“See? Ya know me so well,” I said.
“You have cornhole, right?” she asked as we walked out the door.
“Yep. Three game sets,” I said. “Lizzie stayin’ at your apartment?”
“She’ll be fine. I told her to make herself comfortable.”
“You sure that’s a good idea? She looks like she’s ready to fuck the next man that walks through those doors,” I said.
“Then we might wanna warn your brothers not to come by,” she said with a grin. “Okay. So, three sets of cornhole games. Do you have things for the kids?”
“I was thinkin’ about pickin’ up movies and some snacks. Ploppin’ them in front of the T.V. when their parents get too drunk playin’ cornhole.”
“Perfect. How many more activities do you want for the adults?” she asked.
“At least two. Wyatt was supposed to do all this shit, and of course, it didn’t get done.”
“I know he’s pretty swamped with work right now. But I’ll help you out, okay? We’ll find something, don’t worry.”
The two of us spent three hours in town gathering everything we needed. We grabbed propane tanks for the grills, movies for the kids, snacks for them to fill up on, and juices for them to drink. We found a place that would let us rent out a bucking bronco and Katie was all over that shit. Three games of cornhole, drinks for everyone, a bronco for everyone to ride, and stuff for the kids.
All while shooting the shit with Katie.
It was a good time. We were laughing and reminiscing, talking through the logistics of the reunion and knocking up against one another. I was upset when we had to head to the ranch and unload everything because I knew people would want to see her.
I was enjoying my time with her too much to turn her loose, but I had to. No matter what I wanted.
She helped me unload all the stuff into the house as people began arriving. I got the grills heating as Dylan started bringing the marinating meats out to cook. Wyatt was setting up the cornhole games and people were stopping Katie to hug her, just like I thought they would.
Then Caleb’s slacker ass popped out of nowhere and tried to steal Katie away from everyone.
“Katie?”
“Hey, Caleb. Can you help me with this?”
Katie handed a bag of drinks to Caleb as she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Thanks,” she said.
“No problem. Listen, I was wondering if we could talk?”
“Sure. What about?” she asked.
“Privately?”
Caleb shot his eyes over to me, and I glared at him. The hell was he thinking, trying to pull her off while all this shit needed to be set up? Beers needed to go in coolers of ice and plates and shit needed to be set on the tables outside. What the fuck was this asshole doing, trying to have some super-secret conversation with Katie now?
“Sure,” Katie said. “Is everything all right?”
“Oh, yeah. Everything’s fine. Just figured we could have some privacy. Want to join me on the porch out back?” Caleb asked.
“Let me set this stuff down, and I’ll be right out there.”
“Here, let me help ya.”
Caleb took more bags from Katie’s arms before she looked back at me. She smiled that cute little smile of hers before disappearing into the house behind Caleb. I didn’t want to leave her side. I wanted to spend more time with her. Fuck, why the hell did I think running errands with her would just be running errands? I wanted to tell her no, that Caleb couldn’t talk to her because he had to pick up the damn slack he dropped this week. I wanted to pull Katie by my side and keep her there, away from everyone else’s grimy grasp.
But I knew I couldn't do that. She was her own woman, and she was getting over that asshole she almost married. So, I turned my attention back to the tasks at hand. Get shit in coolers, get plates and cups out, and keep feeding Dylan more food to grill.