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After stopping briefly to squeeze Dakota’s shoulder, an action that has Koty’s face softening, Fallon stalks out of the bar.
Ford whistles. “That girl’s a whole lotta outlaw.”
Wyatt just sits there, and Charlie leans in. “You want her to sleep with the guy?” he growls in Wyatt’s ear.
“She’s doing it for him.” Dakota’s soft voice takes me from my watch on my brothers.
I take her hand. “I know.”
Christ. I wish my brother would wake the fuck up. I don’t know why they can’t get it right, but it has me realizing everything I need to do to make things right between Dakota and me. Tell her I love her. If I don’t, I could lose my chance, and the past will start over. She’ll go, move on with her life, and I’ll be the sorry son-of-a-bitch who let her leave.
Not again.
Never again.
True North. Dakota and that baby.
A loud groan has all of us looking over. “Jesus. All y’all lovesick bastards.” Ford drums his hands on the table. “I told y’all once and I’ll tell you again. You gotta keep your head on a goddamn swivel when it comes to a woman.”
“Would you cool down?” Charlie growls, removing the beer from Ford’s grasp. “You’re being a massive asshole.”
Ford slaps Wyatt on the back, rocking him forward. “You gonna cry, cry into your tall boy and keep it the fuck down for the rest of us.”
I’m horrified to see tears welling up in Wyatt’s eyes. He looks miserable, throwing back his second round of doubles.
I clench my jaw, level a finger at Ford. He’s gonna get his teeth kicked in if he doesn’t watch his fucking mouth. We all like giving our little brother shit, but Ford knocking Wyatt down when he’s clearly miserable is taking it too damn far.
“Knock it off. That’s not a request.”
“You sound like a fucking babysitter,” Ford says, before turning his attention back to Wyatt. “Face it, little brother. Sometimes you’re second place.”
“I don’t get fucking second place,” Wyatt shoots back. Then, face crumpling, he erupts from his seat and tears out of the bar.
“Take his keys,” I tell Charlie, who promptly plucks Ruby off his lap and races after Wyatt. Charlie’s the only one who can talk Wyatt off the deep end.
A charged silence falls over the table as I glare at Ford. “Get your shit together. I mean it.”
“Yeah, okay, Dad,” he says, his tone dripping with sarcasm. “I didn’t know we had a complaint department on the ranch.”
Ruby, God bless her, is there to intercept.
“Ford, you want to dance?” She hits him with a full-wattage grin and tugs him clumsily out of the chair. Her concerned eyes flick to me as she leads him away, and I give her a grateful nod.
“I love your brother so much, but why does he have to be this tragically dumb?” Dakota says softly, watching as Ford and Ruby hit the dance floor.
I shake my head. “Tonight’s not what you needed.”
“Can’t control everything,” she says, a wry smile on her lips. “My sister, your brother. What’re we going to do with them?”
“Put them in sacks, drop them in the river,” I say, deadpan.
She laughs.
I shrug. “They gotta figure it out. We did.” I take her hand. “You want to dance, Cupcake?”
For three long minutes, the chaos falls away. My eyes lock on Dakota, hers lock on me. Peace. We sway slowly to an old George Strait number on the crowded dance floor.
Like I said, peace.
