Page 42 of Last Chance Love

It was hard to argue with logic when he was right. I had been around early on to see the struggles he’d gone through, unable to do anything. He wouldnevertake help for himself, but if his brothers needed something or were low on food, he would accept my help. It was never much, just enough to get by, but at least I could negotiate, so he knew I wouldn’t accept repayment. That had been one hell of an argument, but in the end, I’d pointed out that Iwantedto help, and if he wanted to help his brothers, he’d take the offer…something he’d never quite forgiven me for.

He jerked in surprise when I laughed. “What? What the fuck?”

“Sorry,” I said with a chuckle. “Have you ever gotten over the fact that I bullied you into accepting money from me without ever being able to pay me back?”

He blinked a few times. “Yeah, I guess I finally did get over it. You know, I hated it when you did that to me, and it pissed me right off that you would never take my money.”

“Never stopped you from trying to sneak money into my room or my wallet,” I said with a chuckle.

“I’m ashamed to admit most of those attempts were unsuccessful. But I did get you a few times. You ever find that money in your computer bag?”

“Seriously? I broke that hundred into tens and kept slipping it into your wallet after you paid for something over, like, six months. You were always surprised you had more money than you thought, and I was always so sure you’d figure it out.”

His eyes widened. “Seriously? I thought I was losing my mind for the longest time and couldn’t count.”

I laughed again. “You were the one being unreasonable about the whole thing. Sheesh, my parents had been throwing money into a checking account for me to use for ages. I had more money than I needed since they already paid for everything, and I never went anywhere or did anything.”

“It was about the principle.”

“It was sheer stubborn pride because you had it in your head that if you were going to do it, thenyouwere going to do it.”

“Hey!”

“And was that because you wanted to prove something to yourself, or was it your way of silently spiting your parents?”

“The parents who didn’t care one bit if we lived or died except that it would get them in trouble?”

“Mmm.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah.”

“Ugh, a little of both.”

I bumped him with my shoulder and continued to chuckle. “Yeah, I figured.”

“You’re always so smug when you’re right.”

“That’s because I’m right often.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Don’t be grumpy because you’re wrong most of the time.”

He stood up with a roll of his eyes. “I think that’s a long enough break, don’t you think?”

I wasn’t ashamed to admit that I let my eyes linger on him when he chose to stretch the moment he was at eye level. It seemed only fair, considering I’d caught him a few times eyeballing me when he thought I wasn’t looking, so it was perfectly fine for me to return the favor, and I was never disappointed.

Work on the ranch had done wonders for a body that had always been good from what I could remember. Here was a man who had always been in shape from his jobs and now, between getting three good meals a day and frequent manual labor, had grown even stronger. For now, though, it was just a peek of his toned flat stomach and a small patch of dark hair that thinned as it reached the waistband of his jeans.

He stopped, dropping his arms and smiling at me. “Do you remember that day trip we took to Austin?”

I had almost forgotten about that and laughed. “Actually, I do. I remember you impressed me with your mechanical skill fixing my car.”

“Oh yeah, replacing a tire and realizing one of your battery cables was loose was definitely a feat,” he said as I stood up to join him outside the tent.

Well,Ihad found it impressive, but I was also the same person that when you started talking about cars, my brain instinctively shut off, and all I heard was gibberish. Over the years, I’d learned more, but it had been impressive for seventeen-year-old me, who barely knew what a lug nut was.

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