“Want my advice?”
“No offense, squirt, but you’re only twenty-two.”
She gave me a dirty look. “Well, I’m a woman. I’ve dated. I’ve had sex. I think I can add my two cents.”
Anger rushed through my body. “Who the fuck have you had sex with? I’ll kick the asshole’s ass.”
“You didn’t honestly think I was still a virgin, did you?”
I threw the pen out of my hand like it had burnt me. My hands covered my ears. “What the hell, Meli! Oh God.” My hands dropped. “Do the rest of your brothers know this bit of information?”
An evil smile moved over her face. “My first was Bobby Bishop.”
My eyes widened in shock. “Does Trevor know his best friend took your flower?”
Amelia lost it laughing. “My flower? What in the hell? Are you fucking kidding me right now, Steed?” She bent over laughing hysterically. “Oh. My. God. My flower! I’m dying! I can’t wait to tell Waylynn! You know she’s lost her flower too, right?”
I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the chair, waiting for her to get it out of her system. The thought of a guy touching either of my sisters pissed me off. Even with Waylynn being married, I still wanted to punch her husband every time I thought about it. “You done?” I asked.
She wiped her tears away. “Oh, man. Hells bells. I needed that laugh. And no, I certainly didn’t tell Trevor.”
“I take it my ideas of you being a sweet and innocent girl are shot out the door.”
Standing, Amelia placed her hands on my desk. “I grew up with five brothers. Five brothers who I might add have made their own reputations. I learned from the best.” She winked.
“Oh, shit. If Dad ever knew…”
The smirk that spread over my sister’s face had me smiling too.
“What Dad doesn’t know, doesn’t hurt him.”
“Daddy’s little angel.” I tsked.
She let out a curt laugh and spun on her heels. Before she made it to the door, she stopped, put her hands on her hips, and let a wicked smile spread over her face.
“And by the way. I’m giving you my two cents on Paxton. You need to spend the night with her tonight, seduce her, and make love to her, and then spend the rest of the night fucking her to make up for lost time. Trust me. It’s what she really wants deep down. This going slow shit is a safety net she’s using because she’s scared.”
I pulled my head back. “Scared of what?”
She winked. “I can’t tell you all the secrets now, can I?”
And like that, she was out the door.
“What crawled up your ass, dude?”
I rode next to Trevor on the horse my parents had bought me for graduation. I had never even ridden her before I left town. Now, I tried to ride her every day. She was a beautiful red and white paint that would do anything I asked her to do. Trevor broke her and trained her. I swear the boy missed his calling.
“Nothing’s crawled up my ass. What’s crawled up your ass, asshole?”
He laughed. “I ask a question, and you’re either so deep in thought you don’t hear me or you snap at me. Dude, if you don’t get laid soon I swear you’re gonna burst.”
“Fuck off, Trevor.”
“See!”
I groaned. “Shit. I don’t know what to do. Amelia gave me her thoughts, but I’m not sure.”
“Well, she’s a woman, so she would probably know better than us.”
We walked our horses side by side through the pasture. “Damn, I missed this place. Missed riding next to you, Mitchell, Tripp, and Cord.”
“This place missed you.”
I smiled. That was Trevor’s way of saying he missed me. “You still friends with Bobby Bishop?”
Trevor brought his horse to a stop. “Why?”
Shrugging, I replied, “Just wondering.”
“I haven’t talked to him since I beat his ass one night. I caught him feeling Amelia up behind his truck at a party.”
Laughing, I shook my head.
“I was positive Mitchell would find some reason to arrest him, and Cord probably threatened him with how he knew someone who knew someone who would break his leg and arm.”
Damn, we all think the same.
I chuckled, and we rode the next few minutes in silence. “So listen, I went over the books. Fred’s been stealing from Dad.”
“No shit,” Trevor said, kicking his horse, picking up her pace to keep up with mine.
“Yeah. Dad didn’t seem surprised. In fact, I think he knew. He just didn’t want to admit it.”
“That’s why he’s been pushing you to look at the books since you scared Mike away.”