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I walked back inside and shut the door behind me. I honestly wasn’t sure how to feel. On one hand, I was glad that Boone and I had settled that little argument without having to give each other bloody noses. But on the other hand… had we really settled anything?
Because as I quietly climbed the stairs that led up to the room where I was staying, it still felt like there was a lot that had been left unsaid.
And Janessa was going to be caught right in the middle.
Chapter 9
Boone
Being alone with my thoughts after talking to Cade had been a blessing and a curse. I was glad to put that whole conversation behind us and glad that even though we were a hundred miles away from our own ranch, the nighttime sounds were the same out here as they were back at home.
On a normal night, those sounds would have been enough to soothe my mind and keep my thoughts from wandering too far, but nothing about this night had been normal. From the moment we’d stepped foot onto the Thoresons' ranch, it had been a roller coaster of experiences and emotions—and most of them had been kind of shitty, if I was being honest.
Janessa had been the bright spot through all of it, though. But she had a whole other set of complications.
I definitely wanted a chance to get to know her better, but setting up a nightly watch outside her house wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind. And with her uncle constantly giving me the side-eye, there hadn’t really been a chance to be alone and actually talk to her one-on-one.
That hadn’t seemed to stop Cade, though. Then again, nothing ever stopped Cade when it came to something he wanted—and he obviously wanted Janessa just as much as I did.
I heard the door behind me creak. It was a tiny noise but sounded louder than it should have in the relative silence. Just from the tentative way the door opened, I knew it wasn’t Cade.
And that same logic probably ruled out Justin, as well.
“I thought you were going to bed,” I said, still facing forward in my chair.
The person behind me huffed out a short breath, and I had to bite back a smile. A quick temper like hers wasn’t normally a turn-on for me, but there was something about the way she carried herself—that stubborn streak and the way she didn’t even think about backing down from a challenge—that made me question everything I thought I understood about women.
I didn’t like to compare anyone to Maria, but it was hard to ignore the fact that Janessa was her polar opposite in every way—complexion, age, personality, looks. Yet I was still somehow just as attracted to Janessa Thoreson as I’d ever been to the first love of my life.
And honestly? That realization scared the shit out of me.
“Couldn’t sleep,” she said, slowly walking over to sit in the chair next to me. “Cade and I weren’t doing anything wrong out here, just so you know.” She paused, then added, “Not that it’s any of your business.”
“You’re right,” I said, equally amused and annoyed that she’d brought up the subject I’d just spent the past half-hour trying to stop thinking about. “It really isn’t any of my business.”
It was obvious why she hadn’t been able to sleep. I clearly wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been able to shake the thought of what had happened out here earlier.
She was looking at me expectantly, as if I should have said something more. As far as I was concerned, though, the subject was closed.
“If that’s all you came out here to say,” I began, then shrugged. “I guess we’re on the same page. Now I guess you can go get some sleep.”
She shook her head and settled back into her chair, clearly not going anywhere anytime soon. Which was fine with me. I’d take this little back and forth with her over being left here alone with my own thoughts any day.
“I didn’t expect any of this to happen when I invited you over for dinner the other night,” she said. “I didn’t mean for you guys to get caught up in whatever drama is going on here.”
“We don’t mind that,” I said, speaking for Cade as well since I knew he would have said the same thing. “We like a little adventure from time to time. I just wish it wasn’t happening here.” And then, because I just couldn’t stop myself after all the thinking I’d been doing, I asked, “But… what did you expect to happen when you invited us over? I know your uncle wasn’t thrilled with the idea at first.”
“He warmed up to the idea,” she said, dodging the question. “He’s the one who asked you guys to come back. I had nothing to do with that.”
She was clever, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. Cade and I had just finished arguing over her, so the least she could do was give me a straight answer.
“True,” I said. “But that isn’t what I asked. Why did you invite us over in the first place?”
She stood up and put her hands on her hips. “Because I thought it would be nice to get to know you a little better. I… I liked you—both of you—and I thought there was a chance that maybe you liked me, too. I see that I was wrong about one of you, though.”
“Even if I did think there was potentially something between us…” I paused, needing to be careful with my words. “What am I supposed to do, Janessa? How would it look? Everyone would say you were too young and that I was taking advantage of you.”
“Cade doesn’t seem to think I’m too young.”
