Page 240 of The Brothers at Horseshoe Ranch

“I thought that was the only bar?”

“That’s the only bar, but I know somewhere else that’s cool.”

“Okay, I’m intrigued.”

“Good. I’ll pick you up around eight.”

“Yeah. Meantime, you want to walk down to the river and just chill?”

“Let’s do it.” I smiled at her. “I’m really glad you’re here, you know, Arya.”

“Thank you, Sadie. I’m kind of glad I’m here too.”

Chapter Seventy-Three

Wyatt

I shouldn’t have kissed her.

All I could think about was the way she’d pressed herself against me and the way that her lips felt against mine. I shivered as I thought about how wet she’d been for me. She had been enjoying it just as much as I had, but it had just felt wrong. Not in the ‘I shouldn’t be kissing her’ way, but in the ‘I shouldn’t be kissing her because if I hurt her, I lose her’ way.

I’d known Sadie practically my whole life, and I knew that what she craved more than anything was true love and romance—and that was what I craved least. I couldn’t care less about romance or love. I was fine with the way my life was. I mean, I wasn’t totally happy with my role at the ranch, but I was happy with the other areas of my life. I dated when I wanted and had Sadie there to do everything else. It was fun, it was easy, it was compartmentalized.

I didn’t want to complicate my friendship with Sadie. I couldn’t afford to lose her. She was my sounding board. My biggest cheerleader. The one who knew all my secrets. The one who pushed me to make more of myself. If it hadn’t been for her, I would never have even approached Beau about my idea.

All my life, people had teased me about my friendship with Sadie. They’d said that boys and girls couldn’t be best friends without doing more—and that they definitely couldn’t transition from young kids to teenagers to adults and still keep that level of closeness. Both Sadie and I had scoffed at their comments because we’d both known that our friendship was pure and unbreakable. It had nothing to do with sex or chemistry or messing around … And now I’d gone and ruined that.

Kissing her had awakened something in me that had laid dormant for a long time.

It wasn’t that I had never noticed that she was beautiful or that she had a body that wouldn’t quit. It just hadn’t mattered. She was Sadie, my best friend, and now I’d crossed that line. I knew I’d acted like a jerk when I’d left, but I’d been scared. I’d wanted to go further. I’d wanted to touch and taste her in ways I was pretty sure she’d never been touched or tasted before. But I was afraid I’d lose her in the long run.

Was I being selfish? Would I be taking something away from her? She’d waited such a long time to meet Mr. Right. She’d waited such a long time to be with her forever man, and I didn’t want to ruin that … although just the thought of another man touching her made me angry.

“Hey, Wyatt,” Chet walked up to me, then his expression grew grace as he studied my face. “What’s wrong?”

“What are you talking about?” I growled.

“Uh-oh, wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Why are you talking about my bed?”

He held his hand up to cut me off. “Whoa, bro, rhetorical question. I don’t know what went on in your bed last night.” He grinned, “And I don’t think I want to know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying that you got a bee in your bonnet about something, and I certainly don’t want to get involved. I’m going to go out to the ranch to check something with the ranch hands. I think some of the mares are—”

“Look, dude, I don’t care. Have you seen Beau? I really need to talk to him about my business plan, and I feel like he’s just blowing me off.”

Chet’s eyes widened. “Well, don’t take it out on me. Maybe we need to have a family meeting or something if you’re this pissed off about it.”

“Beau thinks just because he’s the oldest, he’s in charge, and yeah, he’s in charge of running the ranch, but we all have a say in how it’s run. It’s Horseshoe Ranch. It’s the Hamilton family ranch. It’s not Beau Hamilton’s ranch, it’s not Austin Hamilton’s ranch, it’s a family ranch. And I think I should have as much of a say in the running of this business as he does.”

“You’re right.” Chet’s face was grave. “I hundred percent agree with you. And if that’s the reason why you’re so worked up, we will definitely have another family meeting. Maybe Mom and Dad should be involved as well.”

“Maybe they should,” I grumbled. “I’m about fed up. I told Beau several times I need to chat with him, and he keeps blowing me off because he has to do this, that, and the other. Well, I have ideas for the ranch as well. He’s not the only one that wants to ensure that we succeed and that we are here for many generations to come. I guess Beau and Austin feel because they’re the only ones getting married anytime soon that they’re the only ones that will produce kids to take over the ranch.”

Chet snorted in agreement. “Yeah. I mean, hey, good for them, but I want to stay too, you know?”

---