Rustic Hearts

Braxton

 

“We won!” Sophie throws her hands in the air and does a sexy little victory dance.

“Only because Dallas is a shark.” Walker throws an arm around Sophie’s neck, pulls her into his side, and musses her hair.

“Ew, get your sweaty pit away from my face.” She makes a face and pushes him, and instead of him moving, she starts falling backward.

I start to reach out for her, but Dallas comes in behind her and catches her before she ends up on her ass.

Sophie starts laughing.

“I think maybe the iced tea vodka was a bad idea for you, lightweight,” Dallas muses.

By my calculation, she has had four shots of tequila and three jars of whatever the hell she was drinking.

“Bathroom,” she says to no one in particular and picks up her purse and heads toward the restrooms.

“Brax?” Morgan draws my attention from following Sophie’s unsteady trek.

“Yeah?”

“Can you give me a ride home?”

“Your Jeep is outside.”

“I’ve had too much to drink. Doug said I could leave it here tonight. One of the new guys working the bar offered to take me home, but I don’t know him, and I don’t think I want to get in a car alone with him.”

I look back toward the hall Sophie disappeared down and then back at Dallas, who is shakily aiming a cue stick at the yellow solid instead of the cue ball.

“Dallas, who’s driving you guys home?”

“Myer,” she answers as she closes one eye and sticks her tongue out, trying to focus on her shot.

“I got them,” Myer confirms.

I turn back to Morgan. “Sure, I can take you. Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“I’m going to pay my tab, and I’m ready if you are.”

I look back at the hallway. “Okay. I’m going to the restroom. I’ll meet you up front.”

Just as I make it to the ladies’ room and start to knock, it flies open, and Sophie stumbles out and right into my chest.

“Excuse me,” she says as she rights herself.

Then, she looks up to see it’s me.

“Oh, it’s you.” She moves to put her back against the wall of the hall.

I lean in, and I’m surrounded by the scent of jasmine. Her big blue eyes are glittering, and she is flushed from the alcohol.

“You okay?”

“I’m fabulous.” She smiles huge, and my eyes are immediately drawn to her mouth.

A woman comes racing into the hallway with her hand over her mouth and two other women on her heels. I place my hands on either side of the wall above Sophie and move in close to shield her from being trampled.

I look down, and her eyes are squeezed shut. She opens one and looks up. I have her fenced in.

“Mrs. Janelle thinks you’re gay,” she blurts out.

I chuckle. “Does she now?”

“Well, she isn’t sure, but she thinks it’s a possibility. She just said no one ever sees you with a woman, so they wonder.”

“They?”

“She wasn’t very specific about who they are. Probably just a bunch of jealous girls you have shot down.”

“What about you? Do you wonder?”

“Nope,” she whispers as she barely shakes her head.

“Why not?”

“I just think you’re busy and private. Plus, I’m pretty sure I saw a woman leaving your apartment at five a.m. last week.”

“And what were you doing, watching my apartment at five a.m.?”

“I wasn’t. I couldn’t sleep. I was sitting on the porch swing, sketching and waiting for the sun to rise.”

“Do you want proof?”

“Proof?”

I lean in closer and dip my head to hers. “Tell Mrs. Janelle that you are one hundred percent positive I’m not gay.”

I press my lips to hers, intending to prove a point and back away, but she gasps in surprise, her lips parting, and I take the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

She grips the front of my henley and pulls me into her. Then, she stands up on her tiptoes to get closer. As our tongues wrestle, she releases her grip on my shirt and snakes her arms around my neck. She laces her fingers into my hair and tugs. A small moan escapes her, and it’s not enough. I want more. I want her whimpering beneath me. I tug the hem of her tank loose from her jeans, and just as I’m about to skim my hand up her bare side, I hear a throat clear. I break away from her lips and look toward the hallway entrance.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m ready to go.” Morgan’s a

She is pissed.

“Be there in a minute.”

“I want to leave now,” she hisses.

I don’t want her to cause a scene and embarrass Sophie.

“Okay. I’m coming.”

I look back down at Sophie, who still has her arms around me as she stares at Morgan.

“You good?” I ask her.

She brings her stu

“Come on. I’m walking you back to Myer.”

She disengages from me and starts down the hallway. Morgan gives her an angry scowl as we pass.

“Down, tiger. I’ll be with you in a minute,” I toss at Morgan as I follow Sophie back to the pool tables.

She makes it to Dallas and wraps her arms around her.

“You okay?”

“I’m drunk,” she answers into her chest.

Dallas chuckles. “You think?”

I hand Myer the keys to my apartment. “Take them to the ranch and put them in my bed. I know she won’t want to walk into the farmhouse in that condition.”

He looks from me to Morgan and raises an eyebrow. “You got it.”

“Thanks. Elle leave?”

“Yep. She and Sonia headed out a few minutes ago. She said to tell you good-bye.”

I slap him on the back and head out to the truck with Morgan in tow.

I climb the steps to my apartment an hour and a half later.

Morgan lost her shit on me on the way to her house and refused to get out of the truck once we got to her place. She screamed and then tried tears and hurled every insult she could think of at Sophie.

Finally, after I refused her advances and threatened to wake her parents if she didn’t get out of my truck, she gave up and went into her house.

I reach into the flowerpot off to the left of my door and grab the spare key. I enter as quietly as I can and flick on the small lamp on the table beside the door.

When my eyes adjust, I see Sophie fast asleep on my bed. It looks like she’s wearing one of my old, worn-out John Deere T-shirts, and lying curled up in the crook of her side is Hawkeye with his feet in the air. No Dallas in sight.

Damn dog. He knows he’s not allowed in my bed.

I walk on silent feet to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I change into a pair of lounge pants, and then I grab a blanket from the linen closet and head to the couch off to the left side of the bed.

“Hey,” I hear her whisper into the dark.

“I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay. Myer and Dallas haven’t been gone long.”

“She could have stayed too.”

“I know. She wanted to be home when Beau woke up, so she had Myer take her on home. You don’t have to sleep on that sofa. We can share the bed.”

I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. I’m still wired, and I thought about that kiss the whole way home.

“Looks like you already have a bedmate.”

She looks down at Hawkeye, who is still curled up to her, and she smiles and scratches his belly. “Little rascal snores too. But, seriously, you can sleep with us.”

She scoots over to the far right to make room for me. I hesitate for a moment, and then I grab the remote off the coffee table. I lie down on top of the covers beside her and click on the TV.