Page 42 of Sexting the Cowboy
“It’s a hard thing.” I sigh at the memories. “Reno is nothing if not a prideful animal. I think that’s why he started drinking the way he does.”
“He always has to be in control, and not being able to control his own body…well, there’s not much worse for a rider. The drinking is a shit coping mechanism, but therapy was never in the cards for him.”
“Because of the pride thing?”
He nods. “I love my son, and if he’s not careful, his pride will be the end of him.”
Guilt gnaws at me. Not only for what we did, but for talking about Reno behind his back. For flirting with Brick. For enjoying him so damn much. It taints the simple joy of lying here with him.
I voice the question I’ve been mulling since the bathroom. “Do you think this was a mistake?”
Brick rolls on top of me, half-hard as he kisses my shoulder. “The only mistake was not using the rope I keep tied to the headboard.”
I laugh. “You keep a rope tied to the headboard? For just such an emergency? Jeez, how many women do you get in here?” I’m teasing, but the question stings me.
He reaches beneath the pillows and pulls out a length of rope tied like a small noose. Perfect for a wrist. His smile is evil. “Since I landed in this town, there’s been no one else. And I keep the rope here in case I can’t sleep.”
“To do what with it?”
“Practice my knots.” He kisses me until I’m dizzy and my body hums. “We don’t have to try it yet, but I can’t help but think you’d look sexy wearing nothing but my rope.”
My throat goes dry at the thought, but I’m slick between my thighs from it too. “Maybe we’ll give it a shot, cowboy. Until then…” I roll him onto his back and begin my tour of his scars with my tongue.
12
BRICK
Blaze orders roomservice like she’s running a small nation. Burgers, fries, salads nobody will touch, two steaks because Levi thinks protein solves feelings, a stack of napkins, extra pickles. She tips the kid who brings the cart up to the eighth floor and thanks him like she was raised right—which she was, even if some days it looks like chaos.
It’s not the Ritz. Beige walls, noisy AC that wheezes to keep up, two queen beds shoved close, a little table under a lamp that buzzes. But it’s clean, and there’s enough space to pretend we aren’t stepping on each other. Blaze lines the paper plates on the dresser like a buffet and calls us to eat with a clap that means she’s the youngest and somehow still the boss.
Reno is already two plastic cups into a bottle he brought, the good whiskey he buys to prove something to himself. He sits on the end of the bed by the window, bad leg stretched out, cane leaning against the nightstand. His face has that familiar set to it—jaw tight, eyes alive in the wrong way. He hasn’t said much, but his mood is unmistakable.
Sour, like usual. Though tonight, it seems extra sour.
Levi flips the remote off so we’re not pretending to watch the highlight reel, and Cash kicks his boots off by the door because Blaze yells about the carpet. He’s got the kind of smile that fixes rooms. He keeps it holstered right now because even he knows a grin is gasoline on a night like this.
Somehow, we’re all tense. I know why I am. I don’t know why they are.
“Everybody get fed,” Blaze says, pushing plates into hands. “No one’s leaving until I see veggies on at least one plate. Ranch counts as a vegetable.”
“That’s science,” Levi says, deadpan, and piles on lettuce just to needle her.
Cash takes the other steak and cuts it in half for Blaze before she can protest. She lets him and steals his fries as compensation. I take a burger and sit on a chair by the table, where I can see all three boys and still stand up fast if I have to play traffic cop. Old habits.
The room settles into the kind of quiet that means everyone’s chewing on their thoughts. The AC coughs, the ice bucket clicks, the city hums through the window. Pretty sure they sense the tension too.
Reno breaks first. “Saw Annie today,” he says to the room in general, like he just remembered he’s supposed to be conversational. He takes another pull and sets the cup down too hard. “She’s playing the ice queen.”
Blaze doesn’t look up. “Maybe she found someone else.”
Cash glances at me, quick. Levi watches Reno, still as a hawk. I don’t know how much any of them know, and now is not the time to ask.
Reno laughs, sharp and wrong. “Even if she did, I wouldn’t care.”
I keep my eyes on my burger and chew slow. I ain’t saying shit.
“People move on,” Blaze says, shrugging, too casual. “Women do it best.”
