CALVIN
OMW
I cringed when my phone immediately tried to correct the text toOn my way!No need to be so fucking cheery. I clicked the littleXnext to the suggestion and sent the abbreviated, more appropriate version.
It was a relatively cool night compared to the scorchers we'd been having for weeks, so I opted to walk the six blocks to the bar. That walk gave me the moment I needed to process the fact that I'dtoldBrody.
Still wasn't sure what the fuck had come over me.
But wasn't that always the case when it came to the infuriating farrier?
It was like I was a goddamn different person with him—one who didn't need armor around her heart.
He made me soft.
Ten minutes later, I was pulling open the back door to The Blue Pony, making my way down the dark hall that led into the bar. I smiled as I passed the spot where Brody had pressed me against the wall and put my hand on his hard cock.
The bar was loud for a Tuesday. I scanned it on instinct—a habit I'd picked up somewhere between a dozen different towns and a dozen different reasons to know where the exits were.
That's when I clocked a new face. Dark-haired, broad through the shoulders, parked at the far end of the bar. He glanced up when I came in but his eyes moved right past me.
I followed his gaze.
Sassy. Bright-eyed and red-lipped, laughing at something with her whole throat. She looked gorgeous. She also looked like a woman who had known exactly where a particular pair of eyes were for a while now and had been curating herself accordingly.
Rhett was two stools down—planted at the bar like a load-bearing wall, a full beer in front of him that he didn't seem to be drinking, eyes fixed on the middle distance.
The empty stool between them sat like a statement neither of them was making out loud.
I dropped into it without thinking.
Sassy leaned into me immediately, dropping her voice. "Thank God. He's been like this for an hour. Rescue me."
I flagged Hank down. His cloudy eye slid to me with the warmth he reserved for people he'd decided he liked, which, near as I could tell, was approximately three people in this bar.
"The usual, sugar?"
"Please."
Rhett side-eyed me. "You have a usual?"
"I've been coming here a while, Rhett."
He grunted and that was that.
"Where's your sidekick?" I asked.
"With his mom."
The words landed soft, but they caught somewhere behind my sternum.
His mom.
Knowing Brody Lancaster—knowing that great big heart he couldn't keep contained if he tried—he'd gone straight to give his mama a big ol' hug after he'd learned about mine.
My chest went traitorously warm.
I took a long pull of my drink and told my heart to knock it the fuck off.
