Page 45 of One Reckless Moment

My mother got pregnant with her high school sweetheart who ended up leaving before Walker was even born. It had been the talk of the town for years. My parents met when Walker was a year old, and my dad was really the only father he had ever known.

He faced a lot of scrutiny from my grandparents over the years, and for a long time we had to constantly remind him that he belonged here with his family.

He had tattoos from his neck to his knuckles, and one look from him had frightened many young ranch hands to the point where they peed their pants—literally. He was an intimidating man, but he didn’t scare me.

I marched right up to him and poked him square in the chest. “Stop acting like a fucking behemoth.”

“Get out of my way, Paige,” he seethed.

“No.” I crossed my arms. “That’s my husband you’re about to beat the shit out of.”

“He’s a traitor,” Walker spat.

I expected Walker to be pissed. Of everyone involved, he was going to feel the most betrayed. Cash was his best friend—the person he put in charge of my safety. He was the one person Walker was supposed to trust, and turned out to be the person who got me in the most trouble.

I understood where he was coming from, but it was still my life. I was a big girl. I didn’t need anyone to protect me from the big bad wolf. I made my own choices—my own mistakes—and it was no one’s fault but mine.

What Walker didn’t understand yet was that Cash was now my priority. Regardless of our history, we were in this together, and I was going to protect him.

“Touch him again and I will not only never speak to you again, but I will sick Mom on your ass so fast you’ll be stuck on dinner duty for the entire summer.”

My mother was a lovely woman—most of the time—but she was eccentric for sure. There was never an excuse too loose to have a party. She hosted every family dinner like an event and we all loathed helping her. It meant hours of prep and being her slave for most of the day.

Walker’s chest was heaving and his gaze was locked on Cash, but he nodded and shoved my brothers away.

“This isn’t over.” He pointed at Cash before stalking off, leaving us in a tense silence.

Reid laughed, breaking the tension. “Anyone think we would make a great reality show? Like, instead of Southern Charm, we could be Montana Madness.”

We all turned to him and stared for a moment before bursting into laughter. I shook my head and punched him in the arm.

“You’re an idiot.”

Reid grabbed my hand in his fist and wrapped me in a hug, lifting my feet off the ground.

“I can’t believe you’re married, P. I was supposed to be your flower boy.”

“I would pay to see that.” Lottie laughed.

“You might want to put your money where your mouth is,” I mumbled under my breath.

Lottie furrowed her brow, but shrugged and turned to my brothers.

“Pay up.” She held out her palm as Axle and Reid rolled their eyes and pulled out their wallets.

“Seriously?” I scoffed.

“Don’t act brand new.” Lottie laughed, counting the bills my brothers slapped in her palm. “I bet Walker wouldn’t even let Cash get a word in before punching him.”

You could say that my siblings and I had a gambling problem, but hey, bets always made things more fun. There was nothing that was safe from a Brooks family bet. Sometimes we bet money, and sometimes we bet our pride. Everyone was usually a good sport about it. Growing up, we always knew that if you snitched on a punishment, then you weren’t going to be included anymore. We all cared more about missing out then we did the temporary embarrassment of whatever we had to do.

“So glad you won,” Cash groaned from below me.

I jumped and ran over to him—momentarily forgetting he was still on the ground.

“Come on, you big oaf. Let’s go put some ice on that pretty face of yours.” I held out a hand and helped Cash to his feet.

“Do you have tequila? I could use a drink,” he mumbled.