Page 5 of Undeniable Love

I was lucky. My family loved me and while my brothers were ultra-protective of me, they’d never once thrown down the cliché, patriarchal, and bullheaded boy shit of no friend can date my sister. No guy I know is good enough for her. The first time they ever hinted at it, my mom and dad both gave them shit. “What kind of asshole friends are you spending time with then? Maybe you’re the one who should stay away from them.”

That had shut both Caleb and Cameron up right away. Because they knew. They were good guys. Would never be friends with guys who treated women like second-class citizens who should still not own their own checking accounts and all that bullshit. My dad had hauled them off to the field, and they’d come home exhausted, dirtier than I’d ever seen any of them, and both of them had muttered, “You’re smart enough to love whoever you choose. Sorry we doubted you.”

And that was it.

“You should know, though, the reason I thought this was so damn funny is that Tuevo absolutely despises the idea of marriage. Says he’ll never do it, ever, under any circumstances.”

“Then maybe I’m wrong.” I could have been. Maybe all I was feeling was an extra dose of pheromones or something from being so particular when it came to men. I wanted to date a guy like my brothers or my dad. Charles Kelley set the bar high in what to look for in a man, and both of my parents stressed to all of us the benefits of waiting until we really cared about people before being intimate. I didn’t come from an abstinence only family, but one who thought that physical intimacy was a connection you didn’t hand to every hot girl with big boobs or any guy who complimented you.

I’d taken it to heart. I might have been a party girl and an adventurer, but the partners I’d had so far were slim.

But that feeling I got when I saw Tuevo in person? It was the same sensation I had every other time I told someone they were a perfect match.

It’d been happening to me since I was a little girl and would see strangers in a grocery store or at a restaurant. My parents accepted my weirdness.

Tuevo was going to be a completely different story.

“Where would he have gone?” I asked Caleb.

“If he didn’t charge back to the hotel, he’s on the roof, probably scowling in a dark corner somewhere. He’ll be back when he cools down.”

Well, great. I was really screwing this up left and right.

“Here.” Hailey pressed her fingers to the bottom of my whiskey sour until the straw tapped my bottom lip. “Drink.”

I sucked on the straw on instinct. “I don’t need you to bottle feed me like I’m a baby.”

“Then stop pouting like one. You’re a pro at shoving your foot in your mouth. Today’s no different.”

I rolled my eyes at my best friend, who I currently hated but who made several excellent points. I was known to leap without looking. So I’d screwed up, blurted the first thing that came to mind. In three minutes of meeting Tuevo, I’d messed up more than once.

Whatever. I was probably wrong anyway.

But I’d do what Caleb said, give him time to cool down and then go to apologize. Hopefully by the end of the night, we’d be laughing this off. Become friends like he wanted. Caleb would go back to Colorado with my brothers and Tuevo would stay here.

I’d probably never see him again.

“How’s the ranch?” I asked Dalton. Because if anything could get my mind off the mess I’d just created it was talk of home.

I couldn’t wait to get away from the small town, but I missed the hell out of it.

“Dad’s being a stubborn ass. Profits are up, we’re doing better than most, and we’ve had a couple good years of weather and healthy cattle. I’m trying to talk Dad into working on the succession plan, but he’s still refusing to let go.”

“How’s Bryce handling that?”

Out of the six of us, Bryce and my dad were the ones who constantly went head-to-head. He might have only been nineteen, but he’d lived and breathed that land his entire life. The problem was, he didn’t want to follow in Dalton’s footsteps and work it. He wanted to do other things with it. Expand outside of cattle. The last plan he put together involved a small petting zoo and an onsite brewery.

The kid wasn’t even old enough to drink yet, although it wasn’t like that stopped him.

“The kid’s head is in the clouds, Mere. He’s pissed. With Gavin gone now at Colorado, it’s just Bryce and me and Dad, and I had to take Bryce out to the creek last week and chuck him in it to cool him down.”

He tore off his worn, University of Colorado ball cap, swiped his forehead, and then readjusted the hat on his head. “Kid’s gonna give us all a heart attack someday.”

“Go easy on him. He’s trying to make his mark and it’s not easy following you three especially.” Lord knew what Gavin would end up doing, but I doubted he’d stray far from the land or the town.

“You made it just fine.”

“Yeah,” I snorted. “Because I’m here. It’s hard growing up in your shadows, and Bryce is still young.”

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