Page 36 of Rough Cowboy
“You were going to start your relationship on a lie? I hear that’s not the way to go.”
She sticks up her middle finger, and her bedroom door slams behind her.
Well, hell. That didn’t go as planned.
I crash into the lumpy mattress I’ve decided will suffice as my bed. Dust billows. The old sour smells aren’t great. But it doesn’t matter, and soon I drift into a deep slumber and only awake when my brother charges into my room.
“Wake up. It’s after lunch.” He hits my feet. “You and I have shit to do.”
An explosive headache rings in my ears. I groan and grab my head as I roll away from him.
“Fuck off.”
“Take a shower. You smell like shit.”
“I’m pretty sure something died here, and that’s what you smell.”
I feel his hands circle my ankles before I fly off the end of the bed. My body slams onto the old flat carpet, offering no comfort.
“Shit,” I groan, rolling onto my back.h
My stomach curdles when he kneels on my chest. “If you plan to stay here, you are to keep your distance from Elsie. No asshole remarks. No, I wanna fuck you, gazes. No, let me help you. Back the fuck off. You got me?”
“Yes.” My stomach rolls—my head clambers. “Shit. Get off me.”
He grasps my chin. “She’s not your booty call or your friend.”
“Is she your booty call?”
“She’s my best friend, and I won’t let you hurt her. That’s what you do, hurt people.”
I slap his hand. “I hear you.”
“Do you? ‘Cause you have three weeks, then you pack your bags, and you’re gone. When you finish your tournament, you stay on the road. You don’t come home.” His words sting. We’ve never been apart longer than a night or two. Weeks, months, possibly years away from him—my head almost explodes at the thought.
“I thought we were going to run the camp together.” I push out my chest to ease his knee further digging.
“We’re not going to do anything. This is my goddam ranch, and you’re lucky I’m letting you hang around for a few weeks.”
“Why not kick me out now?” I grab his leg with both hands but am too weak to move him.
“You’re going to prove to Elsie you’re the selfish, worthless asshole she’s having a hard time believing you are. The prick we both know is in there.”
I groan when his knee digs hard, and he rises to his feet. He smiles down at me like he didn’t just order me around like his little bitch. “Brush your teeth too.”
I wait for him to leave before I collapse on the ground. Son of a bitch. I hurt from head to toe and deep in my gut. I ignore it all and jump in a long hot shower. I could stand under the pelting heat for the rest of the day, but indulging in the thoughts skirting through my head isn’t appealing. I don’t want a damn replay of every wrong decision I made yesterday. A day out on the town with my brother is the distraction I need.
I emerge with a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt. My brother is lucky I brushed my teeth and running my fingers through my hair was about the extent of my trying for the day.
I’m disappointed to find a kettle and instant coffee waiting on the counter. This isn’t like my ma’s freshly ground coffee brewing at the ranch.
I retrieve a chipped mug from the cupboard and rinse it under hot water before I scoop out a teaspoon of ground coffee. I touch the kettle to find it still warm and fill my mug.
The French doors in the living room open to a stone patio covered by a weathered pergola. It stretches the length of the long ranch house. In the distance, I remember mucking the stalls between riding. The afternoons of chasing the girls around with water balloons warm my insides. Then being a teenager and slinking into the corner, thinking I was too cool.
“Remember to stay away from her.” Sammy hits me as he strolls past me.
That’s when I see Elsie stretching in a yoga position to the left.
