Chapter 3
BEAU
“Sometimes, I feel like my lot in life is shoveling shit,” I mutter to myself. As I finish cleaning out the last stall, the nicker next to me makes me look up. “You disagree, Prometheus?”
My horse nickers again, and I give in. I set down the pitchfork, slide off my gloves, and let him sniff my hand before I give him a good scratch behind the ear.
He’s a beautiful black quarter horse that rides like the wind.
He nudges me hard, and I smile. “Fine.” I reach into my pocket and pull out a baby carrot. “Just one.”
“Talking to the horses again?” my brother Jace asks as he joins me.
“Hey, stranger. Haven’t seen you in weeks.” I reach over to hug him and scruff his hair. He’s wearing the usual—a faded rock t-shirt and jeans.
“With your demanding schedule at the firehouse and my shows, I guess we’ve been missing each other.”
He’s not wrong. My next shift starts tomorrow. I hand him a carrot for Prometheus. “You killing it out there?” His band has been at it for years. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they hit it big.
“We’re booked through the spring,” he says as he offers the treat to my horse. “But I just got an earful from Paige about not scheduling anything the week of Maverick and Baylee’s wedding, so don’t worry. I’ve already got that on my calendar.”
I chuckle to myself, loving that our sister-in-law is able to keep our crazy crew in line. I pat his back. “Proud of you, bro. I know it’s a lot of work now, but it’ll pay off.”
“Hope so. I’m tired of living out of a suitcase and eating at crappy rest stops.” He glances around the barn. “Why are you cleaning the stalls?”
“A few guys called out sick. You’d know this if you were ever here,” I say, deliberately busting his balls. He hops on me and tries to get me in a chokehold, but I wrestle him to the ground and give him a hard noogie. “Fat fucking chance you’re gonna take me down.”
“All right, asshole, I give.”
Laughing, I help him up. “I’d better not bust up that pretty face. Don’t want your horde of groupies coming after me.”
After he dusts himself off, he leans toward me like he has a secret. “Wanna hear something weird? Fucking groupies gets old.”
I gasp dramatically. “Does this mean you’re done sneaking girls in and out through your window?” Because Paige got tired of trying to explain why Jace had random women in his room to the boys.
“Seriously, man. There’s no chase. It’s like going hunting and having all the deer line up to bat their lashes at you.”
“Well, just wrap it up, ’cause if you get someone pregnant, you can kiss your freedom to roam goodbye.”
He shudders. “Stop trying to freak me out. I’m actually thinking about doing an abstinence cleanse. It’s kinda like No-Nut November, except in my case, it’s no pussy. I think I need a reset.”
“We could always send you to sex addict rehab.”
“Shut up, fucker.” Shaking his head, he laughs. “I’m not addicted to sex. It’s just always been easy to find girls who wanna have fun, and I think… I think I need more.”
“You saying you want a relationship with someone?”
He scratches the back of his head. “I don’t know about a relationship. That sounds kinda permanent. Maybe a situationship or a friend with benefits.”
“Careful. Those don’t always work out the way you think they will.” I would know.
He pretends to punch me, and I put him in chokehold before he shoves me off. “What about you, old man? You’re almost thirty. Been dating any nice girls in town?”
“I’m not old,” I grumble. “And no, I’m not dating anyone.
” Honey McAllister comes to mind. For some reason, I’ve been thinking about her a lot since the snake incident last week.
I wonder what kind of turds she’s been dating.
Her father Vernon probably has the perfect kiss-ass all picked out for her.
“You’re gonna turn into a monk if you don’t get laid sometime this year.”
I don’t bother mentioning my thing with Mel. It’s over anyway. “Just think about all the money I save from not having to buy condoms.”
“Bro, they’re expensive. Feel free to get me a box for Christmas. They’d make good stocking stuffers.”
“I’m sure Rhett would love having to explain those to the boys.” After I dump the manure out in the compost pile, I return to the barn. “I gotta go get some chicken feed for Paige and some grout for my bathroom. Wanna come?”
“Can’t. I promised Gabe I’d help him with a science project.”
“All right. Good seeing you.” I have to admit I miss Jace sometimes. He’s always been the happy-go-lucky one in my family.
I head to the giant sink that’s more like a trough and scrub my hands and face. Then I hop in my truck and head down to the Alamo Tractor Supply. After I track down what I need and pay for everything, I’m loading up the supplies in my flatbed when a familiar vehicle pulls up next to me.
“Hey, loser.”
Son of a bitch. It’s Trig McAllister.
He and his older brother Cash get out and stomp toward me.
Trig leans against my truck and crosses his arms. “Well, lookie here, bro. I heard this asshole was talking to Honey the other day.” He scratches his jaw.
“Care to explain why you were sniffing around our sister and asking about her cookies?”
Sometimes it really sucks living in a small town. “Just making polite conversation after I saved her from a rattlesnake.” Did I annoy her that much that she ratted me out to her brothers?
“Likely story.” He pulls out a silver flask, unscrews the lid, and takes a swallow. “Reminds me of when you denied slashing Cash’s tires.”
Trig loves bringing up shit from years ago. “It wasn’t me and you know it.” I lift the tailgate. “Have you ever considered it might’ve been one of your disgruntled employees?”
Cash shakes his head. “Our foreman saw someone who looked like you out in our lot that day.” He stares me down like he’s waiting for me to crack.
Jesus. I can’t with these two. “If anyone should be pissed here, it’s me. You were the assholes who tried to run me over.” I was in high school, biking home one night after a football game, when these douchebags nearly killed me.
Trig scratches his chin. “Can’t say I remember that, but I definitely recall you shooting off Roman candles in my direction when I was on my motorbike.” He moves closer, and I don’t back down. Trig is like a rabid dog. If you give him an inch, he’ll sense the weakness.
I shrug. “What can I say? It was a nice night for fireworks. Besides, you were on my property.” Figured turnabout was fair play after he ran me off the road. As I study the biggest jackass in town, I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Honey is related to this idiot.
When he doesn’t say anything, I smile, and that’s all it takes to make him snap. Trig lunges for me, but Cash pulls him back. He glances around and notices people in the parking lot. “Not here.”
I look to Trig’s older brother, who’s usually the sane one.
“You know, I kinda hoped we could put all this bullshit behind us. We’re not the ones who started this pissing contest, but we can be the ones who stop it.
” I chuckle. “Unless you don’t think your daddy would let you make friends with the enemy. ”
Trig grits his teeth. “No one tells me what to do.”
Finally, I sigh. “Look, I didn’t slash anyone’s tires.
” Pretty sure that was my older brother Isaiah.
“All I did was fire a Roman candle at you after you landed me in the hospital, which sounds pretty fucking fair in my book. If the roles had been reversed, you’d have been out for blood.
” I don’t mention all the times these two tried to corner me or one of my brothers when we were alone.
They know how they’ve treated us. Hell, their father tried to snatch our ranch out from under us when we were kids and my family got behind on our mortgage.
When they don’t respond, I figure we’re done. I start to back away, but just when I turn, Trig breaks free from Cash and tackles me to the ground.
But unlike when I was wrestling with Jace, neither Trig nor I hold back any punches.