Page 20 of Road to a Cowboy

“The string snapped back when I let the arrow loose.”

“Aren’t there arm guards for that?”

Alice rolled her eyes. “Apparently, he didn’t need one to test the bow.”

Derek smiled at his daughter and held both hands up. “Lesson learned, lesson learned. Not a mistake I’ll be making again.”

“Did you hit the target at least?” Austin asked.

“Not by a long shot.”

A few minutes later, after a reminder from Derek that Austin had a standing invitation to family dinner and family game nights, Austin jogged down the back steps of the house. A handful of cowboys milled around near the horse barn, but none of them were Austin’s.

But then that cowboy appeared from the opposite side of the barn, a swagger to his hips that Cal only adopted while at work. Like he knew he was top shit here and had the attitude to prove it.

It was hot as fuck.

And there Austin went, getting hot under the collar again. Didn’t help that Cal was, as he’d pointed out earlier, twice as messy as he’d been after fixing Chester’s car.

Didn’t help either that his T-shirt hugged his chest and arms and that his jeans hugged his thighs and ass so, so nicely. Austin wanted to tumble him into the grass and kiss his stupid face off until their lips hurt.

Gulping, he pulled the collar of his T-shirt away from his neck. He was overly warm and it had nothing to do with the temperature.

Las was at Cal’s side and he said something that made Cal smile. It was unreserved and friendly, very big brother speaking to little brother. It tugged at something in Austin’s chest, and he zipped quickly to his car to grab the bag of candy before leaning against the fence that separated the Windsor homestead from the nearby working areas.

“Hey,” he said, leaning one foot on the bottom railing.

Cal’s smile shifted. Became less familial and more...

Well. Austin didn’t know what. He’d never seen that kind of smile on Cal’s face before. There was a hint of wariness to it Austin didn’t like and didn’t know how to interpret.

He offered Cal the candy. “Twizzler?”

Again Cal’s smile shifted, wariness disappearing under amusement as he and Las approached.

“What’s with you two and Twizzlers?” Las asked. From the other side of the fence, he leaned his forearms on the top rung.

“They’re good,” Austin said.

“They’re fine,” Las countered. “There’s better candy out there.”

“But these are Cal’s favorite.”

From under the brim of his hat, Cal squinted at him. “No, they’re your favorite.”

Austin stared at him. “No, they’re not.”

“But...”

Las, looking all too delighted at the turn in conversation, got more comfortable against the railing.

“You brought them for us to share in kindergarten,” Austin said, as though the answer were right there.

“Yeah,” Cal said slowly, nudging up the brim of his hat. “Because you had them in your lunchbox the week before.”

“Because you had them in your lunchbox the week before that.”

“Fascinating,” Las whispered, grinning like he’d discovered the secret to life. “It’s like the chicken or the egg.”

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