The idea made me want to hurl again. “No way.”
“You’ll eat something, princess, or do you want a reminder of the consequences from last night?” He arched a blond brow.
My mouth fell open and he grinned.
“Shower. Food. Then I’ll drive you to the ranch.”
6
HAYES
I watchedCassidy enter the bunkhouse in her jean skirt and one of my flannels–her top was in the trash since it’d been ruined. She’d tied it at the waist so it didn’t hang down past her skirt and rolled up her sleeves. She looked adorable, and mine.
Once she was safely inside, getting changed before heading to the stable, I strode away from my truck and toward the paddock where I’d seen the guys working when I drove up.
The sun was high and it was a warm day. Not even a breeze stirred the air.
Buck was leaning against the fence as one of themen from the night before was working a horse on a lead. Another guy was brushing another down by the water trough.
I set a foot on the rail beside Buck.
“Hey,” he said, turning his head my way. He had on his usual uniform of jeans, boots, and Stetson. To battle the heat, he had on a white t-shirt, already sweaty and dusty.
“Hey. Got a beef with your boys.” I tipped my head. “Those two.”
“Oh?” He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Finishing with their horses, they came over.
“Grady, Mike, you know my brother Hayes.”
They nodded. Grady, on the left, tipped his hat off, wiped his sweaty brow, then set it back in place.
“You took Cassidy to The Roadside last night. Got her drunk and let her leave with a man without checking on the situation.”
“She left with you,” Mike said, tugging off his leather gloves.
“Did you ask if she wanted to go? She was in no condition to make a safe decision.”
I wasn’t going to tell them she threw up and passed out. I was trying to teach them a lesson, not shame Cassidy.
“How’d she even get in there?” Buck asked.
“My cousin Randall’s a bouncer,” Mike explained.
“You take a girl out–” I began, but Grady cut me off.
“She’s one of the guys.”
“She got tits?” I asked.
They grinned. I glared, wanting to punch them in the face. They stopped smiling.
“She’s not one of the guys. You take a girl out, she’s your responsibility.”
They weren’t much younger than me, but I felt like I was Pops talking to us boys when we were teenagers first taking girls out on dates.
“Got it,” Mike said with a serious head nod. GradyMike agreed, too.
“Back to work,” Buck told them, and off they went.
