Chapter 5
Colter
“So let me get this straight,” Jake’s horse saunters lazily over to mine as we ride along the fence line, checking for loose wire. “You shoved your son’s teacher?”
“It wasn’t like an actual shove,” I defend myself. “It was more of a flirtatious little nudge.” I lean back in my saddle, letting Saturn take the lead, and huff out a breath. That does not sound any better.
“I know it’s been a while since you’ve been in the game, brother, but I don’t think there’s such a thing as a flirtatious nudge.” Jake chuckles, adjusting his grip on the reins, gloved hand pressing into his thigh as he rides along.
“Well, I don’t know Jake. It wasn’t exactly my intention to go and flirt with her. She’s like half my age.” And once I’d found that out, I’d shut that shit down real quick.
The first time I’d seen her, I’d almost fallen over.
Kayla Carson is someone who is just simply beautiful, from her big brown eyes that make her look like Bambi, to her flowery dresses that show off her curves perfectly.
And then I’d gone and fucked it up by opening my mouth.
I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking.
“Half your age means she’d still be in high school,” Jake scoffs, calling me out. And sure, maybe the age difference isn’t as atrocious as it could be, but either way, Kayla is young. She doesn’t want to be tied down to someone who needs dependency. And I need dependency. For my son.
“Might as well be,” I grumble under my breath, pulling Saturn to a halt. I hop down from the saddle, grabbing the pliers to tighten the length of wire.
“How old is she really?”
“Twenty-four.”
“That’s not too bad,” Jake muses, as he watches me wrench at the wire with the pliers. “What? Nine years?”
“That’s almost how old my son is,” I snap like the words might keep me in line. Like saying them out loud makes my feelings for her less real. I pull at the strand of barbed wire, testing its tautness before I’m back up on my horse and moving along.
Kayla Carson is attractive, and sitting and talking with her this morning was surprisingly quite enjoyable.
For a moment this morning, I forgot about the chores, the farm, the pressure.
I got to spend the morning having a nice conversation with a pretty woman while watching my son have fun in the pool.
And the age difference wasn’t even noticeable while we were sitting there and talking. But that doesn’t negate the fact that it’s there. A nine-year age gap that screams danger at me with loud, blaring sirens.
“That’s a reach,” Jake scoffs, shaking his head.
At twenty-seven, he obviously doesn’t understand.
A thirty-three-year-old dating a twenty-four-year-old would make the town go mad.
Sue Cruthkins would have a field day with the gossip, and next thing you know, the whole city will be talking about how I started dating Kayla when she was sixteen, and I was twenty-five.
I shudder at the thought.
“So what? You’re just going to ignore your attraction to her? Continue to be a grumpy old sour puss?”
“I’ve been doing just fine for the past thirty-three years. Why change now?”
“Maybe cause you’re miserable?” My brother, never the one to shy away from the hard conversations, calls me out right then and there. “Seriously, when was the last time you even laughed?”
This morning, when Kayla recommended that her student respond to an insult with a compliment, but then got brutally shut down. But I’m not about to tell him that.
“I laugh plenty of times. I have a son who’s the light of my life, and makes laughing considerably easy,” I argue.
And I’m not lying. Ben’s antics, while they may be frowned upon, are sometimes too funny not to have a little snicker about.
Like when I was informed of his creative use of his colorful vocabulary.
I don’t even know where he heard shitsicle from, but it wasn’t me. I’m not that creative.
“Well, if she’s got you in this much of a tizzy, then I’m excited to meet her,” Jake declares. Saturn’s head lifts, sensing the danger coming before my brother even does.
“Jake,” I growl out, the warning in my voice clear as day.
“What? You expect her to just sit around until you pull your head out of your ass?”
“No. But I expect you to be on your best behavior. That’s Ben’s teacher you’re talking about.”
“Sure, sure,” he shrugs like he wasn’t just insinuating flirting it up with her. “I’ll be very respectful, don’t you worry. I’ll even treat her to dinner first.”
My heart lurches in my chest, and I swear steam comes out of my nose. My brother’s horse, Remy, takes off before I even process what he’s said.
That son of a bitch. I wonder how interested Kayla will be when he shows up with two black eyes on Monday morning.
I guess we’ll find out.