by Cari Quinn
Coach walked over to talk to the old team and the laughter ratcheted up a few notches. There was a lot of fistbumping and jokes and the kind of stuff that Drake didn’t mind not being a part of, because he really wasn’t a big party kind of guy. He was more the loner type, and that suited him just fine. Let Colt have his fun.
But the time of reckoning would come soon enough.
“He’s just reliving his youth.” He kissed Paige’s hair. “You know how it is with those baller types. They can’t admit they’re starting to get bald and couldn’t throw a football across the dining room table anymore, never mind across a field.”
“Hey, hey, hey.” Colt strolled up, drink in hand, and lifted his brows. “You filling her head with lies, Mondell?”
“Sounds like truth to me, Mr. Bennett.” She gave him a sly smile before taking another sip of her drink.
The “Mr. Bennett” stuff was clearly a come-on, the kind Colt normally responded to without fail. But he was already checking out the crowd, as if he hadn’t even heard what Paige had said.
Drake balled his hands into fists. Yeah, that time of reckoning might be coming sooner than he’d anticipated. And the opening bell might consist of him knocking Colt in his stupidly handsome face.
Colt turned back to them after fistbumping yet another old teammate, Carter, as he walked through. “You got a minute?”
Hope surged through Drake’s chest and he debated punching himself. “Sure.”
“Me too?” Paige asked.
“No, sorry, darlin’.” Colt ruffled her hair as if she were a cute kid and not the woman he’d been fucking brainless for three weeks. “Wade just needs some help moving the amps over there so they can get set up for their show. Not really a job for you.”
Amps. Figured.
The coyness left Paige’s face in a flash. “Hate to tell you, cowboy, but I can carry a freaking amp. I work in a grain store. I can haul more than you think.” She pushed her cup into his chest and walked away, ass swaying.
Which of course Colt checked out, because he remained an utter horndog along with being an abject dick.
“Way to go, asshole.” Drake shook his head. “First you ignore her all night, then you insult her. You know she’s strong and capable.” He lowered his voice. “Whatever your problem is with me, keep her out of it. She doesn’t deserve your mistreatment.”
“Mistreatment?” Colt looked truly mystified. “I’ve been talking to her all night.”
“Yeah, like a guy you buy your dinner from. Not like your lover. Not like a woman you care about.”
Colt set down her drink and tipped back his own. His throat rippled as he glanced across the crowd. “About that,” he began. “I think maybe we’ve reached the end there.”
Drake shook his head and closed his fingers around the beer he unfortunately wasn’t holding. Getting through this shitstorm of a night dry was going to be harder than he thought. “Be honest. You reached the end the night of the wedding. Since them, you’ve just been marking time.”
Colt stared at him. “You honestly think that I’ve just been jerking you both along for the past few weeks?”
“I think you’d do anything to keep up your façade as the big-time player. You claim that you don’t want to be that anymore, but you revert to type every damn time. So you know what?” Drake pushed past him. “Keep right on playing.”
He headed over to the makeshift stage they’d set up for Wade and his friend to play and grabbed the nearest amp. Colt did the same.
That was pretty much the extent of their conversation.
After the music changed from whatever was on Lorelie’s iPod to their live entertainment of Wade and his former band member, Glen Young, jamming out to a selection of Wade’s songs and cover tunes, Drake wandered over to where Rafe Martinez was brooding into a bottle. Paige had headed off to talk to a bunch of the girls, so he was on his own.
And Rafe looked about as cheery as he felt.
“You’re missing your party hat.”
Rafe glanced up and blinked as if he’d just come out of a deep, dense fog. Then he smirked. “I didn’t know they were required attire.”
“I did. That’s why I didn’t wear one.”
Rafe laughed and motioned to the empty chair beside him. “Have a seat, man.”
“Thanks.” Drake sat down and kicked out his legs. “So Wade’s killing it up there, huh?”
“He is. He always had a way with that thing.”
“That thing being his guitar?”
Rafe’s brows drew together. “Sure not referring to any of his other things, since he’s now married to my sister.”
Drake grinned. “How’s that working out for you?”
“Eh. It’s all right. She’s happy. More so than when she was married to—” He broke off and gave Drake the side-eye. “Anyway, she’s happy. All I care about.”
“You can be straight with me. I’m not Colt’s guard dog.”
“Maybe not.” Rafe peeled off the corner of the label of his bottle. “But there are rumors you’re his lover.”
Drake absorbed the body blow and stared up at the little lights that had been hung from the eaves. Was that part of what Colt’s big show was about? Had someone found out something about them? Maybe Colt wasn’t just facing his concerns about people learning about them.
Perhaps it had already occurred.
“You know what rumors are like, right?”
“I do. I also know he was rumored to cheat on my sister, and I don’t have real fond feelings for him for that reason.”
“He never cheated on your sister. I promise you that.”
“No offense, but your promises come from a place where you’re his business partner and his friend and possibly play in his sheets. Not exactly unbiased.”
“Yeah, but I pretty much hate him right now, so that’s gotta count for something right?”
Rafe chuckled and tipped back his beer. “Is that why you’re as happy to be here tonight as I am?”
“Eh, I’m just an outsider. I wasn’t part of the team. I’m still the new guy in town to a lot of people.” Which is why he’d planned to stick close to Paige, since she was also on the newer side of the ledger, but she’d gone off with her gal pals and was doing her own thing.
Drake smiled. No matter what, their girl—his girl, if it came to that—would be just fine.
“So what’s your story?” he asked Rafe.
“Nothing. My story is I spend all day working my ass off and my nights doing the same damn thing. I let all my friendships with guys from the team go in favor of work.”
“What about Wade?”
“What about him? He was gone for all those years.”
“Yeah, but he’s back now.”
“And what? I’m supposed to just welcome him with open arms?” He shook his head. “Maybe Charli can forgive that easily, but I can’t. Because of him splitting on us, she ended up married to that pompous ass for those years.” He held up a hand. “I know he’s yours.”
Colt was his, no matter what way Rafe meant that. Whatever roadblocks were between them now, he would always think of Colt as his in some small way. “Doesn’t mean he’s not a pompous ass,” Drake said lightly, earning Rafe’s smile. “But he’s also a lot of other good things people don’t give him much credit for. Including himself. He’s harder on himself than anyone.”
Rafe grunted and drank. “I had another friend, besides Wade. I screwed that shit up.”
“How?”
Rafe’s gaze lingered across the room. For a second, Drake thought it had veered toward Colt’s sister.
Nah, not possible. Rafe…and Hollie? No way.
“I slept with her,” Rafe muttered.
Drake raised a brow. “Huh, that sounds kind of like my current problems.”
“You don’t say.”
“Sex is the root of all evil.”
“Agreed.” Rafe smiled. “But not having it is worse.”
Drake pretended t
o clink his nonexistent beer with Rafe’s. “You said it, brother.”
“So what are you going to do about your sex problem?” Rafe asked.
Drake locked eyes with Paige across the room and smiled. “I’m going to be grateful for what I have and work on getting more. You?”
“I’m drinking. Nothing else has worked.”
“You’ve tried to fix things with her?”
Rafe rolled his shoulders as if he was limbering up for a fight. “What’s the point? She’s impossible.”
Drake understood that sentiment, but talking to Rafe had reaffirmed why he had to make Colt come around. He’d be damned if he would be drinking himself silly some point in the future and stewing about all the things he’d tried that had failed.
Colt might be stubborn as two mules, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d realize what he’d lost with Paige…and him. Drake had to believe it. And if he didn’t get there on his own in a reasonable time, well, Drake would just kick his fucking ass. Screw flowers and candles and candy.
Sometimes a good old-fashioned whupping was the only way to get stuff done.
“Yeah, but…sex,” Drake reminded him.
“Good point.” Rafe emptied his bottle. “You’re not drinking?”
“No, but since you are, you can tell me more about this girl.”
“Suffice it to say, she’s the biggest pain in my ass.”
Drake grinned and let his gaze drift to Colt. He was throwing darts at an electronic board someone had set up in the corner. “I completely understand.”
* * *
Paige sank onto a couch some considerate soul had dragged into the barn and dropped her purse beside her. Her temples were pounding. All the tension she’d been carrying around the past few days from first her conversation with Charli, then Colt’s increasingly odd behavior, was getting to her. She couldn’t keep her shiny, happy face in place much longer without risking a permanent crack.
She let her eyes close and drifted, just enjoying Wade’s music. He could really sing. Maybe someday the three of them could go to one of his concerts.
Or not, since she was pretty sure they were going to break things off with her anytime. At least Colt was. Drake—sweet, funny Drake—was being just as attentive as ever.
Could she deal with just one boyfriend? Could Drake deal with just her if Colt decided to bail on them both?
“So did you break up with my brother?”
Paige’s eyes popped open and she looked up into Hollie’s face peering at her over the back of the couch. “Jaysus Christmas, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry.” Like the monkey she was, Hollie climbed over the back of the couch and plopped beside Paige. “Not like I want deets or anything, because gross. But you’re not exactly spending tons of time with him tonight.” She glanced around. “With either him or nummy Drake.”
Paige frowned. “Nummy?”
“Yeah, you know, hot.”
Colt’s sister probably thought she had a minus twenty IQ. She felt it at the moment. “I’m not sure what’s going on, really,” she said, avoiding the nummy thing altogether.
“Everyone knows you guys are…” Hollie made a rather obscene hand gesture and Paige’s eyes widened. “So if you stop, it’s going to be a thing.” She leaned closer. “This isn’t because of Char, is it?”
Paige sighed. “No, I’m pretty sure she was right on that score.”
“What score?”
How to word this delicately? “She indicated perhaps they weren’t the best choice for long-term dating success.”
“Because Colt fucks and runs.” Hollie nodded sagely. “It’s a problem.”
“He is your brother, right?”
“Well, I haven’t ordered DNA tests yet, but from what I’ve been told, yes.”
“Okay, just checking. Because I don’t ever talk about my brother…fucking. It would probably break what’s left of my brain.”
“When your brother is Colton ‘I hit it and quit it’ Bennett, you come to terms with the concept early.”
Paige grimaced. “Yeah, he’s definitely dumping me then.”
What she didn’t get was why he didn’t just do it. He didn’t seem like a coward. What made it so hard for him to walk up to her and say, “Hey, Paige, it’s been real but it’s over”? She’d probably want to jab him with a pointy object a few times—just flesh wounds, most likely—but she’d handle it.
“Dumping you? Oh hell no. Don’t stand for that shit. Go up to him and tell him you’re done with his ass first.” Hollie crossed her arms over tonight’s T-shirt.
Who needs a vibrator when you have library books?
Good lord. She could take that a few different ways—and really didn’t want to.
But maybe Hollie had a point. Paige should go up to him and break up with him first. Take the situation by the horns. She could cry into her Rocky Road later.
She rose and plastered a smile on her face. And turned right into Drake.
“Hey, babe, mind coming with me on an errand?”
There was no missing the worry crinkling around his eyes. “Sure. What’s wrong?”
“We won’t be able to come back to the party. We have to head down halfway to San Antonio.” Drake walked across the barn and she hurried to keep up. “We bought a horse from a guy down there and he was bringing it up tonight. Miss Emmy was going to meet him first thing in the morning, but the guy is stuck in Taylorsville with his sick wife and the full horse trailer. He can’t leave his wife alone and the horse is in the hospital parking lot. I told him I’d get there when I could, but the guy’s a bit…unhinged.”
“Oh no. Is his wife going to be okay? What about the horse?”
“They think his wife has gallstones. Maybe. They’re still doing tests.” Drake pulled out his keys and aimed at his truck. “The horse is fine. She’s a little skittish but we think with some work, she’ll be perfect for our riders. It’s just someone needs to get there to collect her before she starts creating too much of a ruckus.”
“Okay, sure. I’m happy to come along.” Even happier he’d thought to ask her. That he’d turned to her in his time of need. But there was one sticking point. “Drake, what about Colt?”
“Good question.” Colt jogged up the gravel drive after them. “Were you just going to light out without saying a word to me? Nice, Mondell, real fucking nice.”
“I didn’t realize there was anything left to say.” Drake tossed his key fob from hand to hand. “Not tonight, anyway.”
Paige glanced between them, suddenly feeling as if she were watching a foreign language channel with no subtitles. “What is going on here?”
Drake jerked a thumb at Colt. “Ask him.” He lifted a brow in Colt’s direction. “Go ahead, tell her what you last said to me.”
Paige frowned and stepped closer to Drake’s brawny truck. “Maybe we should just go.”
“Cat got your tongue?” Drake asked.
Colt compressed his lips into a line and gripped his Solo cup until the plastic crunched. He’d been knocking them back all night. “What happened with Daisy’s sister?”
“She’s stranded at a hospital in Taylorsville. Dunston’s wife got sick on the trip so he needs to stay with her, so we’re going to go get Dandelion. Us. Not you, because you need to go somewhere and sober up.”
“I’m fucking s-sober.”
“Judging from that stutter, not so much.” Drake opened his truck door. “And you know what? Since you won’t tell her what you said, let me take care of this for you. Until you get your head out of your ass, you don’t need to end anything with either of us. Because we’ve officially ended this with you.” He glanced at Paige. “You ready to go?”
The tug in her heart wasn’t a surprise. She’d already grown too used to being with them both—to loving it—to easily just turn her back on Colt. But Drake was making a stand for her. He’d been attentive all night where Colt had been clipped and self-absorbed.
She really didn�
��t want to be hit. Or quit.
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat and gripped her door handle. “Don’t drive yourself home, okay? Promise me you’ll be safe.”
Once Colt gave a reluctant nod, she climbed into the truck and shut the door.
13
He was so drunk. So very fucking wasted.
“Last call, buddy. C’mon, let’s go.” The arm that slid around his waist made Colt narrow his eyes. Wade. Dragging him through the barn as if he couldn’t walk.
“I’m fine. What’s gotten into you?” Colt shook him off and pushed a shaky hand through his hair. It was shaky mainly because his head seemed farther away than it usually was. “I was having a good time.”
Shit, was he slurring that much? Must be he was so tired he was mishearing things.
“That was obvious,” Wade said drily, urging him along until they reached his truck. opened the back door and gave Colt a light push. “You’re sleeping it off at our place. In you go.”
Colt went, because the long backseat looked mighty inviting. Wade had recently traded in his beloved pickup for an SUV, and it still had the new car smell.
Had to be the car that smelled that good, because he was pretty sure whiskey was leaking out of his pores.
He sprawled across the seat and tilted his head as he noticed Char already sitting in the front seat. “Well, hiya, ex-wife.”
She sighed without turning around. “What did you do now, Colt?”
Wade got in the driver’s side and started the truck. “I told Lorelie I’d drop you by here to get your truck tomorrow.” He rested his arm on the back of the passenger seat and started to reverse.
“Uh-uh. That’s how I got in trouble at the wedding.” Colt reached for the door handle. “Gotta leave in my own car.”
Wade slammed on the brakes and Colt’s stomach lurched. Yeah, maybe he’d had a bit too much. It sure had tasted good going down, though.
“You’re not driving, so plant your ass.”
