He gestured to the shop, and I forced my feet to move, slipping past him into the heated lobby.
Had he slept with anyone since me? And if he had, why did I feel a pang of jealousy at that thought, when we both knew damn well I’d slept with someone? I wasn’t purposefully trying to be celibate over the years, but when all I did was travel from ranch to ranch, helping out old cowboys and tough women, I didn’t have much time for flings.
“Have you slept with anyone?Since we parted?” I mentally cursed myself after the question slipped out. Where the fuck had my boldness come from today?
None of this was my damn business.
“In terms of sex, no.” He stepped in behind me, letting the door fall shut, and started taking off his jacket. “But I’ve fooled around.”
I shoved the pinch of jealousy away. I had no right.
“Okay. Who was texting you?” I asked, and winced. Curiosity was my arch nemesis today.
He hung his jacket up on the rack, pulling his phone out from the inside pocket. He clicked on the screen, squinting down at it. “Lettie. And Brandy. Sage.” He scrolled a little more. “Bailey. Oakley.”
“So, everyone,” I surmised.
He nodded, locking the phone and shoving it back in the pocket. His smirk had me knowing what was coming next. “Why so many questions this morning?”
“Just trying to catch up,” I chirped.
He blinked a few times, likely waiting for me to add anything of value to that poor explanation. When the silence stretched, he said, “They want to see you.”
“When?”
“If they had it their way, it’d be now. But I want you to do this on your timeline, not theirs.”
I took a steady inhale. I was eager to see everyone again, and their new partners, but I knew what came with seeing people from the past. It wouldn’t only bring up the good, but it’d dig up the bad, too. All those times I joined them for dinner and fought back tears because we never had nice meals at my house. When I’d broken myarm, and Charlotte hadn’t hesitated to pay the medical bill.
“Tonight?” I offered. No matter what, I’d have to relive what I’d left in Bell Buckle. I might as well nip it in the bud before I could think about it too hard.
Beckham studied me like he might be able to read whether I was looking for an out. I wasn’t. “You still want to go to the ranch for this?”
I nodded. I missed that place.
“Just don’t go to the bar,” Wyatt said, his sudden appearance causing me to jump. Beckham seemed to track my reaction before we both faced Wyatt where he was coming in from the back door.
“Why not?” I asked. “Something happen to Outlaw’s Watering Hole?”
Beside me, Beck’s teeth ground together. “Wyatt.”
“He’s got a drinkin’ problem, ya know.” Wyatt sat in his chair, swiveling it around and shaking the mouse to wake the computer.
“What?” My eyes flew to Beckham to find him stiff as a board.
In my periphery, Wyatt seemed to freeze. “Shit, Beck. I thought she knew. She’s got your baby and all, so I thought?—”
Beckham raised a hand, stopping him.
The room was suddenly tense, the air too thick.
“I’ll just leave you two to it.” I didn’t look to see Wyatt leaving the way he’d come. The sound of the door shutting was the only indication he’d left.
Beckham turned my way, but I couldn’t read his expression. Guilt? Concern?
“Parker—”
“Were you going to tell me?”
