Page 21 of A Lot Like Love
Ryder followed Chase out into the late afternoon sunshine, closing his eyes and turning his face up toward the sky for a moment. Texas was in his blood, and so was this ranch. He might scrap with his brothers all the time, but family meant everything to him—his grandfather was the most important person in his life. And he was so close to making the biggest screw-up of his life, one that could cost him everything, which meant he had to keep himself in check.
“Come on, Romeo,” Chase called out.
Ryder jogged the distance between them. “Coming.”
“Want to go for a ride? I need some cattle moved into the pens.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.” He’d only had a few beers and it wasn’t exactly far to ride. “What’re we bringing them in for?”
Chase laughed, making a scissor motion with his fingers. “Castration. You’d know all about that though, right? Not like you to back down from a fight.”
“What the hell are you saying?” Ryder stopped walking so fast his boots sent a cloud of dust up in the air.
“That your girl might have your balls.” Chase made a face and shuddered theatrically.
“Don’t you…”
“Chloe. Her name isChloe. Yeah, I heard you loud and clear the first time.”
Ryder slammed his shoulder into his brother’s as he passed him. They might be dickheads half the time, but they were only trying to rile him up. He’d trust them with his life—although maybe not his girl. Women were fair game, survival of the fittest, but if he had it his way neither of them would be seeing Chloe at all if he could help it.
“So you’re really pulling out all the stops for this one, huh?” Chase asked, catching up and falling into step beside him. “You know if you’d just said how important she was to you, we wouldn’t have teased like that.”
What did he say to that? That she was the one calling the shots? They’d get a damn good kick out of hearing that a woman was telling a King what to do, not to mention trying to dig him out of trouble.
“Did I mention she said no to me the first few times I asked her out?”
Chase slung his arm around his shoulder. “Look, if you need help with the ladies…”
Ryder laughed. “What, taking her to Vegas isn’t enough?”
“Maybe you need to play hard ball. Girls want what they can’t have.”
Ryder chuckled. “Yeah, so do I. The second she turned me down all I wanted was her and no one else.”
“Come on, let’s get these cattle moved and sorted, then you can tell me all about her over a few more beers.”
“Sounds good.” If only he didn’t feel like such a goddamn liar, it wouldn’t have been a half-bad way to spend the afternoon.
