Chapter 9 Scarlett
scarlett
The ranch is yours, but I don’t have to come with it.
It’s been playing over and over since he said it, souring my gut with every repeat.
So I do what I always do on October third, turn on Mean Girls, and ignore every one of my feelings.
“As if!” I say in time with the TV, a small smile tugging at my lips, this movie brings a familiarity that feels like two lifetimes ago.
It’s also one of the only things keeping me from storming Lucas’s house and making him talk to me. He's kept his distance since our chat, and I’m not a fan of it. I don’t do well with being ignored, and I know full well that’s not what he’s doing. He’s trying to respect my space, but still...
“Stop trying to make fetch happen,” I say in time with the TV.
The words barely make it past my lips when a deep laugh cuts through the air from the kitchen.
Panic flares in my chest, my head whipping in his direction.
The hope that it’s Lucas dies when I see a black haired, unknown man in my kitchen.
My body reacts, feet hitting the floor before I even have a second to think.
I know I locked that door. My pulse spikes, the flutter in my neck I’m sure visible from across the room.
It's really hard to catch me off guard, yet here we are. The man in my kitchen may be gorgeous, but he wasn’t invited in.
He leans casually against my counter like he owns the place.
His skin is warm, golden brown, a solid build, one I’d have zero chance of overpowering.
His steel gray eyes dance like he finds this interaction high-quality entertainment.
He doesn’t look dangerous. He looks like he stepped right out of the pages of a GQ magazine.
But that’s the thing about men who look like him, you never see it coming.
“Who the hell are you?” My voice thankfully comes out even. He doesn’t need to know my heart is threatening to explode. I reach for my hip. For frick's sake, why did I leave my gun in my room?
“Markus Samuels,” he drawls as he wraps his hand around the back of his neck, giving me a slow, growing smile full of mischief.
“Monroe didn’t tell me he had a gift waiting for me at book club this week.” What does he have to do with the man in my kitchen? And what freaking book club?
He steps toward me, and I hold my stance, even when everything in me is telling me to run, but if he knows Lucas, maybe he’s just here to see his friend and got lost. “What’s your name?” he asks as he steps even closer.
My eyes catch on the metal ring in his lip.
Shiny, exposed, a vulnerable point I can exploit to gain the upper hand.
Bingo. I close the distance, my icy stare locked on his heated one.
“Hmm… You know, this might be more fun if you don’t know the answer to that question.
” I put a little sway in my hips as I close the distance until we’re nearly toe to toe.
He leans in closer, almost on instinct, like he’s already won this game, “Mami it is then, but make sure it's ‘Markus’ you scream later.” And then his face moves toward mine, once he’s close enough, I strike. Biting down on his lip ring at the last second and pulling until he’s hissing.
“Ayy! Come on!” He chuckles as I grab his wrist, spinning him around and pushing his chest into the arm of the couch. He’s still laughing, entertained by my attempt at manhandling him, but I haven’t found the humor in breaking into someone else’s house yet.
“Sammy, what the hell?!” Lucas shouts as he bursts through the front door, frantically looking around the room, absently adding. “You idiot, I told you my house, not this one!”
When his eyes catch mine, a shit eating grin slowly takes over his face. Like it’s being unzipped right in front of me, starting at one corner until I find myself smiling. Internally, that is.
“This belong to you?” I ask flatly.
He looks down at who I’m assuming is his friend, then back up to me. “Damn, Lettie. This is awesome.” His chest shakes with the force of his laugh, the vibration filling the room. A shiver runs through me, knowing I can still make him laugh like that after all this time.
“Uhh, Hello?” Markus says into the couch, as if he’s offended we’re talking about him.
Lucas’s long legs eat up the distance between us. He puts his hand on the back of Markus’s shirt before pulling him up. Both of their eyes shine with amusement.
“Did you get lost?” Lucas asks with a laugh.
His gaze turns to me, softening ever so slightly. “Sorry, he was supposed to be coming over for book club.”
“Hmm…” I pop my hip, leaning against the edge of the couch.
Markus pulls out a book from the inside of his hoodie pocket.
It’s a romance book, a cowboy romance book.
Wait a minute, that book is sitting on the bookshelf in my room.
Did Lucas put it there? I totally forgot to ask Miller about it. Are all those their book club picks?
“Second Chance Ranchers…” I read the cover.
Lucas grins. “Pretty on brand, huh?” His eyebrows dance across his forehead. He never stops trying to mend the gap between us, does he?
When I don’t respond, he continues. “Wilder started it when he was trying to win Hannah back. It’s been two years.
We all get together on Wednesday nights, when we’re in town.
” Lucas pauses, looking back toward the kitchen.
“Have you eaten yet?” he asks hesitantly, his fingers nervously tapping against his thigh.
It might be fun to see a bunch of men get into romance books.
I’d like to hear their take on it, if for no other reason than pure entertainment.
“I haven’t.” I could have lied, but I have a feeling he would have called me out for lying like he always could, and after our argument the other day, clearly still can.
His smile grows as Markus’s eyes dart between the two of us.
“Oh,” Lucas says, like he wasn’t expecting that answer.
“Um, do you…” He trails off, sliding his finger through the ring on his necklace, his uncertainty slashes my heart once again.
Even though I don’t blame him. I made it this way. “Do you want to come with us?”
My arms cross over my chest as I take him in. “It’s okay, you don’t have to invite me out of pity.”
His eyes snap to mine, and a light red flush creeps up his cheeks.
“No, that's not…” He slides the ring on his necklace back and forth before dropping it. “That’s not what I meant, Lettie. I just don’t want you to feel pressured.
” His lips tilt up at the corners, “You’re always welcome. I’d love it if you joined us.”
I hum, trying not to give away how the words ‘always welcome’ light me up like a damn Christmas tree. “Fine, but only because I’m hungry.” His face relaxes, but there’s no real relief there. Something that makes me wonder if I’ve pushed him too far.
“Got it,” he says as he wraps an arm around Markus’s shoulder. “Sammy, apologize for being a douchebag.”
Markus scoffs, but my glare has him changing his tune. “I’m sorry I pick pocketed the wrong terracotta pot,” he says with a laugh.
I step into his space again. “You’re lucky my gun wasn’t in reach.” Then I give his chest a firm pat, “Now give me my key back, no more spare under the pot.”
“Holy shit. I think I’m in love.” Markus mumbles as he drops the key into my awaiting hand.
“Welcome to the club, dude.” My body heats when I hear Lucas’s response. I don’t turn around, though. He doesn’t need to know just how much he still affects me. Less of a chance he can use it against me that way.
Five minutes later, I lock up the house and set the alarm. “Let’s go,” I say as we head to Lucas’s house.
After listening to them mansplain how a door works, I'm seconds from punching them both in the throat so they can't talk the rest of the walk. But then a couple of steps later, a thought pops into my head. I look around Lucas, “You said your name was Markus, right?”
He nods, and I hook my thumb at Lucas. “Then why does he call you Sammy?”
Lucas chuckles, his fingers brushing softly against mine.
At first, I think it was an accident, but then he does it again, interlacing our pinkies as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.
“We all go by our last names,” Markus says as he looks at me over the top of Lucas.
“The team, that is. Hannah and Abby call us that, too. But they’re basically two of the guys. ”
I hum. “So I should call you what?” His eyes shine, and before he can answer, I cut in.“Papi is out of the question.”
He throws his head back, laughter spilling out, filling the night air with a sense of camaraderie I haven’t felt in years. “Sammy is fine, or Samuels. But no one really calls me that.”
“Sammy, it is then.”
“Who’s the stray?” A woman asks as we step onto the patio. She’s blonde, beautiful, rocking double braids and arms I’d sell my kidney for. I release Lucas’s pinky, even as he tries to hold mine tighter.
“Sheesh, Knight, would it kill you to be nice for once?” Greyson, well, Wilder, I guess if we’re going with the last name thing, says from inside.
“I am nice.” Her eyes roll before they land back on me.
I step forward, eyes narrowing. “If anyone here’s a stray, it’d be you. Considering I own the rest of the ranch.”
The blonde and I are locked in a staring contest, one that has Sammy shifting on his feet beside me. “Damn, I don’t know who would win this fight. But I’m scared to find out,” he hisses, yet she doesn’t even blink.
“Knight, this is Lettie.” He takes a deep breath. “Lettie, this is my best friend and our team's physical therapist, Abby Knight,” Lucas says.
“Like the Lettie?” Her eyes widen as she looks back and forth between us. It’s unsettling that they know about me, and I know jack squat about any of them.
“Play nice.” Is all he gives her before he wraps his arm around my shoulders and pulls me inside with him.
“Not sorry, I’m overprotective!” Her voice follows behind us.