“Are you propositioning me in a hospital room, full of my family and yours?” Again, she shrugged. “Challenge accepted, Raven,” I whispered in return, my voice low and husky. “But don’t say I didn’t warn ya.”
“I’m tougher than I look, Mike,” she declared. “You should take this as my warning to you.”
I looked up over Raven’s shoulder to find Maddison smiling at me, but I could sense the smile was forced. She and I had finally reached the point where we could talk again. I still felt that we were both forcing it, trying to forget all the awkward moments of our past, but the longer I sat back watching her with that douche she was dating, it became even harder to not react.
When she’d told me that she’d ended things with him a little over a month ago, I’d admit, on the inside, I was fucking celebrating. I meant what I said when I told her she was too good for him.
“I have no doubt that you’re tough, Raven,” I finally replied, pulling my gaze away from Maddison. “I think it’s me who would have a problem handling you.” The woman smiled proudly, thinking this was my way of flirting with her, so I let her have it. Truth was, I just wasn’t all that interested. I’d questioned myself several times over the last months as to why that was. Raven was a beauty. She was strong and confident, and maybe I should have given it a chance. But every time I thought of doing just that, it all came down to one thing.
A dark-haired, brown-eyed beauty I couldn’t seem to shake.
Chapter Nine
Mike
“Where’s Dad?” I paused next to Garrett and blocked my little brother’s view of the television. Nothing was better at getting him worked up.
“Move, man.” He swatted at me, moving his body from side to side. “I’m gonna die, you asshole.”
“You’re gonna get more than that if you don’t watch your mouth.” Maria, my mother, the woman who took me in and loved me like her own when she didn’t have to, stepped into the room. She glared at the back of my brother’s head, making me laugh. The almighty Maria, tiny but fierce as a grizzly. “You may get away with that when I’m not home, but I hear you talk like that again, I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.”
Garrett snickered, and she was on him like a leech. His ear pinched between her thumb and forefinger, he twisted at an awkward angle, trying to move with her as she tugged.
“I’m sorry, Mamma,” he pleaded with her, making me smile. Just ammo for another time, I thought to myself. “Mike started it.”
“All I did was ask where Dad was.” I held my hands up and shrugged innocently. “You got all feisty because you couldn’t see those games you’re addicted to.”
Garrett glared at me, and when Maria turned her back, I flipped him off.
“Mike just gave me the finger, Ma,” he whined, huffing when she chose to ignore his fit.
“Your dad’s over at Bud and Gemma’s.” I followed Mom into the kitchen, deciding I’d harassed Garrett enough for one day. “One of the bulls rammed the fence, and the neighbors called to tell them they had seven of their cows roaming down by the creek.”
“Maybe that’s where Rhett is too?”
She shrugged, lifting the bag of garbage out of the bin and tying it off.
“Here, let me take that out.” I reached to take it from her, and she gave me a motherly kiss on my cheek. “I’ll drive over that way and see if I can offer some help.”
As I turned to leave, I heard her say something along the lines of me being so respectful, and I hid my smile. Still, to this day, even though I was a grown man, the approval of my mother—and my father, for that matter—was something I couldn’t get enough of.
On the drive over to the farm, I turned up my music and rolled down the windows in my old truck. It was a hand-me-down from Gavin, my father. It was his big-ass black Ford, lifted and mean and definitely used, but reliable. There was an ongoing joke about my brother being made in this very truck that made me cringe. I refused to accept it because that little shit wasn’t gonna ruin my impression of my beast. She was my baby.
As I drove up the gravel road, the big country house that held so many childhood memories of mine came into view. White house, black shutters, the front door painted a rustic red, it always gave me that sense of home. Gemma and Bud never once treated me like I was anything other than a blood grandson. They were good people, hearts bigger than anyone I knew, and enough love to supply an army.
As I rounded the first bend, I saw my father’s red truck, then Rhett’s beat-up Chevy. In the mix of all the big trucks was a Colorado, much smaller than the rest. A shade of blue that should never have been placed on any vehicle, in my opinion. It was hideous.
Maddison was never one to hide in the shadows, though. She refused to fit in. She was strong and opinionated. If she had something to say, she said it. Be damned the consequences she would have to face later. She didn’t let them stop her.
I pulled in behind my father and climbed out of my truck, only to be met by Bones, a ten-year-old Shepard who followed Bud everywhere.
“You come to help me wrangle up some cows?” As I figured, Gramps wasn’t too far
