Chapter 6 – Teagan #2
The address I gave him to where I’m staying leads us about twenty minutes away, through winding backroads that seem to stretch endlessly with cornfields on either side.
I can’t stop the questions swirling in my head, begging to be asked.
What’s his story? What makes him tick? Is he as curious about me as I am about him?
His quiet confidence is so different from the men I’ve known—those who fill every pause with their accomplishments or opinions, eager to be the center of attention or impress their way into my pants.
But Wilder doesn’t need to do that. He sits beside me, calm and steady, a mystery wearing a cowboy hat and carrying the weight of a man who doesn’t waste words.
Why does he have a bookshelf full of notebooks filled with his writing? What does he put in there, and what does it mean to him? I’m not used to this kind of silence, this kind of intrigue. It’s both magnetic and maddening, pulling me in while leaving me fumbling in the dark to get some answers.
I glance at him out of the corner of my eye, my lips itching to break the silence with a question—but something about him keeps me quiet.
Maybe it’s the fear of ruining whatever this is between us.
Maybe it’s the worry that he’ll retreat if I push too hard.
Or maybe it’s that though he told me last night that he’d found me beautiful, ate my pussy better than any man before him ever has, this change in his demeanor today makes me start to question his attraction towards me once again.
The truck bounces gently over the uneven dirt road, and I let myself sink into the quiet, stealing glances at him while I try to untangle the mystery of the man sitting beside me.
Finally, he clears his throat, “So, is your reason for visiting for the bachelorette party?”
I nod. “Yeah, her fiancé is from Lonestar Junction. They met in Houston where she and I live. I head back there to restart school in one week.”
He nods. “What are you studying?”
“I have a bachelor's degree in biology, but I'll be going back to school next week for veterinarian school.”
He nods quietly again.
“Do you work on the ranch?” I ask.
"Yeah, my dad and I manage the operations of things. We have several employees who keep the place running but pitch in where we can. I’ll eventually take things over when he retires someday in the future.”
“Do you enjoy it?”
A brief smile tugs at the corner of his lips as he continues to stare straight ahead at the road while we drive. “Yeah, I do. There’s always something new that needs worked on, and I like that it’s my family’s business. Feels good contributing to a legacy.”
“Does the ranch have a lot of animals?”
He nods. “Horses, cattle and a few chickens. We’re mostly focused on the crops and cattle.”
“Well, it makes sense why you have a soft spot for the kittens. Must be nice being surrounded by nature all day. That’s why I’m looking forward to vet school. The animals can’t talk the way people do.”
He chuckles. “Yeah, I get that. It’s nice.”
We continue to drive in silence until there’s a break in the tree line and the brick, rancher style home belonging to my sister’s fiancé comes into view.
Wilder makes a low humming sound in his throat as he turns off the main road into the driveway and then parks the truck in front of the home.
He leans forward, his eyes narrowing as he assesses it carefully.
“You said that this is your sister’s fiancé’s house?”
“Yep.”
“What’s the fiancé’s name?”
“Ryder Davenport,” I respond.
His lips form a thin line as his jaw clenches, the vein on his throat bulging slightly, nods, and then clears his throat again. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Teagan.”
Nice to meet me?
Where’s the Wilder who said all those things about us spending time together after last night? How I was worth more than a quick one-night-stand.
Where’s the Wilder who came in his pants off of the taste of me on his tongue?
"Okay... nice to meet you too," I mutter, jumping out of the truck before he can come around to open my door. I race up the sidewalk, stomp inside and slam the front door behind me without a backward glance.
I know I'm being immature, maybe I could have given him a wave goodbye, but I'm annoyed. This guy is hot and cold from one minute to the next. He hardly talks, and then when he does, says some of the most intense, throat gripping things that have my panties dampening on command. But dismissing me like that, as if what we did hadn’t even happened last night, well, that stings.
I roll my eyes to myself as I kick off my heels in the front hallway, waiting until I hear the engine of his truck rev and then fade out as it moves back down the dirt road the way that we came. Because how embarrassing to think we were going to spend more time together.
"What the hell happened to you last night?
" my sisters voice cuts through my frustration. She’s already standing in the kitchen with a smirk, clutching a black mug full of coffee that says Bride to Be!
On it in her small hands. Half of her blonde hair is plastered to her face, and mascara streaks down her cheeks into the hollow of her apple cheekbones.
I can't help but laugh as I walk toward her. Both of us look an absolute mess.
“I don’t even know,” I say, swiping the coffee pot off the warmer and grabbing a mug from the cupboard. “Where are the rest of your bridesmaids?”
She waves her hand dismissively. “They’re passed out all over the house.”
“What did y’all end up doing last night after Baxter’s?”
“We stayed there all night. When they closed at two, we headed back here and went swimming in the pool. Ryder didn’t come home until close to five this morning and I’ve been up since.”
“What’d he do at his bachelor party?”
She shrugs. “He said he and his friends went to San Angelo. Probably went to the strip club there and got drunk.”
I cringe at the thought. Ryder is twenty-four, four years older than my little sister, and while I know bachelor parties at strip clubs are pretty common, it’s just not something I could ever be okay with my fiancé doing.
The whole "getting it out of my system" idea before marriage? No, thank you. If you need to get something out of your system, maybe you’re not ready to settle down in the first place.
But my sister and I have always been wired differently.
I want a guy who’s all about me—mind, heart, and, yes, naked body—before and after marriage.
Shawna, on the other hand, has always been more practical.
She values stability, security, and her dream of being a stay-at-home mom today raising a family.
And there’s nothing wrong with that—Ryder’s never given me a reason to doubt he’ll take good care of her.
He’s supportive of her dream to have a family and wants kids too, but still… the whole strip club thing? Major ick.
If she’s happy, though, I guess that’s what matters.
“So,” I ask, forcing a smile and the idea of Wilder and Ryder’s differences out of my mind, “what’s on the agenda for day two of your bachelorette weekend?”
She sets down her coffee mug, grinning like she’s been waiting for me to ask. “Day drinking by the pool, and then tonight, we’re hitting the infamous Lonestar Junction rodeo to watch some cowboys do some roping.”