Page 10 of The Convict Gets His Girl

His jaw ached, his ribs were probably broken, and yet, he was still here, still tormented by shoulda, woulda, couldas.

"You slept with Jewel," Hunter said, the finality in his tone making Chase wince and swallow hard.

"Yeah," he said, his voice rough.

"And you tried to call her this week?"

This time he just nodded, unable to speak past the disappointment. "She hasn't answered my calls or texts. Clearly, she wants nothing to do with me. Probably still wants you."

Hunter finally broke the silence, saying, "What the hell happened?"

Chase's voice was deep and rough, the emotions bubbling to the surface. "The summer she graduated… I was hauling hay and needed to use the bathroom. I stopped at the sale barn, and when I came out, there she was…"

He trailed off, not sure how much detail Hunter wanted. Instead of giving more information, he paused, wanting to ask the biggest question of all. Hunter might forgive him someday, but Chase wasn't going to ask for something he didn't deserve.

Landry opened the front door, asking, "Uh, what are y'all doing?"

Hunter waved a hand. "Star gazing. Andromeda is beautiful tonight, don't you think?"

Landry snorted. "Whatever, we're going to start without you." The door shut behind him, and they laid in silence for a few more minutes.

Eventually, Hunter rolled to standing, groaning the entire way, before offering a hand to Chase. When he took it, some of the tightness around his chest eased, and Hunter slapped him on the back in the classic bro gesture of good will.

"We good?" Hunter asked.

Chase shrugged, watching his oldest brother for any sign that he didn't mean exactly what he said. His shoulders rose to his ears as he replied, "That's up to you."

Hunter looked up at the stars and put his hands in his pockets. "You're my brother. Of course I forgive you. It hurts like hell to find out now, but back then, I was already hurting from Jewel bringing that Kevin dude home while we were still dating. What's one more guy thrown in the mix?"

Chase frowned, not trusting the forgiveness as real. "Except I'm not just one more guy. I'm your brother."

Hunter sighed. "I know, but bros before hos and all that." Chase snorted and shook his head wincing as he rubbed his jaw.

"A word of warning though," Hunter continued. "If you're smart, you won't contact her. I haven't because I don't need that drama in my life, and neither do you."

Chase looked at him, trying to see more than what the faint light would allow. "How do you know you've moved on from her, then?"

What he really wanted to ask was if his brother was still in love with her, but the words just wouldn't come.

"Good point. I guess I do need to talk to her about how things ended, and now about you."

Chase winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Same. I need to talk to her about that too."

Hunter's tone was sad as he said, "Don't fall for her tricks, Chase. Find someone who'll be faithful. You deserve someone better, someone who'll love you."

A sense of finality filled him as he shook his head and kicked a rock off the sidewalk. "I'm the bottom of the barrel, Hunter. A convict. Love's not really in the stars right now and maybe never will be."

A flare of hope shot through the sky in a flash of light as Hunter replied, "Maybe not tonight, but someday you'll find a special someone. We both will. Just don't settle for less than love, okay?"

Chase snorted. "This from the man who was just trying to get me laid at the Electric Cowboy two weeks ago?"

Hunter laughed and slapped him on the back again before grabbing his shoulders and pulling him down the sidewalk to the front door. "Yeah, yeah. If you're just looking to get laid, then by all means, call Jewel. Just don't give her your heart. I don't want to see you go through the heartache I did, alright? I kinda love you and shit."

Chase grinned and playfully punched Hunter in the stomach. "I love you too, Brother."

Hunter grunted and pushed him away, making them both laugh.

In the back of his mind, Chase wondered if Hunter was right. Perhaps he had built Jewel into this paragon of sexiness in his head because she'd been his first. Either way, his gut told him he couldn't fully move on until he settled the score with her.

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