Page 8 of Buckin' Around

“Ever since he started the bull riding circuit a few years back, yeah.”

The soup almost projectiles from my mouth. I choke on the last mouthful and clear my throat. “Your brother is a bull rider?”

My eyebrows may as well be one with my hairline when Stacey rolls her eyes. Okay, so she doesn’t like the idea of him getting hurt?

“I’m pretty sure it’s his way of saying a huge ‘fuck you’ to Mom and Dad. They hate it. Mom has begged him to leave the circuit more times than I can count. Honestly, I think she’sgiven up asking now. He still gallivants all over the countryside every weekend of the year, chasing whatever it is he finds so addictive.”

“It must mean something to him if he still does it, even after your mom asking him not to and all.”

“Nothing much means anything to my brother. He coasts. That’s what he’s good at.”

I feel my brows lower as I study her face. I genuinely can’t understand what she means.

Like, I know what she is saying. But how can she be so critical of her own brother? If my parents gifted their six children anything before they died in that stupid icy road crash, it was a healthy dose of making sure family came first.

Family is everything, end of story.

“Alright, I’ll come to the dinners. And I’ll stay in the unit until the term is over.” The words are out of my mouth before I can second-guess myself. If I’m honest, I have to see for myself this unfamiliar family dynamic.

Stacey grabs my hands, dipping her head. “You’re a lifesaver, Riles. Thank you.”

I don’t know about that.

More like curious in an intrusive kind of way.

I make a mental note to not be weird tonight when meeting Stacey’s family, and to start job hunting ASAP. We finish our lunch, and Stace guzzles her coffee before we head to our last classes for the day.

I find a seat in the lecture hall of my economics class and set up as the last of the students straggle in. Pulling the small side table over my lap, I place my computer down and grab up my phone.

Three notifications fling onto the screen as it lights up with the movement.

I tap the first.

An email from Chloe, my youngest sister. My little snuggle bug. Urgh, I miss her cuddles. Huggles, as we call them. And the way she sneaks into my bed. I took care of my siblings with the help of Declan, my oldest younger brother, after Mom and Dad died.

It was so hard.

It was a turning point in my life. In our lives.

The email is a littering of emojis and GIFs. I huff out a strangled laugh as emotion closes over my throat.

I swipe out of the app as the lecturer walks toward the lectern.

My messages app lights up. Another message from Stacey.

“Just a heads up, Riles, Spencer’s definitely going to be late.”

Um . . . okay?

Three dots appear and then disappear. I wait, and the lecture hall darkens around me as the professor brings up his slides.

My phone vibrates.

“This means the Lockwoods are going to be extra pissy tonight. You’ll need your big girl panties.”

Chapter 3

Spencer