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“Better be careful, then.”
Even without her saying it, Wyatt knew he had an ally in Ramie Edwards. The last thing he wanted to do was flirt with the wrong guy and put himself in harm’s way. His one major goal right now was on track to being complete, and as much as he wanted a smoldering hot cowboy (preferably Jackson) to take him to bed for a long, blazing night of sex, he needed this more.
He needed to know what kind of man Brand was, who his family was, and if Wyatt had a snowball’s chance in hell of being part of it.
Only time (and probably a DNA test) would tell for sure.
They watched TV together for another hour, until Wyatt’s boredom with the baking show forced him out of there. He cleaned up the tiny mess he’d made in the kitchen, then took a glass of water into his room. Watched a bunch of online shit on his phone for a while, until a call interrupted his viewing of yet another video of cats doing stupid shit.
Jared.
He hadn’t spoken to his best friend in over a week, not since their fight about Wyatt’s determination to find his bio dad’s family. Jared thought his entire plan was stupid, that he should just make a few phone calls, or better yet, forget the entire thing and live his life in the present. But Wyatt couldn’t just forget it. He wanted—no, he deserved—answers about his past.
Mom had died of liver cancer because she hadn’t been able to find a living or nonliving donor in time. Her parents hadn’t been a match, and she had no siblings. Even on her deathbed, she wouldn’t tell him who his father was. After she died, his grandparents had still adamantly refused to tell Wyatt, because it was “what she wanted.” Yet another reason he’d been eager to leave his old life behind and get away from them.
And while Wyatt was in perfect health now, what if? What if he needed more extended family because of a genetic defect? And even if not, why shouldn’t he know his own roots?
Why shouldn’t he be able to control something in his life?
“Hello?” Wyatt said, answering the call with a rock of ice in his stomach.
“Hey, dude, how’ve you been?” Jared replied. “You just disappeared from town and I haven’t seen you on social media all week.”
“I’ve been a little busy.” He stared at the ugly orange-and-brown curtains, positive the random shapes were actually eyeballs staring right back at him. “I told you where I was going and why. I got the job, by the way, if you care.”
“Really? You don’t know dick about ranching, dude, how’d you do that?”
“Right place, right time.”
“So you meet your dad yet?”
“I interviewed with and was hired by Maybe Daddy, yeah. I have no idea what the fuck to make of him, though.”
“How’s that?”
“He’s nice!” That had been a little loud. Wyatt glanced around his room but it wasn’t like Ramie had him tapped or whatever. “I don’t know, he’s nice. After everything my grandparents said about him, it’s weird. He’s not this giant asshole who only cares about money and no one else. I want to like him, but at the same time he gave me up and abandoned my mom.”
“Sounds like a shit spot you’re in. So you’re out in Weston, right?”
“Yeah, I told you that’s where I was heading.”
“Cool. So you remember last week when I told you to take that emergency roadside kit out of the car before you took it? You did that, right?”
Wyatt went through the two dozen things he’d tried to remember to do last week before he left with the car he’d shared with Jared. Jared had said he could take the car for this trip, no problem, and he vaguely remembered something about a roadside kit. “I don’t think I did, but it’s an emergency kit, dude. I’ll Venmo you the money to buy a new one. I mean, I’ve got the car. What are you driving now, a bike?”
“It’s not the car, I just...never mind. Are you staying at the ranch?”
“No, someplace in town.” He’d known Jared since they were sixteen, and he was getting weird vibes off his oldest friend. And the only friend from Glasbury who knew Wyatt was gay. His self-preservation instincts were buzzing around his head like angry hornets. “Is something going on at home, because you don’t sound right.”
“Nah, dude, you just left town earlier than I expected. Thought maybe you could use a friend out there for a few days while you get situated and stuff.”
“No, I’m fine. Brand did me a solid and got me a safe place to stay. With a girl bartender, actually. And one of the guys I work with is super-hot. He’s the one teaching me.”
“Just don’t fuck around with the wrong guy and get yourself fired before you find out what you want to know.”
“I’m being careful.” So far. He didn’t want to push Jackson too far, too fast and get reassigned to another cowboy. “You get a job yet?” Jared was in the middle of his third year of college but had lost one of his scholarships last semester, so money was a little tight. It was one of the reasons he’d let Wyatt take the car; Wyatt could afford to pay the insurance and loan, even though both were in Jared’s name.
“Still looking, but with my class schedule it’s hard. It’s all fast food or supermarket stock boy or whatever.”
