He leans back in his chair. “You can’t just drop a bomb like that and expect us to wait.”
“What bomb?” Mason asks.
“Her and mystery cowboy are official now,” Cody says.
Addison’s face turns red. “Shut up, Cody!”
“Hey, hey. Be nice,” Mom scolds.
“He could’ve come to dinner.” Dad shrugs but that just annoys her more.
“Yeah, because that would’ve been great,” she mutters.
“Just tell us his name,” I chime in, trying to ease the pressure but not change the topic. She glares at me.
They’ve been “talking” since July or August but none of us have met him and she won’t tell us where she met him or even his name. I think Mom knows more information but won’t tell us out of keeping her promise to Addison. It’s been driving the three of us brothers crazy. Mason has already tried to follow her, just to see what he looks like, but she caught him before she even left the driveway. Now we just give Mason a hard time for being a cop and not even being able to manage a simple stakeout.
Ella looks to her. “Where’d you meet him?” she asks innocently.
And of course, Addison can’t get annoyed with a guest so she opens right up and answers, “At a rodeo.”
“Rodeo?!” Cody hollers.
Addie lets out a cocky laugh. “Yup. He’s a bull rider.”
The three of us let out a collective groan of dread.
Mason shakes his head. “Oh, geez.”
“Of course,” I mutter.
Dad chuckles to himself and Mom looks confused about our reservation.
Ella shifts in her seat. “I actually dated a bull rider when I lived in Texas.”
Her words strike my gut and my body stiffens. Imagining her with someone else—I’ll admit, I don’t like it.
Cody, being the typical pain-in-the-ass brother he is, glances at me and then her. “Oh yeah? What happened there?”
I give him a death stare.
Ella shrugs, her tone nonchalant. “It didn’t work out. He was … nice, but not husband material by any means.”
I watch her take a drink, refusing to look at me.
Addison looks to her. “Wait, why?”
Ella lets out a small laugh and finally glances at me before Addison.
“Big ego, always talking about or showing me videos of rides from past years. Total turnoff after a while.” Addison nods, taking a mental note would be my guess.
Cody shakes his head. “Typical bull rider. Nobody likes cocky.”
Dad interjects before any of us can. “Says the cockiest one at this table.”
Everyone except Cody laughs. “I am not,” he argues.
“Oh please. IfWebster’s Dictionaryhad pictures, yours would be right there.”
