Chute Yeah (The Valentine Boys 3)

I snickered.

“Goodnight, Candy,” I said softly, touching the tip of her nose with one finger. “I’ll see you in the morning, bright and early.”

She backed up until her heels met the first step that led up to her porch.

“I wish I didn’t spend so many years hating you,” she said. “Because I was wrong. It wasn’t you I hated. It was me.”

And it hurt my heart because I hated that she thought so little of herself when I so obviously thought the world of her.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked carefully, feeling something change.

I squeezed her hand, a hand that I had to reach for and bring close to me, then dropped a single kiss to the soft, delicate skin before saying, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Then I left, but all the while I realized that I might’ve left my heart with her when I did.Chapter 10It’s funny how my gynecologist leaves the room to allow me to take my pants off in privacy, only to come back inside and shove her fingers into my hoo-ha.

-Candy’s secret thoughts

Candy

I was nervous when I arrived at the Valentine property the next day.

Something had changed the night before, and I couldn’t tell you what. All I knew was that Banks no longer looked at me like an enemy, and I didn’t want him to.

I paused once I ran over the front gate entrance and stared at the rather large bull that was taking up the majority of the lane.

“Ummm,” I said, staring at the bull. “Move, please?”

The bull didn’t so much as budge.

Then I remembered a stray comment from one of the brothers last night that was about Scooby and Banks being friends because Banks fed him treats.

Looking over at the apple on my front seat next to a set of building plans, I picked it up, then held it out the window.

The bull’s eyes went to it immediately.

He took one slow step forward after another until he reached my window.

Then, with care I’d never seen of an animal before, he gently lifted it from my hand and moseyed off into the pasture while he crunched his apple.

I shook my head and started forward, my eyes taking in the sprawling Valentine ranch with new eyes.

The house that was being built by Sunshine Construction was going up nicely, and the bones of the house looked great.

Even better, I didn’t see any trash on the construction site, which was a really big pet peeve of mine.

Parking close to Banks’ truck, I got out and reached for my phone, leaving the rest of my belongings in the front seat.

Making my way up the winding path to the front door, I was stopped halfway there by a turkey that clearly didn’t look happy to see me.

I stopped walking when he started to ruffle up his feathers.

“Thanksgiving,” I heard said.

I blinked, surprised to hear Banks’ voice, right behind me.

“What?” I asked, looking at him walking toward me over my shoulder.

“That’s Thanksgiving,” he repeated.

I opened my mouth and then closed it. “Is it really?”

His grin was nothing short of lecherous.

“Yeah,” he answered. “At least until Codie or Desi realize why we agreed to have the turkey. For now, that’s our plan, anyway.”

I shook my head and turned so that I could watch him walking up the path.

“I had to feed the bull my apple to get him to move out of the driveway today,” I said. “Is that normal?”

Banks started to chuckle as he placed one hand on my hip and guided me up the stairs.

My eyes were solely focused on him, otherwise I would’ve seen the woman standing in front of me before she scared the crap out of me.

“He’s spoiling my bull,” Codie said around a mouthful of pancakes, holding the front door open for us. “I’m fairly sure that he’s going to stop performing here soon.”

I jumped, surprised to find her standing so close.

Banks shrugged, steadying me on my feet at the same time. “He had no problem throwing me on my ass the other night, despite the treats I gave him.”

All three of us walked into the kitchen.

“That was because you forgot to give him one that day, and he wasn’t happy,” Darby quipped as he entered into the kitchen. “Holy shit, why are y’all eating all the pancakes?”

He looked quite frantic for a few seconds before Desi sighed and walked to the oven where she produced a whole stack of them just as big as the first one they’d already eaten.

“Don’t worry, Darby Bear,” Desi teased. “There’s plenty for everyone.”

Darby leveled me with a glare.

“Next time come after breakfast,” he said.

Banks slapped him upside his head and said, “Manners, Darby. Learn them.”

Darby opened his mouth to contradict something his brother had just said, but Ace and Callum entered, both looking quite dusty and dirty for this early in the day and silenced him with a pounding slap on the back.