“Well, observe it somewhere else.”
I toss the saddle and pad over the edge of the stall and Kenny sets down the pretzel bag to heft it off, heading to the tack room with it. She’s back a few minutes later, handing me a brush but not saying a word.
“Would you have an issue with it? If I were to?—”
“Sleep with my best friend?” she finishes as I run the brush over Cash’s back. His skin twitches, and I shush him gently. This brush isn’t his favorite, but I’m not gonna send Kenny back to get the other one when she was just trying to help, especially not when I’m trying to keep this line of conversation going.
“Nah,” she says when she realizes I’m not gonna take the bait of her teasing. “You’re both grown adults. As long as you understand that I'm gonna side with her in the divorce.”
I sniff to buy myself time and fill the silence, ignoring her joke. “What if it was more than that?”
“What, like… dating?”
I shrug. “Is that so hard to believe? That I want to take her out?”
Kenny’s quiet for a bit too long, and when I look up at her, her eyes are too soft. I hate it. “Maddie…” she sighs. “Don’t tell Austin I’m telling you this, because I don’t think she even realizes I know, but I get the feeling she won’t be in Cedar Creek much longer. Trying to start something with her—something more than a good time… I don’t think it’s smart, Bubba.”
Her words hit me like I’m being kicked by a horse and I don’t realize I’ve stopped brushing Cash until he blows through his nose in a loud, expectant way. I get back to it. “Got it,” I tell Kenny.
I hate how she’s looking at me, how she’s talking to me. Even if she argues with me most of the time, she’s the sweetest of my sisters, a goddamn bleeding heart of a woman. Her pity makes me feel transparent.
She opens her mouth like she’s got more she wants to say, but I cut her off. “When Tate gets home, can you help make sure she’s ready for tomorrow? It’s her first several-night trip like this and I don’t want her to forget anything. Go ahead and slip her medicine in her bag for her, please.”
Kenny sighs, but nods. She’s good at taking hints, so she doesn’t press. “Sure thing,” she says with a put-on smile, grabbing Cash’s bridle and taking it to the tack room before slipping out of the barn and leaving me to my thoughts.
It’s not like I’d been planning to marry Austin. I mean, the thought had entered my mind in a roundabout ‘what-if’ sort of way, but not legitimately. It still fucking sucked to hear that she had one foot out the door while I was stuck in this town for life. I loved the ranch, and I loved Cedar Creek. I never truly wanted to leave it, but I wish I had the option.
It wasn’t fair to put that much pressure on Austin’s shoulders, especially when she had no idea I’d put it there or that I was even interested in her beyond sex. It was also stupid and unrealistic. I’d been lonely so goddamn long that I’d latched on to the first woman who made my dick work for the first time in forever. Started making all sorts of plans that had no business being made.
By the time I finished brushing Cash, I’d made a few decisions.
For one, I was going to distance myself from Austin and get my wits about me again. I was thirty-two goddamn years old. Panting after a cam girl ten years younger than me was Colt-levels of ridiculous.
Two, as soon as Jameson came home from their trip, I was going to go find a woman who wanted to fuck me and give her one of those bone-tired orgasms Austin spoke so highly of.
Three, I was gonna cancel that goddamn cam girl subscription. All I was doing was wasting my money. I never needed porn before. I don't need it now.
My phone buzzes as I’m walking back to my house.
Tex
Miss me? Gonna be a show tonight.
Attached is a photo of her in one of the lingerie sets I’d just purchased for her. She’s got the tip of the vibrator I usually choose pressed against her bright red lips, but the photo cuts off there, not showing the rest of her face. My RedRanger.
I groan. She’s so goddamn sexy, and she knows it. She uses it so fucking well. In light of Kenny’s advice, I ignore my uncomfortably hard cock and slip the phone back in my pocket.
An hour later, it goes off again.
Tex
You’ve had plenty of time to jack off to my picture and get through your refractory period, so I’m going to start the show now, old man.
A notification telling me she’s going live comes through. I shove my feet back in my boots, grab my keys and my hat, and head to my pickup. At least I know Austin isn’t at the bar, so I can drink without having to face her.
Two hours later, I’m drunker than I’d like to admit and have to call Jamie to come pick me up. I’m slurring out another apology for pulling him out of bed even though he has to be up early when my phone goes off again.
Tex
