the brand-new tiny house he had hitched to his pickup. Levi didn’t want to risk hurting his first major adult investment.

  There was nothing special about the box, no markings beyond the moving company logo stamped on the sides, but something still drew him to it. He shifted into park and got out. The two-lane road stretched out for miles in all directions, and he’d chosen this route because of its remoteness. After getting sober six months ago, Levi preferred solitude with nature over the bustle of city life. Or even small-town life. Give him open skies or thick forests any day.

  The mewling sounds from the box clued Levi in before he could peer inside. Three kittens were curled up in a bundle of fur and tails and spindly legs, and two of the three were crying. They were young, he couldn’t guess how young, and someone had left them here. Three tiny, precious lives. Abandoned.

  “Hey, you guys.” He squatted beside the box and reached inside. The striped ginger kitten immediately tried suckling his fingertip. He didn’t know a lot about cats, having grown up spending most of his life in a traveling rodeo, but he did know this suggested they hadn’t been properly weaned. And they were hungry. Poor little things. “Well, I hadn’t planned on having roommates this soon, but I guess you’re all coming with me.”

  He picked up the box, grateful he’d listened to his instincts and stopped to check.

  Since the only thing Levi had in his tiny house that the kittens could eat was bottled water, he found the smallest bowl he had and gave them some. The little babies mobbed the bowl, and it infuriated him to think how long they’d been without food. He tried not to think about it. His phone’s GPS said the nearest town was about ten miles ahead, so once he had them settled in the box with a towel to keep warm, he headed out again.

  Naturally, the town didn’t have a veterinarian’s office, but a nice lady at the post office gave him directions to another town with options. She also thanked him for rescuing the kittens. “Any decent person would,” he said as he tipped his hat. Maybe Levi didn’t ride anymore but he still loved his cowboy hats.

  He’d lost all his old hats last year when he ended up homeless, and the hat on his head had been a gift from his father after Levi completed rehab.

  He took a photo of the post office’s exterior before rolling out of town. He’d definitely be writing about this newest adventure on his blog, and he liked including photos. The blog idea had come up during his stint in rehab, as a method of remembering his past in a positive way, instead of letting the agony of his little brother’s accidental death a year and a half ago darken and distort his entire life. At first, Levi had written in a notebook. Once he realized what an incredibly unique life he’d lived, he decided to share it with the wider world.

  And he was also documenting his decision to take his home on the road on the blog. He enjoyed blindly traveling the states and landing wherever he landed for the night, even if it was just on the side of the road.

  The next town was large enough to have several grocery stores and vet options. The first vet he visited squeezed them in, since the kittens were so young and vulnerable, and Levi instantly liked the young man who examined them. He explained how he’d found the trio.

  “I don’t understand people who abandon innocent creatures like that,” Dr. Clark said as he looked over the black-and-white baby.

  “Agreed.” Levi watched the careful way the vet handled the kittens as he weighed them, looked at their teeth and into their ears. The calico meowed the entire time it was handled.

  “They’re all girls, and I’d guess them to be around six weeks old. Should be old enough to figure out drinking formula from a bowl so you don’t have to bottle-feed them. Assuming you’re going to keep them.”

  Levi stroked the top of the ginger’s head. “They ended up in my life for a reason. If the universe decided I need three cats, I’ll keep them.”

  Dr. Clark smiled and held eye contact a hair longer than most men would hold with other men. Unless they were interested. “Can I assume you’ll be bringing them back for future shots and checkups? Because they’ll need names.”

  He hadn’t decided for sure on settling in this area but sticking around might have its merits. “I have no idea what to call them. I’m used to naming horses, not cats.”

  “Well, for now we can designate them by their breed and your last name. Mister?”

  “Levi Peletier.
” He spelled his last name for the vet, who typed it into a computer. “Um, I guess Ginger, Tuxedo and Calico for now.” Actually, he liked the name Ginger for his little ginger kitty. Maybe he’d keep that.

  “You’re new in town, I take it?”

  “Very new. I’ve got my house hitched to my pickup.”

  “How’s that?”

  Levi explained a bit about his blog. “As I told the kittens, I hadn’t intended on getting a roommate, much less three, but here we are.”

  “If you need a place to park, Lakeview Campground is only a few miles outside of town.” Dr. Clark grinned. “I’ve been fishing out on that lake. It’s a beautiful area. Peaceful. Not too crowded, even at the height of summer vacation season.”

  “Then maybe I’ll check it out. Stick around for a little while.”

  “Then welcome to town, Mr. Peletier.”

  “Thank you, and Levi is fine.” He couldn’t decide if the vet was flirting with him or not. Levi was bisexual, and Dr. Clark was all kinds of cute and kind.

  They shook hands and Levi liked that Dr. Clark didn’t let go right away. He wasn’t ready for a relationship, not after only being six months sober, but maybe living out here wouldn’t be as lonely as he expected. If nothing else, he could make a new friend while he was in the area.

  “I’ll get you some cans of kitten formula,” Dr. Clark said. “You should be able to transition them from the formula to wet food fairly soon. The biggest question is litter box training.”

  Ginger chose that moment to prove the doc right by squatting and pooping on the exam table. Levi laughed. “I guess we’ll figure that one out,” he replied.

  “Have you ever owned a cat before, Levi?”

  “Not a day in my life but I’m a fast learner. They came to me for a reason, and I’ll honor that reason. And I also believe in karma, so whoever abandoned them better watch their ass.”

  “Agreed. There’s a special place in hell for people who abuse animals.” Dr. Clark seemed to be stalling, looking for things to talk about. “You mentioned earlier you’re used to naming horses. I take it you ride?”

  Levi quirked an eyebrow. “I do. Did. I grew up working with horses but I left that life behind. Needed a change.”

  “A change you’re finding here?”

  “We’ll see. The best part of my house is I can take it with me when I get itchy feet. I spent most of my life traveling, so settling down in any one spot for a long time will be a challenge.” But Levi needed the stability while he figured out his future. He missed his father and he missed his best friend, Robin, but distance was best for everyone for now. This was where the kittens had led him, and this was where he’d settle for a while.

  “Sounds as if you’ve got some interesting stories to tell.” Dr. Clark wrote something on a business card and handed it over. “If you ever want to tell some stories over a beer, give me a call. I’ll get your kitten formula and meet you at the front desk.”

  Levi tucked the card into his pocket and took his time gathering the little floofballs back into the box. The tuxedo kitty started purring immediately when he scratched behind her ears, the sound impossibly loud for such a small beast. But maybe now they’d all start feeling safe. Because they were.

  “I have no idea how this is going to work in my little house. Every spot is precise. I don’t know where I’ll stash a litter box, but we’ll figure it out, right ladies?”

  Ginger looked up and meowed at him, as if agreeing with his words. Despite getting his shit figured out in rehab and back on a good path, Levi still floundered most days. Still wondered if he was making the right choices, doing the right things. He was used to being given a schedule, to knowing which town he’d be performing in next, to a nomadic existence that made real, long-term relationships impossible.

  Now he had a new town, three kittens, and a potential new friend. After completely losing himself to alcohol and drugs for a year of his life, this truly felt like the beginning of his second chance.

  Chapter One

  After living an incredibly solitary life for the last seven years, having friends was a huge mind fuck for George Thompson. He and his twin brother Orry had lived in their apartment for close to six months, and neither had done much to endear themselves to their neighbors except to stay quiet and not bother anyone. Now, half a year later, they had four good friends in their two sets of downstairs neighbors, and George was still getting used to being around people again.

  Being around people before was essentially what sent the twins into hiding in the first place.

  George was just finishing up his latest video-captioning assignment when his phone startled him with a text. Orry used to be the only person who ever texted him, but Orry was currently napping in his bedroom in between jobs. He worked his ass off doing multiple jobs to help pay rent and car insurance, but neither of them wanted to move out of their San Francisco neighborhood. They needed to stay close to their grandparents.

  He grabbed his phone off the corner of his desk.

  Slater: Pizza in the living room.

  The text made him smile. The apartment was one of four inside a renovated old house—two upstairs and two downstairs. Their sextet of friends had started referring to the home’s big lobby as the living room because it had furniture, magazines and books that all residents were free to use. The other upstairs residents, a quiet father-daughter duo, weren’t very sociable and that was fine. Once upon a time, George hadn’t been sociable either.

  George responded he’d be down, then went to check on Orry. He’d been napping for a few hours and would probably like to eat. Orry never turned down free food. His brother was sprawled on his bed, face pressed into a pillow, his phone playing a white noise app. Even though George used headphones when closed-captioning, so Orry couldn’t overhear the videos, Orry said it made him feel less like he knew George was in his own bedroom watching porn.

  Closed-captioning for porn was definitely a thing, and George had seriously lucked into a job that didn’t require him to leave the house.

  “Dude, you want pizza?” George asked.

  Orry jerked upright in bed, as if summoned from the deep by the mere mention of the p-word. He yawned and rubbed at his face. “M’kay. Where?”

  “Living room. Slater offered.”

  “Cool. Gimme a minute.” Bro code for I gotta whiz.

  George waited in the living room for Orry’s rumpled emergence from the tiny hallway beyond their open living space. His attention went to the floor near a section of wall where a photo had broken a few months ago. Broken because of George’s stupidity. He thought they’d cleaned up the glass but Orry had cut himself a few days later, because George had missed something. Small things like that loved to take up space in his head, and George was tired of it.

  Having friends meant new things to take up space in his head, instead of letting the past crowd everything out.

  Orry appeared a few minutes later, and together they went downstairs to the “living room.” Slater and Derrick were there with two pizza boxes and a six-pack. At almost the same moment George and Orry appeared, the door to the other downstairs apartment opened, spilling out Dez and Morgan.

  Morgan used to scare George because of his general size and muscles, but he was the epitome of the gentle giant. His partner, Dez, on the other hand, was roughly half his size, nonbinary, and preferred she/her pronouns. Today, Dez wore leggings, a button-down shirt and a tie, and her hair had grown out a bit. Slater and Derrick were a now-committed couple whose relationship had started as fake and ended up as something way more permanent—a truth Slater had finally revealed to George and Orry around Halloween. George had genuinely believed they’d been a couple the whole time because chemistry oozed off them.

  “Hey,” Morgan said once their sextet had collected themselves around the food. “What are we eating today?”

  “
I decided to be nice to Dez,” Derrick replied, “and one of the pies has vegan cheese and vegan pepperoni. You’re welcome.”

  Dez pumped her fist in the air. She was a part-time vegan, from what George understood, eating her tofu while also catering to Morgan’s taste for meat. Seemed odd to George, but whatever made the pair’s relationship work. Dez had volunteered to cook for the twins a few times, but they always found a polite excuse.

  Curious, George tried the vegan pie instead of the other, which looked like supreme. Pizza wasn’t the healthiest thing anyway, and while George wasn’t as militant about his diet as he once was, he’d never be the guy who pigged out on junk food and soda.

  “Who has plans for Thanksgiving?” Derrick asked once everyone had pizza, his deep voice booming in the large lobby. Like Morgan, Derrick used to intimidate George because he was tall and broad, but the guy was one of the kindest, most easygoing people George had ever met. And he was clearly in love with Slater, which sometimes made George a little jealous.

  Not that he had a crush on Slater, or anything, but in the last two years since he began to caption gay porn almost exclusively, he’d...noticed men more. A former cowboy who’d left the country behind for his boyfriend and a new start, Slater was handsome in a way that appealed to George. Just like the trick rider he’d met this past summer on the Fourth of July had appealed to him.

  Levi.

  “We’re going north to see my folks,” Morgan replied to Derrick’s question, and for a split second, George forgot what time of year it was.

  Thanksgiving.

  “That’s cool,” Derrick replied, then looked between George and Orry. “You guys?”

  “Same as every year, I guess,” Orry replied. “Frozen turkey dinners and work.”

  “That sounds boring. Think you guys can take a day off work? My in-laws are throwing a big Thanksgiving dinner out in Garrett. Did the same thing last year, and I think it’s becoming a new tradition. I mentioned inviting some of my friends and Wes said, ‘The more the merrier.’”

  “That’s very Wes,” Slater drawled.

  George vaguely remembered Wes from one of his visits in the city with his boyfriend. Another cowboy. Slater’s old coworkers from his ranch job still regularly came by to see him, but George avoided the lobby when they were around. Too many unfamiliar people. And now he was being invited to a house full of them?