Both of her friends nodded at that. It was the closest she’d been able to come to placating both of them. A line had been drawn in the dirt. She’d have to make a clear decision eventually. She just hoped she’d be brave enough to do the right thing.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Tripp threwhis whole weight into tossing the bale of hay off the truck. It went a little farther than necessary, which earned him a startled look from his brother—a look that quickly turned into something amused.
Brent knew better than to bring up Tripp’s terrible mood. They’d already discussed at length what was bothering him and Brent was no help. Of course he empathized. But then he’d shrugged it off. “Maybe she’s not worth the trouble.” His words echoed in Tripp’s mind. They were the fuel that had been added to the fire in his chest.
His brother didn’t know anything.
How could he say something like that if he hadn’t found someone to spend the rest of his life with? What irritated Tripp the most was that his brother would say it out loud knowing full-well that Tripp had it bad for Wendy.
No one held a candle to the woman. And she was the only one who couldn’t see it.
With another grunt, he flung another bale. This time Brent jumped back and muttered something under his breath. His eyes shot daggers in Tripp’s direction. But then he softened as Tripp settled onto the edge of the truck bed. His legs hung over the side and he yanked the leather work gloves from his hands. With a swipe of his wrist over his forehead, Tripp heaved a frustrated sigh.
The other men who’d been working with them initially had wisely slipped away to do something else. It was just the two of them. A soft chuckle reached Tripp, and he glanced over to find Jacob and Tate heading in their direction.
What Tripp wouldn’t do to wipe the amusement from his friends’ faces.
Shoulders rounded, Tripp rested his forearms atop his knees. His jaw tightened. The last thing he wanted was to hang out with people who seemed to have their lives put together. Jacob and Tate were well on their way to becoming well-known rodeo stars. And lately Brent was spending more and more time with them. That probably meant that Brent was putting a few of his own chess pieces into play.
Tripp glanced at his younger brother but didn’t see anything but concern reflected back. That made him scowl. “I’ll finish up here. You go do whatever it is the three of you had planned.”
Jacob scoffed and clapped a hand on Brent’s shoulder before draping a hand round his neck. “You should know your brother better than that. He called for reinforcements.”
Reinforcements?
Tripp straightened and the deadly look he sent his brother’s way was enough to have his brother finally breaking eye-contact.“What are you talking about?” He directed the question at Jacob, but he still stared hard at his brother.
“Your brother is worried. This isn’t like you.”
The amused sound that came from Tate was overshadowed by Jacob’s next words.
“I’m all for finding a girl to spend time with, but at some point we have to accept that finding love isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Relationships eventually fizzle out and die. We don’t live in our parents’ generation. Divorce is up among other things. It’s smarter just to remain friends with the fairer sex.
Tripp shifted his attention to Jacob and his eyes narrowed. His friend couldn’t be serious. Could he? Tripp had seen the way he was around Hallie. Granted, Tripp had never witnessed anything romantic between the two of them. But Jacob also didn’t date much because he was always on the move. He liked to enter as many events as he could in the surrounding states. One time he was gone for three months straight.
“Just because you’re married to your job doesn’t mean the rest of us have to be,” Tripp muttered. “And I want a family at some point. I want to be able to come home at the end of day and wrap my wife in my arms. I want to hear my kids bickering or laughing. I want to teach them how to ride. I want to take them camping and show them what the world has to offer.”
All three men stared at him like he’d grown antlers.
“You can’t tell me Wendy isn’t worth it,” He gave Brent a pointed stare. “Because she is. And I want her to be mine.” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “The problem right now isn’t if she’s too much trouble. The problem is that I might have already lost my chance and I can’t even figure out what I did wrong.”
The tension around them seemed more somber, now. No one bothered to argue with him. Tate didn’t meet his eyes. Brent seemed a little lost in thought. But Jacob seemed fidgety. He’d dropped his arm from Brent’s shoulders and now his hands were shoved in his back pockets. But he wasn’t meeting Tripp’s gaze and he was shifting his weight from foot to foot. The man was clearly uncomfortable about something.
Tripp opened his mouth to demand what was going on when Brent spoke first.
“Tripp’s right.”
Everyone looked at him.
“If we’re allowed to go after what we want in terms of career goals, we shouldn’t get any trouble for going after the women we want, either.”
Tate frowned at Brent but didn’t offer anything more.
Jacob still looked anywhere but at Tripp.
“Maybe we need to help Tripp get her back?—”
