Page 75 of Rough
“Country,” Clyde calls out to me, and when I turn to him, I know he wants to dig into the conflict between us.
With a small shake of my head, I give him a pleading smile. “Let’s not tonight, Billy.” I see a brief flash of pleasure at my use of his nickname, but I don’t correct myself. It was a slip of the tongue and truly more of just muscle memory than anything.
“Gonna let the whiskey talk instead?” he asks with a raised brow, taking a second draw from the bottle before handing it over to Wilder.
“Always preferred what it had to say over anythin’ else.” Leaning back, I brace myself on my arms and turn to look over the water. The surface is smooth, maybe a slight ripple from the light wind. “Water looks cold. Think a few more drinks are required before I brave a dip.” Eyeing them, I smirk. “You all plannin’ on swimmin’ or just drinkin’ tonight?”
“Hell no. I’d crawl outta there with raisins for nuts if I go in,” Wilder says, laughing, then bumps the bottle against my thigh to get me to take it from him.
“Who says they aren’t already?” I tease, then take another sip and cradle the bottle in my lap. Remy and Clyde’s snickers warm me from the inside, right along with the alcohol, and the face he makes.
We sit in silence for a bit while they sip at their beers, cracking new ones open once they finish them off. I listen to them quietly as they start talking between each other about theranch they had been working at, but it gains my interest when Remy mentions he let their boss know he wasn’t going back.
“Clyde and I can drive back and get our shit. Round trip shouldn’t take more than a week. We’ll put in our notices as well and grab our checks.” He leans forward and pokes a stick into the fire. “Fuckin’ pumped to come back. Think your momma will let me stay at your place? I have no desire to move back in with Murph, the fuckin’ asshole.”
Remy’s eyes flicker over to mine, noting that I’m listening in more intently. I try to hide my interest by taking another, larger gulp of my whiskey. I don’t miss the tick of his lip as he fights off a smile, then he nods at Wilder. “She’ll be happy to have both of you at the house. That woman doesn’t know how to cook for one person if her life depended on it.”
“A-fuckin-men,” I mutter under my breath. When all of them look at me, I shrug. “What? Who the hell do you think has been eatin’ her leftovers for the past five years? She cooks for a goddamn army.”
Clyde clicks his tongue. “Language, Country. Your Grams is gonna roll over in her grave hearin’ you talk like that.”
Bending forward to level him with a glare, I very intentionally clip out, “Fuck. You.”
He mimics my movement and grins, eyes lighting up under the brim of his Stetson. “You offerin’?”
It’s probably the whiskey heating my blood and causing my lips to loosen, because those two words make me want to fight. Exactly what Ididn’twant to do tonight. Taking another long drink, I keep my eyes on him the entire time.
Without looking away, I hand the bottle over to Wilder, who’s watching the two of us like we’re the most interesting thing he’s ever seen.
“Ididoffer once. Ain’t happenin’ again. I like my men to stick around after the deed is done.” I glance over at Wilder afterdelivering the blow, letting him know he’s included in that jab, and the blush that covers his face tells me it hits exactly where it was supposed to.
“Country,” Clyde calls out, his playful tone changed to something more solemn. “Ihadto leave.” He swallows down his shame as he looks at his friends but pushes through it for me. “I got a call from my mom. Dad was… it wasn’t a good night. I had to go home.”
I reach over with a shaking hand and jerk the bottle away from Wilder’s lips as he tries to act nonchalant while Clyde and I discuss the night we fucked. My head is starting to spin as my heart kicks up in speed, circulating the alcohol too quickly through my body.
“You know I’ve always been understandin’ of the nightmare that went on in that fuckin’ house. I’d have driven you there myself if you’d asked me to.” I glance up at him, so he sees how hurt I was by his actions. “But you left me alone, outside, without a word. Notone word. You could’ve woken me. You could’ve talked to me at any point the following days until ya’ll took off. Words, Clyde. They matter.”
“Dude,” Wilder grunts out, shaking his head. I lean over and punch him in the shoulder, and he looks at me in shock.
“You did the same fuckin’ thing, you asshole.”
Remy is glaring at Clyde, but when I say that, he jerks his head up. “Wait, you both fucked too?” he exclaims, looking between the two of us.
“Man, Rem. I already told ya that we kissed.”
“We didn’t fuck. Jesus, can we stop talkin’ about my sex life now? Fuckin’ awkward as hell.” I sip again and shudder at the burn. Might have to stop drinking now since I’ve lost count. I narrow my eyes at the amber liquid, cursing it for not going down smoothly after that last one, only to find it slipping out of my hands.
Tipping my head back, I stare up at Clyde, who’s handing it off to Remy and hovering over me. “I should’ve talked to you,” he says, frowning down at me, chest rising and falling rapidly, I think.Might be my eyes going a little fuzzy. “I think I got embarrassed for leavin’ and didn’t know how to bring it up. But it’s not a good enough reason.”
“No, it’s not.”
I’m not sure what he’s doing, but one moment he’s above me where I sit, then the next I’m flat on my back with his hands on either side of my shoulders. I turn my head toward Wilder with wide eyes, but Clyde pinches my chin and turns me back to face him.
“I ain’t gonna run again, Country,” he whispers, then drops his mouth to mine. I gasp in surprise, not just from the unexpected kiss, but that he’s doing it in front of the other two. Taking advantage of my momentary shock, his tongue drives in deep, swiping mine until I participate.
Once I do, he eases his body down, but I’m not ready to fully give in yet. As soon as his eyes fall shut, I pull back slightly and clamp my teeth on his lower lip, digging in hard enough to taste a hint of blood.
Jerking his head back to stare at me, I ignore Wilder’s boom of laughter, clearly having a perfect view of what I just did.
