Page 80 of The Lies We Told Ourselves

“You wouldn’t have to actually sleep with him.” He sighed dramatically. “I wouldn’t force that on anyone.”

“That’s big of you. I doubt even I could…No, I definitely could. I’m just not going to. If you want him to stop stomping about the ranch, you need to offer him something he’s not going to refuse.”

“I tried, but you won’t cooperate with me!”

I knew he was teasing me. Apparently, trauma really did bond people because Xander and I had gone from slightly frosty acquaintances to co-conspirators in the space of twelve hours.

“Trace and Delaney are coming over,” I told him, deciding not to engage with his earlier plan. Honestly, I was saving that one for this evening. “And Cade will be here. And Booker loves his nephew, who I happen to know is coming with a stack of Pokémon cards and apparently a burning desire to tell Booker about each and every one of them.”

“I want him to rest, Reece, not to torture the poor guy.”

I swiveled on the couch, curling my feet beneath me so I could look at Xander properly. “Did he tell you?” I asked.

Xander didn’t even pretend not to know what I was talking about. “He did.”

“You know he’s just using the horses as an excuse to check the barn, the cottage, and everything in between them. He’s not really doing any work.”

“And what do you think he’s going to do if he actually finds this guy lurking in the shadows somewhere?”

I sighed and flopped back against the couch. He had a point. I guess I’d just assumed that Camden wouldn’t be stupid enoughto still be hanging out around here, but he’d proved me wrong on that already with the whole gate incident.

As I stared up at the ceiling, I found the courage to say what I was really thinking.

“Is it wrong that I kind of hope he punches him in the face and then somehow reverses a truck over him?”

“Not in the slightest…as long as he remembers to use his good hand.”

I snorted out an unladylike laugh, then, with a sigh, stood up. “I’ll check on him.”

As I went to walk past Xander, his hand gently wrapped around my wrist, and I looked down at him in surprise.

“We won’t let this guy anywhere near you, Reece.”

My eyes must have widened comically because Xander hit me with a boyish smile that I’d never seen on his face before.

“You’re good for him,” he said with a shrug. “I can see the difference from the guy I saw three years ago who communicated in mostly grunts and growls. He’s happy finally, and it’s about time that Booker had someone looking out for him as much as he looks out for the rest of us.”

I moved to perch my butt on the arm of the couch and bit my lip nervously. “Will you stay?” I asked him, my eyes nervously glancing toward the door to check that Booker hadn’t come back inside.

I knew he wanted his brother here. He just didn’t know how to ask him.

Xander rubbed the back of his neck as he half shrugged. “I don’t know. This place has never been good for me, Reece. I don’t know what I have to keep me here. I’d do better finding somewhere to start over. Somewhere without all the memories that want to drive me back into the closest bottle.”

I understood where he was coming from, but it shocked me he thought he didn’t have anything in Willowbrook to stay for.

The front door flew open, and Trace, Delaney, and Cade came tumbling inside. Cade was standing on Trace’s shoes as he did a strange waddling walk, walking them both inside, and Delaney laughed at their antics.

“Where’s Uncle Booker?” Cade shouted, jumping off Trace’s feet, much to the relief of his father, who shook out a foot with a grimace.

“He’s out by the barn,” I told him, smiling as he charged through the house.

“Come on, Dad! We need to show Uncle Booker my cards, and I want to sign his cast!”

“Wait up!” Trace called out as he ran after his son, laughing. “He’s getting it changed today, anyway.”

“I’ll sign that one too,” Cade shouted, his voice disappearing out the door.

Delaney stood in the doorway, watching the two of them with a soft smile on her face. Then she glanced at us with a wry smile. “Sorry about that…” she started, only to be interrupted by the sound of a crash outside. “Oh hell!”

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