Texas Pride

Kitt went straight for his underwear and jeans, shaking them out and turning from both Austin and Kylie as he pulled on his underwear first. From out of nowhere, Kylie snuck up behind him and jerked the jeans away from him. She ran away several feet, hiding them behind her back until the fire was between them.

“Give me my jeans!” Kitt growled, using one hand to cover himself. Austin tossed him their pillow, and he used it to hide behind. He darted around the fire, but she ran away from him. No matter which way he went, he couldn’t trick her or get to his clothes.

“No! I tell you everything, Kitt. Everything! You’re like my mom and my dad and my brother and my best friend all in one, and you like boys and you never tell me? What’s that about? This is so not fair! And, for the record, I knew it! Or I suspected it, but you still should have told me!” Kylie finally came to a stop after her rant, and Kitt stalked to her. He was barefoot, toeing around rocks and grass spurs as he went toward her. Making a dramatic flair of pulling his jeans away from her, he turned around to see Austin sitting on the sleeping bag. Kitt pulled each leg of the jeans up, bouncing as he covered his ass with the denim and buttoned up his Wranglers.

“Kylie, go home. We’ll talk about this later. And for God’s sake, don’t say one word to anyone about him. Or me!” Kitt said turning back toward her. He grabbed the rest of his clothes she now held in her hands. Kitt walked through their camp, picked up Austin’s clothes, and tossed them in his general direction.

“No! I’m not leaving until you explain why you never told me. Kitt, you were my best friend growing up! I can’t believe you didn’t trust me enough to tell me!”

“Why aren’t you in school?” Kitt asked, ignoring everything she said and scrubbed his hands over his face. His wonderfully blissful morning had turned to crap in a matter a seconds.

“Because I’ve been calling you, and you were avoiding me. So, I drove home. They said you were in Dallas, so I came out here, where you and I used to come because I miss my brother and needed to be in the one place we both love. Kitt, why didn’t you tell me?” Kylie asked the last sentence in more of a whine, and for the first time since they started talking, Kylie looked over at the guy sitting on the sleeping bag.

“And you’re Austin Grainger! Oh my gawd! Kitt, that’s Austin Grainger!”

He stopped his hand in mid-scrub down his face and looked over at Austin who still sat there in nothing, covered from the waist down in his sleeping bag. The only words that came to mind were simply, “I’m sorry.”

“Why’re you sorry?” Austin asked at the same time Kylie did.

“Is he your boyfriend? Oh my God, is this why you left acting, to come here and be with my brother? Kitt, that’s so romantic!” Kylie said it all, looking between them both. She had the most love struck look in her eyes, and all Kitt could do was groan and roll his eyes to the heavens, begging for the world to just swallow him up whole.

“Kylie, I need you to go back to my house and wait for me. And don’t speak to anyone.” Kitt stood between her and Austin now, but Austin rose, keeping himself wrapped in the sleeping bag and walked toward them. He slid in behind Kitt, wrapping one arm around Kitt’s stomach, the sleeping bag anchored between them and stuck out his other hand toward Kylie.

“I’m guessing you’re Kylie, the sister he’s so proud of,” Austin said, giving her his charming grin. It didn’t matter his hair stood on end, or that he was draped in a sleeping bag. Austin was sexy and hot as hell, just sucking Kylie further in when Kitt tried to push her out.

“Yes…Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re here. Are you the one who bought our land?” Kitt watched it happen in front of him, and his heart began to slowly sink to his knees. Kylie was the only one who knew about this special place he brought Austin to. It had never occurred to him she might come home from school this weekend. Hell, Austin had him so tied up in knots he didn’t even realize he missed her calls. He would have never dodged her on purpose, and he could feel his precious secret slipping out of his grasp as more people found out.

“I am. It’s my pleasure to meet you. I’m going on the other side of the truck and dress. I brought gourmet coffee. Please ignore your brother.” With that, Austin kept the sleeping bag around him and carried his jeans and t-shirt the few steps behind the truck like it was the most natural situation on earth. Kitt started shaking his head to tell Kylie to go home, but she was too excited, jumping right in on him.

“Kitt, you should have told me! And you’re datin’ Austin freakin’ Grainger!” She beamed. “I’m really happy and really mad at you all at the same time!”

“No, I’m not datin’ him. You need to go—” Kitt was cut off by Austin.

“Yes, he is dating me!” Austin yelled back. The outburst had both Kitt and Kylie, looking back at him as he pulled the t-shirt over his head. He tossed the sleeping bag into the bed of the truck and finger combed his hair, taking careful steps back to them.

“You’re like all over the news. Everyone’s lookin’ for you. They think you’re hidin’ out in a villa in Italy. How’re you down here? Is it cause of Kitt? Did you come back here for him? Kitt, is this why you never go out?” Kylie fired off the questions, staring at Austin with a big smile on her pretty upturned face.