Page 12 of Spurred On

It had taken her years to wipe him from her memory and one second of blinding passion to suck her back down into the swirling maelstrom of obsession.

One thing was clear. She would have to avoid Cody at Hanna’s party, and avoid him like the plague.

And that kiss he insisted she owed him?

That was not happening.

It couldn’t.

She couldn’t allow it.

Chapter Three

Once all his plans were in place, Cody couldn’t wait for the day of Hanna’s party to arrive. He must have been nervous as hell, because even his siblings noticed. And they usually never noticed anything if it didn’t have to with themselves.

Claire eyed him warily that morning at breakfast. “What is up with you?” she asked.

“Nothing,” he said. Surely it wasn’t a lie.

But Cade snorted. “You’re bouncing around like a cat on a hot tin roof.”

Cody plopped into a chair and attempted to still his twitching. The last thing he wanted was for Claire or Cody to get a whiff of his excitement. To know what he was planning.

For one thing, they would take great pleasure in cock-blocking him. For another—for some reason—he didn’t want them to know. Didn’t want anyone to know. His feelings for Sidney were far too raw to share. Especially with them.

He’d never told anyone about his one long-ago tryst with her. Certainly never let on that he’d never stopped thinking about her. He didn’t dare.

“It’s just another party,” Cade said, grabbing a biscuit. It was a mistake, because—since Lisa, the ranch baker and Cade’s main squeeze, had gone to visit her mother for the week—Claire had made the biscuits and they were hard as rocks. He tried to take a bite and then dropped the monstrosity on his plate with a clang. “Why are you nervous about it?”

“Don’t you know?” Claire said with a smirk. “Cody’s girlfriend is coming.”

Cody froze. His pulse stalled. He gazed at his sister. How had she known? “I . . .”

“Oh right!” Cade chuckled. He leaned in and whispered conspiratorially to Claire, “We need to make sure we give her a room near his. You know. For convenience.”

Holy crap! Did everyone know his business?

“Oh yeah. But why make it easy for her? Everyone knows, Tibby loves a challenge.”

“That is true.” Cade winked at him.

Tibby? They were talking about Tibby?

Relief gushed through him . . . until he realized what they were saying. Until he remembered. Tibby was coming. To stay at the ranch house. Overnight.

He made a mental note to check the locks on his door.

“I can’t believe you agreed to let her come,” Cade said with a tsk. “Don’t you remember last time?”

Of course he did. Last time had been horrifying. Not just Tibby showing up naked in his bed—which had been bad enough—but her crazy friends had practically stalked him too. They were like those chirpy little dinos in Jurassic Park that popped up looking all innocent and cute and then turned on a guy when he least expected it, ripping out his flesh and savagely groping his very private parts.

He’d have to be on alert all weekend or he might get molested.

“You guys have to have my six,” he said. “Warn me when she’s creeping close.”

“You know I have your back,” Cade said with a chuckle. “Even though this is your fault.”

“It’s not my fault! Hanna wanted Tibby to come.”