The Boys Down South, page 12
I began to tell Steel it wasn’t Bray, that it was Brent, but I stopped and looked again, squinting over the field. The sun and distance made it hard to see. That was definitely Scarlet’s red hair. I would have known it anywhere. And that had to be Brent. She was attracted to Bray, but she wouldn’t…actually sleep with him. She wouldn’t. Would she?
“You want burgers for lunch or seafood? I’m good with either, starved through the gut,” Steel said, snapping my gaze from Bray’s truck. He didn’t seem to notice it was Scarlet and until I knew what was going on, I wouldn’t point that out to him.
“Uh…seafood is good,” I replied.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent Scarlet a hopeful text: Please tell me that was Brent? She’d know what I meant.
“Another reason I love you. We think alike. Let’s go,” Steel said, turning and laughing. I smiled back at him, but the words wouldn’t come. Telling Steel I loved him seemed wrong, especially now. I wasn’t sure if I loved him like he loved me. Steel was good to me. He would’ve fought for me. I had to keep reminding myself of that daily.
I listened to Steel talk about the barn and all the renovations they were going to do. I didn’t even wince when he said Asher’s name, complaining that Asher was getting a job this summer working for Denver Watson at the local Feed and Seed. He didn’t understand why Asher couldn’t help them work the family farm. I wanted to tell him that Asher knew they needed more money and the only way to get that was to work for someone else.
Instead, I asked, “What does your momma think?”
He rolled his eyes. “Momma thinks Asher hung the moon. You know that. She’s so glad he’s home for the summer, she’ll agree with whatever he does.”
“Or maybe she knows that Asher could make more to help pay the bills by working for someone else.” Arguing with Steel was one thing. Defending Asher was another entirely. I knew it and I did it anyway. It was as if I couldn’t control my mouth. I said those words without being able to stop them from pouring out.
“You seem real sure that Asher knows what’s best.” There was a sourness in his tone and I didn’t blame him for it. Everything was still raw and new between us.
“I was just thinking is all. Not my business. I’m sorry. I don’t know what your bills are or how much the farm makes for you all. You do. It’s not my business.”
He was quiet for a moment and I wondered if I’d said the wrong thing yet again. This was going to be difficult for a while. Maybe forever. Could I do this? Was this even fair to Steel?
He admitted, “I don’t know what the farm brings in,” and he didn’t seem proud of that fact either.
“Oh,” was all I said.
We rode in silence to the only seafood place in town. I fidgeted with my hands and kept my gaze out the window, like I’d never been here before. Part of me hoped to see Bray out there somewhere on the street. To assure me it hadn’t been him in the truck. I really wanted to know that it wasn’t. Then suddenly Steel said, “Asher does. And Bray. They help Momma with the finances. Asher did it until he left. Momma does most of it now, but Asher was so good at math, she had him start helping when he turned seventeen. When he left for college, she let Bray step in. Someone had to step in. Bray was the best choice.”
He didn’t have to admit this to me. This was another thing about Steel to love and respect. He was honest, didn’t lie to make himself look better, but even that couldn’t change my heart. I wished it could. Even when my heart should’ve lied, it didn’t.
“They’re older,” I replied, simply to comfort him.
He nodded. “Yeah, but I care more about the place. Making it a real working farm. Turning more than just enough to pay the bills. I want to see it thrive. Give Momma some extra to put back into it. You know what I mean?”
I tilted my chin, but didn’t say any more. Instead, my eyes suddenly found Asher. Like they always seemed to do. He was walking out of the hardware store with Hannah Watson stepping beside him. She was talking and smiling brightly, her face turning to gesture as they strolled, while Asher listened and took it all in. The small lift at the corners of his lips meant Hannah was making him truly smile, and Asher was liking whatever she was saying. Until this moment, I’d always liked Hannah. She was beautiful, smart and nice. But now I hoped she tripped over her pretty blue sandals and fell flat on her face. Or for a truck to hit her in the street. What was happening to me?
“Asher moved on that fast enough. The boss’s daughter is already hanging on his arm. Not sure Denver was expecting that.”
Why did Asher need another job anyway? That was silly. I suddenly agreed with Steel. There was no point in him working elsewhere with so much to do on their own farm. Especially if it meant he was going to be around Hannah all the time. Wasn’t she supposed to be off at school? Why was she traipsing the streets with Asher? Drooling and looking all pretty?
“I thought she went up north to college somewhere,” I said a little too loudly, trying to then soften my voice at the end, but you could still hear it sounded all wrong.
“She did. Guess she’s home for the summer.”
A summer romance.
My stomach turned sour.
I wasn’t going to be able to eat anything now. Not a single bite.
Why did I have to see this? I wanted to see Bray, not Asher.
“Ready for lunch?” Steel asked as he parked the truck.
“Yeah,” I replied with even less enthusiasm than before, unsure I’d be able to swallow even one fried shrimp after the scene I’d just witnessed in the street.
I watched as Asher walked out to his truck and Hannah climbed in the passenger side. They had ridden there together. They were headed somewhere together. Asher was supposed to be working. Why wasn’t he working instead of gallivanting all over town with Hannah? My stomach clenched, jealousy dulling everything around me, even the air now smelling different to me. The sun looked less bright, the sky less blue, and my heart kept fracturing more and more. I didn’t know that it could break any more. But it seemed it could.
17
asher
I had no idea why I was at Jack’s with Amber Fort. But after the day I had with Hannah flirting incessantly with me and my trying to make sure she understood we were just going to be friends, I needed a drink. A big one. Hannah wasn’t taking the hint, though. When I walked into Jack’s, Amber had been here all tanned up from working at the salon with her tits and legs on display and I figured I needed a distraction. Amber knew the score. She wasn’t in it for the romance or promises of a forever. We’d messed around once in high school. She knew the drill.
Amber sat down on my lap as soon as I took a seat on the closest bar stool. “My day just got a helluva lot better,” she drawled, leaning in to shove her cleavage in my face. I wished that I could say the same.
“Heard you were driving around with sweet Hannah Watson,” she continued. This town had little to do but talk about people. I figured they’d have me and Hannah engaged by next week at this rate. Another reason to let Amber sit on my lap. Maybe enough people would see it and I’d just get labeled a manwhore instead.
“I’m working for Denver,” I told her as if she didn’t know this already.
She wrapped an arm over my shoulders and leaned in closer. “I heard that, but I also know you like your girls sweet. I figure it’s about time you tried some naughty.” I assumed she saw herself as the naughty in that sentence.
Vince Wallace and Todd Hyatt walked in and headed for a pool table. “Asher! Heard you were in town,” Vince called out while walking over to me. I’d played football with both of them. Wasn’t sure what either of them were doing now, though.
“Yeah, I’m home for a bit,” I told him.
“I see you got some good hometown entertainment,” he said grinning at Amber, who just giggled.
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.
“Ash, man, saw you play this year on TV. It was fucking crazy to see. Kept telling the boys I used to play on the same field as you,” Todd said as he took a beer from Jack’s nephew, Roy, who was working the bar today.
That seemed to excite Amber because she managed to wrap herself tighter against me. I knew I could have just taken what she was offering all too happily. But I also knew I’d feel guilty later. Not sure why. Dixie was my brother’s girlfriend. I’d been with other women since her, but something about being home and seeing her again made it all different.
“You’re living the dream. Living the dream,” Todd said with a wistfulness in his tone. He was my age, but he’d gotten married the week after high school graduation and his twin boys had been born the next month. That is all I knew about Todd.
“Good to have you home,” Vince told me, then the two of them moved to the pool table.
Amber’s thigh moved down between mine until she was pressing and rubbing it against my dick. “Want to go somewhere so I can kiss on that?” she offered.
Before I had to make a decision, the door opened again and Bray walked in. He became my excuse for telling her no. “Tap,” was all that Bray said to Roy, before walking to stand beside us and looking at me.
“You the only one here?”
“Yeah. The others are… out,” I told him, not sure exactly where they all were.
“What up, Amber?” Bray asked, winking at Amber who squirmed in my lap some more. I was walking out of here if she started mentioning a threesome. I’d had enough women in the past who’d asked for one with one of my brothers and that shit was not happening. Ever.
“Trying to get this one to take me out to his truck,” she said, pressing her body against mine some more.
“Good luck,” he replied. He knew me too damn well. “You up for a game?” Bray asked me.
“Yeah.” I needed to do something other than let Amber rub all over me. The fact that my dick was hard didn’t mean I wanted her. It meant it was being rubbed on and it was what a dick did. I patted her leg. “Let me up, babe.” As soon as I said the words, her eyes lit up. Damn. I hadn’t meant it as a term of endearment.
Suddenly, her lips were on mine and I decided to just go for it. To try and see if I wanted more. But I knew immediately that this wasn’t something I could fake. Her body felt good; she had a great one, but this would only end up being one more pointless fuck.
Taking her by the waist, I moved her gently off me and stood up. It was then that my eyes locked with Dixie’s. Her skin was pale and the raw pain in her eyes shook me to my core. I didn’t want to hurt her. I never wanted to see her look at me like that again. I’d seen that look too many times in the past.
I forced my legs to move away from Amber before she did any more groping. “Rack ‘em,” I said to Bray, tearing my gaze off Dixie.
“She ain’t worth it,” Bray said under his breath.
“Yeah, she is,” I replied. She was worth so much more than Bray would ever understand. He didn’t love anyone like that. I doubted he ever would.
“Amber’s hot,” he said as if I needed that pointed out to me. I glanced back at Amber, wondering if I could go there. Lose myself in her, even if only for one night.
“I know. I’m trying to focus on that,” I told him.
My head was so fucking messed up with Dixie being there, I had missed my other brothers walking into the bar. “I got the winner,” Steel said all happy like he owned the damn world. He did. He had my world. He had my Dixie.
“So you’ll be playing Bray. Nobody can beat his ass,” Brent said with an amused smirk directed my way. He was right. Bray was the undefeated champion among us.
Although, at the moment, Bray looked wound up tight. He had that crazy look in his eyes he would get whenever his temper was about to flare up. Bray’d had anger issues since he was a little boy. He’d lose his shit in an instant and calming him down had never been easy. Dad had been good at it. But once Dad was gone, we never really knew how to do it. The older he got, the less it happened. But when it did, it was dangerous for everyone involved.
Momma said he needed to see a psychiatrist. Regularly. Bray said he had no use for a shrink. We all agreed he was wrong. He needed help controlling himself. I wasn’t sure what the fuck had just set him off, but it was clearly boiling under the surface. He then turned to a blonde I knew he dated in high school and started flirting. She didn’t know to stay away from that dangerous gleam in his eyes. He was going to use her as a distraction. But from what?
I turned to look at Brent to see if he noticed it, too, but he was leaving with Scarlet. As much as I didn’t want to look at Steel, I did. I needed backup and soon. But Steel wasn’t looking at Bray, either. He was smiling back at Dixie. Shit.
“Brent leaving?” Steel asked, then looked at me.
“Looks like it,” I replied, giving him a pointed look, then shooting my eyes toward Bray to get his attention.
Steel frowned like he wasn’t sure what I was trying to say. Were they all blind?
Bray slammed his stick down then and turned to stalk out of the bar. That caught Steel’s attention and he was right behind me as I hurried for the door. Hell was about to break loose and I was afraid I had just figured out why. Fuck.
18
dixie
Steel cursed under his breath and hurried after Asher. Both of them were now following Bray who had seemed angry. I must had missed something. I wasn’t exactly sure what that was since all my focus had been on Asher. I was watching him to see if he looked at Amber anymore. It was ridiculous of me, but I had needed reassurance he wasn’t really interested in her.
I followed behind Steel, who seemed to have forgotten all about me. Not that it mattered. Something else was obviously wrong. I wish Scarlet had stayed. Brent had been so determined to leave with her.
I had barely made it to the steps when Bray’s voice rang through the parking lot, “Don’t, Scar.”
I squinted in the dark to see Scarlet pressed up against Brent’s truck and Brent and her were obviously doing stuff. But the raw pain in Bray’s voice stopped me in my tracks. Caused me to stop breathing. Because in that moment, I knew. I knew what I had feared was true after all. Had Steel and Asher known? They’d ran out of there like they did? Surely they weren’t okay with this? Not when Asher was so determined that he couldn’t be with me because of his brother.
“Come here, baby,” Bray said. His tone was gentle yet demanding. My stomach turned. Oh, god. This was bad.
I stepped closer just as Scarlet looked up at Brent and said, “I’m sorry.” Then she left his arms and rushed into the arms of his twin brother.
Asher moved then. Fast. “What the fuck?” he roared. His voice was loud and full of fury. I’d never heard him so angry.
“Please tell me you’re shitting me,” Steel said, moving to stand beside Asher. Like they were a united front, ready to take on Bray.
“Oh shit, what have you done?” Dallas was here now, too. He was coming up behind me. His boots hitting the gravel as he moved to stand with the others.
I’d feared this. Deep down, I think I knew it all along. Scarlet loved Bray. But I’d not wanted to believe she would do this to Brent.
“She’s mine,” Bray said, turning to look back at the brothers behind him, then back to his twin.
“What have you done?” Brent sounded like he’d been ripped in half. I knew how that felt. My heart broke for him.
“She’s been mine. I wouldn’t admit it and you kept pushing to get her to go out with you, so she did. I should have said something then. I didn’t. I fucked up. But she’s mine. She’s been mine all along.”
How could she do this? I understood loving one Sutton and being with another, but I’d never do this. Or was what I was doing even worse? Was this what it would feel like for Steel if I kept this up, knowing he’d never have my heart?
“Dixie, you need to take Scarlet.” Asher’s voice was loud and cold. His gaze locked on Bray. Daring him to say anything. He moved toward Bray. “Let her go with Dixie. We got shit to clear up.” Asher wasn’t asking. His voice was tight and hard.
“Scarlet,” I said, taking a step forward. I would do whatever they needed me to do. I agreed with Asher. They all needed to deal with this on their own and Scarlet needed to leave. Her being here just made it all worse.
“Don’t touch her.” Bray growled as my hand touched her arm. In that moment, my heart skipped a beat from the sheer terror I felt. The look in Bray’s eyes was that of a demon. Evil. Cruel. Nothing like his usual self at all.
Scarlet was startled by his words, too, and I jumped. Moved away fast. Something was wrong with him.
Dallas was there suddenly, pulling Scarlet back, just as Asher’s fist slammed into Bray’s face. Scarlet screamed. I screamed. I heard other screams.
“Don’t ever fucking talk to her like that again.” Asher’s threat was full of his own anger. This was the first time I’d seen him like this, too. His fist landed again on Bray’s face.
Scarlet was trying to break free from Dallas. She was screaming, “Stop! Please stop!” She was begging Asher to stop.
He was going to kill Bray. Or it looked that way, at least. Bray couldn’t seem to get his head clear enough after each hit to do anything. None of the others were stopping Asher. He’d regret this. I knew him too well. If he truly hurt Bray, he’d never forgive himself. Dallas was too busy holding Scarlet, so I was able to go to Asher. I grabbed his arm before he swung again.
“Asher, don’t,” I said, hoping he could hear me over Scarlet’s screaming. He did. He stilled. Bray began wiping the blood running from his nose.
“Back up, Dixie,” Asher said, not looking at me. His glare remained fixed on Bray.
Bray moved then. But not toward Asher. He moved toward Scarlet. “Let. Her. Go.”
