Chapter 7
Brielle
With a sigh, I roll out of the bed. I’m tired, having not slept well the night before, but I’m determined not to sleep in today. I promised to help Kinsey search for her dad in this town, and I haven’t kept up on that promise.
“Ugh, fine. Burgers on me then,” I say with a pouty lip.
Kinsey frowns. “I made a decent amount of tips too.”
I realize I’ve slipped into our normal routine where I usually pay for everything.
It was no hardship on my part swiping my parents’ cards.
I don’t want to make her feel uncomfortable with money either way, so I try to play it off with a teasing wave of my hand.
“Please, don’t even try. You spent most of your time with one table before mysteriously disappearing for twenty minutes. ”
Her cheeks flush. “That was my first night. When Colt had to…you know, in the alley.”
I had forgotten about her heat flash, and the nasty business she got into with that cowboy.
“Either way, it’s on me, bitch.” Then I move to the bed, grab the rest of our tips, and look around for a place to hide them that’s not too obvious, like under the mattress.
I smile when I see the random bible on the nightstand, and I shove it into the book.
“No better protection than the word of god.”
She laughs. “I don’t think it works like that, but we shall pray.”
I smirk, following her out of the room and tapping her butt to move out of the way so I can ensure the room is locked. Not that this flimsy thing could really stop anyone, especially not an alpha. But it’s better than nothing, a deterrent to buy us time, if anything.
When we walk out of the inn, we can’t miss the woman standing behind the front counter who hasn’t stopped waving at us since she saw us. Kinsey waves back, and I give her a tight-lipped smile before leaning toward my best friend.
“Everyone is so friendly. A little creepy.”
She tugs me out the door and down the sidewalk. I trust she knows where she’s going, because I sure as hell don’t.
“Or maybe everyone knows everyone. And you can’t get away with random animosity like you can with strangers in the city,” she says, and she’s right.
I glance around the shops, and the town center the farther we walk.
“It’s cute, very cozy.” If someone told me to imagine a perfect little small town for the next Hallmark movie, Brackenridge would fit right in, with its cute shops and local businesses lining one of the main roads in and out of this town.
Kinsey nudges my shoulder. “Imagine how toned your legs and butt could be after walking everywhere.” I don’t miss her tone, and I know what she’s getting at without saying.
I stifle the need to roll my eyes. “Fine, I will reel in my complaining and give it a fair shot.”
She kisses my temple. “Thank you.” I know she means it, she really does appreciate me trying to stay here with her when it’s so different from the way I normally live. Maybe this is exactly what I need, to try something different.
When we arrive at the diner, we’re greeted by a woman with the biggest pair of tits I’ve ever seen. Naturally, I can’t look away and blurt out, “Are they real?” I have to know. The women in the society surrounding my parents shaped their bodies to perfection under a knife.
“Brielle!” Kinsey snaps.
The woman laughs loudly, and the next thing I know I’m being suffocated between two squishy mounds. She smells of cinnamon and coffee, a comforting scent I could bathe in. It’s sad to think that I’d run to her arms again over my own mother. She shakes me once for good measure and then lets go.
“They feel real enough for ya, honey?”
I blink, a little dazed. “I think I just got force motorboated at eight o’clock in the morning.”
“Well, you kind of started it?” my best friend says, unimpressed.
“It’s Susanne. I’ve heard about you two chickadees.
Causing such a stir in our town, and you two are cute as buttons,” the woman says.
Moving back to the counter, she gathers two menus and gestures for us to sit at the counter.
It’s a place I’d never be caught dead in before, in my former life.
A diner with two-toned plastic booths and worn stools at a long counter that looks sticky with syrup.
Something tells me that the food is going to be the best I’ve had.
Susanne clicks her tongue. “You just missed the crowd. Had to head off early. Helping the ranch get ready for the rodeo.” I turn and realize Kinsey didn’t sit down, and she’s glancing at the random people sitting around.
“There’s a rodeo here?” she asks. She finally sits, but keeps her focus on Susanne.
“It’s down in Fort Worth. They’re just getting the boys ready to leave. Cooper is one of the best riders in the state,” Susanne says, setting down the plastic menus for us.
Oh my god. There’s more of them in this town?
“Real life cowboys,” I whisper. Susanne walks away to grab the coffeepot on the far counter.
“Now, you girls want coffee? Or I still got some orange juice left from the morning. Freshly squeezed.”
“Coffee, my goddess. Just bring me the whole pot.” I place my hands together as if praying to her.
Kinsey shakes her head with laughter. “Do not bring her the whole pot. Brielle on caffeine overload will have me carrying her back to bed to sleep the rest of the day away.”
“My brother was like that. Anytime he couldn’t sleep, just took some caffeine to knock his ass out,” Susanne tells us as she pours a cup and reaches under the counter to hand us some small blue cups of creamer.
“Gonna go make my coffee round, and I’ll come back to take y’all’s order. I recommend the steak and eggs house special,” she adds with a smile before leaving us.
I glance at the menu, determined to keep this mindset of trying something new.
“Steak and eggs. I bet it’s like real steak and eggs. Farm fresh, ya know?” I say, my mouth watering at the idea.
“What happened to not liking breakfast?”
“A girl is allowed to change her mind, Kins.”
She snickers, turning to the menu herself. The longer she stares, the more I can tell she’s lost in her thoughts, and they are far from food. I can only assume what they are about.
I put my hand over hers. “We won’t leave until we find him, okay? Even if I have to start stripping on the bar top.”
“Tracy said clothes stay on at all times, unless we’re doing the wet t-shirt thingy,” Kinsey says with a snort. The gratitude in her eyes makes my heart clench.
“I’m just saying I’d do it.”
“Thank you. It means a lot to me.” She hugs me before I shrug it off, not wanting to get in my head about how much I appreciate her more than anything.
“Ew, affection. Enough of that, please,” I tease her.
Susanne returns, watching us with warm eyes. “Ready?”
When we’re done ordering, she stuffs the menus away and puts the ticket in the window. She leaves us to our own devices, only coming by every now and then to fill our coffees and then deliver the food.
“All done, dears? I can get the bill ready,” Susanne says, wiping her hands on her jeans before grabbing our plates to toss them into a bin on the counter.
Kinsey clears her throat. “Please. Also, can I ask about someone? I’m kind of looking for them.”
She shrugs. “Sure, honey. I’m not sure I’ll be the best help, but I’ll try.”
“I don’t have much to go on,” Kinsey says.
She looks over the photo Kinsey handed over. “It kind of looks like Levi. Hey, Sam! Come look at this. Say twenty years younger that could be Levi, yeah?”
A woman comes out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on the edge of her apron as she saunters to our table. She squints at the photo too and then grunts a rough “yes” before leaving back to where she came from.
Susanne rolls her eyes. “My wife ain’t as much of a talker, but she’s a damn good cook.”
“You got that right. That was the best steak and eggs I think I’ve ever had,” I praise, patting my belly.
Susanne’s smile brightens with affection. “Thanks, sweetie.”
“She’s not wrong. It’s the best food we’ve had so far. Uhm, so about Levi. Is he still around?” Kinsey asks.
Her smile falters. “I reckon you should go up to Asha Haven Ranch and talk to his son.”
Kinsey’s face is frozen in shock, and I know she’s spiraling inside herself.
“His ranch?” I prod, and Susanne points out the window.
“Just up the road. You can’t miss it or probably the parade of trucks about to roll out for the rodeo.”
Kinsey pulls up to the gas pump with a sigh. “What if he’s there?”
“Then it’s just the next step.”
“Next step?”
I nod. “First step: find him. Second step: determine if he’s Daddy.”
She snorts. “Please don’t call him Daddy.”
We both climb out of the car because I feel weird just waiting in the seat like a good girl as she pumps gas.
It’s a lot busier than I expected, trucks and trailers lining up on both sides of the street leading up to the gas station.
When we stopped for breakfast at the local diner, the waitress gave Kinsey her first hint at finding her father, and now we’re on our way to try to find it.
“That must be the parade or whatever Susanne was talking about.” My eyes nearly bug out when I catch a logo on the side of one of them.“Wait, look at the name, Kinsey.”
Asha Haven is printed on the side of the truck, a silhouette of mountains and a horse underneath.
Kinsey hurries over to the two men lingering near the back of the truck before I can even blink.
I rush to follow her just as she asks, “Excuse me. Do you work at the ranch?” She points at the logo.
The younger of the two men moves toward us.
My heart is working double time when I gauge the man up close, and I can’t pin down why. He’s attractive enough, blond chopped hair with warm, brown eyes, but no reason for my insides to go haywire.
He clears his throat, holding out his hand for Kinsey first. “Sure do, sweetheart. Name’s Cooper, and this is Duke.
” He points with his thumb to a man walking back from the corner store.
I frown, not noticing that the other man he’d been talking to as we walked up had disappeared until I see his back as he walks toward a trailer down the road.
I relax until I look over at the one Cooper introduced as Duke, and freeze.
He looks familiar, but entirely different.
I can’t place him, but his startling blue eyes draw me in instantly.
He greets us with a flirty smile. I look over at Kinsey, seeing the same confusion as she pulls her hand back. Her lip trembles. “He told me his name was Dallas.”
Cooper laughs, exchanging a look with Duke/Dallas. “Uhh. Yeah, I’m sure he did.”
“We’re identical twins,” Duke says.
The image of there being two of those gorgeous creatures, and being trapped between them, equally excites and disgusts me. I snort, then shake my head when they all look at me. “Ignore me. That was an inside thought.”
Duke smirks. “Thinking of taking a trip to Paris?”
Kinsey’s face pinches, and I know she doesn’t like the idea of me doing anything with Dallas. Which makes more sense than I dare admit, given I don’t like the idea of her doing anything with Duke, and I don’t even know the guy.
Cooper punches him on the shoulder. “Dallas told you to stop saying that. You know he doesn’t do that.”
I don’t miss the way her body slumps with relief, and I figure she needs time to gather her thoughts.
I sigh, twisting a lock of my hair with a flirty flutter of my eyelashes. “Do you two?”
Both of the men stare at me with wide eyes, a blush working over their faces, and it takes everything in me not to laugh at their expressions. I’m trying not to inhale their scents any more than I have since their arousal has spiked, causing heat to pool in my belly.
“I think you broke them,” Kinsey whispers loud enough to be overheard.
I grin. “What a shame. At least I found out they were all talk before taking them for a ride.”
Cooper blinks and then scowls. “We’re not blushing virgins. It was just your beauty—”
“Save it, Cowboy. You wasted your first impression,” I tease, waving my hand. My heart pounds. Aside from a little quibble with the bouncer when we first arrived at Sweet Whiskey, I’ve never spoken to alphas this way.
Kinsey grabs my arm and tries to ask them again, “Asha Haven? You work there?”
Duke crosses his arms. “Why?”
Her body tenses, and I can just feel she’s sick of being asked for the same story.
Since we arrived in Brackenridge, she’s been searching for her dad.
While I came along for the ride promising to help her, I know I’ve slacked on my best friend duties to do just that.
I’ve been savoring my freedom a little too much.
“We’re looking for someone, and we were told we could find him at the ranch,” I explain. Her nails dig lightly into me as a show of thanks.
Cooper groans. “Fuck. Are you knocked up? Mav won’t be happy if it’s one of the newer ranch hands.”
“Especially since Colt told Wyatt last time to pack it up after the whole scene with Cindy,” Duke says with a grimace.
The mention of Mav has me praying it’s not the same burly cowboy that I’ve been flirting with, and I’m so caught up that I don’t even catch the other name mentioned.
“Wait, Colt? Like dark eyes, gloomy with a beard, and a cowboy hat, Colt?” Kinsey asks.
They both look at her with a bit more suspicion. “Yeah. He’s the ranch manager.”
I inhale sharply. There’s no chance it’s not a coincidence, which means they both played us to our faces.
“I met him at the bar.” Kinsey’s voice is weak, and I know she must be thinking the same thing.
Duke snaps his fingers. “The new omegas at Sweet Whiskey. You girls are infamous on the ranch.”
“Great,” she says, clear that it’s anything but.