Page 51 of Bad Cowboy, Tennessee

I was left there out in the narrow parking lot outside the store, my gaze landing on the tents and stalls down the way, past the trees lined with twinkly lights. A gentle breeze blew through the air, carrying the scent of beer through the air.

I pulled out my phone, dialing Dominic back in Montana.

“Evening,” he answered. “Bored in Tennessee yet?”

“Bored isn’t the right word,” I said. “It’s keeping my interest. Anything new with the family?”

“Zero. Your father seems like he’s holding out for the long haul, and your mother… well, she’s your mother.”

I grunted in response.

My motherbeingmy mothermeant only two things: she was cold, and she was hollow. There was more warmth in an icicle than in my mother’s blood. She’d gotten what she wanted, marrying into wealth. Once she had that, and four kids—me, the youngest—she was checked out mentally, with no energy left for things that weren’t purchasing jewelry or choosing which champagne to serve at a party.

She wasn’t going to run after me.

I wasn’t a priority.

“If Dad’s going to long-haul me, then I can long-haul it, too,” I said. “Ice him out. I have a house here now, and no reason to leave.”

“Stella and Kate are busy with the merger, but I’m going to talk with them soon.”

Dominic didn’t even mention my brother Xander, because he was basically my father’s mini-me golden boy,morethan ready to fill his shoes the moment Dad kicked the bucket.

“I’ll be okay here.”

“Oh. Bonnie came by the other day. Somehow she heard you broke things off with Lily, and she… well, she wants your jock.”

I puffed out a laugh. “Bonnie, huh? She wasparticularlycock-hungry last time we hooked up.”

“I told her you’re gone for a while,” Dominic said. “Surprised she didn’t text you anyway.”

“I’ll let her down easy.”

“Any hookups on your radar?” Dominic asked.

I spotted Max far down the street, setting up the Hard Spot beer fest tent. He was wearing a loose blue tank top, with the arm holes cut deep and low to expose the muscles of his torso on the sides.

There were already a few men circling near his tent, and my senses perked up, eyeing them like a hawk.

No one touches him but me.

Reining in my thoughts felt like controlling a feral dog.

“No,” I answered. “No hookups in my future. Honestly, I’m just happy that Lily is here. Her brother’s around, too, and he’s like her, but… sweeter.”

“Sweeter than Lily? He must be a fucking Pop Tart.”

I snorted. “Max is like a human Pop Tart. Yes.”

“Sounds like you like him.”

“I’m watching over him.”

“Tell Lily I said hello. She hasn’t spoken to me much since being there.”

Even when Lily and I were dating, she’d always been close with Dom, too. It made sense especially now that Dom would worry about her. He missed her, far more than he missed me.

“I’ll let her know. You’d like her brother, too. He makes all those foo-foo cocktails you suck down every night.”

---