Page 108 of Opposites (Never) Attract
“What. In. The. Fuck.” Tag was now awake and sitting up in bed. “We are not doing this again. You motherfuckers do not have permission to be in my bedroom at,” he turned to look at the clock on his nightstand, “five fucking am in the morning.”
“Ethan said Sun didn’t come home again last night. Harmony was sick with worry.” Carter said, pointing to me like I was state’s evidence.
“Uh, actually she wasn’t,” Ethan countered. “She was pretty delighted, actually, when she told us to come look for Sunshine here.”
“And here you are!” Carter said, like he’d found me drunk and passed out at the Last Stand.
I looked at Tag and he gave me a subtle nod. In a blink, I had Tag’s pillow in my fist and tossed it directly at Carter’s face.
It smacked him pretty hard. So much, he took a step back.
“Nice throw, darlin,” Tag said. “You’re clearly better at pillow warfare than I am.”
“Hey, I’m just looking out for you,” Carter told me.
“All of you, out!” I shouted at them. “I don’t need older brothers!”
“For the record,” Mac said, right as he got to the door. “I was against doing this the second time and I’m a younger brother.”
Ethan pushed Carter out the door with a laugh.
“I’m feeling very under appreciated as the head of this family,” Carter called out.
“Who said you were the head of the family?” Ethan asked him.
Tag was sprawled back in the bed, chuckling.
“It’s not funny,” I said. “What if I’d been naked?”
He stopped chuckling immediately. “Okay, you’re right. That’s not funny.” But that only lasted a second. “You really do have incredible skills with a pillow. You might have broken Carter’s nose, you threw that thing so hard.”
I explained my softball league and my run as a winning pitcher.
He smiled at me until I blushed.
“What?” I asked, feeling like a kid in front of the most handsome guy in school.
“I like seeing you bloom, Sun.” He tucked my hair behind my ear and I wondered if anyone had ever complimented me so sweetly. So…perfectly.
“Now, let’s get you dressed and take you out to the barn for your next riding lesson.”
That got me moving. It was time to start cow-girling again.
“I have to head back to the Lodge, first,” I said, stepping into my jeans.
“Just wear what you’ve got on.”
“Absolutely not,” I beamed. “I need my cowboy hat!”
I checkedthe markets and updated the alerts on my phone. I could feel the moment was coming when this whole plan would come to fruition. But it wasn’t thismoment. So, once I was dressed, I ran out to the paddock where Tag had Shirley waiting for me.
“Nice hat,” Tag said, with a long, slow smile that warmed me from the inside out.
“Thanks, cowboy,” I said, with a saucy little grin.
I said hello to Shirley, who looked happy to see me, and Tag walked me through the process of mounting a horse without any help. They were the same instructions I got yesterday, but it was somehow so much easier.
Or, maybe, it was just Tag who made the difference. His calm voice, his even keel. The man was a natural teacher.
