“Jesse’s right,” Truett says, missing the tension entirely. “You haven’t been on a horse in a long time. We shouldn’t throw you back in the thick of things too fast.”
The conversation moves on, but I can feel Aubree’s gaze lingering on me. She knows something’s off, but she can’t put her finger on what. Good. The last thing I need is for her to figure out that watching my brothers flirt with her is making me lose my goddamn mind.
As the meal continues, I become a student of details I wish I could ignore. The way she cuts her steak into precise little pieces before eating them. How she always takes a sip of water after every few bites. The unconscious way she tucks her honey-blonde hair behind her ear when she’s listening to someone talk.
And the worst part? She’s completely unaware of the effect she’s having, not just on my brothers, but on me. Every laugh,every smile, every casual touch is like a match struck against my already frayed nerves.
“Remember that time we all went to the county fair?” Austin’s saying now, and I know exactly where this story is heading. “And Aubree entered the pie-eating contest?”
“Oh god,” she groans, covering her face with her hands. “Don’t.”
“She was so determined to beat old Mrs. Henderson,” Austin continues, grinning. “Ended up with blueberry pie from her hairline to her chin.”
“And you looked beautiful doing it,” Denver adds with a grin that makes me want to put him through the wall.
Carson nods sagely. “Most attractive pie-eating contest contestant in county fair history.”
She’s laughing now, that full-bodied laugh that does things to my insides I don’t want to think about. “You’re all ridiculous.”
“Ridiculously right,” Austin says, and there’s something in his tone that makes my jaw clench.
I’ve had enough.
Standing abruptly, I push my chair back from the table. “I’m gonna go check on the horses.”
“Jesse,” Aubree starts, but I’m already moving.
“Finish eating,” I tell her without looking back. “We’ll head out in twenty.”
The cool evening air hits my face as I step onto the porch, but it does nothing to cool the fire burning in my chest. I need to get my head on straight before I do something stupid, like punch one of my brothers or pin Aubree against the nearest wall and show her exactly what I think about her flirting with them.
The horses are fine, of course. They’re always fine. But I spend the next fifteen minutes in the barn anyway, breathing in the familiar smells of hay and leather, trying to talk myself down from the ledge I’m standing on.
This is Aubree. Truett’s little sister. The girl I’ve known since she was in pigtails and braces. The woman I’ve spent the last ten years trying not to think about in any way that wasn’t completely platonic.
But watching her tonight, seeing the way she’s grown into herself, confident and beautiful and completely unaware of her own power…it’s breaking down every wall I’ve built to keep these feelings locked away.
And the worst part? I think she knows exactly what she’s doing to me.
When I finally head back to the house, everyone’s finishing up dessert. Cookie’s made his famous apple pie, and there’s easy laughter flowing around the table. For a moment, I almost wish I could join in, be part of the easy camaraderie instead of standing on the outside, watching and wanting what I can’t have.
“There he is,” Truett says as I walk back in. “Everything good with the horses?”
“Everything’s fine.” I lean against the doorframe, studying the scene. Aubree’s got a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth, like she’s got a secret she’s not sharing.
“Well, if you two are heading to the Rusty Spur, you better get going,” Truett says, checking his watch. “Gets crowded after nine, and you’ll never find a parking spot.”
Aubree stands, brushing invisible crumbs from her jeans. “Let me grab my jacket.”
“Meet me at the truck,” I tell her, my voice coming out more commanding than I intended.
She pauses, looking at me with those brown eyes that see too much. For a second, I think she’s going to call me on my tone, but then she just nods.
“See you boys later,” she says to my brothers, giving them each a quick hug that makes my teeth grind together.
As she heads upstairs, I catch Denver watching her go with a look I don’t like. “Something to say?” I ask him.
He shrugs, but there’s a knowing glint in his eye. “Just wondering when you’re gonna stop pretending you don’t want her.”
