Page 39 of Wild and Unruly
“Okay,” Stetson says, pinching my side gently. I pinch his stomach in return. “You don’t have to convince Annmarie we’re not dating. She gets it.”
I look to him and see hurt on his expression. Shit. I didn’t mean to hurt his feelings. I panicked.
“Well, this was fun. So, corn hole? We’d have to talk with Thea and June,” she says, looking around. “I think we’d have to put up some sort of outdoor patio thing. Which”—she lifts her eyes to the ceiling in thought and shrugs—“could be good.”
“Right! I think it would be awesome. Then, when the dart teams are full, people can venture out.” He reaches up and wraps an arm over my shoulders. “Bo and I played in a game last weekend. It was a blast.”
“It was,” I agree quietly, observing the interaction. Annmarie isn’t acting like an ex or a jealous ex at all, and I feel stupid for running my mouth.
They talk for a few more minutes, and Annmarie stands with her arms crossed, barely looking at Stetson. If I was his ex, and I was jealous of the new relationship he was flaunting around, I wouldn’t be unconcerned. I would be trying to get close, trying to get him alone.
She is just his friend.
I smile at her. “I think I’ll go get a drink.”
I step away from Stetson, and I hear him call me back. I smile and wave him off. I need a minute to regroup my brain. I don’t want to be rude to every woman who looks at him. I’m not that type of person anyway. I hate women like that.
I make my way to the bar, ordering a soda to get me by and settle into one of the barstools.
Someone comes and sits next to me, but I don’t lift my head from where it’s resting in my hands. I had the worst day. The worst week, really. From the moment my mom called me home to deal with my brother, to my boss pushing me to finish this article so I could head to Kentucky for another one, to my brother refusing to even consider coming to see this ranch, I was exhausted.
I should have just gone home.
“Come here often?” a voice to my right asks, and I peek over at him. He looks familiar, and I frown, shaking my head.
“Not really, no.”
He nods, resting against his barstool. He’s got a medical boot on his left foot and a cane to walk. His right shoulder is in some sort of sling, and he’s got bruising around his eye.
“Walk into oncoming traffic?” I ask, thanking the pretty girlbehind the bar for my drink. The stranger orders a whiskey and then turns his attention back to me.
“Something like that.” He laughs and there’s something so charming and friendly about him that I end up giving a small smile in return. “Hazard of the job.”
“What was your job? Wrestling hogs?”
He chuckles again. “Pretty damn close.” He looks me over, and I get the distinct feeling that he’s checking me out. He holds up his left hand for me to shake, and I do awkwardly. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Bonnie.” I nod at him and pull my hand away, not interested in flirting with the stranger. My head was far too wrapped up with the man who I just walked away from because of how overwhelming he and everything else is.
“You’re not going to ask my name?”
I open my mouth to do that, just to be polite, when a voice interrupts us. “Jax?”
The stranger turns and smiles broadly. “Baby brother!” He stands awkwardly, and Stetson accepts a hug, his mouth hanging open slightly and brows furrowed.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, coming to stand behind me and resting his hand on the back of my neck. It was both possessive and comforting at the same time. “And why are you flirting with my girl?”
“Ah, your girl.” Jax nods. He had dark-brown hair, much darker than Stetson’s. But from what I could tell, his build and other features were very similar to his brother’s.
I keep my mouth shut. No need to have another foot in the mouth comment.
“Yeah, this is Bonnie Helix. She’s a writer doing a piece on Three Rivers.” The way the words pour from him as if he’sproud of who I am, of who is on his arm tonight, gives me a boost to my spirits I didn’t know I needed.
“Oh, right. I think Mom mentioned something about that a while ago.” He glances over at me, his charming smile turned more friendly now that he knows who I am. “That’s great for them.”
“So, what are you doing here?” Stetson wraps his arm over my shoulder, resting his fingertips along my collarbone and playing with my hair there. He looks his brother over. “I didn’t hear about an accident.”
Jax lifts his shoulders carelessly, reaching for his whiskey. “It wasn’t a big deal, not big enough to be newsworthy anyway.”
