Chapter 2
HAYES
I tried not to think of her. That was why I was at The fucking Roadside to begin with.
I’d given in when Cody asked to buy me a beer, partly because he owed me one for helping him with some legal paperwork tied to a well on his property, and because I needed my dick to get hard for other women and The Roadside had plenty of hot, scantily clad options always ready for a good time.
Ever since I laid eyes on my brother’s new ranch hand a month ago, no one else would do. Cassidy Cove was fit, pert, and everything I didn’t know I craved. Like someone young. Really young. She was fucking eighteen–I’d asked Buck. But, still.
Eighteen.
I was twenty-eight. Ten years older than she was. She was better off with my youngest brother Zeb, but he was taken. Or even Shep, but he was also taken. The idea of either one of them lusting after her like I was made me want to rip their heads off.
The first time I saw her, she’d been filling water buckets in the stalls. She’d seen me, stopped in her tracks and sloshed water all over herself.
I’d stared. Because she was in jeans–which had only accentuated her tight, young ass–and a white t-shirt which did nothing to hide full, plump tits.
I was going to Hellhell for stopping around the ranch for no good reason just to get a glimpse of her and my brothers were going to laugh.
When Buck was helping Sage with her issues with the mob–which I still thought was insane–I told him I was going to find a nice, simple woman.
Karma was sure a bitch because I wanted Cassidy and she was so fucking far from simple. Oh no.
Why the hell did my dick want her? Why did I get hard whenever I saw her?
Whenever I fucking thought about her? Why, over the past month, did I have to rub one out at least twice a day as I thought about her?
How she’d be nice and tight around my dick.
How her eyes would widen in surprise as I stretched her open.
How she’d look on her knees before me. How she’d look bent over my desk.
My bed. On her hands and knees. Riding me.
Every filthy thing I could imagine had her in it. And me coming hard. The mess I made was for her. I wanted to coat her in it. Fill her up with it. Watch her choke on it.
So when I sat down beside Cody at a hightop in The Roadside and saw Cassidy across the room, my dick went hard.
And I got pissed as hell. What the fuck was she doing here with the guys from the ranch?
She was eighteen. She was drinking. Two pitchers were on the table in front of them.
Sure, I figured the other ranch hands would watch out for her, but they were single and on the prowl.
If there was a choice between pussy and keeping Cassidy safe, they’d pick pussy.
“Yo, Hayes, you even listening? A girl got your attention?” Cody asked.
He had a beer, but had been nursing the same one for the past ten minutes. He was mayor of Devil’s Ditch and the last guy who’d be caught making a fool of himself with too much liquor or a one night stand.
“My brother’s ranch hands are here,” I explained, shifting on my stool.
“Oh? Didn’t know you were into dudes.” He grinned because he knew full well I wasn’t gay.
“One of them’s a girl,” I said, putting a mental emphasis on girl.
Cody swiveled on his stool and looked the way I’d been staring. “Which one?”
Now they were holding up shots. Shots! They tossed them back while Cassidy watched, then she grinned and downed hers. Her head tipped back and I dreamed of giving her a hand necklace.
Then she winced and grabbed a beer as a chaser.
How many had she already had? After, she high-fived one of them and walked off.
Where the hell was she going by herself?
In a jean skirt that stopped several inches above her knees and a halter top that showed off her tits and–Jesus fucking Christ–bared half her back.
I stared and so did half the guys in the place.
Where the hell was she going? The bathrooms were in the other direction.
She stopped in front of the guy who ran the mechanic–
“Oh, fuck, no,” I said, then popped to my feet.
“What’s the matter?” Cody asked, suddenly concerned.
I watched as Cassidy fell on the protective mat, then pushed up. She swayed, as if the ground was rocking, then clumsily climbed on the bull.
Cassidy was drunk. Barely supervised. Underage. Hot as hell.
“She needs a fucking keeper,” I said aloud.
Cody heard me. “Who?”
“Cassidy.”
“Who?” he asked again. “The one on the bull? A little young for you.”
I growled as I tore my gaze away from her riding the bull to glare at my friend. “She’s mine.”
Cody outright laughed. Slapped me on the shoulder.
“The final Wilder has fallen. Have fun with that one,” he said as I left him, stalking across the bar toward Cassidy, who was somehow still on the bull, ready to poke every guy’s eyes out on the way, seeing her tits bounce, her skirt ride up and imagining she was riding their dicks.
I’d thought it was best if I stayed away. A month of thinking that was blown to hell when she walked into this bar. She needed someone to take care of her. To protect her. To keep her safe. To fucking punish her.
Cassidy Cove was mine.