“Guess you better come with us next time.” That baritone invokes tremors in my chest.
Before I can respond, Jonas chimes in. And that’s all it takes to subdue the rush of sparks between us. “Mom would have beginner’s luck. That’s cheating.”
I scowl at him. “I’ve been fishing more in my life than youhave, kiddo. Who do you think Grandpa took with him before you were born?”
Jonas and I knit our brows in unison. Neither prepared to back down.
“Nope.” Colt waves a hand between us to break up the moment. “You two scare the shit out of me when you get all glarey like that. Makes me feel like I’m gonna have to break up a fight between two Rottweilers in a second.”
“More like a Rottweiler and a…Chihuahua.” Jonas sticks his tongue out at me. He looks pleased with his insult, and I let him have it.
“Scariest Chihuahua I’ve ever fuck—” My scowl turning on him for the F-bomb sends Colt tripping over his words. “Imeanfridging. Scariest Chihuahua I’vefridgingseen.”
I have no idea where “fridging” came from, but it leads to more unhinged giggles between the two of them. And that’sfridgingincredible to see.
Whit
The next morning, I’m reveling in the silence of eight a.m. coffee and a romance novel with so much sexual tension I catch myself inadvertently kicking my feet. A tattooed surfer who also rides motorcycles?One can only fucking dream.
Naturally, my phone rings in the lead-up to what’s promising to be averyspicy scene. Because of course it does. As a testament to how good of a sister I am, I set the Kindle down with a huff and greet Blair in a tone that’s the closest to normal I can currently achieve.
“Hey, so Mom got it in her head that she wants to have a girls’ day.”
“Okay.” I raise the coffee mug to my lips. “When?”
“Today. She saw some garage sale ads in the paper this morning.”
“It’ll have to be girls plus Jonas, and that’s assuming I can get him out of bed.”
Since he started spending so much time at Wells Ranch, I practically have to drag him out of bed every morning. On the weekends, I typically let him sleep in and play video games. Itissummer vacation, after all.
“Dad wants to take him fishing,” Blair says.
“All right, I’ll do my best to wake him up.” I haul myself off the couch with a groan and pad across the room. “I want youto know I was in the middle of a smutty book when you called.”
And I’d rather continue doing that than go wake up my grumpy kid.
She laughs. “Apologies.You can bring it for the long drive to Sheridan.”
“And have to explain the plot to Mom? I don’t think so. See you soon.”
It’s a full hour before Jonas and I are cutting across the small field that separates our street from my parents’. The tall grass is in need of rain, and it tickles my bare calves, catching on the hem of my knee-length sage green dress.
If you’d asked me at sixteen whether I’d choose to live within walking distance of my childhood home, I would’ve laughed so hard I’d herniate something. But when I walked out of the hospital with my dad carrying the baby car seat—equal parts devastated, embarrassed, and furious it wasn’t Alex—the last of my teenage angst fell away. Remaining in close proximity to my parents was the most logical option.
I’m two pain relievers and a bottle of water in, attempting to quell the headache Jonas is giving me. Since the moment he opened his eyes, he’s been vehemently whining about wanting to stay home and play video games instead. At first, I thought maybe he wasn’t feeling well after spending hours in the heat yesterday, but his skin’s no longer flushed, his temperature’s normal, and he inhaled three slices of cold leftover pizza for breakfast. He’s not sick. Just moody.
Blair’s leaning against her car when we arrive, and Jonas thankfully has the decency to say a quick good morning to his aunt and wave to my mom in the passenger seat. I ruffle his hair and urge him to find his grandpa with the assurance that he’ll have fun, and there’s plenty of time for video games tonight.
Since I slipped my Kindle into my purse at the last second before leaving the house, I take the empty seat behind Mom’s. If she can’t see me reading, she won’t ask what I’m reading about.
“I expected Jonas to be stoked about fishing,” Blair says, backing out of the driveway.
Granted, he’s been bugging Dad to take him since the local lakes thawed in the spring. But to be fair to Jonas, I can see why he might not be thrilled to fish two days in a row.
“He actually went yesterday, so I think that’s why he’s not as excited. I’m sure they’ll still have fun, though.”
My sister’s eyes meet mine in the rearview mirror with unsubtle shock written in her expression. “Did Alex take him?”
