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“How’s Justin?” Gage asked after Marshall had headed for his truck.
“Still adjusting. I don’t know what I’m doing, and he knows it too. The kid is smart but uncontrollable.”
“Sounds like somebody else I know.” While Gage laughed, I could tell by the concerned look in his eyes that he knew how much the blow of finding out I had a child had hurt and angered me.
“Very funny. I just don’t think I’m the right person for him.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
“Yeah, well, his grandparents have started hounded me, telling me I’m unfit to be a father.”
“Fuck them. After the damn daughter they raised, what the hell are they talking about?” He sucked in his breath, realizing he’d crossed a line. “That was shitty of me.”
“It’s fine.” He was right. Justin’s mother was a mess. No, shehadbeen a mess. I closed my eyes, a moment of rage shifting into my system.
He patted my shoulder. “Day at a time.”
“Like you would know, Mr. Confirmed Bachelor.”
He laughed. “Some of the guys are going to Raunchy Ride tonight. I might even be able to get Snake out. Think you can swing by?”
As soon as he mentioned the weekend, another image of the naughty vixen slipped into the back of my mind. “Maybe.” Justin had made a single friend and was going over to the kid’s house tonight. Either I could sit around and worry that he’d make a scene, or I could try to enjoy myself. Hell, why couldn’t I get her off my mind? Wren. My little bird.
Shut the fuck up. She’s not yours.
“Oh, and there’s the rodeo starting tomorrow.”
I had to laugh. My buddy still fashioned himself to be a bull rider at his age. “As much as I’d love to see you fall on your ass, believe it or not, I have plans for the entire weekend.”
“Wow. Some new chick?” His grin told me he wouldn’t let it go until I said something.
“Do you ever meet someone and half of you wishes it would never have occurred because you know it’s going to be a nightmare and the other half wants to explore that person top to bottom?”
“I take it something happened last night.”
“Not just something,” I said as casually as possible. “Someone.”
He lifted his eyebrows, his grin widening. It was still amazing we could tolerate each other. I was a rule breaker and proud of it. He’d spent his adult life doing nothing but following rules, trying to make sense of criminal activity, and the usual bullshit that came with it. “Are you going to explain or are we playing the guessing game? Are we talking about a woman?”
“Not just a woman, but one whose behavior required a trip over my knee. And I didn’t stop there.”
“How is it possible that you leave a fire likely grimy as shit and you meet a woman in the middle of a snowstorm and manage to have wild sex when I can’t get a woman to look in my direction?”
“Because I’m damn good looking,” I chortled.
“Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. So, are you two gettin’ hitched or did you bother to get her number?”
“I agreed to be her date for her sister’s wedding.”
“Wow,” he snickered. “You’re turning into such a romantic man.”
“She’s paying me too.”
He burst into laughter. “I take it she doesn’t know who you are.”
“That never came up. We were a little busy.”
As he leaned in, he winked. “What’s her name?”
