I clap him on the back. “Missed you at church, brother.”
He merely grunts in response. I lift an eyebrow in Pops’s direction. He gives me a slight shake of the head. Guess Ridge is still upset about Tiff being gone.
The screen door bangs open again, and a gaggle of women arrives.
“The party’s here!” Frankie calls out.
“I brought the margaritas!” Morgan follows up with.
Skye lets out a whoop that hurts my ears. I take the headphones out of my back pocket and put them on myself. Shelby elbows me in the ribs.
I made a serious miscalculation. If I’m trying to woo Shelby into falling in love with me, exposing her any further to my crazy family is not the best route.
Leaning down, I whisper in her ear. “Can we just skip dinner and go home and get naked?”
Shelby’s face flames bright red. She snatches the headphones off my head. “That wasn’t exactly a whisper.”
I look around the room, seeing various amused expressions on my family’s faces as they stare at us.Well, crap.
“It’s the Lord’s Day, dumbass!” Meemaw hollers from the kitchen.
Chapter
Twenty-One
SAVE A HORSE, RIDE A COWBOY
Shelby
“What would queen diva Dolly Parton do in your shoes?” I ask my reflection as I finish washing my face. It’s rarely a bad idea to invoke Dolly’s name, but it’s damn hard to get a firm answer.
It’s the evening of the Sunday dinner where Dallas announced to his entire family—and probably some nearby neighbors—that we’re having sex. Luckily, I escaped too much interrogation, mostly thanks to Ryder’s presence and his incessant inquiries into why Dallas wanted to get naked. Everyone silently agreed the answer was skinny dipping, so I fully expect to find Ryder trying to go to swim practice naked in the near future.
I did, however, get plenty of knowing looks, so I expect my phone to blow up before long.
Ping!
And speak of the devil, there it goes now.
Skye: You know I try not to pry, but are you sure you know what you’re doing?
Ping!
Frankie: I knew it! *hug emoji* *wink emoji*
Ping!
Morgan: Please feel free to tell my wife to eff off
Ping!
Ridge: Does my brother’s ass need to be kicked? I’m more than happy to do it.
I drop the phone face down on the countertop with a long sigh and finish patting my face dry.
The days since Ryder’s big meltdown have flown by. The heat is causing issues for livestock countywide, so my schedule has been brutal. I’ve gotten home late most nights with only enough energy to shower and fall into bed.
Dallas has been equally busy keeping things steady for Ryder, helping out at the ranch, and fitting in his woodworking in the wee hours. Today is the first day we’ve had off to catch our breaths, and with Ryder starting school this week and the temps expected to start dropping soon, I imagine we’ll have free time to make even more poor decisions together.
