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I smile at Courtney. She’s probably the most blunt person I’ve met who doesn’t seem to cross that line into being rude. She simply doesn’t sugar coat things and says what she wants to say without apologizing for taking up space. I can see why Tommy, Courtney, and Avery balance each other out and each bring something to their friendship dynamics.
“I think I can do that.”
“Tommy would like it, that’s for sure,” Avery says, watching Tommy and Jackson wrestle with one arm behind their backs and hopping on one foot per Chuck’s last-minute rules. “He finally seems like himself again.”
“Thank fuck,” Courtney adds. “Don’t get me wrong, I completely understand why he has been so picky, but he shut down parts of himself that allowed him to be happy regardless of whether or not he was seeing anyone.”
They must note the confusion on my face.
“Sorry, we’re all in a weird space of me not having been around much in the past few years with being off at school, so Court and I get oddly sentimental about things. Especially when it comes to Tommy since I could only be there for him virtually so much of the last year.” Avery picks at the label on her bottle. “Have you guys talked about his ex much?”
“Not really. Some things have come up for both of us, but we haven’t sat down and really talked about our past relationships in detail.” It’s clear by their tone and expressions that they aren’t trying to make me feel inadequate or question why we haven’t had these conversations.
“Well, you’ll have to talk about Maisy fucking Jones at some point in the near future. I heard she’s moving back.”
“What the hell? Where’d you hear that and why didn’t you say anything sooner?” Avery swats Courtney’s leg.
“I just heard it this morning during one of my appointments,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Apparently, her rodeo man stopped bringing her on the circuit with him.”
“What if she makes an appointment with you like she used to?”
“I’ll cancel it,” Courtney says matter-of-factly. “I only tolerated her because of Tommy.”
My head spins with these little details. Tommy’s ex, Maisy, is moving back.
“That name sounds familiar,” I say out loud before realizing it. Both girls are looking at me expectantly. “Did she move away recently?”
Avery shakes her head, but Courtney is the one who answers. “About a year ago, she packed up her apartment and had planned to leave a note for Tommy saying she was leaving to be with a guy in the rodeo. But he stopped by to surprise her with flowers and she had no choice but to explain she was leaving him in person.”
“She’s a real piece of work. Steer clear of her as best you can. She’ll try to get under your skin while being sweet to your face, but always have your guard up.” Avery’s gaze is fixed on Tommy for a moment. “Honestly, just ignore her, if she’s not getting the attention she wants from someone, she’ll move on eventually.”
Questions buzz through my mind faster than I can sort through, but then Bryant shows up and the guys immediately start heckling him.
“Oh this is going to get interesting now,” Courtney says, cracking a wicked grin.
Bryant lets out a warrior-like bellow and charges his brothers while Caleb stays just far enough away to not get accidentally thrown down. Even though they had recently been facing off against each other, Jackson and Tommy team up to take Bryant down by his legs while Matt tugs one arm and Chuck jumps on his massive back. Not one of these guys would be considered out of shape but Bryant is somehow holding his own against them as he drags his brothers through the mud along with him.
The girls set down their drinks and grab my hands, joining the chaos and effectively cutting off my spiraling thoughts, letting myself enjoy these moments, this place, and these people.
Who knew mudding would be so fun and exhausting?
I’m completely spent by the time we’re walking to the side of the house where everyone starts peeling off their layers to rinse them in a big metal bucket. I’m not sure how long we were out there, but there are clumps of now-dry mud caked in my hair.
Oh I hope everything I rolled in or that sprayed up at me while riding behind Tommy on the ATV was only mud. As much as I love being on this ranch, I don’t need to have horse poop in my ponytail.
As I’m peeling off my t-shirt, I nod toward a gigantic stack of firewood and an ax buried in a stump in front of it. “When does that get done?”
“Oh, that’s what Bryant does when he’s frustrated or stressed,” Tommy says, wiping mud from his forearms.
“Or pissed off,” Chuck adds, now standing right next to me. “He’s out there in waves. When there’s a scowl on his face that doesn’t seem to leave, he’ll easily split logs for an hour a day.”
“Thus the enormous supply of firewood available at Landen Acres at any given time.” Tommy takes off his pants so he’s only in shorts and a tight undershirt. I have to remind myself that it’s not polite to ogle in public.
“Poor guy, what has him so stressed?” I ask, peeking at Bryant who is spraying down the golf cart to get most of the mud off.
Tommy shrugs while Chuck says, “Who knows? He has always been pretty quiet, but since we lost our dad, he rarely talks about things beyond the ranch and he’ll just step outside halfway through an argument and start chopping away.”
He must feel our eyes on him because Bryant looks our way for a second before turning the hose on the whole group. The spray is downright cold, but Tommy grabs my hand and takes off to the front of the house where his brother can’t reach us. We can hear shouts and cheers from around the corner as a new battle wages on. I’m still a little out of breath from the shock when Tommy’s free hand brushes the hair from my forehead.
