Chapter 2
“Why’re you naked?” Tripp asks once I’m settled into the passenger’s seat of his truck.
“Yeah, it ain’t your birthday,” Wilder taunts from the back seat.
Of course he’d bring him to witness my humiliation. I sent my younger brother a 911 emergency text to come pick me up in town. Since the family ranch is a good fifteen minutes from Sugarland Creek, I hid in the stairwell of an apartment building and cupped my junk while I waited for him.
Once I’m buckled in, I throw my middle finger over my shoulder at my older brother.
Yep, I’m the middle child of five. Technically speaking, Wilder and Waylon are twins, so they’re both the oldest. Tripp’s two years younger than me and our sister, Noah, is two years younger than him.
At least she’s not here to bask in the glory of my embarrassment.
Tripp chuckles as he drives us onto the street.
“Did you bring me some clothes?” I ask.
“We grabbed basketball shorts and a T-shirt because I didn’t know what classified as spareclothes,” Tripp explains.
I shrug. Good enough for me.
Wilder tosses them to me and then leans over the back of the bench seat with his arms folded as if he doesn’t want to miss the show.
I slide the shorts on first, which are too tight and not concealing a damn thing, but since I have no room to complain, I keep my mouth shut. Next, I grab the white shirt and bark out a laugh when I see the words Two-Seater with two black arrows. One pointing up toward my face and the other pointing down toward my dick.
“Where the hell did ya find this?” I ask, putting it on.
“In your closet,” Wilder says.
Hmm. Don’t remember this shirt.
Not surprised, though, because my friends and I often borrow each other’s clothes when we need fresh ones after a night out. I probably crashed at a friend’s house and then stole it the next morning.
“So…are ya gonna tell us what happened to your clothes?” Tripp asks.
Glancing over at his shit-eating grin, I know he won’t drop it until I do.
“I met some chick last night at the Twisted Bull. She took me to her apartment, and when I woke up this mornin’, she was gone. Along with my clothes and boots.”
The Twisted Bull is the most popular bar in town. It has a full dance floor and features a mechanical bull where drunken idiots try to stay on it for eight seconds. My brothers and I have done it numerous times all while mostly shitfaced.
“Guess she was hopin’ it’d force you to stay.” Wilder laughs.
“Yeah, maybe she was gettin’ y’all some coffee or something,” Tripp adds.
“I waited twenty minutes for y’all to get here and didn’t see her car pull in, so very doubtful. I think she just wanted to be a terror.”
“Maybe it’s payback for not satisfyin’ her.” Wilder smacks my shoulder. “Need your older brother to give ya some tips? I’ve got a wicked tongue trick.” He sticks his out, then flicks it up and down as he flashes his piercing. “Or did you get whiskey dick?”
Glaring back at Wilder, I’m tempted to yank his barbell right out.
“Absolutely the fuck not. We had a great time.”
“What’s her name?” Tripp asks.
“Um…Tessa.” I swallow hard. “Or maybe…Jessa?”
“I bet he called her by the wrong name and she got even by stealin’ his clothes,” Wilder muses.
“That’s why I don’t say their names. That’s an amateur move. You call ’em baby, sweetheart, darlin’. Anything but their names.”
Tripp snorts. “Classy.”
“What? It was consensual. She liked it—no, loved it. Pretty sure her neighbors were poundin’ on her walls because she was so loud.”
“Ah, see…when they’re that loud, they’re fakin’ it,” Wilder says.
“How would you know?” I ask.
“Because when a woman is in the middle of an intense orgasm, she’s too out of breath to scream. If they’re screamin’ that much, they’re tryna get it over with so they can hide in the bathroom and get themselves off instead.” He flashes his infamous know-it-all smile. “Or in your case, plottin’ revenge.”
“It was before that, thank you very much. When my head was between her thighs and she was shakin’ all around me. She was definitely not fakin’ it.”
Tripp chuckles. “According to a recent study, up to eighty percent of women admit to fakin’ it with their partner.”
“What the fuck?” I narrow my eyes. “You’re readin’ sex articles now?”
“Noah and Magnolia were talkin’ about it, and I overheard,” he admits.
I smile to myself because the poor bastard is obsessed with our sister’s best friend. He just won’t admit it.
“Whatever. Even if she faked it—which I’m not sayin’ she did—that’s no excuse to steal my goddamn clothes,” I say. “Oh, did you bring me some boots?”
“Yeah, your work ones,” Wilder says, pulling them up from the back seat floor.
“Thanks. Noah asked me to help her at the stables this mornin’ since you two jerk-offs ain’t workin’ today.” I slide on my boots and realize how ridiculous I look wearing them with basketball shorts.
“And I’m gonna enjoy every minute of it,” Wilder gloats. “Tripp and I are gonna fuck shit up at the festival tonight.”
Tripp furrows his brows, and I laugh to myself. I’ve never seen Tripp fuck anything up. He’s too careful and guarded to do that.
“I’ll be done by six, so don’t leave without me,” I tell them. “Is Waylon going?”
“I think he has a date tonight,” Wilder replies. “But who knows, he’ll probably chicken out like last time and cancel it last minute.”
Waylon tends to do that. He goes out of his way to ask out a girl and then gets too anxious to follow through with it. Not sure why. He’s good-looking and knows how to have fun.
He just gets too into his head.
“Well, either way, we’re gonna have a blast.” I smirk.
“Don’t you ever learn your lesson?” Tripp taunts, glancing at me with a frown. “Maybe don’t go home with a chick every weekend and you wouldn’t risk losin’ your clothes.”
“I don’t…” I argue. “Sometimes they come home with me.”
Tripp rolls his eyes and Wilder laughs.
I smack Tripp’s shoulder. “Oh c’mon. You can have fun and have a beer or two. Wilder said y’all are gonna fuck shit up.”
“Not if I gotta drive you drunken idiots home,” he counters.
Tripp’s our DD ninety-nine percent of the time, but he’s a good sport about it.
When we arrive at our family house on the ranch, the three of us jump out of Tripp’s truck and instead of getting in my own, I opt for my dirt bike.
It’s way more fun.
“See y’all later!” I shout over the engine before I slowly release the clutch and rev it into first.
By the time I get to the boarding stables, Noah’s outside with Trey and Ruby—two of our ranch hands who work with her.
“Landen! Turn that off!” Noah shouts as I approach.
“What? You wanted me here!” I park and turn off the bike.
“You know that spooks the horses.” She scowls, folding her arms, and then lowers her glare to my outfit. “What the hell are you wearin’?”
I glance down and laugh. “Don’t ask. What do you need me for anyhow? You got your two lackeys here.”
“Hey!” Trey and Ruby both scowl.
Noah stands in front of me. “Ellie’s a new barrel racing client of mine and Ranger is her quarter horse. I want your thoughts on how they do, so I figured you should meet ’em.”
Go figure she’d con me here so I can’t say no to her face.
“It’s prime breedin’ season,” I remind her. “I’m not gonna have a ton of extra time for that.”
After high school, I became the breeding operations manager and summer is my busiest time. Even if it were off-season, I stay busy taking care of the stallions and booking mares for the following year.
“She’ll be here when she’s not travelin’. She wants to be good enough to qualify for finals and needs all the help we can give her. C’mon, we made a good sister-brother team last year.” She gives me her best puppy dog eyes, and dammit, she knows it works on me. Especially when it comes to something I’m already passionate about.
I’m not as good of a trainer as Noah—hell, no one in the state is—but I have a good eye for recognizing issues and giving ideas on how to improve. Horses respond well to her, which means she’s always booked solid. I’m more of an observer who watches and makes suggestions so she doesn’t have to spend as much time researching and instead have more time working the horse.
“So you’re sayin’ you need me?” I taunt.
“Don’t be arrogant.” She gives me a little shove. “She’s really good, but the competition from the more experienced riders is gonna blow her away, so it’s all hands on deck to help her advance.”
I roll my eyes when she pierces me with a pleading gaze. Leave it to my little sister to add to my already full workload.
“Fine,” I grind out between my teeth. “But only when it works for my schedule.”
“Deal!” She smiles victoriously.
“And you owe me,” I add.
She frowns. “Like what?”
I shrug. “Whatever I want whenever I think of something.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”
“You meet Ayden’s girlfriend when she was here?” Ruby asks while we wait.
“No.” Didn’t even know he had one. “Who is she?”
“Her name’s Laney. They were high school sweethearts ten years ago and she just randomly showed up and told him he had a nine-year-old daughter,” she informs me.
My jaw drops because that’s the last thing I expected.
Ayden’s the boarding stables manager and only three years older than me. I couldn’t imagine having a child right now or finding out I had one I didn’t even know existed.
Honestly, that’s probably my worst nightmare.
“That’s wild. How’s he handlin’ it?”
“As good as he can, I guess. He’s plannin’ to take a trip to Texas in a few weeks to meet the daughter.”
“So is the ex-girlfriend hot?” I waggle my brows and Trey snorts.
“I wasn’t here last weekend to meet her in person, but I saw photos, and yeah, she’s beautiful,” Ruby says. “Way out of your league, though.”
I scoff, but the conversation dies when a Ford Super Duty towing a horse trailer comes down the gravel driveway toward the barn. I was so wrapped up in Noah asking me for help that I forgot to even ask who this Ellie chick is.
“Here she is. Be professional, Landen,” Noah says.
My brows pinch together. “What’s that mean?”
She clears her throat, giving me a side-eye. “Cover up your shirt!”
I don’t know how she expects me to do that without crossing my arms and looking like a beefed-up tool bag. But there’s no time to figure it out before three people exit and Noah greets them with hugs and smiles.
At first glance, I notice how petite Ellie’s frame is and her cutoff shorts reveal long, lean legs. It doesn’t surprise me that she’s fast on a horse and probably flies around the barrels. I know it’s not all about size, but it sure doesn’t hurt your speed to be on the smaller side.
Her wild, wavy blond hair reaches below her shoulders, but it looks like she’s threaded her fingers through it a few times.
As my gaze lowers down to her pink cowboy boots, my heart and stomach do this weird flutter flip—something that’s only happened once before ages ago—and although it’s a foreign feeling, I’m pretty sure she’s the reason for it.
Though I don’t know why.
Ruby and Trey stand next to me while we wait for Noah to introduce us.
“She’s a cute little thing,” Ruby murmurs.
“I wonder why she’s lookin’ at Landen like she wants to murder him.” Trey chuckles.
“Yeah…what’d you do?” Ruby nudges me with her elbow.
“I’ve never met her before,” I argue and then remember to fold my arms over my chest to cover the text on my shirt the best I can. I’m going to kill Wilder for picking this one out of all the others I have in my closet.
Pretty certain he did it on purpose.
And maybe I should kill Noah for not giving me a heads-up so I knew to go home and change first.
“You sure? She looks like a woman scorned.” Ruby chuckles.
My arms drop when I give her a little shove because she loves to give me shit.
“Let me introduce y’all to my ranch hands and brother,” Noah says, finally bringing them up here to meet us.
Ellie’s parents walk behind her and as soon as their eyes land on my shirt, their smiles fall.
Fuck. My arms go back to covering the text. I should’ve turned it inside out but got distracted the moment I laid eyes on Ellie.
“This is Ruby and Trey. They clean the stalls, feed and water the boarders, and also help tack up the horses for me. You’ll probably see a lot of ’em when you’re here.”
As they exchange pleasantries with Ellie and her parents, I study her for any recognition that we’ve met before, but nothing comes to mind. She doesn’t even look old enough to get into a bar and if we met at a rodeo or anywhere else for that matter, I’d remember those bright blue eyes. But still, she stares at me like I’ve insulted her or somehow did her wrong.
“This is one of my older brothers, Landen. He’s gonna help with your trainin’,” Noah tells Ellie.
I hold out my hand to tell her how it’s nice to meet her, but she ignores it. Instead, her brows rise to her hairline as a wave of panic flashes across her beautiful face.
And then her gaze snaps to Noah. “I thought I was only workin’ with you.”
“Primarily, yes. But with only three months until the season ends, we can use any extra eyes to help with your trainin’ and gettin’ your name out there before next year. He’s good at pointin’ out problem areas and has been around barrel racin’ for years. It won’t be every session, just when I need a second opinion.”
Ellie’s eyes finally meet mine and they’re cold as ice. “Oh.”
Her mom touches her shoulder and squeezes it. “If it’s for the sake of you and Ranger, more help and experience is a good thing.”
Although Ellie looks tense and ready to argue, she releases a shallow breath at her mom’s words.
“Should be fine, then.” Ellie’s gaze lowers down my T-shirt before I remember to cross my arms again.
Well, that was beyond fucking weird.
She doesn’t even know me and already has a vendetta against me.
But what the hell for?
When I look at her father, he’s giving me that stern look you’d give to some punk kid taking out your daughter for the first time. Not someone who’s helping her.
“Let’s go inside the barn for a tour, and I’ll show y’all Ranger’s new home.” Noah waves them toward the large doors, and I’m left standing in confusion.
“Shit…they do not like you.” Ruby chuckles.
“So it wasn’t just me who noticed?” I deadpan.
She giggles, giving my shirt another glance. “I bet the parents didn’t appreciate your choice of clothes but not sure why Ellie was givin’ you the stink face.”
“How uptight do ya gotta be for a shirt to insult you that much? I mean, c’mon…” I pull the hem and stretch it out, reading it again upside down. “It’s not even mine, but it’s hilarious at the very least. Woulda made for a good icebreaker if she weren’t attemptin’ to blow up my head with her devil eyes.”
Ruby full-on belly laughs. “Now that I woulda paid to watch.”
“Maybe they’ve heard about your reputation and don’t wanna be associated with you,” Trey suggests.
“What reputation?” I ask, insulted. “That I’m a hard worker, that I’ve been helpin’ on my family’s ranch since I was five years old, or how I work sixty-hour weeks? Yeah, goddamn. What a rep to frown upon.” I roll my eyes because now I’m just annoyed at the accusations that I did something to piss her off when I’ve never even met her before two minutes ago.
“Probably the one where you’re a playboy and they don’t want you anywhere near their precious barrel racer.” Ruby pokes me in the side. “Whatever it is, I wouldn’t go out of your way to annoy her. It’s Noah’s reputation on the line, too.”
I scoff because Noah’s a saint in everyone’s eyes and has nothing to worry about. She could bring a man home twice her age and no one would blink twice about it.
“Does she have an older sister you slept with and later ghosted?” Trey asks.
“I don’t think so…” I shrug but honestly that’s the only thing that’d make sense.
“Wait, I think she’s an only child. Pretty sure that’s what Noah told me when I asked if she had a hot older brother,” Ruby says.
Well, shit, there goes that theory.
“Didn’t you and Nash just celebrate your six-month anniversary up in Willow Branch Mountain last weekend?” I ask since I’m the one who gave her that suggestion in the first place. I haven’t been there in a hot minute, but I know it’s still a hot attraction for couples.
“We did, but it doesn’t mean I’m tied down. A girl can still window shop,” she defends.
I snort. “And I’m the one with the playboy reputation?”
Ten minutes pass before Noah returns with Ellie and asks me to help unload Ranger while she goes over the paperwork with Ellie’s parents.
I follow Ellie to the back of her trailer, admiring every inch of her body, but when she quickly turns around, my gaze is still on her ass.
“If you could keep your pryin’ eyes off me and act professional, I’d appreciate it. I’m not payin’ two grand a month to be gawked at. Especially by you.”
The corners of my lips twitch with the urge to laugh because this is the first time a woman has ever asked me not to look at her.
“Who says I’m gawkin’ at you?” I widen my stance, straightening my spine and holding her glare with my own.
“Because I have eyes and can see with them that you were checkin’ out my ass.”
“It’s a nice ass.” I shrug because I can’t even deny it, but goddamn, she’s pressed as if I touched it or something.
“Regardless, I’m not here as your eye candy and would appreciate you not sexualizing me.”
I take a couple steps back as if she’s physically slapped me. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m doing no such thing. I just glanced at your ass and complimented it. Doesn’t mean I was thinkin’ about you in that way.”
“Oh, so you glance at everyone’s asses, then?” She crosses her arms and pops out her hip. “The T-shirt has a nice touch of sexual implications, too.”
“It’s a joke. And it’s not even mine. But either way, not like it’s forcin’ you or anyone to literally sit on my face.”
Not that women haven’t, but I’ve never had to force them.
Trey must overhear our awkward conversation because he comes over at the perfect time to save my ass.
“He checks mine out all the time,” Trey says. “Have you seen it?”
Trey does a little twirl and shows off his tight Wranglers showcasing his own ass.
This whole thing just got fucking weirder.
Ellie’s nose scrunches and her brows pinch together in annoyance. She’s not amused in the least.
“Ignore them.” Ruby marches over, shoving herself between Trey and me. “Something you learn hangin’ out here regularly is these cowboys are…well, they’re a little unhinged. They work twelve-hour shifts, are usually hungover, and have no filter or common sense most days. The only way to survive being around them is learnin’ to ignore their stupidity.”
Not sure if I should be offended or give her a high five. Either way, Ellie’s not buying into it.
“I’d rather just be left alone to train and work,” she says. “I’m not here to fool around.”
“Totally understandable.” Ruby smiles at her, but when she glances at me over her shoulder, she gives me her narrowed-eye stare down. “I’ll help you get Ranger into his stall.”
Trey and I step back to allow Ruby and Ellie to get him out. He has a gorgeous chocolate brown coat with white down its nose.
“Damn, she does not like you,” Trey muses as we follow the girls into the stables. “You offended her before even sayin’ a word.”
“That’s a new record for me.”
Once Ranger’s in his stall and Ellie meets back up with her parents in Noah’s office, I lean against the door and let him sniff me. He’ll see a lot of me, so it’s best he gets used to me now before I work with them.
“He likes you at least.” Ruby stands next to me and then leans in closer, lowering her voice. “She’s the most uptight city girl I’ve ever met, so you better keep your distance.”
“I’d hardly call her a city girl.”
“She might be a barrel racer, but she’s never lived on a ranch,” she clarifies.
“Neither have you,” I remind her.
“I’ve worked here since the summer after high school, so that counts for something.”
I chuckle because Ruby’s the same age as Noah and only graduated a few years ago.
“Red alert…” Trey murmurs as he walks past us. Behind him are Noah, Ellie, and her parents, and they’re walking right toward me.
“So I went over everything for Ellie and Ranger. Their official trainin’ will begin on Monday with a session every day through Friday except when they’re traveling. I’ll work him in the corral for a while each morning and when Ellie arrives, we’ll take him to the trainin’ center and set up the barrels.”
“When do ya want me to come watch?” I ask, forcing my gaze not to drift toward Ellie.
“Just a couple times a week for now.”
I nod. “Alright.”
“We look forward to seein’ her progress,” Ellie’s mom says.
“She’s in good hands,” I promise her and since she’s the only one who hasn’t glared at me, I smile for extra reassurance.
Noah walks the three of them outside toward their truck, and I’m left wondering what the hell I just got myself into.
I continue petting Ranger, appreciating he’s not giving me a hard time, at least not yet. Maybe he can put a good word in for me with his owner.
Noah returns a few minutes later and smacks me upside the head.
“What the hell?” I rub where she hit.
“Whatever you’re thinkin’, don’t. Ellie’s off-limits.”
“Who said I?—”
“She’s focused on her career and too driven to succeed to be sidetracked. She’s not lookin’ for a fling to distract her from that goal. Also, she’s six years younger than you, barely outta high school. So keep it in your pants.”
“I’ll have you know, it’s very much in my pants.”
“Good, keep it that way.” Then she glances down at my shirt again. “Go change. You look ridiculous.”
She marches off before I can ask why she’s giving me the third degree, but if I know my sister as well as I think I do, she assumes I’m after every pretty woman I come across.
Joke’s on her, though, because Ellie’s made it crystal clear she’d rather run me over with her horse than have me anywhere near her.
But I just can’t figure out why.