That he needed to let it go.
But he found it hard. Damn hard. Especially as he had to watch every yahoo ranch hand in the place talk to her while she stood there laughing like she had never heard anything funnier than whatever they had just said to her.
“What’s wrong with you?” Walker asked, sliding up next to him. “You look like you’re about to grind a crown straight out of your head.”
“What are you talking about?”
Walker thrust a beer bottle into his hand. “It’s obviousyou’re pissed. And fair, since she’s flirting with those guys to piss you off, that’s also obvious.”
Why bother to pretend?
“I said something stupid.”
“Shocking. It’s almost as if you have me do your PR for a reason.”
“Shut up, Walker. I’m not in the mood.”
“Whenareyou in the mood? What’s the deal?”
“I told her that nothing could happen between us. Told her that the ranch is important and –”
“More important than her.”
“It has to be,” he said. There was no point lying while he was talking to his brother. “This ranch is going to be our legacy. It’s the thing that we’re owed. The thing that our father owes us, from the beyond, because he’s never going to give it to us in life. The thing that he owes to our mother. I can’t let anything distract me, not right now. It’s not even so much that she works here. It’s the timing.”
“Oh my God,” Walker said. “Please tell me you didn’t say that. Not like that. For God’s sake. At least you let her know before you slept with her that you’re a giant red flag.”
Cody froze mid-sip with his beer bottle pressed to his lips, then swallowed just a little too slowly.
“Cody,” Walker said. “You slept with her already, and you said that to her?”
Cody scowled. “How do you do that?”
“I possess entry-level people skills. And you’re basic enough, I don’t even need those to read you.”
Cody felt extremely uncomfortable with all of this. He never had to be smooth. That was Walker’s domain. Cody was more… hard-edged. It made people underestimate him, usually to his advantage, or it made women want to hop into bed with him to get a taste of something wild, but they didn’t want him to call the next day. They didn’t want anything from him.
He was a good time, not a long time, and he presented exactly like that.
And he had… acted likeMarlowewas desperate for more fromhim, then told her she couldn’t have it. Which, if he paused and really looked at that, he could see was maybe not the best way to have approached her.
“I wasn’t trying to be smooth. I just…”
“You were reacting to yourself,” Walker said. “You’re distracted because you’re that into her. And that’s a new problem, not a problem. I think we are both smart enough to know that.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It should be over. It should just have been… the one time. It should’ve been enough.”
Walker let out a low whistle and shook his head. “I’m almost jealous.”
“What?”
“I’ve never felt that way. Never felt like it had to be another time. Never felt like once wasn’t enough. Must be a hell of a thing.”
“It’s terrible.”
Walker rolled his eyes. “Your steak is too rich, your lobster is too buttery, and the sex was too good. Boohoo, bro.”
“It’s complicated. And I don’t have time for a complication right now. It’s not the right time.”
