Chapter 8
EIGHT
JESSE
My eyes follow Aubree as she heads up the stairs to her room so she can change into some cleaner clothes. The worn jeans cup her ass cheeks as she moves, and I have to shake my head to clear the thoughts.
Denver and Austin come crashing through the front door, Carson not far behind. “Y’all go clean up before we have a seat.” My voice is harsher than I mean for it to be. “We’ve got a woman here now.”
All of them look at me with their eyebrows raised, like they know something I don’t, but I glare right back at them. It’s a battle of wills as we face off, but it’s always been me against these three, unless someone’s giving the shit, then it’s us against the world.
“Hell…” Carson sighs before turning on his heel and heading toward the downstairs bathroom. The other two follow.
Happy that they did as I asked, I head into the kitchen to wash up, bumping into Cookie. “Whoa…” I reach out, steadying him.
“Shewwww, that was almost the plate of steak.” He holds up a platter, showing me what he was talking about. “Thanks for saving it.”
“It was almost my fault it got lost.” My boots scuff against the hardwood as I walk over to the sink, a laugh in my voice. “There’d be a revolt, and I’m not sure I could handle that today.” Not after having to be as close as I was to Aubree and not lose my mind in the process.
Truett comes down the stairs. He glances up at me. “I’ve gotta go do some business tonight. Aubree mentioned she and Nora would be heading to the Rusty Spur tonight. Any chance you can go and make sure they don’t get into trouble?”
Wonder when she found out she was doing that? She hasn’t mentioned it to me all day, and it wasn’t at all what I was expecting, but it’s something I can do without much issue. “Yeah, I’ll drive, and I’ll sit there like a fucking mafia boss, daring others to step up to them. Sound good?”
He laughs, rolling the sleeves of his shirt up. “Exactly what I was thinking of.”
“Truett, I don’t need a babysitter,” Aubree complains, making an apppearance.
She’s completely refreshed and gorgeous in a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeved shirt that hugs her curves.
“That may be true, but the cowboys in this town need one.”
Her mouth curls up, and she flips him the finger. “Fine.”
The tension in the room shifts as we all gather around the dining table.
Cookie’s outdone himself tonight, with thick steaks, loaded baked potatoes, and green beans that actually taste like something other than mush.
The kind of meal that should have us all talking and laughing, but instead, I find myself sitting back, watching.
And what I’m watching is making my blood simmer.
Denver’s telling some story about a bull that nearly took his head off last week, but his eyes keep drifting to Aubree. The way she laughs, throwing her head back, exposing that elegant line of her throat. The bastard’s eating it up.
“You should’ve seen this thing,” Denver continues, gesturing wildly with his fork. “Fifteen hundred pounds of pure attitude, and prettier than most women I know.” He shoots Aubree a look. “Present company excluded, of course.”
She grins, and I want to punch him. “Of course. I’d hate to think I was losing to a bull in the looks department.”
Austin jumps in, not to be outdone. “Speaking of pretty, that shirt’s a good color on you, Aubree. Brings out your eyes.”
My grip tightens on my knife until my knuckles go white.
These assholes are flirting with her right in front of me, and she’s flirting right back.
The easy way she smiles at them, how she leans forward when they talk, the little touches she gives their arms when they make her laugh—it’s all innocent enough, but it’s driving me fucking crazy.
Carson, never one to be left out, decides to join the Aubree appreciation society. “Remember that time you convinced us to go skinny dipping in the creek when we were teenagers? You were always the brave one.”
“I was also the stupid one,” she laughs, and the sound goes straight through me. “Truett nearly killed me when he found out.”
“Worth it though,” Carson says with a wink that makes me want to throw my steak knife at his head.
I cut into my meat with more force than necessary, the sound of the knife hitting the plate sharp enough to make everyone glance my way. But I don’t say anything. I just chew and watch and let the anger build in my chest like a storm gathering strength.
Truett, oblivious to the undercurrents swirling around his dining table, is busy planning out tomorrow’s work.
“We need to move the cattle from the south pasture before this weather hits. Austin, I want you and Carson on the four-wheelers, pushing them north. Denver, you and Jesse can take the horses and work the stragglers.”
“Sounds good, boss,” Denver says, but his attention is still on Aubree. “Maybe Aubree can come help. She always was better on a horse than half of us.”
The suggestion hits me like a physical blow. The thought of spending hours in the saddle with her, working side by side, her body moving in rhythm with her horse…I push the image away before it can take root.
“I don’t think that’s necessary,” I say, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.
All eyes turn to me, and I realize I’ve just revealed more than I meant to. Aubree’s looking at me with those deep brown eyes, a question forming on her lips that I don’t want to answer.
“Jesse’s right,” Truett says, missing the tension entirely. “You haven’t been on a horse in a long time. We shouldn’t throw you back in the thick of things too fast.”
The conversation moves on, but I can feel Aubree’s gaze lingering on me. She knows something’s off, but she can’t put her finger on what. Good. The last thing I need is for her to figure out that watching my brothers flirt with her is making me lose my goddamn mind.
As the meal continues, I become a student of details I wish I could ignore.
The way she cuts her steak into precise little pieces before eating them.
How she always takes a sip of water after every few bites.
The unconscious way she tucks her honey-blonde hair behind her ear when she’s listening to someone talk.
And the worst part? She’s completely unaware of the effect she’s having, not just on my brothers, but on me. Every laugh, every smile, every casual touch is like a match struck against my already frayed nerves.
“Remember that time we all went to the county fair?” Austin’s saying now, and I know exactly where this story is heading. “And Aubree entered the pie-eating contest?”
“Oh god,” she groans, covering her face with her hands. “Don’t.”
“She was so determined to beat old Mrs. Henderson,” Austin continues, grinning. “Ended up with blueberry pie from her hairline to her chin.”
“And you looked beautiful doing it,” Denver adds with a grin that makes me want to put him through the wall.
Carson nods sagely. “Most attractive pie-eating contest contestant in county fair history.”
She’s laughing now, that full-bodied laugh that does things to my insides I don’t want to think about. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“Ridiculously right,” Austin says, and there’s something in his tone that makes my jaw clench.
I’ve had enough.
Standing abruptly, I push my chair back from the table. “I’m gonna go check on the horses.”
“Jesse,” Aubree starts, but I’m already moving.
“Finish eating,” I tell her without looking back. “We’ll head out in twenty.”
The cool evening air hits my face as I step onto the porch, but it does nothing to cool the fire burning in my chest. I need to get my head on straight before I do something stupid, like punch one of my brothers or pin Aubree against the nearest wall and show her exactly what I think about her flirting with them.
The horses are fine, of course. They’re always fine. But I spend the next fifteen minutes in the barn anyway, breathing in the familiar smells of hay and leather, trying to talk myself down from the ledge I’m standing on.
This is Aubree. Truett’s little sister. The girl I’ve known since she was in pigtails and braces. The woman I’ve spent the last ten years trying not to think about in any way that wasn’t completely platonic.
But watching her tonight, seeing the way she’s grown into herself, confident and beautiful and completely unaware of her own power…it’s breaking down every wall I’ve built to keep these feelings locked away.
And the worst part? I think she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
When I finally head back to the house, everyone’s finishing up dessert.
Cookie’s made his famous apple pie, and there’s easy laughter flowing around the table.
For a moment, I almost wish I could join in, be part of the easy camaraderie instead of standing on the outside, watching and wanting what I can’t have.
“There he is,” Truett says as I walk back in. “Everything good with the horses?”
“Everything’s fine.” I lean against the doorframe, studying the scene. Aubree’s got a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth, like she’s got a secret she’s not sharing.
“Well, if you two are heading to the Rusty Spur, you better get going,” Truett says, checking his watch. “Gets crowded after nine, and you’ll never find a parking spot.”
Aubree stands, brushing invisible crumbs from her jeans. “Let me grab my jacket.”
“Meet me at the truck,” I tell her, my voice coming out more commanding than I intended.
She pauses, looking at me with those brown eyes that see too much. For a second, I think she’s going to call me on my tone, but then she just nods.
“See you boys later,” she says to my brothers, giving them each a quick hug that makes my teeth grind together.
As she heads upstairs, I catch Denver watching her go with a look I don’t like. “Something to say?” I ask him.
He shrugs, but there’s a knowing glint in his eye. “Just wondering when you’re gonna stop pretending you don’t want her.”
Before I can respond, he’s walking away, leaving me standing there with my hands clenched into fists and the truth sitting heavy in my chest.
I do want her. God help me, I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life. And tonight, sitting in a crowded bar, watching other men look at her the way I’ve been trying not to…it’s going to be the longest night of my life.