Page 65 of One Night Bride
“Like a goddamn feral mountain lion,” Wyatt repeated.
I took a pull of the beer, thinking about it. Were these jackasses pranking me? Trying to scare off the new guy in some sort of brother-in-law hazing ritual? Well, fuck that. I didn’t scare easy as a rancher with a horse trying to buck me off, and I wasn’t going to run scared because of a woman.
I shot them both a grin. “Okay, then. I’ll keep that in mind.”
They both stared at me for a second, the fire popping in the silence.
“He’s not taking us seriously,” Wyatt told Titus.
Titus just shrugged and smiled. “He’ll catch on quick enough.”
“Hey! This a private party?” A man’s voice cut through the argument I was about to launch into.
Titus hopped up, his long, lanky body unfolding from the low beach chairs like a spring. “Glad you could make it, Bain.”
I stood up too, happy to meet someone who wouldn’t try to scare me with tales of crazy women.
“Remington, this is Bain. Bain, Remington, Esme’s new husband.” Titus made the introductions while I shook the tall, dark-haired man’s hand. “Bain is married to Lucy and they have two kiddos now.”
Behind him were three other guys. With more introductions, I found out they were Jayden, Charlie, and Rip.
“Hey, we spoke on the phone yesterday. I rented your boat,” I said to Rip. When I went to pick up the boat keys, he was in another meeting and his secretary had handed them over.
“Glad that all worked out.” He shook my hand. “You never know with these girls. I ended up getting the entire town in on a flash mob. It somehow made it onto YouTube if you ever want a good laugh.”
“Thankfully, it didn’t come to that, but I could see the appeal.”
The quiet one approached me, his eyes narrowed. “You have a red aura, Remington Roth.”
“Thank you?” I responded, not quite sure what that all meant, but Californians were known for their hippie ways.
He nodded, breaking out into a wide smile. “Energetic, passionate, courageous. Esme chose well.” He clapped me on the shoulder and turned us toward the fire pit. “Now tell me about this family ranch. Have you heard of regenerative ranching?”
The rest of the night was a blur of conversation, jokes, good-natured teasing, and beer. Lots and lots of beer. These guys were my type of friends. Good men with a side of crazy.
Around ten I called it quits, wanting to get home before Esme fell asleep. I stood up and put my empty beer bottle in the cooler.
“Gentlemen, thanks for a great night, but I have to get going.”
Titus stood up too. “Not so fast, Roth. We have a tradition around here.”
“After the bullshit Rip pulled, we’ve decided to tone it down a bit,” Jayden said with a wry smile at Rip.
Charlie shivered. “I was cleaning peacock shit for days.”
I grimaced. What the hell were they talking about?
“Every new person does a dare as a way of welcoming you into the group,” Bain explained. “But we’ve decided to make the dare the same from now on. You just have to take a swim.”
I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly. “A swim?”
“Dude, just be glad it’s still summer. Poor Wyatt had to take a dip in spring when the water was still low fifties.” Titus snickered, even after Wyatt punched him in the shoulder.
I looked out at the ocean, black as ink this time of night. “Y’all get sharks around here?”
“No,” Rip answered. “Not usually.”
I nodded slowly. “Well, that makes me feel better.”
