Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 74 of 619

By noon the road climbed into open country and the sun came down hard. Ajax rode with his shirt sticking to his back. Behind him the cart creaked along with Marco and the two collared men asleep inside it. Chalam walked his horse beside the cart with one hand on the new staff. Grayson kept the front. Tucker and Asher rode at the middle, close enough to talk. Tucker peeled his leather vest off and hung it on his saddle horn. His chest was brown from the sun, the two flat chains bright against it. "Too hot to ride covered," he said. He looked over at Asher. "You going to sweat through that shirt or take it off." Asher unbuttoned the shirt without breaking pace. He pulled it free and tied it to his belt. His gold chain lay flat on his chest. "Better," he said. Marco stirred in the cart. He sat up, blinked at the light, and swung his legs over the side. He climbed down and walked his horse forward until he was even with them. He looked at the two shirtless men. Then he unbuttoned his blue shirt and left it hanging open. "All the way," Tucker said. Marco pulled it off. His gold bracelet caught the sun. He rode bare-chested between them. Tucker lifted an arm and flexed. "Say it." "Say what," Asher said. "Which one." Asher reached across and pressed two fingers into Tucker's bicep. He held them there. "Hard," he said. "Not the biggest." Tucker grinned. He leaned and squeezed Asher's arm in turn. "Tight. Runner's arm." They both looked at Marco. Marco raised his arm without a word. Tucker felt it first, then Asher. Asher's hand stayed a beat longer than Tucker's did. "His," Asher said. Tucker laughed once. "Yeah. His." Marco lowered the arm. He looked at Asher and did not look away. Asher looked back. Ajax watched from three lengths ahead. He had told Asher to stay away from Marco. Ajax realized that they needed to build good relationships among the team and he was accepted this as an innocent interaction. He rode on. The three shirtless men laughed behind him. Despite his rule for Asher, he liked him and trusted that he was a good man despite a poor drunken decision in the past. He cleared his throat ahead of them, grinned and flexed both biceps hard. “I win,” he said then laughed.