“Hey, Sam!” Jeff called out from where he was slouched in a chair. “Grab me a beer!”
“Get your own beer,” I grumbled.
He rolled his eyes on a sigh. “I would, if only Ma wasn’t watching my every move. Apparently, I’m not allowed to move from this chair.”
“And I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to be drinking,” I said, walking over and swiping the bottle from his hands.
“You wouldn’t be so evil. Taking a man’s only source of comfort is just mean.”
“Well, if I have to be miserable, so should you.”
“Hey, I got this wound in the line of duty!” he said, pulling up his shirt, showing off the scar that was still raised and pink.
“It was hardly the line of duty. And no, I would not make you suffer like I am. If anything, I’m sneaking out of here before I get roped into any more of the festivities.”
He snatched my shirt as I started walking away. “Take me with you,” he pleaded. “I can take the mothering and the overbearing nature of everyone around. But if one more person asks me how I am, I will kill someone.”
“You know, I’d really love to take you with me. Honestly, nothing would make me happier?—”
“Sam,” he warned.
And I almost made it, too. If only I hadn’t bumped into the one person who had the power to make me stay.
“Going somewhere, brother?” Blake asked behind me.
My eyes slipped closed as her voice sent dread through me. I was so close.
Jeff chuckled, catching a beer someone threw him. “Bet you wish you had taken me with you now.”
Turning, I put on my best fake smile. After all, I had moved out here to be close to her. At least, that’s what I told myself. I figured she was the lesser of all the evils in my family. My brothers and Dad would have hounded me every day, and that was something I couldn’t take.
“So, a little birdie tells me that you’re boxing again,” she said nonchalantly as she took a sip of her beer.
I narrowed my eyes, wondering how in the hell she knew that when it was strictly on the DL. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really? So, you have no idea how you got those bruises on your knuckles, or why you’ve put on more bulk recently?”
“I’ve been working out. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“No, not if it’s just to work out. But word has it that your trainer is in town, and he’s looking at a long-term rental. Why, he even called here, asking about availability on our ranch.”
I cocked my head at her, waiting for her to make her point. “And?”
“And that means you’re training again. And since you swore you wouldn’t put yourself in the ring again when you weren’t at your best, that means you think you’re able to do it.”
I shrugged, glancing away. I wasn’t about to explain myself to her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“So you could run and tell Dad? Or any of our other nosy brothers?”
“Do you really think I’d do that?”
I met her gaze, pissed that she found out. “And now that you know, what’s your plan?”
She slowly took a sip of her beer. “Absolutely nothing. I’ll admit, it stings that you didn’t tell me. I hate that I had to hear it from the gossip mill, but I fully support you.”
My jaw dropped at that. “You do?”
