Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Dex
M eyer hadn’t spotted me where I leaned against a juniper tree by the ranch gate as he parked his bike. I was watching his ass as he moved past me and up the driveway to the house. It was a damn fine sight, and I hated how much I enjoyed the way he moved. In high school, his masculine grace had been equally as alluring—his ability to fluidly dart and dodge the opposing team as he charged down the field, clutching the football as he led our team to another victory was the stuff of legends.
Meyer filling out his skintight football uniform was what had first caught my attention and what eventually led me to my doom. Muscular thighs bulging beneath the stretchy fabric of his uniform, biceps flexing as they gripped the ball to his chest with a vice-like grip from his powerful, square hands—a grip so masterful that all I could do was bemoan the fact that I wasn’t a piece of sporting equipment to be overpowered and pawed by the delectable Meyer Jones.
And now? I wished for the same damn thing. But I still hadn’t figured him out, wasn’t sure about the ex-boyfriend story. At what point had he morphed from a homophobic jerk to sharing with me the sad story of his gay relationship falling apart? The situation with him left me unnerved. If I was being honest, I’d been unnerved since Freshman year whenever it came to Meyer.
“I didn’t know whether you’d follow through,” I called out, moving out from under the shade to meet him in the driveway.
He paused, angling his body to me, the corner of his mouth twitching. “I always follow through, Chase.”
My cheeks heated. “Good to hear it.” I didn’t dare ask him what he meant. I was remaining on red alert until I figured out his real deal. “Then I guess we should go take a look at the place. It’s out past the barn.”
As we walked silently toward the old foreman’s cottage on the other side of the barn, I wondered what his little remark had been about. The comment had seemed a bit too flirty. Maybe one day I’d work up the nerve to confront him about how shitty he was to me back in high school. Because until I knew what the hell his problem was, I wasn’t about to get my heart entangled again—despite him being hotter than ever.
Meyer gave me a sideways glance. “How much are you asking?”
“Eight hundred. Utilities included.”
Meyer grunted—an indeterminate sound that further left me guessing. I also couldn’t decide if he was merely looking at the place so he could honestly tell Lindy he wasn’t interested. Now that he knew how close I was to his mom, he probably figured he couldn’t simply tell me to go to hell. He’d have to come up with a plausible reason why it wouldn’t work for him.
My heart rate kicked up a notch at the thought of him turning the cottage down. “That’s a pretty good price for around here. I don’t think you’ll do any better in town.” My mind frantically searched for something beyond financial considerations. “I’ve kept the place up. Oh, and you’ll have plenty of privacy. I’m rarely back here.”
I gritted my teeth as soon as the words flew from my mouth. He paused, his eyebrows arching as he finally made eye contact.
“What?”
I lowered my chin, fiddling with the brim of my hat as I toed a rock on the dirt path, dust kicking up in a puff before being chased away by the breeze.
“What I mean is that you won’t have to worry about me lurking in your yard.” I cleared my throat. My mouth kept working, but clearly, my brain had screeched to a halt. “Anyway, it’s around the corner of the barn.” I pointed. “Impossible to see from my place. No way for me to know anything about what you’re doing.”
He snorted. “What exactly is it that you think I’ll be doing?”
I frowned. He was intentionally poking me, and not in a good way. “How the hell should I know? I don’t care what you do or who you do it with.”
His jaw went slack as if I’d slapped him. Shame surged through me. I’d never wished so hard for a time machine in my life. One minute. That’s all I needed to roll back so I could remove my status as the biggest asshat ever.
Meyer crossed his arms, his lips pressed together as he stared me down. “Look, if there’s a reason you don’t want me to stay here, I’ll gladly go somewhere else. I’m tired of this snippy back and forth between us.”
I scrubbed my face with one hand. Why was I such a chicken shit? I should get everything out in the open once and for all instead of acting like a toddler. Even if it dug up old hurts, and I felt stupid, we needed to clear the air.
“Oh man, I’m sorry,” I said sheepishly. “I don’t mean to be so hostile. I guess…”
My gut clenched at the thought of confessing to him my silly high school crush. What if he thought I’d been pining away for him all these years? That maybe I hadn’t pursued the few guys I’d had time to date because none of them could ever compare to him.
Nah . No point in making my humiliation even more brutal.
“I guess,” I continued. “That I’m still getting used to the idea that someone else besides me will be living at the ranch again. But that’s no excuse. I’d love it if you stayed here.”
His eyebrows shot up again, but this time, there was a quirk at the corners of his mouth. I kept my mortified groan to myself. I had no idea why I couldn’t pick a middle ground between irritated and swooning when it came to Meyer.
“Um, so anyway…” I fumbled with the keys, my hands shaking as I took three passes at unlocking the door before getting it open. “Here we go. This is the main room. Kitchen.” I gestured to the right. “Bedroom and bathroom back there. Plenty of space for a single guy.”
I ducked my head, rubbing the back of my neck. Why I’d felt the need to add that last comment was beyond me.
“Well, that’s a relief.” Meyer’s lips twitched. “Now I won’t have to worry about moving all those other men in.”
I chuckled uneasily, pondering whether I should use his response to inquire when he’d switched teams and why he couldn’t have done it back in high school. But the unrelenting grip of fear over the possibility of humiliation took hold, and I bailed on the idea before I managed to throw myself under the bus.
“Good to know.”
I chuckled again to make sure he knew I was definitely joking and not at all interested in his relationship status or whether he’d mind if I dropped by on occasion to bounce on his dick.
Meyer hadn’t stopped smirking, and I noted how his gaze traveled the length of my frame. Is he…? Before I had the chance to wonder whether he might be interested after all, he pointed to the small archway leading to the kitchen.
“Mind if I take a gander?”
I gestured for him to go ahead. “Gander away.”
I silently reprimanded myself for not double-checking whether my housekeeper had given the place the once over recently. I’d told her not to bother to clean more than once a month since no one had been living there.
Meyer reappeared from the tiny kitchen then made his way to the back where the bedroom was. He called out, “Would you mind if I replaced the curtains with some blinds?”
I ignored the stupid butterflies fluttering around in my stomach at the thought Meyer would be moving in and headed to the room. Right as I was about to cross the threshold, I ran into him, the momentum enough to make our belt buckles and other parts crash together.
“Oh shit, sorry!” I jumped back like I’d been stung by a scorpion. “I didn’t know you were… I thought…” I coughed into my fist as my face heated. “Sorry.”
Did I say sorry twice? That had always been a terrible habit of mine, one that Kayla kept reprimanding me over. I glanced up to discover Meyer holding his hand over his mouth. I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to keep from vomiting or laughing. At this stage in our relationship, either one was possible.
Meyer finally removed his hand with a loud snort. He sucked in a deep breath before speaking. “No apology needed. But…” He pointed to the floor behind me. “You lost your hat.”
I peered over my shoulder, and sure enough, the power of our collision had dislodged my hat. As soon as I bent over to retrieve it, I was reminded of how clueless I am at times. I’m sure my denim-clad posterior was giving Meyer a nice show.
As I straightened, I steeled myself to face him as if nothing had happened. I hadn’t shown off my ass, and our chests and groins had definitely not touched. We were in the middle of a business proposition, nothing more.
I tried to appear nonchalant. “The answer is yes. Anything you want.”
Meyer’s jaw went slack. “Excuse me?”
I blinked several times as I ran the sequence of recent events through my mind.
Fuck.
“The blinds. I’m talking about the blinds.”
I’d leave it to him to determine what other things I could potentially be saying yes to.
“Oh!” Meyer cleared his throat. “Of course. The blinds.” He placed his hands on his hips as he gazed around the room, nodding his head. “Great. I guess I’ll take it then.”
“You will?” My smile was probably a bit over the top. Completely uncalled for.
“Sure.”
He smiled back, and I let out a relieved sigh. Another thing Kayla got on me about was how I always blew things out of proportion. She was always telling me to relax and not worry so much about what other people thought. I knew she was right, but the fear of doing something stupid or upsetting other people tended to weigh heavily on my shoulders.
I rubbed my hands together as I chewed on my bottom lip. I’d assumed Meyer either wouldn’t show up or would make an excuse as to why he wouldn’t want the place, so the next step of being a landlord hadn’t occurred to me. I frowned.
“So, I guess I should get a rental agreement or something.”
I looked up at him hopefully. He was Mr. Big City. He must know the drill.
He tilted his head. “You’ve never rented this place before?”
I shrugged. “This was where Cal lived until he got married. Then my parents died, and I was so overwhelmed by taking over the ranch that I never gave it much thought until recently.”
Meyer’s features softened. “I’m so sorry about your parents. I know how close you were with them.”
My throat closed up, and I had to swallow past my emotion. “Thanks. I was. But everyone’s been real good to me. Especially Lindy.” I needed him to know that I hadn’t been trying to steal her away after he left. “Getting to spend time with her has meant so much to me.”
He nodded slowly. “I’m glad you guys have been there for each other.” He lowered his head, his hands going back to his hips. “I wish I could’ve been here more often, that I hadn’t been so wrapped up in my life back in Chicago.”
Meyer sounded so melancholy, and I had to hold back from giving him a hug. Why had I been so awful to him over some stupid situation from when we were teens? It was time for me to get over myself. I wasn’t being fair. I knew how much Lindy meant to him, how much his family and Charming meant.
“You’re here now.” I took a chance, reaching out and patting his shoulder. “That’s what counts.”
He gave me a lopsided smile. “Thanks, man. Appreciate it.” He sighed. “I guess we’re all our own worse critics.”
“True.” I chuckled. “Unless you’re Deputy Stan. Then you’re your biggest cheerleader.”
Meyer barked out a laugh. “He’s still telling the world how amazing he is?”
I grinned. “Every damn chance he gets.”
We stood there for a minute, awkwardly smiling and looking everywhere but at each other.
“I tell you what,” said Meyer. “Why don’t we grab lunch tomorrow at the Stump? You can bring something by then, and I’ll give you a deposit and the first month’s rent.”
“Okay.” I needed to do some Googling on how to be a proper landlord. “How much should the deposit be?”
Meyer smiled with a gleam in his eyes. “That’s your job, Dex. You tell me.”
My cheeks heated. “Oops. Right.” I rubbed my chin. “Um…”
“We’ll figure it out tomorrow.” Meyer winked. “Does noon work for you? Unless we get called out, that’s when I’ll be taking my breaks.”
Something like peace settled over me, my frazzled nerves finally returning to a place of calm. I’d been holding in so much stress about Meyer since the moment I spotted him on the highway that I’d been worrying myself into an unnecessary frenzy. But now I sensed that, if nothing else, we could be friends.
“Sounds fine. It’s a date.”
Meyer flashed a devilish grin. Clearly, I still hadn’t learned the art of not putting my foot in my mouth.