Page 38 of Wild For You

Chapter Eleven

Cash

Dad returns swiftlywith my drink, followed by the rest of the Boyd bunch. We take a seat and Shannon begins to place plates and bowls of food on the huge, long table, in easy reach for everyone to help themselves.

My glance brushes over the familiar faces, and I realize Erin hasn’t joined us.

“Erin, come over,” my dad calls out, as though reading my mind.

I turn sharply to look over my shoulder and realize Ryder’s hands are still glued to Erin’s lower back. They’re standing a few inches too close.

He’s almost leaning into her, dammit.

The thought of him with her in the car, smiling at her, driving her wherever she wants to be, touching her, makes my blood boil in my veins.

I’m not jealous or anything.

How could I possibly be when she’s been here for only a little more than a week? But I don’t like the fact that she seems to glow now that he’s around. All I ever get is a frown.

The thing is, Ryder is single and a player like me. Maybe not to the same extent as I am, but I’m sure he wouldn’t throw her out of his bed. There are plenty of other women he could choose from. It doesn’t necessarily have to be my physical therapist.

“Hey, bro.” I kick the leg of the table to get Ryder’s attention. “What’s up?”

“I was telling Erin about the harvest fest we have every year,” Ryder says as soon as they’ve reached us.

“Being your usual stranger to Montana, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Erin chimes in, not even looking at me.

My mood takes a dive to new lows.

I set my jaw, then take another gulp of my beer, then set my jaw again.

I don’t like the fact he’s trying to warm her up to this place when I should be the one doing it.

I want to offer her the tour, but how can I possibly when I can’t walk or drive?

The delicious scent of grilled steak is wafting over as the serving tray is being passed around, but my appetite’s just taken a dive, together with my mood.

“Stay, and I’ll take you,” Ryder says and winks at her.

My gaze rakes over her, over the way her body seems to fill out her dress perfectly without looking tacky. Her hair’s grazing the sun-kissed skin on her shoulders, and suddenly I’m consumed by the urge to press my lips against her body and lick every delicious inch.

As though hearing my thoughts, her gaze turns to me and our eyes connect.

The world around us disappears; the chatter of voices fade into nothingness.

I take a sharp breath as a current of energy shoots through me, and my body becomes alive.

“Maybe Cash will come, too. If he decides to give me a chance.”

Her words are soft, earnest, devoid of the pity I’ve been getting from her and everyone else around me.

I stare at her, taken aback by the warmth and the determination in her gaze.

“We all would like that,” my dad says. I can feel his glance at me. I can feel everyone’s glance, but all I can do is stare at Erin as she’s staring back at me.

I want her.

I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want her, I realize. I also realize that I’ve been staring a little too long and my family’s bound to notice.

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