Page 30 of Beauty and the Bayou

He knew about the side effects of Leo’s cholesterol medication, Ellie’s issues with her now-ex boyfriend, Trevor, about how Ellie and Leo were hooking up again, after being divorced for several years but remaining best friends, and how doing it on the crappy couch in Leo’s trailer was bad for Ellie’s hip.And that was all just his one set of grandparents.Yeah…he knew more than enough details about his people’s lives.His dance card was full.

“Rhett is our oldest brother,” Juliet said.“Ryan is second.They love to ski and go hang gliding and scuba diving.I think now that he’s been off at college, Chase is realizing that he’s missed some things and wants to be a little more adventurous.”

“Honey, I’m not takin’ your brother hang gliding,” Sawyer said.Fuck no.Even if he knew how or had the means, there was nothing about that that sounded good to him.Now he flashed to all the dangers of it, but even before he’d become a safety-obsessed wacko, nothing about hanging thousands of feet over the ground sounded fun.

“Good,” she said.“I don’t want him to hang glide.”

She gave a little shudder, and Sawyer assumed that she felt similarly about being that far up in the air without a solid airplane around her.

“I want him to have some more down-to-earth experiences.Everything about Autre is different from what he’s used to and there’s a lot of…” Again she trailed off.

Sawyer chuckled.“There’s a lot ofa lotof stuff down here.Critters, humidity, bullshit, moonshine…just for starters.”

“I was going to say testosterone,” she said.“There’s a lot of testosterone down here.”

That caught Sawyer off guard, but he laughed again.“Well, yeah, there’s that, too.”

He wasn’t going to pretend that he didn’t know what she was talking about.What he and Josh and Owen did for a living required strength and stamina, being good with their hands, and a willingness to get dirty and sweaty.He knew from the boatloads of tourists they took out every year that even the outdoorsmen from up north found the hunting, fishing, trapping, camping, and boating on the bayou interesting and different.Then there were the guys who wore suits to work in offices every day.They loved the stories about living and working on the bayou.And then there were the women.It wasn’t hard to get the impression that people found what he and the guys did down here…manly, for lack of a better word.

“I’ll tell you what,” he said, letting his southern drawl really hang out.“I think drivin’ airboats and huntin’ gators is way manlier than hang gliding.”He did.He really did.So was fixing those airboats and butchering those gators and well, pretty much everything else he did down here on a daily basis.Fuck hang gliding.

Julietalmostrolled her eyes.He could tell it had almost happened.And it made him grin.

“Yeah, well, based on his recent escapade with the airboat and all,” she said, “I think maybe Chase wants a little more of the bayou experience.He could definitely use some time around hardworking testosterone instead of golfing testosterone.”

Sawyer appreciated her admiration.Okay, she hadn’tsaidshe admired him and what he did for a living, but she obviously was more a fan ofhisinfluence on Chase than their own brothers’ influences.Interesting.He wanted to know more.But he wasnotgoing to ask.He also wasn’t going to flex his muscles in front of her.Much.That urge was as juvenile as thinking of sex anytime someone said “nailed.”

Tommy would have done the same damned thing though.

The thought hit him out of the blue.

But it was true.Tommy would have loved hearing about how masculine Juliet thought they all were and he would have strutted for her for sure.He would have definitely thought of sex with “nailed” and “pounded” and “drilled.”He probably would have said something flirtatious and inappropriate to her about it, too.

Because it was all just in fun.It just meant that he wasn’t taking things too seriously.It was just a dumb way to make a beautiful girl laugh and maybe blush a little.

There was no harm in that.

Maybe having a few juvenile urges wasn’t all bad.Maybe it meant that the good old boy inside Sawyer hadn’t completely disappeared.

“Okay, you want somerealmen hanging out with your brother, you got it,” Sawyer said, giving her a grin that felt surprisingly easy.“And if there’s anything you can think of thatyoumight need from a real man with plenty of testosterone, you just let me know.”

It was a dumb, cocky thing to say and Sawyer was shocked by how much he loved having said it.Especially when thatdidget a little blush from Juliet.

He also vaguely remembered flirting.And being dumb and cocky.It was all coming back so quickly, he was a little shocked.

She cleared her throat and shook her head.“Am I going to regret having my baby brother hang out with you all?”

Sawyer laughed and said honestly, “Maybe.But I promise that even if he builds up a tolerance for moonshine, falls in love with fried gator, learns to swear in French, and ends up knowing all the words to ‘Jambalaya,’ he’ll also know how to build a dock and maybe even how to catch and clean a catfish.”

Juliet blew out a breath.“There’s plenty of that moonshine to go around, right?”

Sawyer was nearly overcome by the urge to kiss her at that moment.“Alwaysplenty of moonshine,” he promised.

Then he headed for Chase.The Dawson he was supposed to be spending time with and influencing, before he ended up kissing the one who was feeling like a pretty damned good influence onhim.

Testosterone.Freaking.Everywhere.

Juliet risked a glance in Sawyer and Chase’s direction.

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