Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
SAM
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Mark asks, not for the first time.
“I told you, go enjoy your drink. I don’t need you hovering to see if I’m doing it right.”
“I don’t want them to burn.”
I point the tongs at him. “You realize you standing here pestering me about them is going to make them burn.”
“I like mine well done,” chirps Dennis.
“Then you can burn yours next time,” I gripe. “Until then, I’m the cook, and I’m cooking the steaks how I know all you fuckers like them.”
“I might have to skip my turn on hosting everyone,” Dennis says.
“Why?” Greg asks, sipping on his wine.
I’ve never really noticed before, but now that I’ve been spending more time with Joey, it’s easy to see how much like her father she is.
They have the same brown eyes and brown hair, with the easy smile.
Her smile has been haunting my dreams. Ever since I made the mistake of kissing her. I shouldn’t have done it.
But sometimes it’s hard to care when I remember how fucking good it was.
“I’m seeing someone,” Dennis says, a note of hesitancy in his voice.
Pulling the steaks off the grill, I set them on the plate and carry them over to the table situated on my patio.
It’s a perfect summer night so we’ve moved our poker game outside.
“Damn. Since when?” Mark asks.
“It’s…new.”
“New?” I question, starting to pass the plate of baked potatoes and the bowl of salad around the table.
Because grown men in their midforties need to be at least somewhat healthy.
“I met her on a dating app.”
“A dating app? Why do you need a dating app?” Greg asks, cutting into his perfectly done steak.
“How else are you supposed to meet people nowadays?” Dennis shrugs. “We can’t all be so lucky to still be with our first wife.”
Mark and Greg have been with their wives since they were in high school. Casie died when Lennox was five, and Dennis’s wife left him out of the blue a few years ago, saying she no longer loved him and needed a different life than this small town.
“Is she a good person?” Greg asks. “You need a nice woman.”
“So far she is. But it’s still early,” Dennis says. “What about you?” Dennis nods at me and I stare back at him.
“What about me?”
“You interested in anybody?”
I pop a piece of steak into my mouth to give myself a chance to think about an answer.
Am I seeing anyone? No.
Do I want to be seeing someone? Yes.
Is there a potential someone? Maybe.
But I can’t tell any of them this. Because Greg would serve my head on a platter if he knew I had any interest in his daughter.
If he found out I kissed her, he’d castrate me.
“No.”
“You can’t give any more detail than that?” Mark asks. “Just no?”
I shrug, knife and fork in hand. “What else am I supposed to say? The ranch takes up the majority of my day. It’s not like I have time to meet anyone. And if I do, it’s a guest, and that’s a line I won’t cross.”
“Give him a break,” Greg says, sipping his beer. “Not everyone needs someone. Besides, he’s a womanizer. Can’t tie him down.”
I roll my eyes at him. If he wants to think that, he can go right ahead. But that’s as far from who I am as possible. I haven’t been a womanizer in at least a decade. Sure, I had my fair share of woman to try and soothe the sting of being alone, but it hasn’t been like that in a long time.
Now, only one woman has captured my eye. The very last person I need to be thinking about.
“Although I am hoping Joey finds a nice guy.”
“What?” I choke over the gulp of beer I just downed.
“She doesn’t have it easy being on her own and raising that little hellion.”
“That’s why she has you.” I tip my beer toward him.
“If only she could find a nice guy her age,” he says.
“Maybe Sam could date her,” Mark snickers.
“What?” My gaze snaps to his as Greg flips him off.
“Really? Not going to happen. Sam is not appropriate for her.”
“Ouch,” Dennis says. “Good to know what he thinks of you.”
I flip him off this time.
“Relax.” Greg claps me on the shoulder. “Sam knows I love him. But he’s too old for Joey. She needs someone her age to take care of her.”
This is not the discussion I was planning on having tonight. Talking about work is always easy, but my dating life is dangerous. I don’t want my face giving away how much I want Joey.
As far as these guys are concerned, for the past few years, I’ve had no love life. It’s not an outright lie. But it’s better than telling them I’m interested in my best friend’s daughter.
Fuck. She’s twenty years younger than I am. I should be able to find someone suitable my own age, but I can’t help but be drawn to Joey.
“Enough talk about our love lives,” Dennis interrupts. “Let’s get to playing poker.”
Thank fuck. I don’t need any more eyes on me. Clearing the plates, I take them inside and set them in the sink to deal with later. Dennis grabs the chips and cards and walks outside.
With the sun dipping below the mountains, it’s the perfect temp to play cards. There’s still enough light, mixed with my outdoor tiki lights, to be out here.
Dennis is exchanging bills for chips as I snag more beers from the cooler for each of us.
“You know the rules, boys,” Greg says, dealing the cards. “Five-card draw.”
Once the game starts, the trash talk comes out. It’s our usual bullshit whenever we get together.
I arrange my cards before grabbing two and tossing them in the discard pile, all the while keeping a straight face.
Chips are thrown into the center pot. As the guys fold, it comes down to me and Greg.
“Three of a kind,” Greg says, with an air of someone who’s already won.
I spread my cards out in front of me. “Full house.”
Greg flips me off. “You couldn’t let me win once?”
I pull the chips in the center of the table toward me. “Fuck that. You know I’m not going to let anyone win.”
“Wait until you have grandkids.” Greg shakes his head.
“You let Max win?” I raise a brow at him. “I don’t know if I’d do that.”
“When the alternative is them crying their eyes out, you do it.”
“You need to teach them to toughen up,” Mark says.
“That won’t get past Joey,” Greg says. “It makes no difference to me if I lose. I get to see my grandkid happy.”
“Joey is lucky to have you guys,” I say, without even thinking about it.
Greg claps me on the shoulder. “I should say you too.”
“What? Why me?”
Nerves erupt inside of me. That’s new. I’ve never felt nervous around my best friend before.
“You helped her out the other day.”
“Oh, right.”
“You’re a stand-up guy, Sam,” Greg says.
I sip my beer because I can’t say anything else as a new hand is dealt.
I doubt my best friend would think I’m a stand-up guy if he knew the thoughts I was having about his daughter. Especially thoughts that have been growing in intensity since I kissed her.
It was one fucking kiss, Sam. Get your shit together. You don’t need to be acting like some sort of lovestruck teenager all because some girl looked at you with hearts in her eyes.
Nope. Not at all.
I turn my attention back to the game. My hand is shit, and the two cards I get do nothing to help.
“Fold.” I toss my cards down and lean back in my chair.
Fuck, this feels really good tonight. It’s just what I needed. Being with the guys and playing poker is something I need more of in my life. I don’t have a good balance with working too much and I know that.
I’ve never been good at juggling things. Being a farrier, I was always at the whim of whoever needed help and when.
I wasn’t the best father for Lennox. Even though we have a better relationship now, I threw myself into my work. I didn’t know how to handle a grieving kid while trying to heal myself.
Being in Pinecrest now has given the two of us a better relationship. One that I’m happy we have.
It’s why I would never want to think about dating Joey and coming between her and her father. She relies on them too much.
No. I can’t have that. Or her.
I need to push any thoughts of Joey out of my head. It’s easier this way. For everyone.
Even if I’m the one hurting myself in the process. I’ve been through worse. I can handle it.
Right?