Chapter 23 – Wylie
One week later…?
“You gotta call Doc, Wylie,” Mitchell called out to me as I looked over the newborn calves that were currently sequestered in a back section of the barn.
Something wasn’t right with them. It'd been a hot start to the summer but their behavior the past day seemed as though it was more than just general lethargy and I wasn’t thrilled about losing an entire group of newborns to a stealth infection.
This isn't good.
“I’ll give him a ring right now,” I responded.
Mitchell nodded, swiping more medicine from the cooler at the back, and continued to administer the antibiotics we had on hand. Meanwhile, I headed into the house to retrieve my phone.
I called the town's veterinarian, arranging for him to meet with Mitchell in thirty minutes to perform a thorough examination. Afterward, I finished my rounds on the property and returned to my dad's office to update our ranch management software with the day's notes. One hour later, Mitchell met me in the doorway.
“Scours,” he said sighing as he sunk into the chair across from me, “Looks like it’s affecting about ten of them.”
“Shit.”
He nodded, “Doc got them on some intravenous antibiotics and we’ll up the milk feeds along with some added electrolytes. He’s optimistic, doesn’t think we’ll lose any of them since we caught it so early.”
“That’s good news.” I sat back, feeling relieved as I kicked my boots up on my dad's desk. “You want a drink to celebrate?”
He shook his head, “Got a date. Headed to the season opener for the Lonestar Junction Rodeo. You going?” he asked as he stood up.
“Didn’t realize that was tonight. I’ll catch a ride with Nash and Clay. I don't feel like staying in tonight.”
He left the home while I pulled up a new text message for my brothers.
Wylie: You boys going to the rodeo tonight?
Clay: Yea, we’re just cleaning up at Ashwood then heading over there. You want a ride?
Wylie: I’ll meet you there.
Clay: Don’t lose your shit, but Stevie is going.
Wylie: Ok…
Clay: She's going on a date.
Wylie: WTF
Clay: I said don’t lose your shit!
Nash: You shouldn’t have ever said anything, Clay.
Wylie: Who’s the fucker?
Nash: New guy in town from Los Angeles. Engineer. He's your neighbor in the farm next door.
Wylie: He’s also dead.
Clay: Dramatic.
Nash: Calm down, Wylie. ??
Wylie: See you fuckers in 15 minutes.
**** Thirty minutes later ****
If Stevie didn’t think I was going to make a scene, she was sorely mistaken.
Yes, I understood that she’d said we could continue dating other people, despite me reassuring her I wasn't interested in dating anyone else, but I hadn't actually thought she would. Maybe I was a tool for feeling that way, for wanting her all to myself, and maybe it was my ego in the way, but I thought I’d been clear. I wasn’t fucking anyone else, and I expected the same from her. Especially after I'd taken her raw.
I wasn't being fair, but the way my jealousy was set-up, logic and reason went out the door the moment she said, 'I do.' I wanted her to myself. For only my eyes, my hands, and my cock. Hearing that she was on a date, likely not wearing her damn wedding ring again, I was livid.
I drove separately from Nash and Clay, determined to find her quickly and whisk her away back to Cameron ranch—where she truly belonged. Stepping into the bustling rodeo pavilion, I scanned the crowd with an intensity akin to a metal detector seeking treasure, mine being the golden hue of Stevie's blonde hair.
I spotted her five sections away, engrossed in conversation with a tall man whose back was turned towards me, sporting a black cowboy hat. Just as I began to stride over, Nash intercepted me unexpectedly with a flat hand pressed firmly against my chest.
“Wylie, think about what you’re about to do. You cause a scene and Stevie’s not going to go anywhere with you willingly," he cautioned.
“I don’t care if she’s willing or not. She’s coming home with me.”
Nash kept his hand pressed to the middle of my chest firmly, as if he thought he was holding me in place. He was a big guy, much like me, but I had always been able to handle my little brother, who was only ten months younger. I knew that with a quick flick of my wrist, I could easily put him on the ground if he dared to stop me, and he was well aware of it too. My anger and I had always been a formidable duo when it came to fighting.
He withdrew his hand momentarily, a smirk spreading across his face. My eyes darted between Stevie, animatedly chatting with the man, gesturing with her bare hand where neither my mom nor my ring were visible, and Nash's wide grin.
“You like her.”
“Fuck yea I do,” I stated without hesitation.
Nash shook his head. “You aren’t even trying to deny it anymore.”
“She drives me nuts, Nash, but I'm crazy about her.”
Nash smiled and nodded again. “The Vector girls have a way of pulling you in and not letting go.”
“She doesn’t want me like that,” I retorted.
Nash shrugged, “Show her why she should. Y’all are already married.” He snorted. “Shouldn’t be that hard to turn this thing into something real.”
“Married on paper only, as she’s enjoyed reminding me every chance she gets.”
He shook his head and laughed again, “Y’all are too much alike but let me tell you, she’s nothing like Lana. Lana was manipulative, controlling, and evil. With Lana, y’all would break up just to make up. I think you fell for Stevie when she came to visit eight months ago for Thanksgiving and you ain’t been able to get her out of your mind since.”
Fucking, Nash.
He wasn’t wrong. When I’d gone to Houston, I didn’t know what I was doing knocking on her apartment door, as if she’d be sitting there waiting for me to haul her ass back to Lonestar Junction but seeing her with another man – a naked one – just a few days after we’d been together, it'd fucked me up.
I thought that was it, but I was never getting over her. Nash wasn’t wrong, she’d infiltrated my life, and I wasn't going to let her go willingly this time.
“I don’t love her.”
Nash shrugged, “You can grow to love someone. You just gotta like them a whole hell of a lot and realize you’d do anything to be with them. I think you already got that going for you now.”
He clapped me on the back of the shoulder and nudged me forward, “Go get your girl. Make a scene for all I care, just make sure you tell her what you want.”
I stalked forward, motivated by my fucked-up feelings for Stevie, possessiveness, jealousy, and rage. She saw me over the stranger's shoulder before he did and before she could utter a word of explanation, I reached her, seizing her waist and silencing her with a kiss. As soon as she responded, parting her lips to welcome my tongue, and kissing me back, any doubts about her feelings vanished.
When I felt like she’d been kissed good enough, I set her back down and turned to the man she’d been talking with. “Wylie Cameron, Stevie’s husband.” I emphasized with my hand outstretched.
The man was tall and muscular, I’d give him that, we were neatly eye-to-eye as his twinkled with humor before meeting my hand in his. “Nice to meet you, Stevie’s husband .”
Stevie squeezed my bicep tightly, “Are you finished marking your territory, Wylie?” she groaned.
“Won’t be done doing that until you start wearing your wedding ring again, Bandit.”
The man laughed, throwing his head back heartily. “Shew, Aunt Marianne said y’all were like fire and gasoline but boy was she right.”
My brows furrowed as I turned back to the stranger.
“Wylie, this is my cousin , Wyatt McCoy. He’s one of the cowboys in town for the grand opening and participating in the events tonight.”
My eyes snapped to the man again who was smiling.
“You thought I was on a date with Stevie, huh?”
I glared at Stevie, “Something like that.”
“Well, let me leave y’all to figure out your differences. I was just saying hi to my little cousin here before I went off to work. Nice to meet you, Stevie’s husband .” He said again with a wink and casually strolled off.
I turned to Stevie, finding a scowl across her pretty face. “You mark your territory like that again and I’ll make a scene.”
“You think that threat would stop me? I'd like people to watch and stare. Plus, I think I recall you kissing me back just now.”
Her cheeks flushed.
“Where’s your real date?”
“What date?” she asked a little too innocently.
“Nash said you had a date with a new guy in town. My neighbor .” I hissed.
Need to go meet this new neighbor when I have some free time.
She rolled her eyes, “Do none of y’all know how to keep secrets? I did agree to a date with Dallas Golden after meeting with him for the co-op; however, I cancelled at the last minute.”
My eyes narrowed, “And why’s that?”
She tapped her foot nervously and looked down then threw her hands up exasperatedly, “Oh, I don’t know, Wylie! Probably because I knew you were going to create a scene like this if you saw me with another man!”
I stepped toward her so that I was only a few millimeters from her face. Her big, plush lips pushed out a puff of air as she looked up at me with her doe eyes. “You’re damn right I would. Because you’re my wife . You shouldn’t be going on dates with other men.”
Her voice dropped to a low whisper, “Wylie, when are you going to realize it’s on paper only.”
“If I reach into your shorts right now, and find out that you're turned on by our fighting, is that on paper? If I take you home right now and fuck you until you fall asleep, is that part of our agreement? Tell me, Stevie, when you orgasm and I feel it course through your chest and into your toes as you scream out my name, is that part of the contract? Where does this being a marriage of convenience begin and end because the way we've been sleeping together the past week doesn't feel like it's part of any legal agreement.”
She bit down on her lip nervously again and shook her head.
“If you want me to leave, it’ll kill me, but I’ll go back to Cameron ranch, and you can do whatever the hell it is that you came here to do. But if you’d rather ditch all of this nonsense and come back with me right now, I swear, I’ll make it a night you won’t forget.”
Her eyes shifted between the open seats in section 10 where Nash and Clay were currently seated and back to me.
“I better not be able to walk tomorrow," she stated.
I grabbed her waist, pulling her flush against my body. “You can count on it, Bandit.”