I clenched my jaw, not wanting to let the hint of a smile aggravate him. I knew how he reacted, and cocky arrogance was one thing that drove Gordon straight to fighting.
“I figured. You came here without a welcoming basket, after all,” I said, casting a glance to Tommy. I didn’t like how he was staring at me, like he knew things about me that I hadn’t told anyone else. Things that pissed him off, like my staggering attraction to his sister, the things I’d done to her and would do to her again the first chance I got.
Gordon laughed lightly, scratching his beard and looking away. “Yeah, I guess I forgot the basket.”
I stood calmly and watched as Gordon’s eyes took in the area around us. His calculating gaze moved to the massive wood pile behind Grady’s mill and the hole I’d excavated. The foundation was being laid tomorrow morning, and once it was completed, I could start building the shell of the cabin.
“We finally got that prick to fess up about what happened at that bush party,” Tommy supplied. “Thanks for handling it, but we would have appreciated a call.”
“I wasn’t exactly focused on what you would have appreciated,” I shot back, my voice clipped.
Gordon’s attention snapped back on me like a rubber band. “Thank you for protecting her that night. But I still have to warn you. I need you to stay away from her.”
I pursed my lips, nodding slowly and looking past them both. It wasn’t a nod of ‘yeah, sure bud. Whatever you say’ it was a nod of ‘I hear you, and I disagree’. Gordon knew it.
“Look man, you gotta understand where I’m coming from with this; you’d be livid if one of us got with your sister. Bros don’t do that to each other.”
“We are not ‘bros’,” I said, my tone a little harsher than I intended. “And frankly, not that it’s any of your goddamn business, but Tessa is a grown woman. She can make her own decisions.”
Gordon pursed his lips, nodding again. There was a lot of fucking nodding happening, like we were all bobble heads on someone’s dashboard.
“Maybe you’re right about that,” he allowed, his dark eyes fixed on mine. “But I still would hope that one of my old friends would keep the promise he made to me.”
I clenched my jaw and remained silent. There was no need to tell Gordon that I’d already broken it on more than one occasion, or that it was fucking ridiculous to uphold a promise we had made when we were sixteen and horny, bagging chicks left, right, and center and promising each other our sisters were off limits because neither one of us could stand how we treated girls.
Times had changed; I wasn’t going to hurt Tessa. I wasn’t that stupid kid I was when I was sixteen.
“Alright, then. Now that we’ve got the uncomfortable chat out of the way, let’s talk business.” Gordon slapped his hands together, gesturing towards the wood pile. “What’s your plan here?”
The last thing I wanted to do was talk business with Gordon right now. In fact, I was torn between punching him in the nose and kicking him off the property so I could go back to the pretty blonde in my bed. “Look, man, I have to be somewhere in an hour. Family stuff. But why don’t we meet up at O’Riley’s Pub Thursday night and I’ll bring the blueprints?”
“Sounds fantastic.” Gordon grinned, backing away towards his truck. He opened the door and looked through the open window at me. “Remember what I said about Tessa, though. I meant it.”
I nodded, clenching my jaw tightly as I watched them drive away. I turned around, running my hands through my tangled hair as I stalked back to my trailer. I opened the door, surprised to see Tessa standing there with a sheet wrapped around her body.
“Morning,” she said hesitantly, drawing the sheet tighter around herself. My cock hardened at the sight of her, straining against the denim of my jeans. Tessa’s hair was a tangled mess, courtesy of me, and she had a red mark on her neck… also courtesy of me. I didn’t know what in the hell got into me when I was with her. I hadn’t given a girl a hickey since I was a dipshit teen, and that was an act of marking, not a moment of losing myself in the taste of her skin.
“Good morning,” I muttered, stalking towards her. I cradled her face in my hands, brushing the hair out of her eyes before I kissed her slowly. “Are you hungry?”
“Elle’s on her way,” she said apologetically, shaking her head and biting down on her lower lip. “I have a lot of chores to do today. I have to exercise the horses.”
“Ah.” I nodded, remembering how hectic life at the Armstrong farm could get. One of my jobs when I had worked there was exercising a few of the horses by taking them out on the trail with Gordon.
“But…” Tessa grinned over her shoulder, dropping the sheet to the floor. My cock jumped as if it remembered exactly how it felt to be inside of her. “I might be able to steal away tomorrow afternoon.”
It was difficult to think with her naked in front of me, but I somehow managed. I cleared my throat. “That’ll be good…I should be free by then. I have some stuff to do in the morning, but…” I trailed off; thoughts about the foundation completely fell out of my mind when she bent over to grab her bra.
She shimmed into her jeans and turned around, slipping her bra on and reaching around to fasten it. “Okay, well, maybe we’ll do something?” she asked, looking up at me as she pulled her tank top on.
All I could do was nod like an idiot. I wanted to make her stay, but she had things to do and I really needed to pay a visit to my mom.
She grabbed her phone off the kitchen table where she’d left it the night before. “What’s your cell number?”
I told her and she typed quickly into her phone. A moment later, I heard mine buzzing from the back room.
“Now you have my number and I have yours.” She smiled shyly, approaching me.
I wanted to make her feel our time apart the way I knew I was going to feel it, so I kissed her again. I backed her up against the bathroom door, breathing her in like fine wine. I felt her heartbeat beneath my palm as I gently kneaded her breast.
The sound of yet another set of tires pulling up my driveway was a sound I detested. Elle honked loudly, laying her palm against the horn long enough to wake the neighborhood, if I’d had any neighbors.
“See you soon,” she promised, flying out my door.
Tessa
“You won’t believe who showed up this morning,” I said, arching an eyebrow at Elle. She’d offered to help me exercise the horses, since she said she had nothing better to do. Exercising the horses was basically just code for ‘Tessa and Elle spend the day talking and riding horses on the trails’.
I was on Spirit and Elle was riding one of the older females, Temptress. Chores felt a lot less like chores with her around.
“Let me take a wild guess…” Elle gave me a sarcastic look. “Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.”
“Yup. They wanted to have a chat with Brock.” I sighed, the irritation I felt still swirling around within me. I’d heard Brock leave the trailer, and when I crept to the window over his sink, I saw the three-man showdown. Gordon and Tommy tried to tell Brock to stay away from me and Brock didn’t promise them one way or another.
From where I stood, I could see that he was fighting to keep his emotions in check. He didn’t want to cause trouble for me or my family, but he wasn’t the kind of guy who was used to being told what to do.
“Well, that’s surprising,” Elle said dryly.
“I am so over the whole ‘stay away from my sister, we’re so tough’ bull crap.”
“I don’t blame you. I’m sick of it by proxy.” She snorted, shaking her head.
“This has to change, right?” I added, my eyes wide and pleading as I stared at her. “When I go to college, it’ll be better?”
Elle shifted on her saddle, avoiding looking directly at me. She brushed a strand of her long dark hair behind her ears. “I hope so.” She sighed. “Do you think if you just told them all about him, they’d lay off a little?”
“Absolutely not,” I deadpanned. “Bes
ides, I don’t even know what my feelings for him are.”
My friend was quiet for a moment, lost in thought as we slowly made our way back to the farm. “Are you at least going to give yourself a chance to figure it out?” she asked, looking at me with wide, hopeful eyes.
“Yeah. I just want to do so without their interference complicating things, you know?” I said on exhale, biting my lip. I glanced around the expanse of the farm, making sure nobody lurked nearby. Rolling hills and pastures kissed golden by the setting sun with cattle grazing lazily, were the only things around. No brothers, no risk of being overheard. “I really like how he makes me feel. I want to…get to know him, see where it goes.” Elle practically clapped, jumping up and down in the saddle. “Relax.” I laughed, feeling embarrassed.
“I’m just excited for you.” She couldn’t hide her huge grin. “You’ve got the bug.”
“Please don’t say that.” My lips stiffened, losing the carefree upward tilt. “It’s way too early for you to be saying things like that.”
“Why? There’s no timeline on love, Tess,” she told me, her eyes deadly serious. I sent her a scathing look and she sighed, smiling sadly. “You’ll see,” she declared, kicking her heels into Temptress’s sides and lurching forward down the dirt road, towards the barn.
I sped up, digging my heels into Spirit’s side, trying to catch Elle before she reached the gate.
By the time we finished putting away the gear and brushing the horses, it was dinner time.
Every Monday night, the entire Armstrong clan got together for dinner. My dad, all three of my brothers and Ben’s wife Katie sat around the big oak table, enjoying the roast I had made. Elle stuck around too.
It was a regular scene, my best friend at our family gatherings. Nobody batted an eyelash and everybody treated her like she was part of the family. In a lot of ways, she was.
“So how many weeks are left, Katie?” Elle was asking, a whimsical look in her brown eyes as she smiled at Katie’s round belly.
Katie rubbed it in a circular motion, looking at Ben with a demure smile. “Three weeks or so, but the baby could come at any time really,” she answered.
“Tessa, are you still looking for a job?” My oldest brother asked, glancing at me from across the table. Ben looked identical to what my dad had looked like at twenty-seven. They shared a lot of the same mannerisms.
“Yeah, I am.” I leaned back in my seat. “Basically nowhere in this town is hiring, not even any of the fast food places. All posts are full for the summer.”
“You should have started looking earlier,” Gordon supplied.
“Thanks, tips,” I grumbled, rolling my eyes.
“Katie has a friend that needs a babysitter this summer,” Ben continued, ignoring Gordon’s jabs completely. Katie looked at me, her face lighting up a little.
“What friend?” I tilted my head, curious. I wasn’t about to commit to watching just anybody for the money. If she was talking about the Peterson twins, they’d have to pay me a hell of a lot. Those kids were wired for sound.
“Becky,” Katie answered, smiling softly. She glanced towards my father, as if testing the waters. If Dad knew that Katie was talking about Becky Miller, he didn’t let on. He continued eating his dinner in silence, content to just be around us all without speaking. “She’s got a little three-year-old boy. She just lost her full-time sitter and has been having a hell of a time finding anyone dependable.”
“Are you talking about Becky Miller?” Gordon demanded, frowning.
“So what if she is?” Ben responded, sending a warning look to Gordon. Ben hated when anybody spoke to Katie rudely and he wouldn’t tolerate any disrespect towards her.
Katie rubbed her belly nervously. “I’ve known Becky for a while; she’s a sweet girl, just trying to make ends meet. She works hard, harder than anyone I’ve ever known."
“Dad doesn’t want Tessa anywhere near Brock,” Tommy informed everyone. If I’d known what legs were his under the table, I’d have kicked him.
“Well, it’s a good thing the job isn’t to babysit him then,” Elle responded, shooting Tommy a dirty look.
Dad cleared his throat, drawing everybody’s attention to him at the head of the table. “What are the hours, Katie?”
“Sporadic, I’m afraid,” Katie answered. “Sometimes its mornings and sometimes its afternoons, but it will definitely be full-time hours. She works at the grocery store my parents own, but she also goes to school full-time. I’m really not sure what her classes are like, but she’ll let Tessa know all those details if she’s interested.”
Dad chewed over Katie’s words for a bit, considering them. Then he looked at me. “What do you think, Tess? Is babysitting something you’d be interested in?”
“Well, I’m interested in making money so…” I shrugged. “I guess so?”
Dad nodded thoughtfully, pursing his lips. “I told you to stay away from Brock, not his sister. I’m not exactly worried about her getting you into any trouble.”
“That means pregnant. He isn’t worried about Becky getting you pregnant.” Tommy smirked. Both Ben and Gordon, sitting on either side of Tommy, reached out and slapped him in the back of the head. “Ow,” Tommy sulked, rubbing the back of his head and scowling at our older brothers.
“You deserved that,” Dad remarked, anger flashing in his eyes. “You don’t talk about your sister like that.”
“Yes, sir.” Tommy swallowed hard, looking ashamed.
“I’ll call Becky this week, Tessa,” Katie said, giving me a warm smile and barely giving a second glance to Tommy, Gordon or Ben. She was used to the antics of the Armstrong men.
I smiled tightly in response.
* * *
“Do you think I should take that job?” I asked Elle later as we hung out in my room, waiting for Braden to pick her up.
“I don’t know,” she responded, biting her lip. “It’s kind of crazy there right now.”
“Your cryptic half-answers aren’t helping,” I retorted. “I get that you want to keep all of Braden’s secrets, but I’m not asking you to reveal the fact that he sleeps with a teddy bear or likes a finger shoved in his butthole. I’m asking if I should take the damn job.”
Elle’s head whipped around and she stared at me with her jaw dropped open in astonishment. Then she started laughing. “Oh my God, Tessa! That was the funniest thing I’ve ever heard you say, and I’ve heard you say a lot of funny shit!”
“Okay, great. Tessa is funny. Moving on, should I or should I not take the job?”
Her laughter faded and Elle considered me for a moment. “Becky lives at home still, and their mom is dying, Tessa. Babysitting Becky’s kid would mean that you’d have to be around that every day.”
“I know.” I took a shaky breath, remembering the expression on Brock’s face when he’d told me. This was exactly why I didn’t know if I could, or should, take the job.
Mom stuff was like a swift kick to the gut for me. I was extremely empathetic, almost to a fault, towards anybody who lost their mom. I remembered when Levy Jefferson lost his mom in third grade; I’d cried for months, long after even he’d cried.
It was one of those stupid quirks that came from being motherless. I mourned the loss of the woman I never got to know, of the relationship I never got to have. Then again, I’d been younger. I liked to think of myself as a little stronger now.
“But…that being said…Aiden is a great kid, you’ve met him. He’s really easy and agreeable and a lot of fun. And their mom, Deanna, she’s really nice too. I mean…if you’re going to get involved with Brock, you’re going to have to deal with that anyway.”
I bit my tongue, thinking about Elle’s response. She was right; if I did pursue whatever this was with Brock, as I intended on doing, I’d have to deal with it.
“Brock hasn’t asked me to get involved with his family stuff,” I pointed out just as headlights turned onto the driveway.
“And you didn’t invite yoursel
f anyway.” Elle rolled her eyes. She paused, her hand on my bedroom door. “I think they need someone like you right now, if you can do it,” she added, her eyes meeting mine. “I know Brock could use you. From what Braden’s told me…he’s never had anyone to lean on. He’s always been the rock.”
* * *
Elle’s words echoed through my mind the entire next morning while I went about my chores; he’s never had anyone to lean on. He’s always been the rock.
I couldn’t help but long to be that person for him, to be there for him in any way that he needed.
“Tessa.” My dad’s voice startled me from my thoughts of Brock. I’d been about to run into the house for a shower before I took off.
“Yeah, Dad?”
“I need you to run to the co-op and pick up an order of feed.” He sighed, scratching his beard. “Looks like the last rain we had leaked through the roof in the barn. Spoiled the bags we had.”
“Oh no.” I frowned, knowing that was an expense we could have done without. “What’s happening with the room?”
“Gordon’s fixing it now,” Dad assured me. “I’m about to head over and help finish, but I need you to grab that feed.”
“Of course.” I nodded, my heart tightening with disappointment. I was going to be late getting to Brock’s house after all. I forced a smile at my dad. It wasn’t his fault and Brock could wait.
“Take my truck,” Dad added, tossing his keys at me. He probably didn’t want to make me waste what limited gas I had.
I drove to the co-op, picking up the order of feed from Mr. Muller. Two of his employees helped me load up the heavy bags into the bed of Dad’s truck. Within the hour, I was heading back home to drop it off.
I parked near the barn and helped Dad and Gordon get the feed placed away in the newly repaired storage section of the barn. After the last bag had been shelved, I wiped my sweaty palms on my denim clad thighs and smiled at my dad.
“Okay, Elle’s waiting for me,” I told Dad, ignoring Gordon completely. I was still giving him the silent treatment, not that he knew why; he was completely unaware that I’d seen his display outside of Brock’s trailer.
Rebel Soul: (Rebel Series Book 1) ((Rebel Series)) Page 15
