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“You were being an ass.” The coy smile on her face warms my insides.
“That’s the truth. But what did he do this time?” a voice from behind us says.
I lean back slowly, keeping my back to Exton who entered the house without me noticing. Livy’s bug eyes are the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.
“Exton, come meet Livy.”
My brother slides around the sofa until he can see the woman below me. “Hi.” He extends a hand. “I’m Exton. It’s nice to meet you, Livy. I see you call a spade a spade. I like that in a woman.” His cautious smile spreads as she extends a hand.
“I’m Livy Morgan and I’ve officially humiliated myself in front of almost every Ranger so far. How many more are there so I can work up the nerve for more mortification?”
Exton’s rich laughter fills the room. “Who have you had the pleasure of embarrassing yourself to?”
“Well, your dad walked in on us kissing.” Her face flames. “Brighton sort of put me in my place this morning on something else. I guess I still could do something disgraceful in front of Braxton and Emberleigh. But I should get an honorable mention for showing up with a black eye. Right?”
Exton tilts his head left, then right. “Maybe. But those are rookie numbers, really. You have lots of room to grow as far as shameful things. Save something, if you don’t mind. My wife should be by soon enough.”
“For you, Exton, I’ll consider it.”
My brother’s smile could light up the room.
If I were a betting man, I’d say it mirrors mine.
THIRTY-EIGHT
BIBBI
LIVY
Day two has flown by. Mostly because the past seventy-two hours have been insanity. Poor sleep, no sleep, surgery, late-night texts, and the emotion of fighting with Layton.
Layton threads his fingers through mine as we head to Braxton and Emberleigh’s for dinner. The Gator is the coolest lazy way to get around. The house is as you enter the ranch gates and not so far that it couldn’t be walked, but today is not the day to push ourselves in that way. Pop is staying back with Kyle to keep him in resting mode.
I’m full of antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. I could kick myself for not grabbing those prescriptions. I know better, but anxiety is a friend to no one, and I was operating by its principles and not my own. There was no need to be in the pain I have been when both would’ve helped the healing process.
When we get to their home, I lift a hand to knock. Layton, instead, pushes the door open and announces our arrival. “We made it,” he says to the vast room. A hand at the small of my back leads me toward the eat-in kitchen.
“Hey.” Emberleigh pops out from around the fridge and drops a kiss on my cheek. “I’m learning to cook all over again. That’s only partly true. I had hoped by now I would have a chef and a maid.”
I pull back, curious about a woman who must be my age—or at least within a couple of years—who expected to have a chef by now. “A maid I can get behind. And a massage therapist. If we’re going to dream big, let’s go personal massage therapist and a private pilot.”
“I like the way you think. Come on in.”
“And why are you learning to cook right now?”
“I grew up in Texas.”
That’s supposed to mean something to me, I guess.
“I grew up in New England.”
“Really? Where?”
“Boston. But what does Texas have to do with learning to cook?”
She laughs and looks back over her shoulder. “We don’t do anything without butter or bacon grease. Or some kind of drippings. And that’s the healthy stuff. Almost anyway.”
“Oh.”
