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 smirk at that. “I’m proud of him.”
“Fuck, I am too. He worked damn hard for all of it. He deserves it.”
I nod slowly.
“But it comes with the fame, and even if he’s moved to the ranch and isn’t in the sport anymore, the fame won’t ever really go away. What happened last night isn’t part of that. This was malicious and, honestly, illegal. This isn’t something you’ll have to deal with often, if ever again. It’s mostly people asking for autographs and photos when you’re in public.”
“I don’t mind that.”
“Are you telling me that last night gave you second thoughts about your relationship?”
“No.” I sit up and push my hands through my hair. “No, I’m in love with him, Gid. There’s no going back for me. He’s it—he’s the one—and I’ll fight with everything in me for him. I’m not pulling away.”
“Then why do you look so fucking sad?”
I smile at him. “I love you. You know that, right?”
“I love you, too, baby girl. What do you need? Need me to come home and fix it?”
I raise my eyebrows. “That’s what it takes for you to come home? Not getting shot in the leg?”
“Getting shot in the leg is part of my job. You’re my family. Those are two different things.”
“You’re kind of badass. You know that, right? You got shot, Gid. With bullets.”
“Yes. I was there.”
I snort.
“You changed the subject on me, Trouble.”
With a sigh, I shrug a shoulder. “I’m not . . . sad. I don’t know what I am. You saw them. I wouldn’t want to see that if it were you. And you’re my brother. How do you think it feels when I’m in love with him?”
“I imagine it sucks.”
“Understatement.”
“And it’s not your fault. It’s not his fault. It’s not those women’s fault.”
“Exactly. So who am I supposed to be mad at?”
“The asshole who took them, without consent, and sent them to you.”
“Who is it?”
He shakes his head. “I have a pretty good idea but can’t prove it yet. As soon as I know, you guys will know. Now, what do you need to feel better?”
“To know, I guess. So they can be dealt with and we can just move on.”
“Take them off your phone, Wills.”
“Ry already did. I don’t ever want to see them again. I think Ry and I are going to head out to the lake and swim this afternoon. It’s been hot as fuck here, and a swim sounds good. That might help.”
“Go scare the fish,” he says. “Everything else is being dealt with.”
“I know. Ry was in his office all morning on calls. Maybe it doesn’t help that there’s nothing I can do.”
“If I had a job for you, I’d give it to you. But I don’t.”
“You would not give me a job.”
Gid laughs again. Wow, two in one day. He must be feeling better. “No, I wouldn’t. Go enjoy the sunshine.”
“Okay. Did you have therapy today?”
“Yep.”
“How did it go?”
“Hurt like a bitch.”
“I’ve never understood that phrase, but I’m sorry you’re hurting. Anything I can do for you?”
“Go have fun, kiddo.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you back.”
He hangs up, and I walk to the bedroom to change into a bikini. I only own two bathing suits, because summers in Montana are short and I don’t spend a ton of time on the water. Maybe now that I live out here, I’ll do more swimming, since the lake and the creeks are so close.
I’ve just pulled on a loose cover-up when Ryker walks into the room and wiggles his eyebrows.
“Well, hello, gorgeous.”
“Hi. Are we going swimming now?”
“Hell yes. I just have to change.” He disappears into the closet for five minutes and then comes out wearing only a pair of swimming trunks.
Good God, his body still does things to me. All the muscles. All the ink.
That knowing grin.
“Don’t you dare touch me.” I point a finger at him and skirt my way to the door. “If you get started, we won’t leave this room.”
“Would that be a terrible thing? I saw the way you were checking me out. You can have all of me, sweetheart.”
I snort and start down the stairs. “Easy, big guy. Inflate your ego much more, and you won’t fit through the door.”
We’re both laughing when he takes my hand and kisses my knuckles, and then we walk the quarter of a mile to the nearby lake.
“Why didn’t Ray build the house on the lake?” I ask Ryker as we follow the path. “It’s a nice size, and the views are just as good there.”
“I asked him once, and he said it was because Debbie was worried there would be snakes and a bunch of extra bugs from the water, so he built it a little ways away for her.”
I rub a hand over my chest. “God, he loved her.”
“I’d never seen anything like it,” Ryker says, shaking his head. “I think my biological mom cared about me. But I’d never witnessed someone truly loving the hell out of someone the way those two did each other. And then the three of us too. I had one hell of a shitty attitude when we were brought here, and I had every intention of being good enough to stay, but I wasn’t going to win any awards for being a good kid.”