“No, sweetheart. I’m already your prince.” I pucker my lips, which only causes her to groan and walk away. I deserve a medal for trying.
As we climb into the truck, I’m beaming with joy. Once we’re inside, I turn to Riley. “I think she likes me.”
He snorts. “I think you’re still drunk from last night.”
“Nope, totally sober,” I say, giving him my mini version of a sobriety test by touching my nose with the tip of my finger.
“Don’t forget I’ll kick your ass if you fuck with my sister. She’s off-limits,” he warns, being completely serious. Rowan deserves the world, and I wish I could be the one to give it to her.
I snicker. “What you don’t know won’t hurt ya, Daddy.”
“Dude! It’s sick when you call me that.”
When I start the engine, my mood shifts, and Riley notices my frown. I’m trying not to sound like a jealous stalker, but I’m not happy. “I might’ve seen who she was texting earlier.”
Riley looks at me.
“You’re not gonna like it.” Hell, I don’t either.
“Who was it?”
“Trace. That guy she hung around a couple of years ago.” Just knowing Rowan is chatting with him again makes my stomach turn. He’s old as dirt, at least ten years older than her, and I hated when she hung out with him.
“That fucking thirty-year-old?” Riley’s livid, and as I recall the memory of when she brought him to the Fourth of July party, it has me seething all over again. At least Riley hates the guy as much as I do.
“I think he was twenty-seven at the time, so almost, I guess.”
Riley lets out a growl and grips the steering wheel even tighter as he drives me to my truck that’s parked at the B&B. “What the fuck is he doing texting her?”
I suck in a deep breath, growing more agitated with every passing minute, but Riley needed to know. She won’t listen to me if I say anything, but she might listen to Riley if he tells her he doesn’t approve of him. “The message said ‘Can’t wait!’ so it sounds like they’re planning to meet up,” I explain, agitated as hell over it.
“Over my dead body,” Riley hisses. “No good can come from her dating an old fart like him, especially after the last guy cheated on her.”
The thought of any man using Rowan in the way Nick did has me ready to bust my knuckles against his face. The thought of Rowan being with another man drives me insane, and it’s something I try to ignore, though it’s hard as hell. No one will ever be good enough for her. At times, I don’t think even I can spoil and treat her the way she deserves, but I’d damn sure try.
He parks next to my Chevy and hops out, still thinking about Trace. “I’m lookin’ quite good now, aren’t I?” I waggle my brows, knowing I’m a better fit for Rowan than Trace or any man in a five hundred mile radius could ever be. “At least you know I wouldn’t cheat on her.”
With furrowed brows, he tenses. “No, because you don’t date. You just bang ’em and bail. And I’d really hate to kick your sorry ass if you touch my sister. So, don’t even think about it.”
After I give him a cocky salute, I walk to my truck. Riley honks his horn, grabbing my attention long enough to see him shooting me the bird. He’s more than amused with himself over it too. I expect nothing less from my best friend, an asshole extraordinaire who's determined to protect his little sister.
Riley Bishop has no idea how much I want and have always wanted Rowan, and I need to figure out how to keep that shit to myself, which may be more challenging than even I realize. Especially now that she’s home, looking so goddamn beautiful, giving me all of her sass and side glances. It’s not the attention I want, but hell, I’ll take anything from her.
Flirting with Rowan might be a death wish from Riley, but damn, she’s more than worth the risk.
Chapter Two
ROWAN
Graduating from college was a dream come true, and I learned a lot that’ll help with the family bar and ranch. It’s been a week since I moved home, and I’m still trying to get used to it. It’s been weird living back with my parents and staying in the bedroom I had growing up. The walls are the bright purple we painted them when I was thirteen, and all my old posters are still hung, just a tad faded by the sun. I’m temporarily brought back to being a kid without a care in the world.
While I’ve come home during my breaks to visit and help out, I wasn’t here long enough to want to redecorate. Now that I’m staying with my parents until I get my own place, I might change it up a bit, make it more stylish. It’d be for no reason, though, because I won’t be bringing a man home with me. My dad would murder him, and not to mention, I’m more single than a dollar bill.
My parents haven’t enforced a curfew yet because I’m helping at the bar, which closes at two a.m. on the weekends, but it doesn’t mean they haven’t been in my business. While they mean well, I’m ready to have some privacy outside this house.
Mom knows Nick and I broke up, but I didn’t give her the details about how dirty he did me. Cheating bastard. Just the thought of him has me raging all over again. I suck in a deep breath and exhale slowly, trying to calm down.
Nick never liked a woman who didn’t know her place. I was always too much sass and dominance for him to handle, so he found a replacement—a woman who’d do whatever he said. The moment I caught them in bed together, it took everything I had not to murder them both. All I remember was walking across the room and pulling the bimbo by her hair before Nick hopped out of bed and rushed toward me. With all my strength, I pushed him, nearly knocking him down on his bare, cheating ass before leaving.
He immediately apologized, making up some stupid excuse for his mistake, but I told him to go fuck himself. I hate liars. A man who can’t be truthful, especially one I loved and trusted with my whole being, has no business being in my life. I don’t do second chances when it comes to cheating. After graduation, I was more than ready to come home even though I knew Nick was moving back to San Angelo, which is only an hour away. I’m grateful Dad made Riley and Diesel help me because I would’ve had to hire a company. It wouldn’t have been cheap, but I would’ve paid any amount to get the hell away. Over the past four years of being in Houston, I’ve accumulated way too much stuff.
I look around my bedroom and see boxes stacked against the wall. Each one is marked with what’s inside, but I’m not feeling motivated to unpack. I’ve put up all my clothes and attempted to go through my things, but I can’t bring myself to do it. My heart still hurts from what Nick did a month ago and many pieces of our life together are packed in those boxes. I’d almost rather the memories of him stay there for eternity. While I’d love to forget about him, he’s moving back to San Angelo to help with his family’s business. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to erase his dumbass from my life soon enough because he’s literally forty-five minutes away from me. Running into him is still an unfortunate possibility.
A knock rings out on my door, and I roll over and check the time on my phone. It’s nearly nine in the morning, and I’ve been up for a while, just thinking about how strange life is at the moment.