Page 74 of Opposites (Never) Attract
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“Hey, you coming tonight?”Ethan asked me, as we headed, exhausted, to the barn.
It had been a long day on the south pasture. Three cows went into labor. Carter and I had the great privilege to act as their labor and delivery nurses. Good news was, all calves and moms were doing well.
I was covered in cow blood, amniotic fluid, and shit, not to mention I was bone tired.
“Coming where? And no.” I said.
“Bliss is doing a thing for Sunshine at the Last Stand tonight. A homecoming thing. But I get it if you’re not up for it.”
“I’m going,” I said, the decision made without thought. “Who said I wasn’t?”
Ethan blinked. “You did. Like a second ago.”
“You’re hearing things, Doc,” I told him, with a smile. “You should get your ears checked by an actual doctor. I’m going home to get cleaned up. I’ll seeyou at the Stand.”
By the timeI got to the Stand it was a madhouse. The tourists were coming back, thanks to the success of the Feud Day Festival. We had a lot of people that wanted to experience some real cowboy shit and hike the ski hills over in Big Horn. Apparently, the statues in the town square had gone viral on social media, thanks to Marion Blackfeather and her team of teenagers, and now we had kids visiting to take videos of stupid dances in front of the statues. And, after a day of that bullshit, the parents of those kids needed a drink.
But, when Bliss had one of her theme nights, or had an event, The Last Stand became a madhouse.
I glanced around and spotted the mayor by the pool tables. So, the fact that the bar was obviously beyond capacity wasn’t going to be addressed tonight. Pushing my way inside, I stretched my neck a bit to see over most folks, looking for a slim blond in particular.
I found her sitting on a stool in the middle of the bar. She’d pulled her hair back into a sleek, short pony tail that was probably going to end up in my dreams. She wore jeans, Harmony’s boots, and a tight Last Stand t-shirt that tugged at everything in me.
What are you doing with Sunshine Calloway?
I still didn’t have an answer to that question. Or, at least not one that was the truth.
Passing time was the answer I liked.
Getting in too deep was closer to the truth.
I didn’t want to hurt her physically or emotionally, but the way we were playing felt like we were racing towards that exact outcome.
She was at the bar, surrounded by locals, most of whom were probably pestering her for information on her plans to save the Swinging D. The gossip mill in this town was going full blast – I’d heard she’d even had one of those stupidWanted Posters dedicated to her being called into service by Old Man McGraw. How everyone knew that was just one of the joys of this damn town, where everyone knew everything.
I wasn’t in a rush to join the crush surrounding her, now that I knew where she was. I’d give her some space, play it cool and buy her a drink when things calmed down.
But, then her expression changed, from an indulgent if slightly distant half smile, to one of annoyance.
No fucking way.
From behind, I couldn’t make out the person who was getting a little too close for my comfort, other than it was a man and he was big. A baseball cap sat on his head and he was wearing a t-shirt that looked like it was two sizes too small, the way it fit over his biceps.
Fucking gym rat biceps, too. Not haul around bales of hay biceps.
He turned enough that I could see his profile.
Mike Fucking Palmer.
Mike was my age and one of Sunshine’s idiot bullies in school. He was an idiot in general, but he and his girlfriend, Cheryl, really relished picking on Sunshine. They were jealous idiots who barely graduated, and they knew, deep in their snake brains, that she was going to go on to do amazing things and they’d never leave town.
Now he was fawning over her like she was a Hollywood superstar come home. Whatever he was saying, she wasn’t lapping it up, because her eyes were darting around looking for someone to help her out of the situation.
It was time to go do my thing.
Heroes be hero-ing.
