Rhett chuckles, his hands propped across his bare chest now. He’s all smiles as he shakes his head and stares up at the ceiling. “I hope so. I think I get off on other people hearing you scream my name.”
I grin and flop over onto my stomach, burying my face in the pillows because I think I might get off on it too. I want to dig a hole and crawl in there to hide, but I also want to burst out laughing because Rhett pushes all the boundaries I thought I had.
He’s not ashamed, more like he’s proud of me and wants everyone to know I’m hooking up with him. Which is an altogether new experience.
I mull that over, feeling him get off the bed and hearing him shuffle around behind me. When he gets back on the bed beside me, he says, “I figured out what the freckles on your back spell.”
“Oh, yeah?” I squeak out.
“Yeah.”
I feel a fine point on my back. “Are you drawing on me?”
“No, I’m writing on you.”
“What are you writing?” I laugh because it’s ridiculous. I feel like I’m in junior high all over again.
His responding chuckle is low and deep. It makes my stomach flip and my core tingle. “You’ll have to go look.”
Rhett sounds so satisfied, so smug, and when I turn and glance back at him, his expression is a perfect match.
“Fine,” I say, clambering off the bed. I pad into the bathroom, the one that still smells like lavender Epsom salts, and turn my back to the mirror. I give him a curious look as he watches me from the edge of the bed, and then I turn back to see what he’s written.
He’s connected the freckles to say Mine.
And God, in this moment, I feel like that might be true.
25
Rhett
Rhett: Come to my room.
Summer: No. I’m not tiptoeing around your dad’s house and having sex with you on the same floor as him. That’s tacky.
Rhett: There is no one I’d rather be tacky with.
Summer: My answer is still no.
Rhett: I’ll come to your room. We won’t be on the same floor that way. Everyone wins.
Summer: You’re an animal.
Rhett: We can call it a team meeting.
Summer: You’re going to call having sex a team meeting?
Rhett: Team building?
Summer: What are we building? LOL.
Rhett: Rapport.
Summer: Nice try.
Rhett: Will you at least send me a nude so I can jerk off all sad and alone?
Summer: You’re pathetic. Wanna go for a midnight drive in the rust bucket? Look for the constellation that spells MINE? ;）
Rhett: Yeah. If I get you down on all fours, I’ll find that one for sure.
“So, how’s traveling together been going?” my dad asks over a mouthful of food from beside me. Table manners are a lost art in this house. It was enough for my dad to get a full meal down in front of three young boys. Well, four young boys, considering Jasper might as well be one of us for how much he hung around.
He’s here tonight too. Made the trip out of the city for Sunday dinner before Beau deploys again.
“Anyone going to answer me?” Harvey prods.
I glance at Summer, who’s at the opposite end of the table from me, wide-eyed, fork frozen in mid-air.
I almost laugh. She’s a terrible liar.
“Great.” I shrug and stare down at my spaghetti and meatballs. Cade may be a grumpy asshole. But he’s a grumpy asshole who can cook.
“Yeah?” Beau asks, a curious smirk on his face. “The wild child treating you well, Summer?”
She promptly fills her mouth with a forkful of noodles, nodding with an awkward high-pitched laugh, before she points at her mouth apologetically, like that’s the reason she’s not answering.
Her eyes dart to mine. And I laugh. I can’t help it.
“He’s running you into the ground, isn’t he?” Beau asks. Bless him. He’s so sweet, he doesn’t realize the button he’s pressing. Cade does though. I can tell by the way he’s glaring at me across the table.
It’s hard to tell what type of scowl this is, but I think it might be one that says You’re not seriously fucking your agent’s daughter, are you?
I’m not so sure my dad is fooled either.
Me? I don’t care. If I cared what they thought, I’d have stopped riding bulls years ago. I’d be happy to sit next to Summer and sling my arm across the back of her chair. But I know she’s not there yet. Unlike me, Summer really, really cares what people think.
Summer lifts her napkin, primly dabbing at her lips as she takes a deep breath. I watch them flatten and fill back out under the pressure of her fingers and have to shift myself on the chair to accommodate the way my cock is expanding in my pants.
She smiles serenely at my brother. “No, everything has been absolutely fine. Very uneventful. When do you deploy? I’m assuming we’ll see you all at the final rodeo weekend?” She looks around the table innocently. But I know her comment is anything but innocent. “It’s just in the city. I’m sure you’re all capable of driving to support Rhett.”
That draws a lot of dropped eye contact and increased rates of chewing. I’m not surprised. My family doesn’t support me in this venture. It’s not a new conversation for me at this point.
“Sorry, Sum.” My eyes narrow at Beau, shortening her name like he knows her well enough to do that. “I’m heading out early this week. Dad and I are making it a road trip across the country.”
But Summer is a fixer. Summer supports the people she loves. I’m sure she can’t quite wrap her head around this. So, she just continues to stare at everyone expectantly.
“I’ll come!” Luke squeals. “I wanna be a bull rider, just like Uncle Rhett!”
Summer smiles. “Great, I can take y—”
“No.” Cade’s voice is downright arctic. This is not a conversation he likes to have. Not at all.
It’s Jasper from beneath the brim of his team cap that takes over the conversation. “I’ll join you, Summer. I live close to the arena, and we’re off that night.”
She perks up with a terse nod, rolling her shoulders back and glaring at my dad and brothers.
“Wouldn’t matter if you had a game. You could take the night off. That’s how far y’all are from clinching a playoff spot.” Beau guffaws at his own joke.
Jasper rolls his eyes, shakes his head, and mutters, “Fuckin’ dick.” His voice holds no venom though. Jasper and my middle brother are best friends, the kind most of us never get to have. Practically brothers. God knows Jasper needed someone.
Or a few someones. And those someones turned out to be the Eaton boys.
“Well,” Beau exclaims, clapping his hands together, “who’s up for a field trip to The Spur? I want to dance with Summer before I leave.”
My teeth grind as I glare at my brother.
“You’re gonna ruin your teeth doing that, son.” Harvey slings a hand across the back of my chair and grins at me. It’s a creepy grin. A knowing grin.
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Any time. You know I’m a well-spring of good advice.” He leans in closer while everyone else launches into talking about plans for later tonight. His voice goes lower. “That’s why I’m going to give you this little tidbit of advice: cool your jets. If you ever have something that no one else wants, you gotta ask yourself where the value is.”