They’d been wrenching on the machine for over an hour when Ben said, “I’m takin’ a break before I haul out the sledgehammer and use it to try and fix this piece of shit.”
“Good idea.” Tell threw his tools onto the canvas cloth.
“So how was your reunion?”
He wiped the sweat from his brow. “All right, I suppose. Didn’t seem a whole lot different from high school, except for the bar in the gym.” And for the fact he f**ked Georgia in the history classroom.
Ben chuckled. “Booze was the only thing that made mine bearable.”
“It helps if you’ve got a hot woman hanging on your arm.”
“I wouldn’t know. I went to my reunion solo.”
That surprised Tell. “Really?”
“Yep. I wouldn’t have gone at all except I found out the girl I’d been crushing on for years was coming. Naturally I wanted to show her how much she’d missed out on by not getting with me back then, and by giving her the chance to rectify that.”
“And did it work?”
He grinned. “Oh yeah. We drank. We danced. We ignored everyone. We ended up doin’ it in the boys’ locker room and missed the awards ceremony. Then we went back to her hotel room and f**ked all night. Her plane left early the next morning.
“We went our separate ways. We both got what we wanted. No regrets, no promises, no invites to become Facebook friends. Just one night of turnin’ those teenage fantasies a reality.” Ben popped the cap on a bottle of water and drank. “Did it play out that way for you too?”
Tell leaned against the side of the barn, dreading that scenario. “It’s different for me because Georgia is back in town for good.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“Along the lines of what you said. Wondering if we just scratched an itch.”
“You thinkin’ that’s all there is?”
“No. I know there’s more than that since we’ve been hangin’ out the last two weeks. But that don’t change the fact the only reason we started spending time together was because she needed a date for the reunion. Now that it’s over… I don’t know where we go from here.”
Ben frowned. “You haven’t discussed it with her?”
Tell shook his head. “I’m the fun hookup guy, remember? My morning after conversations are more along the lines of, Hey, darlin’, have you seen my pants?”
His cousin laughed.
“Then Dalton showed up Sunday morning two hours early. We’d promised Brandt and Jessie we’d be at their place when Dad came over to see Tucker. But my dumb-ass little brother made it sound like some big, stupid secret, callin’ it that one thing because neither of us wants to talk about our f**ked-up family in front of someone that ain’t family.”
“So Georgia thought you were what? Tryin’ to get rid of her?”
Tell groaned. “Yep. Then she was dismissive. Like she couldn’t wait to get the hell away from me. And she was goddamn vague about her plans for this week. Complaining about bein’ so swamped she’d barely have time to breathe. Basically, she said don’t call me; I’ll call you. So see why I’m stuck on what to do?”
“Yeah. I guess if she ain’t goin’ anywhere, I don’t see the harm in letting it ride. Give yourself a couple of days away from her to figure out if you wanna continue what you started and let her do the same.”
Sound advice. Not what he wanted to hear though. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
“No problem. You gonna be crushed and moping around like a kicked dog if she’s done with you?”
Probably. “Fuck you.”
He grinned. “Couldn’t resist. But seriously, why aren’t you talkin’ to your brothers about this?”
“I would if I could catch Brandt between diaper changes and Dalton between poker games.”
Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Left you holding the bag again, did they?”
“Like that’s a surprise. You know how it goes, Ben. Seems us middle kids—you, Colt and me—always get stuck with a shit ton more chores than the oldest or the youngest.”
“No sir. It doesn’t have to be that way. Just because Brandt has added on the responsibility of parenting a kid doesn’t give him the right to blow off his ranch responsibilities. I know you and Dalton shouldered way more of the work in the last six months. I’ve been there, cuz, and it sucks ass.”
“You had that issue with Quinn?”
“Yep. Prince Adam arrived and Quinn’s priorities shifted, which meant the day-to-day ranch stuff shifted squarely onto my shoulders. Chase wasn’t around. My dad tried to pick up the slack, but shit wasn’t getting done. Pissed me off. I let my brother know it. Was ugly for a couple weeks, because Quinn is one stubborn cuss, but he got back on track. It would’ve gone on for as long as I let it go on. Confront your brother, Tell, or nothin’ will ever change.”
“I hear ya. I guess if it was just ranch issues with my brothers, I’d be okay, but family stuff can eat away at me until I’ve been chewed up and spit out.”
“Something going on with Uncle Casper?”
“No, Dad ain’t the problem, if you can believe it. My mom… Jesus. She’s so involved in her own life she can’t see that other folks have lives too.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning, she expects me to…” Tell shook his head. “Never mind. I feel like a f**kin’ whiner. No one can take advantage of me without my permission, right? So I just gotta buck up and remember to say no.”
“Good plan. As far as Dalton not pulling his weight?”
Tell shrugged. “He ain’t bad. He covers for me about as much as I cover for him. It’s just Brandt who’s the deadweight.”
Ben shot the baler a disgusted look. “Speaking of deadweight… I’m sick of f**king with this thing. It’s plain wore out. Time to put in a request for a new one.”
“After all the times it jammed last summer, I’ll back you on that request.”
“This ain’t the only piece of equipment that’s seen better days. Seems everything breaks at the same damn time.”
Ainsley’s car pulled up and Ben’s entire demeanor changed. “Looks like my lunch is here.”
Didn’t sound like Ben was talking about food.
Tell took that as his cue to leave.