I choke back a laugh, my eyes going wide. "Good to know you've got my back."
"I didn't—I mean… damn. Yeah, OK," he chuckles. "Definitely could've worded that better."
Laughing, I shoot him a smirk. “Better get started then. You know, before Ikeelover and you have to take action."
His grin is worth the wait. "OK, doc." I don't miss the way his shoulders drop and he finally relaxes. For that alone, I give myself a pat on the back.
We start with the furniture first, helping one another to move an old sofa, two ripped armchairs, and Ma's antique set of drawers she's giving to me into the middle of the room and covering them up again.
I use the opportunity to sneakily check him out. I'd have to be blind not to notice the way Austin's body has changed over the years. One look at his arms and you can tell his muscles are honed and toned from years of working the land. His shoulders are broad and strong, and the way he effortlessly carries most of the weight of the heavy furniture is proof of that.
We move our attention to the numerous storage boxes scattered around the room. "So, the rodeo? When I left it was just Rhett hittin’ the road. How did y’all end up followin' him?"
"Just couldn't survive without my big brother," he jokes. "Nah. We went to see him at an event he was workin’ at and there was just somethin' about the whole scene that drew me in. By then, Landry had almost finished school and we all decided that we could all join Rhett on the road. It helped that we had a common goal of buyin’ a ranch together and workin’ on the circuit would ultimately help us achieve that.” He smiles. “So the three of us packed up a truck, said goodbye to Mom, Dad, and Tess, and drove to Juneau. Then we were hooked, the freedom, the dust, dirt, sweat, and pride. All of it. We'd help with set up and pack down, ticket sales, basically whatever the rodeo owners needed us to do. Landry ended up workin’ as a rodeo clown. He still does it now." He dumps a box on the floor and moves to grab another.
My eyes bug out. “No way! Landry?”
“Oh yeah. He loves itandhe’s good at it.”
“That’s awesome.” I’m still trying to connect the dots in my head as I grab another box. I underestimate the weight of it but in the blink of an eye, Austin is there, his body heat radiating onto me as his hands frame mine.
For a moment there, we both freeze when his fingers brush against mine. It's like the world stops spinning and nothing else matters except the scorching heat branding me where we touch and the jolt of energy surging through me as our eyes lock. My pulse is a deafening roar in my ears and I have to quickly lock my knees to stop them from buckling.
Then it’s as if we snap out of it at the same time, but I don’t miss his heavy breathing and blown pupils as I let him take the weight of the box and lower it to the ground.What’s that about?
I clear my throat, willing my body to get back to normal. “So how did you go from the rodeo to Bull Mountain?”
Austin rubs his chin. "Well on the road, we all forged a bond tighter and stronger than it ever was and ever could be. We all decided we wanted a ranch of our own and we would all buy one together.” Austin tilts his head, his gaze boring into mine. "Didn’t you have a little birdie updatin’ you? She sure liked tellin’ everyone about you," he says with a smirk. “Proud as punch Mama right there.”
I chuckle. "Yeah. She’s always been proud of me. She’d keep me updated with news, of course." My expression falls. “But I think she realized it was hard for me to hear things when I was so far away from home, so after a while she stopped. If I didn't ask, she didn't tell."
He nods but doesn't say anything. Feeling the heaviness of the conversation and the big elephant in the room that we'rebothignoring, I circle back.
"I can just imagine the attention you four got on the rodeo tour. Red too. Y’all must’ve been hot property."
"Not sure how to answer that without soundin’ like a dick," he replies.
"Aww, c'mon Austin. Are you honestly goin’ to tell me y’all didn't have buckle bunnies waitin’ for you at every stop?"
"Nah," he rumbles, scratching the back of his neck. "Learned a lot by watchin' other cocky cowboys crash and burn. It's better to keep to yourselves and focus on the event. Besides, after a few years of savin’ our money, we started our search for the ranch. It took a long while but eventually, we had enough money together to step in and save Bull Mountain from the previous owners.”
“What happened?”
“They’d wrung almost everythin’ they could out of the land. She sure was a mess when we took over.”
"I'd love to see it one day," I reply. "I'm sure y'all have done a lot to bring her back to her former glory. That mountain sure seemed big when we were younger."
"It still is. Feel it when we spend the day replantin' the slopes."
"Good cardio then?"
"Oh yeah," he laughs. "Between the ranch, the Bull Stud, and the mountain, there's no chance of runnin' out of work to do."
He jerks his head toward a box with my name on it. "You want to go through this one?”
I try to hide the fact that I was staring at him. Failing miserably if his amused grin is anything to go by. “Huh?”
His smile widens. “This box. It has your name on it, doc.”
