Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88463 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 354(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
“I know. It fucking sucks. We need to get a donkey.”
“I’ve already put out the word that we’re in the market for one,” Dusty replies. “In the meantime, those coyotes won’t stop on their own.”
“I’ll be ready to go out to the pasture in about twenty minutes. I’ll meet you out there.”
I hang up and go back inside and find Wills in the kitchen. She already took a shower and changed into her sleep shorts and my jersey, which never fails to wake my dick up.
“Hey,” she says with a grin. “Wanna watch a movie and make out until we ignore said movie and fuck on the couch?”
God, she’s perfect for me.
“Hell yes, I want to do that, but I have to go out to check on the herd. Coyotes are killing our cows.”
“Oh no.” She scowls. “We need a donkey.”
I let out a loud laugh and pull her in for a kiss.
“Why was that funny?”
“I just said the same thing to Dusty.”
“Great minds think alike.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Willow
“Just so you’re aware, the house won’t come with a fridge,” I say to Susan, my real estate agent. I can’t believe that not only am I moving Aiden and myself to the ranch, but I’m also selling my house. I won’t need it anymore, and I don’t want to be a landlord, so it makes sense to sell while the weather is good and people want to move. “The existing one broke, and I’m not replacing it.”
“That’s fair,” Susan says. I can tell she’s writing that down. “What about the other appliances?”
“Everything else stays, including the washer and dryer.”
Ryker just replaced everything in the farmhouse. We’d have no need for my older appliances out here.
“That’s a good selling point,” she says. “Have you done any upgrades since you bought it six years ago?”
I lean back in my desk chair and swivel side to side. “Not really. I did have a walk-in closet soundproofed so I could use it as a studio. I’ll be leaving that as is, but a buyer could easily remove it.”
Susan asks me a few more questions, and I give her permission to go to the house without me to take photos so we can put it on the market.
I know that it surprised me when Ryker first mentioned us moving here permanently, and that made me pause, but now that I’ve had time to think about it and soak in the idea, I’m excited. There will be no more driving back and forth. Aiden will be away from the kids who mercilessly bullied him.
And we’ll be here, with Ryker.
“Okay, I’ll get over there and take some pictures, and we’ll get an appraisal. It should be on the market by next week.”
“Thanks, Susan. Let me know if you need anything from me.”
“You bet.”
She hangs up, and I stand up to stretch before I walk downstairs to find some lunch. I have a few hours of recording time left today, but I need a pick-me-up. Maybe I’ll even take a short walk and get some fresh air.
I can hear my guys in the kitchen, and it makes me smile. Ryker brings Aiden here almost every day for lunch. They’ve been doing this all summer, and I love that Ryker takes time to hang out with my boy.
“Why do you think that idiot says what he does about Willow?” Ryker asks, and I pause outside the kitchen, out of sight. I shouldn’t eavesdrop, but, well, I’m human. Sue me.
“Because he’s an asshole,” Aiden replies. I can hear the scowl on his face.
“It’s weird that it started out of the blue,” Ry counters. “Did something happen?”
Aiden’s quiet. I can hear him chewing from over here. “A couple years ago, I was doing summer league baseball, and we had a game. Miles—that’s his stupid name—was on the team, and his dad coached.”
I remember this.
“His dad’s single, and he asked me if Wills was single.”
He’s quiet again, obviously chewing his lunch.
I hated that guy. He always gave me the creeps.
“I told him I didn’t know about stuff like that with her. I was, like, twelve. How would I know? She never brought anyone home, but hell, I don’t know what she did when I was with friends, or whatever.”
“Sure, makes sense,” Ryker says.
“At first he let it go, but as the season went on, he’d ask me more. Finally, I told him to ask her himself.”
“What did he do?” Ryker asks.
“Don’t know. He didn’t ask me again, but he was also an ass to me after that. Liked to embarrass me in front of the other guys at practice.”
“So his kid comes by being an asshole naturally.”
Aiden snorts. “Totally. I don’t know what he said to Miles, but after that, Miles had it out for me. He’s relentless. I’d block him, and he’d figure out a way to change his number on an app or something to still get through. It was actually really creepy. Can I change my phone number?”