Chapter 4
Bryce
I gestured toward the tipped over chair. “Care if I sit for a bit?” What I should have done was offer a quick apology and finish my run. My muscles were going to get stiff, and getting back to my apartment was going to be a total drag.
Casey Joe glanced back and forth between me and the chair with a scowl, but he finally shoved the sucker in his mouth and shrugged. “Fine by me. Grab that other one over by the tree.”
Why I found myself drawn to this man, I had no clue. I’d seen him the other night at the Roadhouse, and I’d heard bits and pieces about him around Haven Grove. He looked a lot like his boys—both Henry and Hudson got a pretty decent chunk of their dad’s good looks.
He was as crabby and cranky as I’d been led to believe, and there really wasn’t one single reason I should want to stop and talk to him.
But there I was, setting up a second camping chair and taking a seat next to him. “Maybe you can turn off that sad shit.” I nodded toward his phone.
“Maybe you can keep your damn opinions to yourself,” Casey snapped.
The moment the words were out of his mouth, he chomped on the sucker, crunched the candy between his teeth, and yanked another one from his pocket.
I cocked a brow. Why was this guy so intriguing? Since when was I drawn to cranky-ass, foul-mouthed men?
“Sorry, sometimes the nicotine withdrawal really gets to me.” He held the sucker between his fingers the way I imagined he’d do a cigarette. “But I’m sick of the sugar, too. I like sweets and snacks, but these damn suckers make me feel like my fuckin’ teeth are rottin’ out.”
I nodded. “Never tried to quit smoking, but I’ve had some other addictions,” I said, thinking about the dopamine high I’d get from my socials getting likes, views, comments, and shares. “You ever try going for a run when you feel the need for a cigarette? Or lifting weights?”
“Yeah, I fuckin’ tried it. Feels like I fuckin’ tried it all. Sometimes it works better than others.”
“I hear that. I’ve put a rubber band on my wrist and snapped it every time I wanted to do something I needed to stop doing.”
Casey Joe wrinkled his nose. “That work?”
“Some days better than others.”
He nodded and rolled the sucker on his tongue. “Real talk, though. What did folks around town say about me?” He held up a hand. “Not tryin’ to fish for compliments. I know damn well I don’t have the best reputation.”
I shook my head. “Hundred percent truth, this town loves you. Probably loves your boys a bit more, but the Riggs name lines right up with honesty, integrity, and respect in Haven Grove.”
Casey Joe narrowed his eyes. “And?”
I huffed and rolled my eyes. “Fine. A few folks mentioned you were maybe a bit hard to handle.”
He chuckled, and after a few beats of silence, he said, “Where’s the lie?”
Unable to catch the snort before it escaped, I joined him in laughing. “It’s all good. I don’t mind a handful.”
His eyes caught on mine, and I swore there was some sort of something in that gaze. Interest, maybe? It definitely didn’t seem like disgust or anger.
Damn. I had no reason to think the guy was interested in me. Hadn’t heard he was gay or bi or anything else along the spectrum. Just because I’d caught tidbits about his sons being queer didn’t mean their father was.
Doesn’t mean he’s not either.
For fuck’s sake.
I needed to stop.
Was Casey Joe looking at me like I was a snack he wanted to gobble up?
Yes. Yes, he was.
But I didn’t know the man that way. Maybe he looked at everyone like that.
I needed a date with my right hand—a hookup with an actual man would be even better—and then I needed to get my damn head focused on getting my business up and running.
The folks in Haven Grove seemed nice for the most part. I’d met and talked to Lance, I’d seen his group of friends, I’d picked up on a few names here and there, and now I’d met Casey Joe.
I’d never had a close friend group once I graduated college. Honestly, the lack of friends—oh, I’d had acquaintances, just no one I felt drawn to or close to—was one thing I thought had led me to getting way too wrapped up in my social media and falling in with a toxic crowd.
Moving back to the Midwest was going to be good for me in more ways than one, and I was determined to take hold of my redo when it came to picking better friends this time around.
“So, why you sitting here drinking and singing depressing songs?” I asked, shaking off how much I’d liked the way his eyes roamed over me.
Casey Joe sighed, a hand automatically moving to cover his eyes. “Guess you might as well hear it from me.” He ran his hand over his face and then took a deep breath. “The Riggs family may be held in high regard in this town, but we’re also known for a lot of the drama.”
I clapped my hands together, rubbing them like I was preparing for a delicious meal. “Let’s hear it.”
Casey frowned.
“What?” I asked, a chuckle bubbling from me. “I grew up in the Midwest, I know how small-town drama works. Plus, I moved here from L.A. The drama out there might be flashier and pricier, but big city drama got nothing on the petty drama of Podunk, USA.”
For a split second, I thought I’d maybe pissed Casey Joe off—well, pissed him off more than he already seemed to be just naturally—but then he grinned and threw his head back in a booming laugh.
Fuck.
What a laugh.
I wanted to hear it again and again.
And damn, the way his smile lit up his face did funny things to my insides.
This man was gorgeous. Yeah, he could stand to beef up a bit—not because I didn’t like men with thin builds, but because it was evident from his frame he was built to carry a more filled-out body—but that didn’t detract from the fact he was something fine to look at.
“Well, you asked for it.” Casey took a look at the house which I’d noticed had a huge section that looked like it had been burned, before he glanced toward the tree line.
“I’ve lived in Haven Grove my whole life.
Thought for sure I’d fallen for my forever girl back in high school.
” He paused as if thinking about something, but he shook his head and continued.
“I was just as young and dumb as so many teenagers, and I went and fucked things up gettin’ Missy pregnant.
” He turned the most genuine look my way.
“Don’t for one second think I regret those boys of mine because I don’t.
They’re the best things that ever happened to me.
” Casey shifted in his chair, and I did the same, leaning in for his story.
“Missy convinced me we should get married. I didn’t want to.
Thought we were way too young and would ruin our lives.
I wasn’t too upset with knowing we had a baby on the way, but the idea of marriage wasn’t something I could wrap my head around.
I was just a kid, so maybe the thought of havin’ a kid didn’t scare me since I didn’t really grasp the heaviness of it all.
But my gut sure did twist at vowing to love Missy forever.
” He shook his head and sighed. “Lookin’ back, it was just one more mistake in a series of bad choices.
I thought I loved her, but I didn’t want to commit to spending the rest of my life with her.
That was red flag number whatever after all the petty, shitty stuff she pulled even before we got pregnant.
I wish to hell I’d been smart enough back then to say no.
I would have taken care of my boys no matter what, but Missy and I had no right being together—even if, at the time, I couldn’t see it.
But we got married—wedding day is supposed to be something special.
We fought all day long. I ended up taking Henry over to Lance’s place.
We spent our wedding night sleeping in separate beds.
That was the beginning of the end.” He blew out a breath.
“Missy wanted her boys to be close together, so we had Hudson when Henry was barely two.
Being a dad was a lot of work, but I loved those boys with every ounce of my soul from the moment they took their first breaths.
“Being married was a lot harder. I hated my life married to Missy as much as I’d feared I’d hate it if we broke up instead of getting married.
We fought like some people breathe. Oil and water, that’s what we were.
Hell, we were more like gasoline on an open fire.
Young, stupid, not ready for anything real life would throw at us.
Definitely not ready to be parents.” Casey Joe leaned forward on his knees, rolling the sucker between his fingers.
“But damn, them boys kept me going. They were like little pieces of my heart walking around outside my body.”
My chest squeezed. Casey Joe Riggs may have been a cranky, crabby handful, but the love he had for his sons was one of the most sincere and beautiful things I’d ever seen. It flowed from him, and I knew without a doubt his love for Henry and Hudson was one hundred percent genuine.