Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
Tours weren't really my thing. I was a farrier, not some damn tour guide.
But here I was, leadin' Calvin across Wild Acre Ranch like she was a visiting dignitary instead of the woman who'd made me come untouched less than twelve hours ago.
The memory hit me every few steps—her taste still lingerin' on my tongue, the sound she'd made when she came apart on my face. Made it hard to focus on pointin' out feed troughs and fence lines when all I could think about was how she'd looked at me like I was somethin' to be devoured.
Definitely didn't hate her company, though.
Seein' Wild Acre Ranch through her eyes was a goddamn delight.
"How big is this place?" she asked, stoppin' at the edge of the ranch's largest grazing pasture.
"Little over twenty-two hundred acres."
She whistled low, and the sound went straight to my dick. Everything about this woman seemed designed to mess with my head. Heads. Calvin hummed as we stood lookin' out over the herd. "Twenty-two hundred wiiiild acres."
I followed her gaze across the rolling hills dotted with cattle. The sun painted everything golden, and with the mountains rising in the distance, I guessed it was pretty damn spectacular. I'd just forgotten to notice.
"Been here my whole life," I said. "Sometimes you stop seein' what's right in front of you."
She turned to look at me then, somethin' shiftin' in her expression. For a second, the sharp edges softened, and I caught a glimpse of somethin' vulnerable underneath all that armor.
"Must be nice," she said quietly. "Having roots that deep."
"What about you? Where's home?"
"Wherever I park my truck." She shrugged, but it felt forced. She turned back to take in the view. "It's beautiful," she said softly.
"Yeah," I agreed. But I wasn't lookin' at the scenery. I was lookin' at her. "Beautiful."
She must have caught something in my voice because she turned, eyebrow raised.
"Whatchya starin' at, boy scout?"
I shook my head. "Can't believe you're here. This mornin's been wild."
She giggled, but it wasn't really a giggle. Too girly. It wasn't a chuckle either. Too manly. It was this light yet husky, taunting yet comforting sound that had my dick twitchin' in my pants.
I wanted to hear it again.
And again.
And again.
Goddammit. I needed this little infatuation I was developing like I needed a hole in the head.
Which was to say, not fucking at all.
Shit had already gotten awkward as fuck up at the house with Sassy and Rhett. Last thing I needed was Calvin gettin' wind of the whole drama fest we had going on here on the ranch. From what I could tell, she'd take far too much pleasure in stirrin' up shit.
Probably wouldn't get much say in the matter, though, with the cowboys gossipin' like old biddies.
Before she could comment, a calf wandered close to the fence. Calvin reached out to scratch behind its ears without hesitation, completely natural.
"Sweet baby," she murmured, then glanced at me with that wicked grin. "So when those cowboys in the barn were talking about you 'rebounding quick,' that was just about… what? Your basketball skills?"
I rubbed the back of my neck, heat crawling up from my collar. "Somethin' like that."
She pushed off from the fence, and we started walkin' along the fence line. Our shoulders brushed with each step, and every casual contact sent sparks shootin' through me. The scent of her skin mixed with hay-scented air made it hard to think straight.
"Uh-huh," she said, clearly not buyin' my deflection for a second. "Look, as much as I had fun last night—"
"You did?" My embarrassment—poof—vanished into thin air, and I grinned down at her.
"Was the screaming orgasm not enough of an indication?"
I barked out a laugh. "I mean, with the way you soaked my face, I knew you weren't fakin'. But then you bolted." I shrugged. "Figured you just weren't that into it."
Calvin let out a long sigh. We walked in silence for a few beats, nothing but the sound of our boots on packed earth and the distant lowing of cattle.
I kept stealin' glances at her profile, the way she moved with that confident stride, how she seemed to take in every detail of the ranch with those sharp eyes.
"You're staring again," she said without lookin' at me.
"Can't help it."
That earned me a sideways glance, somethin' shifting in her expression. "Dangerous habit, boy scout."
"What were you gonna say? About last night?"
She hesitated a beat. "I just don't think it should happen again. I need this job. I'm low on cash right now, and as much as I love witnessing all the small-town drama, I don't need to be part of it. That kind of attention is not my jam."
"Not mine either," I muttered. "But got no one to blame but myself."
She raised a brow at me.
"Nothin'." I waved her off. "Forget it. I hear you. We'll keep things… professional. Friendly. Yeah?"
"Yeah, I think I'd like to be your friend, Brody Lancaster."
"I'd like that, too, Calvin…"
"Jennings."
Calvin Jennings.
How did I know that name?
"And that's the bunkhouse." I gestured toward the small outbuilding. It wasn't much more than a few sets of bunk beds, a simple kitchen, and a bathroom with a couple stalls and sinks. Plenty for the small staff of cowboys and hands on the ranch.
"Ah, great. I'll grab my bag and settle in." Calvin made for her truck with me hot on her heels.
"Uh, pardon?"
"Hmm?" She glanced over her shoulder but didn't stop walkin'.
"You ain't stayin' in the bunkhouse."
"Well, see, I'd really prefer not to sleep in my truck another night. Back's killin' me."
"Coulda slept in my bed last night, had you not run scared." The words tumbled out before I could stop them, that cocky grin I wore when I was trying to cover up feelin' like shit makin' an appearance.
A throat cleared behind me.
Every drop of blood in my body turned to ice water.
Calvin's face went from amused to oh shit in about half a second, her eyes flicking over my shoulder with somethin' that looked almost like pity. That's when I knew—really fucking knew—that I was about to get my ass handed to me.
I turned slowly, like maybe if I moved careful enough, I could somehow undo what I'd just said.
Rhett stood there—hulking arms crossed over his chest, booted feet planted wide—glarin' at me with the kind of fury I hadn't seen since we were kids and I'd broken his favorite fishing rod.
And behind him?
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
Sassy.
Her face had gone sheet white, those green eyes I'd looked into every mornin' for ten years now bright with unshed tears. She was starin' at me like she was seein' me for the first time, like I'd just ripped off a mask and revealed somethin' monstrous underneath.
The silence stretched between us, thick as molasses and twice as suffocating. I could hear my own heartbeat thunderin' in my ears, could feel Calvin shifting uncomfortably behind me, could see the exact moment Sassy's shock morphed into somethin' raw and wounded and furious.
"Sass," I said, my voice comin' out rough with an apology I didn't know how to voice. My head tipped to the side like the gesture alone could somehow soften the blow, could take back the words that were already carvin' fresh wounds in her chest.
But it was too late. Way too fucking late.
"Fuck you, Brody."
The words hit like a slap. Sassy had never—not once in twenty years—looked at me with such complete disgust.
She spun on her heel and stormed toward the house, her flip-flops slappin' against the gravel. Every step felt like another mile between what we used to be and whatever we were supposed to be now.
I started to follow her—instinct, muscle memory, whatever—but Rhett's voice stopped me cold.
"Don't."
The single word carried enough venom to drop a horse. I watched Sassy disappear through the front door, heard it slam behind her hard enough to rattle the windows, and somethin' inside my chest cracked clean in half.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
"Will you ever stop fuckin' hurtin' that girl? Jesus, Brody." Rhett's voice was low, dangerous, the kind of tone that used to mean someone was about to eat dirt.
That's when the guilt morphed into somethin' uglier.
Anger.
Because he was right. I hated him for it, and I hated myself more.
"Why would you want me to?" I shot back, all my pain and self-loathing spilling out as pure venom. "If I don't fuck up, then you can't ride in on your white horse and save the fuckin' day."
Rhett's expression shifted from anger to confusion so fast I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
"What the hell are you talkin' about?"
"Don't." I stepped closer, getting in his face the way we used to when we were teenagers and everything could be settled with fists. "Don't stand there and pretend you don't know exactly what I'm talkin' about."
His confusion looked real as shit, which only pissed me off more. How could he not see it? How could he not know that every time Sassy had a problem, every time she needed someone, it was his number she dialed? His shoulder she cried on? His arms that held her together when the world fell apart?
"Don't be a fuckin' moron, Rhett. May have taken me a while to see it, but I ain't blind."
Understanding dawned across his features like a sunrise, followed immediately by somethin' that looked almost like panic.
"Bro, I don't know what you think—"
"It ain't what I think. It's what I know." I jerked my chin toward the house where Sassy had disappeared. "Why you think we ain't married?"
Rhett looked like I'd sucker-punched him. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he found his voice. "You're wrong. I didn't ask you to—"
"Nah, you never would. Too damn good. Too damn noble.
" I laughed, but it came out broken. "But don't worry—I took the hit for all of us.
Made sure everyone gets their happy ending except the asshole who couldn't see what was right in front of his face for twenty goddamn years.
And you know what the really fucked up part is?
You love her, and she loves you, too. Always has. "
The color drained from his face. "Brody—"
A car door shut behind us, sharp as a gunshot.
We both turned to see Calvin hurryin' toward the bunkhouse, her head down like she was tryin' to make herself invisible. In all the emotional carnage, I'd forgotten she was even there.
Shit. She'd witnessed the whole meltdown. Seen me gut my best friend and destroy any remaining piece of my relationship with Sassy in the span of two minutes.
"Uh-uh. Not so fast, viper."
I left Rhett standing there lookin' like his world had just shifted off its axis and took off after Calvin instead.
I couldn't deal with him or Sassy and all the fucking feelings right now. What else was there to say?