Page 28 of Wild For You
“Because you are looking at her the same way I look at your sister, the way your sisters’ husbands all look at them, and the way your dad looks at your mom.” I didn’t bother correcting him about Nash being my dad. I was too busy wondering if he was right. He couldn’t be. I was almost fifteen years older than Kelsey.
“I’m too old to even be thinking about her that way.”
He shrugged. “Colton and Nate are fourteen years older than your other sisters. And I don’t know Kelsey well, but from the times I’ve spent with her, she’s definitely an old soul.”
I came to the same conclusion, but that didn’t change the forbidden aspect of thinking about her intimately. And that was all it could ever be. I didn’t do relationships.
She was also Rory’s best friend—a bridge I didn’t want to cross.
But as she turned to look at me and our gazes caught, I wondered if maybe it would be worth the attempt.
“Oh, man. I can’t wait to see this unfold,” Owen added as he stepped back over to Aspen and wrapped her in his arms.
“Ready to keep moving, or do you want to rest for a bit? Aspen said they have a couple of chairs in the truck you could use,” Kelsey asked as she reached out and ran her hand over my bicep.
I wasn’t sure if she was even aware of the movement.
“No, I’m okay. We can keep going.”
Nodding, she said goodbye to my family and journeyed over to the next booth, while I flicked-off my soon-to-be brother-in-law.
“Asshole,” I mumbled as he laughed into my sister’s hair.
By the time I caught up to Kelsey, she’d already passed three booths, and I found her surrounded by homemade salsas.
“Look at all the different varieties,” she said in awe. “Chips and salsa is one of my favorite snacks.”
“I like the one with the green lid. That’s what my mom uses.”
Smiling up at me as she grabbed the jar, she stated, “Sold,” and handed over some cash to the vendor, then placed the jar in her ever-expanding bag. I felt like by the end of the day, she was going to resembleMary Poppins, with the bottomless carpet bag.
I only knew of the movie because Autumn and Alex watched it and tried to jump off the barn roof while holding umbrellas. The movie was a staple on the nights I had to babysit.
“Oooh. Soaps. I’m going to look here for a moment.”
She stepped farther into the booth and went about sniffing each one. I used the time to scroll through my phone, noticing a response from the rodeo. It read that the horse was being well taken care of. They were against killings of any kind.
Smiling at the notion that the horse was no worse for wear than I was, I scrolled through the endless messages in my spam folder from women I’d seen a time or two. I always made it known that things were never going to be serious, and when theystarted to look at me that way, I was out. It was a fact I clarified every time I would sleep with someone. Most were fine, but there were a few clingers who would continue to message me. I even had some show up looking for me at the condo I owned in Knoxville, though I never brought a woman there. I usually went back to their place or found a hotel.
The messages all said the same thing: I miss you. I love you. Don’t you want to get together again? You’re an asshole. I thought what we had was special.
The same thing over and over. It was tiring.
I’d been practically celibate since the last woman I slept with sent me a picture of our future children after using an AI app that mashed our features together. Since then, I’d sworn off women. Which was probably a good thing, considering Kelsey. I wasn’t leading with my cock.
Tucking my phone back into my pocket, I watched as Kelsey walked over with her nose scrunched and her face a pale shade of green.
“Everything okay?” I asked her.
“Yeah. I don’t know if the ingredients were expired, but the last bar of soap made me want to throw up. Completely gross.”
“I’m sorry. Why don’t you take some deep breaths?”
Without skipping a beat, she followed my instructions and closed her eyes, inhaling the autumn air.
“Better?”
“I’m good. I mentioned it to the teen who’s working the booth, and she didn’t believe me. She was taking a big whiff to see for herself as I was leaving. Oh well. Can we go over to the library booth? I’d love to see if she got in any new thrillers.”
