19. Guy
GUY
I pull up to my brother’s ranch needing some advice, but I wasn’t expecting half the family to be here. “Hey, Ozzy.”
Ozzy is standing at the foot of the steps in front of his house and points at me. “Don’t talk to me.”
I roll my eyes. “What is it now?”
He puts his hands on his hips. If the man wasn’t my brother, I’d probably be scared of him. He’s big, and working on the ranch every day has made him even stronger than he was. I used to be able to hold my own with him, but now I’d say he would give me a run for my money.
He juts his chin at me. “Get me off the dating site.”
My mouth drops open. Shit. “How did you know?”
He grits his teeth. “I was at the feed store, and ol’ man Becker’s daughter is working the register. She told me after she asked me for a date.” He points at me. “Get me off of it.”
He starts walking up his front porch, and I follow. “Ozzy, I can explain.”
He stops and looks at me. “I don’t need you to explain anything. I just want off of it.”
I’m quick to explain. “Look, I couldn’t join under my name because the media would have a field day with that.”
He holds his hand up. “Wait. Have you been going on dates posing as me?”
I can’t help it. I blurt out a laugh. “What? Hell no. Geez, I’m not some kind of freak, Oz.”
He huffs in frustration. “Okay, then what reason could you possibly have to join a dating app with my profile?”
Fuck, this is embarrassing. “So, uh, Nicole had an account, and I wanted to see if she was still on it or not.” I hold my hand up. “Trust me, I know it’s fucked up, and I shouldn’t have done it—”
He stares at me. “Does she know?”
“Does Nicole know?” I ask. When he nods, I tell him, “Of course. I told her… I just… I was feeling insecure and… it was stupid.”
That stops him. “Hold up. You? The legend, Guy Brody, was feeling insecure?”
“Har, har, Oz. Seriously, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I love her.”
As soon as the words come out of my mouth, my sister comes out the screen door. “What did you just say?”
When I don’t answer, Skyler’s face lights up. “Did you just say you love her? Nicole, right? I’m assuming that’s who we’re talking about?”
I let my head fall back and groan. This is not how I thought this was going down. I was hoping to get some advice from my big brother. “Skyler, where’s my niece?”
She comes out onto the porch. “Oh no, mister, you ain’t getting out of this that easy. Grace is inside with her dad. Now tell me about you and Nicole.”
I walk over and sit on the porch swing. “Sis, seriously, I came to talk to Ozzy. Can you give us a few minutes?”
She opens her mouth, and I’m waiting for her to argue, but I’m surprised when she walks over and fluffs my hair. “I’m happy to see it, Guy. She’s a lucky woman.”
I just grunt. She waves to both of us and walks inside. Ozzy leans against the post on the porch. “All right, let’s hear it. What’s up?”
I clamp my hands together and lean forward. “So Nicole is the one.”
I hear a shrill of excitement from inside. I get up, walk over, and pull the front door closed, letting the screen door slam behind me. I then take my seat on the porch swing again. “Like I was saying. Nicole is the one.”
Ozzy nods. “That’s good. What’s the problem?”
I clear my throat. “Well, I guess with my history, she’s not putting much faith in this relationship.”
Ozzy rubs his hand through the scruff of his beard. “Well, can you blame her?” He holds up his hand and starts counting. “There was Anna, Emilia, Janie, and what about the hot blonde? The model? What was her name? Katelyn?”
I just stare at him, and he lifts his shoulders. “I mean, you have a reputation for dating. I mean, that one time you dated the twins, so I guess I would say I understand her hesitancy.”
I put my head in my hands. “She doesn’t want anyone to know we’re dating. It’s like she’s just waiting for something to happen or for me to do something stupid—”
Ozzy blurts out a laugh. “Well, she won’t have to wait long.”
I just stare at him, and when he sees my lost expression, he stops. “Guy, fuck, I’ve never seen you like this.”
I jump up from my seat and walk over to the edge of the porch and look out on the ranch. “I know because I’ve never felt like this before. I don’t know what to do, and if you’re not going to give me any big brother advice then—”
He cuts me off. “Maybe you should talk to Logan or Miller or Zach about this. They’re all in relationships and—”
I turn and look at him. “I want your advice. I know this is different than what you went through, Oz, but I can’t lose Nicole. I can’t.”
He sucks in a breath and blows it out. “Then wait it out. Be there for her. Show her how much she means to you, and don’t fuck it up. Eventually, she’s going to see how much she means to you, and she’ll come around.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “What if she doesn’t?”
Ozzy comes to stand next to me. “You can’t think that way. You have to think this is going to work out, and if it doesn’t, then it wasn’t meant to be.”
I look over at my brother and see the look on his face.
He’s thinking of Valerie. Shit. I’m not sure what I was thinking.
Of course, me bringing all this up is going to have him thinking of his deceased wife.
“Ozz, I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Maybe I should have talked to one of the others.
I didn’t mean to bring up old memories for you. ”
Ozzy shakes his head and stares at me. “No, it’s fine.
” He puts a hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
“If you love her, make sure she knows it. Even if she’s not ready to hear it, show her.
” He looks out over the ranch. “Trust me, Guy, if you truly love her, you should do everything in your power to keep her.”
I nod slowly. Show her. I can do that.
Maybe Nicole isn’t ready to hear that I love her yet.
Hell, I’m not even sure I’m ready to say it to her without scaring the shit out of her, but I can show her.
I can be there, and I can be patient. I can prove to her that I’m not going anywhere.
For the first time since I pulled onto the ranch, I feel like I can breathe. “Thanks, Oz.”
He gives me a short nod. “Anytime.”
I start toward my truck then stop and turn around. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry about the dating app.”
He grunts. “You should be.”
“I’ll delete it.”
“You better.”
I grin. “Although you did get asked out.”
His glare could probably kill me from twenty feet away. He points at me. “I wouldn’t fuck with me, little brother. Me and the whole family are coming to the game tomorrow night. I can figure out a way to get you back.”
I laugh and turn toward my truck. A small vet truck pulls up right next to mine, and Ivey climbs out. She spots Ozzy on the porch and smiles like she’s been looking forward to seeing him all day. “Hey, hot stuff.”
I glance back at my brother and see his whole body go stiff. Hmmm… interesting.
Ivey walks toward him carrying a bag. “You miss me?”
“No.”
She smiles wider. “Liar.”
Ozzy takes the bag from her anyway. I watch the two of them for a second before calling out, “Hey, Oz.”
He looks over at me. I point between him and Ivey. “Maybe you should take some of your own advice.”
His face darkens. “Get the hell off my ranch.”
I laugh all the way to my truck. Maybe I’m not the only Brody brother in trouble.