Page 42 of Colt

Mom’s cheeks are flushed. “Y’all really do have to get together, then!”

My first thought is hell no.

But my second? I bet Dean would have a blast with her. Last thing I need, though, is Lainey hanging around my house. The more she and Dean hang out, the more he’s gonna want her around. And that…

It feels like trouble. The kind that leaves a mark.

I turn off the faucet and shake out my hands. “It’s getting late. We should⁠—”

“Oh!” Mom raises a hand. “I forgot to tell you! The apartment is finally ready for Lainey. Since your place is so close, I thought she could follow y’all home.”

Draping my wrists on the lip of the sink, I hang my head. I can’t catch a fucking break for the life of me.

“Sure.” I lift my head and paste on a tight smile.

Lainey rises, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I’m sure I can find it myself⁠—”

“Nope.” I thumb some chocolate off Dean’s face from the cookie he’s devouring. Mom made a dozen of them, and I think Dean’s eaten pretty much every single one so far. “Unless you want to find someone else to dig you out of a ditch when you get lost, because I’m not doing it.”

“Ain’t nobody got time for that,” Dean says with a smile.

Lainey laughs. “You’d rescue me, though, wouldn’t you, Dean?”

“Yes, Miss Lainey, I’d ride to your rescue fast as lightning.”

His obsession with her is weird, right? Because it feels super weird to me.

Or not weird at all for him to want to hang out with a kind, considerate, funny girl who likes building LEGO sets.

Probably why my chest feels all mushy and shit seeing him beam at her.

It’s the bourbon. Has to be. That’s why this funny warmth isn’t going away.

Indigestion. That’s what this is. I have been smoking more than usual this week. It’s nothing some Tums can’t fix.

“Great,” Lainey says. “Let me just go get my luggage.”

I’m crossing the kitchen to grab Dean’s jacket when Dad clears his throat. “Colt? Why don’t you help Lainey with her bags?”

“I got it!” Dean yelps.

Spearing a hand through my hair, I take a deep breath. It’s like my family is trying to put me in Lainey’s way.

Maybe they are. But like I said, they can do what they like. I’m a grown man, and I can do what I want too. And what I want is to not want Lainey.

Best to just rip this Band-Aid off.

“No, Dean, I got it.” I sigh. “You head out to the car, okay? Say goodbye to Mimi and Pawpaw first.”

I head down the carpeted hallway that leads to the bedrooms. I draw up short when I glimpse Lainey inside the room that was mine and Beck’s growing up. My parents turned it into a guest room after we moved into the bunkhouse when we graduated from high school.

Lainey is facing me, bending down to zip up her suitcase. I see that she’s slipped on a pair of cowboy boots and a jean jacket.

I can also see down the neckline of her dress. It gapes a little as she moves, revealing the soft swell of her breasts and a sliver of black lace.

My body seizes. That’s…fuck, one very sexy bra. Another image: this one of me sucking on her nipples through that lace. Would she push me away? Dig her hands into my hair and pull?

What the hell is wrong with you? You’ve interacted with this woman twice—twice!—and you’re already thinking about her like this?