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“It is.” Pop sets the steaming cup in front of me.
I pull out my phone. “What do you like?”
“Green is my favorite. I also drink spearmint and English breakfast. But it’s not a thing. I can hit the grocery store later.”
“Which brand?”
She tells me, and I find it in my app. “Done. It’ll be here by dinnertime.”
“Thank you, Layton.” Her voice is demure and so alluring. I don’t think she’s trying to be sexy. She justissexy. “Can we go see the colt today?”
“How’s your leg?”
“I don’t want to saw it off, if that’s what you’re asking. But it’s still throbbing. It’s healing if that itching is anything to go by. And if your sister is around, I’d like her to take a peek at Kyle’s wound.”
Me:Can you check Kyle’s wound today? He’s definitely done more than rest in the last twenty-four hours.
Bright:Sure thing. I’m at the stable. Want me to come your way?
Me:When you can. That would be great. Thanks.
“She’ll be here in a few.”
Pop’s gaze levels on me as Livy turns her freckled face my way. “Thank you. That means a lot.”
I rub a hand from her neck to below where her sports bra stops and move back to take a sip of my coffee.
“I’m going to head down to the barn and check on things. See y’all down there?” Pop clears his and Livy’s plates and sets them in the sink before refilling his coffee.
“Do you mind asking Bright to bring the Gator this way?” Livy asks.
“I’d be happy to.” Pop whistles at the front door. “Luna? Let’s go. Strait misses you.”
The lab bounds from my room, tail aloft and wagging, and pads out the front door with Pop behind her.
“How’d you sleep?” Livy’s voice is quiet. She turns her face to mine, and it takes no time for me to drop my mouth to hers.
Her fingers sift through my beard.
I speak where we are connected. “Not great. There’s a beautiful woman under the same roof. It’s distracting.”
She closes her eyes, breaking the connection, and shakes her head. “Layton.”
I pull back, stand, and walk to the pantry. I’m killing time. I’m not actually hungry.
“You won’t look at me?”
“Why should I?” I throw back.
“To show me some respect in this conversation.”
Damn it.
I say nothing. The silence is broken by my sister barging her way in, saving my ass from the awkwardness.
“Morning, Lay.” She stops dead at the silence. “Morning, Livy.” She folds onto the floor in the kitchen near the table. “Good morning, Kyle. You didn’t come to the barn with Pop this morning. Are you tuckered out or are you sore?” She strokes the big dog down his side as I come back into the room. “I’m letting him adjust to my touch. I don’t want him to feel—” The rest of her sentence is rendered moot when he rolls to his back, exposing his chest and belly, and stretches his paws out one hundred and eighty degrees. “So you do yoga too?”
Bright peels the bandage back while rubbing his belly with her other hand.
