Rhett must have overheard us because he says, “Jesus. You and Summer and Violet all together is going to be terrifying. Toss in Sloane? It’s going to be a mess.”
Jasper freezes for the briefest moment. “Sloane is coming?”
“Yeah, Vi told me the other day. She’s picking her up at the airport.”
Jasper covers whatever that physical reaction was with a chuckle. “Yeah. That’ll be quite the combo.”
“Who is Sloane?”
“Our cousin,” Rhett says right as Jasper says, “Their cousin. My friend.”
“Dude. You’re my brother. She’s our cousin. Don’t be weird about this. We’re too old for that shit.” Rhett shakes his head.
“We’ve stayed in touch in the city. You know that. I’m not related to her. She’s a good friend.”
Rhett rolls his eyes. “I don’t care about your last name, Jas. You’re an Eaton boy, like it or not.”
Jasper’s cheeks flush a little and his lips curve up. “I like it just fine, little Eaton.”
My head flips between them as they snipe back and forth. “Good god. You guys are adorable together.”
“Sloane is really pretty,” Luke announces when he surfaces for air out of his giant bag of mini donuts.
“Oooh.” I nudge my shoulder at him. “Does someone have a crush?” The boy rolls his eyes but his cheeks flame.
I bite back the laugh threatening to slip out. Luke doesn’t need me making fun of him about this, no matter how badly I want to.
The guys poke at Luke’s little shoulders until his ears turn red.
“She’s pretty, Lukey. No one denies that. Right, Jas?”
A little tendon in Jasper’s jaw twitches, but he nods and smiles all the same.
“Look!” Luke points to the area behind the metal gates. “There’s Dad!”
And there he is . . . warming up and looking sexy as hell. Shoulders held tall. Black hat. Black shirt with silver snaps. Black chaps. Black boots. Even Blueberry matches him.
“I wonder if he has a favorite color?” I ask to a chorus of laughs.
“He looks like Cowboy Batman,” Rhett says.
“Ooh. I like Batman,” Luke agrees while nodding.
Jasper chuckles. “He looks nervous is what he looks like. I told him I could show him some mental exercises I like to do before a game, and he told me to”—his fingers pop up in quotations—“take my soy-boy-woo-woo shit back to the city.”
Rhett cracks up. But I find myself feeling a little defensive of him, even though I know they’re joking. Even that does sound like something dickish that Cade would say.
“He’s got this,” is all I offer back with a firm nod.
“Wonder if Blueberry will hold her own against these horses? She’s seriously outclassed with the fancy penning horses Lance hauls around,” Rhett wonders out loud.
I toss an elbow in Rhett’s ribs. “Hey! We cleaned her up! She looks beautiful. Stop picking on them.”
“I heard Dad tell Grandpa it doesn’t matter how much money Blueberry is worth because she’s the biggest bitch he’s ever ridden, and her mean attitude already makes her a winner.”
I drop my face into my hands, body shaking with barely restrained laughter.
“Jesus, Luke. You gotta stop eavesdropping on people,” Rhett scolds, but the big grin on his face kills the intimidation factor.
Jasper pulls at the brim of his hat again, and I’m pretty sure it’s to hide his misty eyes.
My gaze finds Cade again, sitting so tall, chin held so high. He oozes confidence, and I can’t help but wonder if he actually feels it.
A cowboy says something to him, and his head tips back on a full laugh, reins held in one hand while the other rests casually on his leg. It’s nice to see him having fun after years and years of being responsible.
I don’t regret my dare at all.
Do I wish I’d dared him to take off my bathing suit instead? Sometimes.
But he needed something for himself more than he needed that. Something where he gets to be Cade Eaton, the individual, and not just Cade Eaton, the single dad and tireless rancher.
I must have a stupid smile on my face as I stare back at him because I feel an elbow nudge against mine. “It’s nice to see someone looking at Cade like that. Defending him like that,” Jasper says. “Like they can see him for who he is rather than the man circumstances forced him to become.”
“Getting kind of deep for a rodeo,” I whisper, not wanting to involve Rhett in this conversation because it will just turn into a big joke.