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“For fuck’s sake,” I murmur into her hair and turn my head.
“Chuck, you’re a dick!” I yell in his direction as I cover her ear and tuck her head against my chest.
His laughter carries across the corrals. “Just encouraging my little brother, that’s all.”
“This is mortifying,” Sam says into my chest. “What was I thinking? We’re at your place of business and here I am practically groping you in the parking lot.”
“I can promise you, every single one of my brothers has done much more not only out here, but in the office, too.” I grimace. “You know, where I work.”
“Still completely mortifying. How do I hide even more?” She’s made herself as narrow as possible, like no one saw her legs a moment ago.
“Come here.” I shift so my arm is around her shoulders, keeping her close. She whispers something that sounds like a mini pep talk to herself, shuts her car door, and leans against me as I tug her towards the house. “We can go inside before we even think of dealing with my most obnoxious brother.”
“No,” she groans but stops, keeping me right there with her. “You remind me not to hide. Plus, I’m riding a horse today, I can be brave.”
“You’re always brave, but it’s okay to drop your stuff off so I cool off before saying something stupid to Chuck.”
“That’s a reasonable compromise,” she says, letting me walk to the house with my hand on her hip, feeling it sway with each step. “Wait, all of your brothers have made out here?”
“I suppose none of us have ever caught Matt anywhere, but yeah, everyone else.”
“Huh,” she says, her brow furrowed.
“Who were you thinking wouldn’t have?”
“I guess I’m surprised about Bryant. He seems more,” she pauses, “solitary.”
“Bryant may be that, but he’s definitely not celibate.”
Sam looks up at me with an inquisitive look. “Why does that sound like some sordid tale?”
“He’s not the most social person, and he likes to keep things simple, according to him,” I explain, bringing her into the office since I didn’t bother to log out of a damn thing when I saw Gerald at Sam’s window. “So there’s a woman he met back in college who lives in a nearby town and they hook up.”
“Since college?”
I nod. “I met her a few times and neither of them has any interest in the other, but apparently, when they’re both single, they’re happy to ‘get things out of their system’ as Bryant once said.”
“But Matt has outsmarted you all and never got caught? It almost sounds like a right of passage at this point.”
Once the computer is shut down, I return my full attention to her. “Honestly, he’s the only one who hasn’t brought anyone here. He doesn’t really stay over anywhere, either, but we try to not ask too much, if that makes any sense. I realize that I’m not that much older than him, but since he was still seventeen when our dad died, we’ve all had to look out for him differently and none of us want him to resent us for treating him like a kid and not just a brother. So, while Chuck will go out of his way to tease the rest of us about our dating lives, a few moments ago was a lovely example of his maturity level half the time, he never says anything to Matt about it. Even when Matt blushes, he’ll hold his tongue.”
Trying to brush the lock of hair that fell onto my forehead again, I run my fingers through my hair. It’s no surprise that I was in such a rush earlier that I didn’t even grab my hat on the way outside. Looking up, it’s still hanging in its usual spot on a hook near the windows. “Sorry, that conversation took a turn.”
“Why would you apologize for telling me about your family?” she asks, standing in front of the desk with her head tilted to the side.
That gives me pause, realizing that Maisy really never cared. God, I was blind to so many things.
Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I walk around the desk to bring Sam into the house. “I suppose you’re right. I just get caught up sometimes assuming every girlfriend would be annoyed at listening to me ramble.”
“Now it’s my turn to be curious about your exes setting the bar low.” Her eyebrow raises as she smirks.
“Touché.”
Chapter 29: Sam
Tommy holds the door to the house open with one hand and offers me his other. Butterflies erupt in my stomach at the contact as he walks just ahead of me.
“We still need to get you that shirt,” he says, his face turned toward me and full of mischief. “I happen to know the place for the perfect one.”
