Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Tyler
“Daddy, can I go play?” Dash asks, tugging on my shirt sleeve, pointing over to where Amelia’s son was running around with a few other kids laughing.
“I’ll take him,” Lexy, my sister, offers with a smile. “Come on, troublemaker, let’s go play.”
I chuckle as Dash takes off running on his little legs.
He’s a damn good kid and the only thing I need in this world.
I couldn’t be more grateful to my sister for all the help she lends.
If not for her, I’d be at my wits’ end. She’s been helping me with Dash since he was two months old, after I caved to admitting I needed the help.
Admitting defeat is something I’m not used to.
I don’t like to and don’t when I can avoid it.
But after the shit Dash’s mother pulled, I didn’t want to trust anyone with my son.
It took me a month to even talk about it without rage in my voice.
I wanted to kill the woman with my bare hands.
Instead, I had to settle for the judicial system doing its job.
“You see the hot blonde over by Mammon?” Beau asks, plopping his ass down in the chair next to me. “Chick is hot.”
“She’s Mammon’s little sister,” Garrett says, leaning back in his own chair, arms bent, hands clasped behind his head. His cowboy hat balances on his knee.
“No shit?” Beau chuckles.
“Yep.”
I glance in the direction of the woman in question, seeing her standing close but not too close to Mammon.
I gotta admit she’s beautiful. Blonde curls that cascade down her back, the casual dress she’s wearing forms to her body, giving just the right fit to her curves.
From here, I could see she has both tits and ass.
Full package for a man who was looking to get laid.
I needed to, but not with her. The last thing I needed was to get my rocks off with one of the club members’ siblings.
This didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy the view of her.
“Lily told me she’s one of the new teachers the school board hired,” Garrett says, his voice pulling me back into the conversation between him and Beau.
Lily is Garrett’s sister, who works in the elementary school office.
The two of them were what I’d call busy-body churchgoers, they only go for the chance to gossip.
In a small town like ours, gossip is always swirling around like wildfire.
“What’s Lily got to say about it all?” Beau asks, brow cocked.
“Nothing much yet, she’ll be blathering on once school starts up.
With it being summer break, all she’s talking about is hearing the whispers that one of the girls at her church has been caught in what she calls a sinful position.
” Garrett rolls his eyes. “Sunday dinners at Mom’s house, you know it’s always something as the two of them talk about gossip. ”
I feel for the man and what he puts up with, but he loves his parents. It’s the only reason he goes to those dinners.
Thankfully for me, Lexy and I don’t have the same issue.
She and I are tight. Tight enough that she now lives at my place, and we don’t need to fight or argue with each other.
Our parents passed away three years ago, leaving us both an inheritance.
It’s not an overly large amount, definitely not enough to have helped Maddox with the ranch, but it would’ve been enough for Lexy to live on her own while going to school to finish her degree.
However, that’s not the way we were raised.
Mom and Dad raised us to always look out for one another.
One of our dad’s greatest lessons taught us both the meaning of hard work and blessings. You work for what you have or need. Wants always come second. You don’t need to have the world to be happy, and that’s the way we both live.
Eventually, I want to find a piece of land with a house or build one close enough to the ranch that I could have a home of my own away from the ranch, but because of my job, it’s easier to live on the property.
Being the ranch manager, I have to be able to get here in minutes if need be.
Besides, I wouldn’t move away from here unless I had to.
The farmhouse works perfectly for us. It might be on the smaller side, but it wasn’t too small for us.
Besides, we have enough space in the two-story home Maddox and William have let Dash and me stay in since Megan nearly took my son from me. At the time, we’d been living off the ranch, and I was driving in every day.
There was even a small barn off to the side that I use for storage. Mostly, it’s where I keep Dash’s bike, my dirt bike, and ATV.
“Hey, Tyler,” Lexy calls, holding my son. “I’m going to take him home, he’s getting tired.”
“I’ll take him.” I start to get up, only to have my sister wave me off.
“You stay and enjoy yourself. I’ve got him.”
“You sure?” I ask, not wanting her to feel obligated to take Dash for me.
I love my son and will do anything for him. He might be a handful, but that’s all boys. Especially ones his age.
“Yeah, I’ve got him.” She nods. “I’ve got to take care of some work on my computer for school.”
“Alright.”
Lexy was still in school getting her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She’s already an RN and works at the hospital in the Cardiac Unit.
I get to my feet and take my son from her for a minute. “I’ll see you when I get home, buddy, love you.”
“Love you too, Daddy,” Dash says, throwing his arms around my neck, hugging me tightly.
I close my eyes, soaking in the warmth of him. He’s a good kid, and I know one day, far too soon, he won’t want his old man hugging him. I’ll take what I can get for as long as I can while he’s this age.
I hand him back to Lexy. “Drive safely and let me know when you get there.”
Lexy rolls her eyes. “You know I will.”
It’s the one thing I ask of her when she’s got Dash. I need to know he’s good at all times. Some might say I’m just being overprotective, but when you witness your ex trying to kill your son, you get the right to be overbearing.
The day I walked in on Megan in the bathroom, Dash not even a month old, under the water, motionless, still sits heavy on my chest. If I’d been even a minute later finding them, he wouldn’t be here. I hate my ex with a passion, but I love my boy more than anything in this world.
Instead of retaking my seat at the table with the guys, I make my way over to the tables groaning with food.
Everything from beef brisket to deviled eggs line the tables.
Anything you could want, they had set out.
Everything looks good. I pile a plate up with more than enough to put myself in a food coma when someone bumps into me.
“Oops, I’m so sorry,” the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard says.
I glance in her direction to find it’s Mammon’s sister. “It’s alright.”
“I really didn’t mean to bump into you, I wasn’t thinking as I kept going down the line of food,” she rambles, pink tinging her cheeks.
I take in the plate she’s holding and cock a brow at how little of everything she has.
“Everything just looks so good, so a little of it all it is,” she explains without me having to ask.
“Want to join me at a table?” I offer before thinking better of it.
“Umm, sure,” she answers a bit hesitantly. “I’m Delaney, by the way.”
“Tyler.” We finish getting food on our plates, and I show her to an empty table. I hold a chair out for her and wait for her to sit before joining her.
“I hear you’re going to be working for the schools here,” I state between bites of the brisket.
“Word travels fast,” she says, that pink in her cheeks coming back. “I forget that small town gossip . . .”
“Gets around faster than a dog in heat?” I finish for her, making her laugh.
“I guess that’s a good way of putting it.” Delaney laughs and takes another bite of her food.
“Which school will you be working at?”
“The elementary school. I teach kindergarten.”
I nod, taking her in. She doesn’t seem like the kind of woman who would teach a bunch of rowdy kids. Then again, the older kids could probably chew her up and spit her out.
“My son’s going to be starting this year in kindergarten.” The very mention of it has my chest tightening with how fast time seems to have flown.
“Well, maybe he’ll be in my class. I love teaching the little ones. They’re fun at that age and always willing to learn with the right motivation.” The setting sun light seems to make her eyes brighter as she continues to speak of how much she loves teaching kids.
The more she talks, the more I want to take her somewhere private and get inside of her.
It’s her voice that’s affecting me. That and the sweet scent of peaches surrounding her.
I shouldn’t be thinking any of this, the woman could very well be my son’s teacher, only I can’t stop my train of thought.
Around us, the party becomes rowdier, and I could tell she’s starting to get uncomfortable.
“Want to head out? We could find somewhere else to keep talking?” I suggest before thinking better of it.
“I should probably head home,” she says before pulling her bottom lip between her teeth. The sight of her mouth, I have a sudden need to be the one biting her lip. “We could, um, go to my place.”
“How about I show you somewhere?” Now, why the hell did I offer to show her somewhere? Where the hell is it I want to show her? Honestly, I don’t know. My dick seems to have taken over my mind, and I want to get her out of here and find a field.
“Okay.” She nods a bit hesitantly.
I take her hand in mine and guide her away from the party toward where my truck is parked. “I’ll bring you back to get your car later.”
Delaney nods next to me as we get to the passenger side of my truck.
I hold the door open for her to hop in. I thought I might need to help her up with how tall my truck sits with the six-inch lift I put on it.
I close the door, round the hood, and climb up in the driver’s seat.
Shoving the key in the ignition, I twist, and the truck starts up loudly.
“What’s your take on trucks that are squatted?” She surprises me with her question.