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Cody was watching me with a hint of a smile. “She even got me to swing dance.”
I beamed like a porch light hung inside my chest.
Eliot whistled. “Ask Jenna Mae Rogers how well that worked out.”
“The theater girl?” I asked, enjoying that I was now part of the ribbing.
Austen howled with laughter. “Dude, you admitted to that? Wait until you tell her you learned guitar, and that girl didn’t date you either.”
The guys snickered, but the acute memory of the guitar from last night rose in my head.
Flames engulfed my face, and the heat only grew when Cody’s burning gaze landed on me. “I’ve shown her how well I play.”
Austen laughed and clapped. Eliot did a lot of headshaking, like he was the old man of the group. But Wilder had that brow lifted. The man said little with his mouth and a lot with his expressions. He knew exactly what Cody showed me, but he wasn’t making it public.
I respected these guys. They respected me.
Eliot smacked Cody on the back. “I’m hungry. Time for food. But hey, leave the kids here tonight.”
“Eliot—”
“They can sleep in Aggie’s old room.” Eliot talked over Cody. “I have Austen sleeping over to help watch them.”
Cody’s panicked gaze landed on me.
I froze, unable to process what a sleepover meant. Cody and I alone in a house he didn’t want to touch me in. A house that filled him with conflict about his past life and his present and how there was no future between us.
“I’m here to work.” I glanced between them. A wall of Knight men, three of them trying to get me alone with their brother. “I—I wouldn’t have anything to do.”
“I don’t get much uncle time,” Eliot replied smoothly. “They are my only niece and nephew until Aggie and Ansen get busy.”
“And I think they are getting bus-ayyy,” Austen added. The rest of them shuddered.
“Jesus, Austen. None of us needed to hear that.” Wilder grunted, shooting him a glare. “I can come over tonight too. They like getting rides in the patrol car.”
“So that’s it.” Eliot clapped his gloves together. “We’ll have a sleepover, and you can get a tour of the mighty Buffalo Gully.”
As if he sensed how uncomfortable Cody and I were, thinking we were getting thrown together when we weren’t ready, Wilder pointed to the sky. “It’s supposed to be clear out tonight. You’ll have to check out the stars after dark.”
All the guys murmured appreciatively.
I latched on to an activity that required clothing—I assumed—and couldn’t be done from Cody’s bed. “I’ve never done stargazing, unless you count Hollywood actors.”
“I can take you to the south pasture,” Cody said, acting as casual as me. “There’s almost no light out there.”
“It’s like clubbing,” Austen said, “but with cattle and no music.”
“I look forward to it,” I said. But I was looking forward to being alone with Cody more.
Twelve
Cody
I crumpled the small brown paper bag I found on the driver’s seat and stuffed it in a cupholder. I was going to kill my brothers. I would make them pay somehow.
Tova swung her legs in and glanced at the destroyed bag.
“My brother left his shit in my truck,” I said with no further explanation. The brother in question was likely Austen, the dickweed. My teeth were going to crunch if I clenched my jaw any harder.
