Chapter 7
Goddamn it, I want her to stay. I hate that she’s driving back and forth, and I have a project going in the house as we speak that will make it possible for her to work here. But it’s her choice. I won’t force her.
When Willow’s car fades from view, I turn to look at Aiden, who’s suddenly taken a keen interest in the ground at his feet. His hands are in the pockets of his baggy jeans, and he shuffles back and forth on his sneaker-clad feet.
I see a lot of myself in him when I was that age.
Attitude.
Chip on his shoulder.
Ready to tell everyone to go fuck themselves.
But he scared Willow today, and that’s never going to happen again. Christ, just seeing her shaken up an hour after it happened has me rattled, and this kid is standing there, looking like he doesn’t give a shit.
And that pisses me the hell off.
“I haven’t seen you much the past few years,” I say, mirroring his stance by putting my hands in my own pockets. “You kept to yourself last weekend when Wills brought you out. I have a question p>
He glances up and lifts his eyebrows.
“Why didn’t you come to Ray’s funeral p>
He shrugs, clenches his jaw. “I was busy p>
“Nah, man. I don’t buy that. Your Aunt Willow could have used you there, you know. It was a hard day for her p>
He shakes his head. “She doesn’t need me. She had you and Gideon p>
I narrow my eyes at him. “Let’s walk to the barn. Come on p>
He falls into step next to me.
“So why’d you punch that wall today p>
He lets out a sigh. “She’s always on my case. So what if I stayed out all night with my friends? Who the fuck cares p>
“She cares. Are you fucking some girl p>
His gaze snaps up to mine, surprised, and I gesture to the hickey on his neck.
He shrugs again. That seems to be his go-to mode of communication.
“So you were out all night, doing things you probably shouldn’t with some girl, and you came home this morning and got pissed that Willow had plans for you today p>
“I’m tired,” he says, his voice hard with defiance.
“Tell me you’re using protection. Don’t get that girl pregnant p>
He lets out a gusty breath, and his cheeks darken. “I didn’t fuck her. We just fooled around p>
My stomach loosens with that admission.
“Here’s the thing,” I tell him as we step inside the barn. The other guys are still at the bunkhouse, having breakfast. “Your aunt is one of my favorite people in the world. One of two, now that my dad’s gone. Three, if we count you, but you’re pissing me off today p>
His lips twitch like he wants to laugh, but then he schools his features back into his signature scowl.
“You don’t get to bully her p>
“I wasn’t p>
“Yeah, you were. You thought you could intimidate her into getting your way. Don’t bullshit me—I’ve been you before. Shit, I was worse than you. But today’s the last day you treat her like that p>
“Sometimes, I just get so mad p>
“It happens. Come yell at me or use my gym. Hell, I’ll hang a punching bag out here, and you can go to town on it. But you won’t take your shit out on the one person in this world who has stuck up for you and taken care of you. She loves you p>
He blinks rapidly and turns away from me.
“Deal p>
“Yeah. I won’t do it again p>
“Great.” I clap him on the shoulder. “I have some grass for you to mow today. Did you get some breakfast p>
“No, there wasn’t enough time p>
“Let’s get you some food, and then on a mower. It’s going to be a long fucking day p>
I should make him miss breakfast altogether. It’s his own fault for pulling the shit he did on Willow last night and this morning, but I’ve been hungry before, and I’ll never intentionally withhold food from anyone.
We make our way to the bunkhouse, where Dusty’s serving up some scrambled eggs, bacon, potatoes, and toast, and there’s plenty for Aiden to join in. In the two weeks since Gideon left, I’ve hired five other guys from town, and it seems they’re all getting along just fine.
I make the introductions and then point to Dusty.
“This is your other boss,” I inform Aiden. “You’ll do what he says, no questions asked. If I’m not around, he speaks for me. You won’t sass him p>
“Yes, sir,” Aiden says with a nod, munching on his bacon.
Once everyone has eaten, we go our separate ways to get our chores done. We just got a shipment of cattle in, so Dusty and the other guys will be working with them today.
I’ll have Aiden with me.
“Do I really have to mow all day?” he asks me.
“Yep p>
“I’ll get sunburned p>
“You can borrow a hat,” I reply and clap him on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine p>
I lead him to the equipment shed and show him where the riding mower, the Weedwackers, and all the tools he’ll need are stored.
“Have you mowed a lawn before p>
He frowns over at me. “Of course I have. I mow our lawn at home, but it’s just a push mower because the yard isn’t that big p>
“Same philosophy, different equipment p>
I point out everything that I want him to mow—the entire area around the house, down either side of the driveway, and out in the east pasture by the tree line, where I plan to add some animals.
“That’s ten acres, easy,” he says with huge eyes, finally dropping some of the attitude.
“Roughly that,” I agree, impressed that the teenager can eyeball that off the top of his head. “Did Ray teach you that p>
His face falls, and he shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah p>
“I miss him too.” I ruffle the kid’s hair and pass him a hat before putting one on my own head. “While you mow, I’ll be clearing brush and cutting down some trees p>
Aiden nods and, to my surprise, jumps right on the mower and gets it started.
“You’ve done this before p>
With a half smile, he takes off to start his job, and I watch him drive off.
He definitely helped my dad do this before, and that’s good. I can see that he’s grieving for the only grandfather he had in his life. I don’t understand why he didn’t come to the funeral to be around family, to take a little solace in us. He could have spent way more time with us over the past month, and it might have helped him feel better.
He’s a complicated kid, but I’m determined to figure him out. I’m also determined that his days of hurting my Willow are over.
Three days later, we’re inside for lunch. Aiden is sweaty and dirty, and I actually get a smile out of him when I toss him a can of cola before I make us a couple of sandwiches. This has become our daily routine, coming inside to make lunch, and he already feels comfortable enough to help himself to a fresh bag of chips in the pantry.
“Do you eat roast beef?” I ask him as he peels open the bag of BBQ chips.
“I eat anything,” he replies with his mouth full, and I can’t help but smirk. He frowns down at his can, as if he wants to say something.
“You can talk,” I tell him. That’s another thing he’s started to do more of over the past few days. Talk. The first day, he barely said three words. By this morning, I couldn’t shut him up. He’s not telling me about what’s going on at school, or why he’s so pissed off at the world, but he is talking, so I won’t complain.
“I don’t want to ask weird questions or something p>
“There’s not much you can ask me that will surprise me.” I pass him a sandwich and get to work building one for me. “Shoot p>
“I want to know about hockey p>
I raise an eyebrow, watching as he consumes a quarter of the sandwich in one bite. I slide the second sandwich over to him. He’ll need it.
Building a third, I nod. “Okay. Ask away. I happen to know a lot about that sport p>
He rolls his eyes. “Duh. People at school always try to get me to ask you for tickets, or jerseys, or whatever. It’s stupid p>
“They know we’re family p>
He nods, stuffs more roast beef in his mouth. “Aunt Willow knows everyone, and they know that you guys grew up together, so that filters down to me. It’s not a big deal. But people are weird p>
“You can say that again.” I take a bite, watching him. “Does it bother you p>
“No, I just tell them to get lost. I don’t have that kind of pull p>
“I would have flown you out for every weekend game, if you wanted to go p>
His eyes widen and jerk up to mine. “Huh p>
“Willow and Gideon used to come to every single game,” I continue. “Before he was with the Secret Service, back when it was early in my career, they’d follow me to every game, whether we were home or away. Then life sort of takes over, you know p>
“She got me and couldn’t travel with you anymore,” he says quietly, staring down at the last of his lunch.
Christ, this kid is smart.
“I don’t think it was much of a sacrifice,” I reply and reach over the island to ruffle his already messy dark hair. “She was happy to have you. Have you ever noticed that whenever I give an interview, I always wink at the camera at the end p>
“Sure. I figure it’s because you’re being cocky p>
“I am cocky,” I confirm, and then make the boy another sandwich because he still looks hungry. “But the wink is for Willow. She knows p>
“That’s why she always watches ESPN, looking for your interviews p>
I pause with a slice of cheese in my fingers. “She does p>
“Yeah. She watches more sports than me. Hockey, anyway. She watches every game. We had a ritual where we wore our jerseys and she made us nachos, or pizza, or burgers, and we ate while we watched. She mostly did that by herself last year because I was out with friends p>
He frowns and swallows hard but takes the new sandwich and bites in.
Willow watched every game.
I always hoped she did, but I knew she had Aiden to take care of, so I never assumed. She was always sure to call me to talk about the game, but she could have easily watched highlights to have talking points.
But she didn’t just watch the highlights. She watched the games. And that has my chest feeling tight.
This does not help my growing obsession with this woman.
“She’s kind of a sports trivia nut,” he continues. “She can rattle off stats like nobody else. And sometimes, we’ll be watching a game, and she’ll start ranting about something, and then not thirty seconds later, the commentator dudes rant about the same thing. It’s like she’s psychic or something p>
This is a side to Willow I don’t know but I want to learn more about.
And now that the kid has diarrhea of the mouth, I don’t want him to stop.
“Like what?” I ask him.
“Oh, I don’t know off the top of my head.” He chews thoughtfully. “Well, one time, you were playing, and we were watching as usual, and there was nothing on the screen hinting at the fact that you might be breaking a record that night. I hadn’t heard anyone mention it in the pregame. I had no idea p>
He takes a bite, and I cross my arms over my chest, listening.
This is fascinating.
“But Aunt Wills looked kind of nervous. She was pacing and biting her thumbnail, and she wasn’t eating any of the nachos, and I was like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ And she said, ‘He only has to score two goals to break it p>
I have chills. Goose bumps all down my arms.
“And I said, ‘Break what?’ and she said, ‘The all-time scoring record. They’re not even talking about it, and he could break it tonight.’ She was so mad that the commentator dudes weren’t talking about it p>
“They didn’t want to jinx it,” I murmur, remembering that night.
Christ, I was nervous. And I never get nervous on game night.
“And then, when you made that second goal,” he continues, finished with his sandwich now and switched back to the bag of chips, “she freaking cried. It scared me because Aunt Wills doesn’t cry. That woman is solid. And she just wept like a baby. I patted her back for a few, and then I was like, ‘I’m going to my room p>
Fuck me.
“Thanks for telling me that p>
“Sure. She probably wouldn’t like that I told you she cried, so let’s keep that between us p>
With a chuckle, I nod. “Okay. Was there something specific you wanted to ask me before we got off on the Willow tangent p>
“Oh, right. Do you think I’m too old to start playing p>
“I was your age when I started,” I reply. “You’re not too old p>
He scratches his nose. “I don’t know. I kind of want to. But some of the guys at school are assholes, and I don’t want to hang out with them p>
“Beat ’em up on the ice,” I suggest. “That’ll feel damn satisfying p>
“I hadn’t thought of that p>
“Come on, let’s finish up. We have a lot left to do p>
Aiden is a hard worker. I can see that he’s beat, since I worked him hard today, but he never complains. I don’t have to ask him to do anything twice, and when he saw that I was struggling with a tree earlier, he jumped in to help me.
He’s going to be an asset to the ranch this summer. This first week went really well.
And I can also see that Willow’s right. He’s a good kid. So why is he acting out and treating her so badly? What in the hell is going on with him?
I’ll ask him over the coming weeks, and we’ll get to the bottom of it because I hate seeing my Willow upset.
We’re sitting on the porch with bottles of water when Willow comes driving up to the house. She climbs out of the car, and Aiden stands and turns to me.
“I guess I’ll see you on Monday,” he says.
“Get some rest tonight,” I reply, and he walks down to where Willow’s standing.
“I figured you’d be hungry,” she says as she approaches, and I hear the hesitation in her voice as she speaks to him. Is she afraid of him? “So there are some burgers and fries in the front seat. I already had mine, so the rest is yours p>
“Awesome, thanks p>
Her eyes widen in shock as Aiden climbs into the car, unwraps a burger, and bites in happily.
“Holy shit,” she murmurs.
“What’s wrong p>
“He hasn’t thanked me for anything in…” She swallows hard. “In a long time. I guess he must have had a good day p>
“Yeah, we had a good day.” I want to hug her more than I want to breathe, but I’m filthy, so I reach out and tuck her hair behind her ear. She’s so damn soft. “How was your day, Trouble p>
“It was good. I started on a new audiobook for an author that I’ve worked with before, and I enjoy her books. This one is a football romance.” She blows out a breath and shoves her hands in her pockets. “I should be able to have it done by Tuesday, if I work through the weekend p>
“No days off for you p>
She shakes her head. “I have back-to-back projects, and I’m still catching up from last month. Not to mention, driving back and forth takes a chunk of time out of my workday p>
I wish she’d stay out here. I hate that she has a long-ass drive ahead of her. They should be here, on the ranch. She should be with me. This week has taken a toll on her. I can see that she’s exhausted.
“He didn’t give you any trouble today p>
“Not at all. He did well p>
Her shoulders drop in relief. “I’m so glad. Well, I’d better get him home, but we’ll see you on Monday p>
She watched all my games and cried when I set the record.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks.
“Like what, Wills p>
“Like… I don’t even know, but it’s different p>
I think I’m finally seeing what I’ve been missing all along. She’s not just my best friend. But I don’t know for sure if she feels what I do, and I have to tread carefully so I don’t fuck up three lives.
“I just think you’re pretty great p>
She smiles softly and then frames her face and rolls her eyes. “I’m glad somebody notices.” She smirks and walks to the driver’s side. “Have a good weekend, Ry p>
“You too p>
Both of them wave, and then they’re off, leaving me here alone, and I wish they’d stay. I want to talk about hockey with Willow and pick her brain. Listen as her sexy-as-hell lips rattle off stats to me. I never considered that to be hot before, but just the mere thought of it has my cock stirring.
With a shake of my head, I walk into the house and head straight for the shower.