Page 11 of Kicking Up Dust

Cedar Creek was small and there wasn’t fuck all to do here. Everyone slept with everyone, it didn’t really mean anything. But Maddie didn’t sleep around. Or at least, he didn’t used to. So what was Austin Taylor doing in his cabin?

“Does Kenny know?”

“Mhmm,” she says, cutting the pastry dough into long triangles. “And she doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, so you’re going to leave them be, you hear me?”

I cross my arms and lean back against the sink, finally looking away from the window with a scoff. “I don’t have a problem with it either.”

“I mean it. I haven’t seen your brother this happy in a very long time, Colt. He deserves this.”

“Should I remind you that Austin and I dated, too?” I wouldn’t really call it dating, but there are things a mother doesn’t need to know about her son.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, son. Dating requires time together spent outside of the bedroom.”

“Ugh.” There are things a son likes to pretend his mother doesn’t know, I guess I should’ve said. “Fine. I’ll be on my best behavior. Pinky promise.”

Maybe I did have feelings for Austin.

I didn’t think so. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I loved her. I’d probably kill for her, if I knew there wasn’t a chance I’d get caught, I mean. But it wasn’t like I thought of her fondly while I was on the road and yearned to have her back in my bed or anything.

Seeing her walking down from Maddox’s cabin in his jacket though… that pissed me off, and I couldn’t really put my finger on why. So, I did what I do best and annoyed the fuck out of him, fitting my fingers in my mouth to whistle as they walked to the family bonfire being held on my behalf. Jameson joined me like the wonderful brother he is.

I only got a few in before Mama pinched my ear and reminded me of my promise to her, though. “I’m just giving him a hard time.”

“You’re just gonna get a whooping if you don’t quit it!”

I roll my eyes toward the new couple again. Maddox is looking me up and down just like Mama had in the kitchen earlier. He always does that when I come home, and it never fails to make me feel like some little kid. I hate it. I’m twenty-six. I don’t need my big brother looking me over for boo-boos.

I’m just about to call him out for it over the fire between us when out of nowhere, they’re kissing. Not a quick peck as they part ways, but a full-on makeout session right in front of Mama, God, and the cows. I thought maybe they were casual, what with the way they walked down here with a good foot between them, but the only time I’ve casually kissed someone like that is when I knew it was leading to my dick getting wet or my ass getting fucked. I’ve definitely never kissed someone like that in front of my own mother.

Jamie starts clapping, so naturally, I start back up with the whistling because I’ll be damned if Maddie looks over here and sees me gobsmacked like this. His ego-inflated brain would probably take it as me being jealous over him. Mama doesn’t even get onto me this time. She’s too busy smiling over at them with misty eyes, like Maddie just proposed or something.

I was wrong. Coming home wasn’t the answer.

SEVEN

COLT

When Kenny leaves Maddox and Austin so she can go pine after Jameson’s best friend, Theo, I take it as my cue to broach the elephant in the mountains, also known as my brother and my… ex fuck buddy?

The log wobbles when I sit down next to Austin, and Maddox acts like I’ve shot her with how quick he is to react. I kick his turned-over beer can away and force out a barb with a happy-go-lucky laugh that pisses him off even more.

Maddie snatches my beer out of my hand and checks to make sure I haven’t been spitting in it before taking a swing. I quit dipping and moved on to cigarettes a long time ago, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of telling him that. He’d been on my ass to quit for way too long.

“Don’t get your hopes up, bro. I didn’t quit dipping, just don’t have any on me right now. Didn’t feel like stopping to replenish.”

“I don’t sit around hoping you’ll get your shit together anymore, Colt. Got better things to do with my day.”

Maddox has a way of making me feel five years old and I fucking hate it. He’s so goddamn self-righteous just because Dad left the ranch in his name, acting like he’s everyone’s daddy now. It drives me insane.

At the same time, the very thought that he might’ve given up on me guts me to the core.

I pull a cigarette out of the nearly empty pack in my jacket pocket and put it between my lips to try and stop myself from running my mouth. Bailey likes to say I start shit for no reason, but there’s always a reason.

Tonight it’s because I’m mad as hell that I drove twelve fucking hours through the night because I was so goddamn homesick, only to get home and feel just as lost as I was before. Probably even more so, if I’m being honest, because my asshole of a brother is here all loved up and happy while I’m sitting here like a sad sack of shit.

Maybe that’s why I decide to flirt with his girl. “Got a light, babe?”

Austin narrows her eyes.