With my travel schedule and Tanner’s, we didn’t see each other much. I knew my folks hated that we were both gone so much. If they had their way, all four of us would be safely at home.
Four of us.
I glanced at my two brothers, and a feeling of sadness swept over me. We were missing Beck.
He’d joined the marines right out of high school. He was determined to serve his country, and my parents were damn proud of him. Hell, we were all proud of him. He’d graduated top of his high school class, and he could have gone to college anywhere but chose the military.
He was an adrenaline junkie. Loved bull riding but didn’t want to make a living out of it. It was purely for fun. So, when he’d joined the military and took on some special force ops shit, we weren’t surprised. He was only a few months away from getting out, told us he’d had his fun and was ready to come back home and work the family ranch.
Then, on his last mission, something went horribly wrong. We never did get the full story, but he had been shot and killed. His fellow marines had carried his body back to the pickup point, and my mama was able to bury her son and say goodbye. From that day on, she never talked about Beck. To anyone.
“Holy shit. Tanner fucking Shaw. You’ve got to be kidding me.”
A wide smile grew over my brother’s face. “You look like shit, Brock. When was the last time you got laid?”
I laughed and wrapped my hand around his neck, pulling him in for a hug. “It’s good to see you, little brother,” I said as Tanner slapped my back. I hadn’t seen him in almost three months.
“Good to see you too. We were close by, so I thought I’d stop in for a few nights. Chance sprained his wrist and needed a few days to recover, so . . . here I am.”
I smiled as I gave him a once-over. He was a male version of our mother. Dark-brown hair, hazel eyes, and a square jaw that said he was determined as hell to make his way in this world. Kid was good looking as well, or so I’d heard from the ladies. I was relieved to see no broken bones this time. “Damn, you look good.”
He gave me the same once-over. “You too. Nothing broken?”
I shook my head and grinned. “Nah. Last thing I broke was my collarbone.”
“I guess that’s good. Means you’re staying on. I try to keep up with you and all.”
With a nod, I motioned for another beer.
“Where did you find this little bastard?” I asked, pointing to Tanner with my beer but looking at Ty.
“He showed up when I was leaving to come find you. Decided we would both come down to make sure your drunk ass didn’t get into any fights.”
They both laughed, and I rolled my eyes. “I’m not that drunk.”
It was a lie. I was pretty toasted but still in control, which was why I also ordered a water with my beer.
“Holy hell. Who are those two pretty little things?”
Lifting my gaze to follow Tanner’s, I felt myself sit up a little bit more when I saw Lincoln and who I was guessing was her friend. Kaylee, I thought her name was. Then I smiled. For some ungodly reason, I was happy seeing Lincoln here. What was it about that woman? She was getting under my skin already, and that hadn’t happened in a long time. A very long time.
“It’s the beer,” I mumbled to myself. “Has to be.”
Ty set his beer down and looked at Tanner, seemingly not hearing me. “That, my little brother, is Lincoln Pratt, the one with the brown hair, and the blonde is her best friend, Kaylee, whom I’ve called dibs on.”
I pulled my brows up and turned to Ty. “You’re going after Kaylee?” I asked.
“Yeah. I already told you, I like her better.”
Relief washed over my body, but it was soon pushed away when Tanner stood.
“Then I think I’ll go ask Lincoln to dance.”
I wanted to pull his ass back down into the chair and call my own damn dibs. But I didn’t. I didn’t move at all as I watched him make his way over to both women. Tanner was a charmer. He had a way with women. Just a smile from him and they were putty in his hands.
The idea that he could charm Lincoln had me feeling slightly panicked. And pissed off. I couldn’t pull my eyes off her. It wasn’t like it was the first time I was noticing how beautiful she was either. That wavy brown hair, those green eyes. A body any man would want to curl up with at night and wake up to in the morning.