Page 34 of Wild and Unruly
“Ah.” I nod my head. “So, three sons, huh? How did your parents handle that?”
The waitress arrives and sets down our waters, then asks ifwe’re ready. We order quickly, and I stick to ordering something simple I can pronounce and eat without embarrassment.
“Well, four, actually,” Stetson says, jumping back into the conversation. I turn my gaze back to him. “My brother Jax is on the rodeo circuit, so he’s always gone. He actually has quite the online following.”
“Ah, okay. Is he older?”
“They all are.” He grins at me then. “I’m the baby.”
I sit back against my seat and fold my arms. “Of course you are.”
He nods. “And to answer your question, my dad left us when I was young, so it was mostly our mom raising us boys.”
My eyes widen. “Your mom raised four boys all on her own.”
Stetson smiles. “Yes, she sure did.”
“She’s a saint.”
“Yes, she sure is.” He laughs and shakes his head. “It’s funny, growing up, we were all super close. We’d do everything together. We’d ride, play football, go hunting, all of it. Then, they all started getting older and going off on their own.” Stetson’s eyes leave mine, and I can tell there’s something there he’s remembering. “Then Logan’s daughter came, and we all realized we had to be good for her, and he became a dad, so he wasn’t as much fun anymore.” He smiles and shakes his head. “Which was great because we got Lue out of it.”
I smile, and he continues. “Then, one by one, my brothers started to leave. Mitch was first. The minute he was eighteen, he joined the rodeo and left. Jax was pissed,” he laughs, but there’s a huge tinge of sadness to his words that makes me want to wrap my arms around him and take it all in. “He and Mitch were the closest out of all of us. When Mitch left, he feltbetrayed. But not long after that, Jax took off for the same thing.”
“And then you were alone?” I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.
Stetson smiles, shaking off the memory. “Nah, I wasn’t alone. I still lived at home with my mom, and Logan and Lue stayed for a while until she was old enough that he could handle it alone. And they were always over anyway.”
It’s not quite what I meant, but he covers it up, and I don’t want to push like I normally would. “Well, that’s wild. So where is Jax now?”
He squints and says, “Mm, somewhere down in Kentucky, I think? I’m not sure, honestly. He’s a shit communicator and I haven’t checked his stuff lately.”
I keep my gaze on his and reach across the table to grasp his hand. “I’m sorry.”
Stetson seems to realize he’s gone down memory lane and shakes his head a little. “Ah, nothing to be sorry for. It’s all good. I’m happy to be where I am right now.” He squeezes my hand.
Our food arrives, saving him from more of my interrogation, and we eat for a while, talking in between bites and telling each other much lighter stories. I steer away from topics about my brother’s accident, sticking to times before that when everything wasn’t so dire.
I’m terrified that I’m going to slip up and tell him everything. Which, tempting as that may be, I can’t. If he found out, he may try to stop me, and while that’s sweet and all, the man who is responsible for my brother and several others getting hurt is still being allowed to do it.
I shake the thought from my head as the waitress comes bythe table. “You two should head out back if you’ve got the time. There’s a cornhole game going.”
I lower my brows and glance at Stetson. “I’m not sure I’ve ever played cornhole.”
He grins. “It’s been a while.” He nods his head in the direction she pointed out. “You wanna go check it out?”
I nod, and we stand, him handing the waitress cash for our meal, leaving her a nice tip. I smile at her grateful look, and he nods his head, not making a big fuss about it, before he holds his hand out to me, and we venture outside.
The evening is cool for the beginning of summer, with the sun still just peeking over the mountain ridge and giving us a little warmth.
Right away, we get pulled into a game. Another couple needed someone to play against, and we take our stance.
“So, the objective is to literally throw this into the other person’s hole.”
I smirk and say, “That’s what she said.”
Stetson cracks up, and I blush, smiling broadly. Some days, I absolutely hate that I have no filter, and then there are days when it actually works. “Holy shit, you’re amazing.”
I stand to the side, letting him take the first throw, and shrug my shoulders. “So I’ve been told.”
