At Whit's End (Wells Ranch, #4)(90)

Although Kate does kind of circle around before she sits on the grass. No hand licking though, just guzzling cold beer.

“Doesn’t matter because we can all guess who Colt’s sleeping with anyway.” Denny hucks a pine cone at my head. It misses, and Betty tears it to shreds in retaliation.

“We can?” Blair twists to look at him. “Who is it?”

Whatever the opposite of a poker face is, that’s what Kate’s wearing.

“Anyway.” I slap my hands against my thighs. “I think I saw Beryl trying to wave us over for some food. Smoked brisket, I think?”

“Nah, I was just over there, and she said it’ll be another hour or so,” Kate says, extremely unhelpfully.

“So, who is it?” Cassidy echoes Blair.

Denny lifts his beer bottle to his lips with a devilish smirk. “You should’ve invited her to the party.”

All eyes cut to me.

“Oh, uh…it’s a bit complicated. She has a kid, so we’re keeping it on the down-low for now.”

I’m not the smartest guy around, but even I know I said too much. Blair looks over at me with narrowed eyebrows and an unwavering iciness, and it feels eerily similar to Whit’s intense stare. My armor was only made of papier-m?ché to begin with—shit’s crumbling fast.

To avoid eye contact, I study the label on my beer bottle. “You guys ever think about the first person to get drunk? Did he think he was possessed or some shit?”

“He definitely thought he was dying when he woke up the next day,” Denny adds.

I nod. “Oh, fuck, yeah. I know what a hangover is, and I still think I’m dying.”

When Whit saunters over, I realize I fucked up big time by only bringing one chair in the first place. I’m left with no choice but to quickly stand and offer her mine. It’s making the look from Blair burn a touch hotter. And when I’m pulling up a new chair right next to Whit thirty seconds later, it’s pretty damn clear we’ve been exposed.

“Wait.” Blair points somewhere in the empty space between us, just hovering there while she’s got her mouth agape. She’s piecing it together. Buffering. “You two are together?”

Ah, fuck. I forgot Whit wasn’t here for the conversation before. I literally pulled out a chair for her surprise interrogation. She’s completely frozen, looking like a deer in the headlights.

“Oh, uh…well, we’re…” My heart’s racing, and I slam back the rest of my drink. “Another round, everybody?”

“Sit.” Whit’s hand slams on top of mine, keeping my ass from moving out of my seat.

Call me a hot dog, ’cause it looks like I’m about to be grilled.

“We’re…” I rub the back of my neck, waiting for Whit to jump in with an answer, because I’m fairly confident she doesn’t want everyone to hear my honest answer.

“We’re taking things slow…and we’re not saying a word about this in front of Jonas yet.” Whit gives everybody that raised-eyebrow, fuck around and find out look.

“Okay, that I understand, but why did Denver know before I did?” Blair turns to Denny. “And why didn’t you tell me?”

I’m convinced if I look down, I’ll see that I’m knee-deep in hot water. And I’ll likely find Denny’s right there with me.

“To be fair, I didn’t tell him, so he didn’t actually know,” I say. “He’s just smarter than he looks.”

Denny bats his eyes at me. “Thank you, Colt.”

Then my asshole friend faces Whit and adds, “You know he’s a total dumbass, right? Like…we could probably find you somebody who knows how to tie his own shoes?”

She laughs. “Oh, that explains why he only ever wears cowboy boots. I taught Jonas how to tie his, so I think we’ll manage.”

Whit gives a soft squeeze of my forearm. I’m used to the jokes about being dumb. Been getting them my whole life, and I admit I lean into it sometimes. I might not be able to build a rocket ship or understand how they get the filling into donuts, but I’m not a total moron.

The corner of Blair’s mouth is quirked upward, attention flitting between me and her sister. “I think you guys are cute. My sister deserves a nice guy, and if that doesn’t turn out to be you, Cassidy and I will castrate you.” Her tone carries the words like a lullaby—so sweet, I almost don’t catch the threat at the end.

“Damn right,” Cass says.

“Noted.” I grimace.

Seeing the kids approaching, Whit gives everyone a final look and her touch falls away from my bare arm. It’s hot and the sun is shining, but the world feels at least ten degrees colder without her.

Jonas leaps in the air to smack a tree branch, pretending it’s a basketball hoop, I think. And the move startles the small orange cat cradled in Odessa’s arms, so naturally she backhands Jonas in the chest. He scrunches his face, rubbing his sternum and playing it cool.

“Where’s your brother?” Kate asks Odessa.

She removes one hand from underneath the kitten, causing its butt to hang suspended in the air while she tightens her grip on its upper body. The exact whereabouts of Rhett seem to be a bit unknown, based on how noncommittal her pointing is. “Um…he fell on the rocks and was crying, so Dad took him.”