“Fair. Also, I imagine this man being dumb has something to do with him having a dick. Care to elaborate?” I ask in return, not knowing where she’s going with this.
“Colt almostkissedme the other day…”
My brows shoot up. “And that makes him dumb,how?”
“Because he fucking almost kissed me, apologised, and fucking ran away!”
“Heran away?”
“Yes, literally. He just turned and fucking ran toward his stupid truck, like a stupid head.”
“You’re really throwing out some fun words, babe,” I tell her, trying to conceal a laugh.
“Shut up,” she scowls, throwing a pillow at me.
“How does onealmostkiss someone?”
Ella rolls her eyes, and I can’t help but laugh. As perfectly put together as she is, she’s cute when she’s mad. “We were coming home from the lake, and he walked me to the door. I was going to invite him inside, because that’s what friends do—”
“Friends?” I cock a brow at her.
“Yes, friends. Don’t interrupt or I won’t tell you.” She frowns at me. I pretend to zip my lips and throw away the key, the gesture seeming to tame the beast temporarily because she continues her story. She can play this game all she wants, but those two are oddly alike, despite their insanely different exteriors.
“As I was saying. I turned around and he was standing likerightthere. He started babbling on about some crap because my ex turned up an—”
“Wait, back up. What?”
“My ex showed up at the bar.”
“The guy from the cattle station?”
“Yeah, Dale – stupid name.Ugh. He waltzed in with Kai and couldn’t wait to crawl his way over to me.” Ella’s tone is laced with disgust as she relays the evening.
Kai Ballantine I’ve heard of. I have never met him, or his twin brother, Alister, but their reputation proceeds them. Kai is a champion bull rider, a well-known lothario, and has frequent run-ins with the law for various petty crimes – the ones wehearabout anyway.
Shit. This is bad. This isreallybad.
“What happened, Ella?”
“I don’t know, to be honest. Vague threats were made, and Colt nearly punched him after telling him to fuck off about five times. As usual, Dale just stuck his nose where it doesn’t belong.”
“Is Colt okay?” I ask.
“Yeah, Kai came over and told them to knock it off, then they all left and Colt drove me home.” My face must say everything I don’t vocalise because Ella takes a deep sigh and shakes her head before continuing, “Why are men sodumb?”
“Testosterone and whiskey,” I tell her with a laugh.
Colt and Teddy are perched on the bar stools as Ella and I enter the kitchen. Teddy whirls around with a toothpick in his mouth and a ‘Card Games for Dummies’ book in front of him. A deck of cards rests on top of his whiskey glass next to an open packet of cigarettes.
“Who let the riff raff in?” I ask the room.
“Nice to see you too, floss,” Teddy pipes in.
“Floss?”
“Yeah, ’cause your hair looks like fairy floss,” he offers with a shrug.
River’s voice rings out from the living room. “Babe, you need to come up with a better way of creating nicknames.”
