Chute Yeah (The Valentine Boys 3)

Darby didn’t have the same compunction.

“That’s because your eyes are closed, silly,” Darby chuckled.

Candy popped one eye open.

“Oh.” She licked her lips, then closed the eye again. “Why are you scowling at me?”

I forced her eyelid open again with my thumb.

“Because my brother’s laughing at you,” I told her. “I don’t want you thinking he’s making fun of you.”

“He’s not.” She yawned and one of the puffs of cotton fell out and onto her leg.

She picked it up and shoved it back in.

Then did the process three more times as she yawned away.

“I’m so tired.” She yawned again, keeping her hand over her mouth to keep the cotton from falling again. “Take me to your bed or lose me forever.”

Then, before I could answer her, she said, “Now you say, ‘show me the way home, honey.’”

“That’ll be the day,” she said, launching herself into my arms.

I caught her before she could fall to the ground, then carried her inside like a child.

“Did you know ‘that’ll be the day’ was from John Wayne’s movie, The Searchers,” she asked. “Daddy and I used to watch it all the time. Did you know that?”

“Did I know that you used to watch it all the time, or that it was from a John Wayne movie?” I asked as I carried her through the house.

Luckily I didn’t meet anybody else, and when I finally laid her onto the bed, she was instantly out.

I watched her for a second, hair splayed out all over my pillow, and wondered if there was a more beautiful sight.

I swallowed hard, looking at her for a few more long seconds, before once again joining my brothers out at the barn.

And all the while, my mind stayed on the woman in my bed.Chapter 20I don’t mean to brag, but that 9 mile run I scheduled today? I finished it in 2.3.

-Text from Candy to Banks

Candy

I woke up that afternoon feeling weird.

Not bad weird, but definitely not normal.

I looked at my beside table to see that it was after three in the afternoon.

I shifted on the bed, finding Banks on his back in the bed next to me.

He had his eyes pointed at the television screen, and he was grinning at something.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

Why did I sound like I had a mouthful of cotton?

“Because you do have a mouthful of cotton,” Banks said, sitting up and giving me a paper towel.

I frowned.

“What…” I said, confused.

“Pull the cotton out and put it in the towel,” he ordered. “Let’s see if the bleeding has stopped.”

I pulled it out, one by one, surprised to find that I had three pieces in there.

How did I not choke on this stuff? I could’ve died!

“You didn’t choke on it because you’re not a child.” He laughed. “You would’ve woken up had you come close to choking.”

“Why am I bleeding?” I wondered, sounding just as confused as I felt.

“The root canal you had to have made your mouth go numb,” he answered. “You kept biting your lip, so they put the cotton in there to prevent you from doing it. Though, you got yourself pretty good on each side. It’s going to be sore for a few days.”

I groaned, hating that.

I was fairly good with pain. That wasn’t the problem—a person had to be good with pain when they couldn’t take painkillers because they made you loopy. The problem was that I had a lot of stuff to do this weekend, and food to consume. I was actually more upset about the fact that I wouldn’t be able to down my fried cheese sticks than I was about the sores.

That was when it hit me.

I sat up in a panic, my body becoming exposed because the blanket I had covering me was practically thrown to the floor in my haste to sit up.

“Banks!” I cried out. “You’re supposed to be riding on a bull in tight pants in an hour!”

Banks chuckled.

“I know,” he said. “But I called and canceled. They know I’m not coming.”

I was already shaking my head. “But you were so excited!”

He laughed. “I was excited because I was going to be there with you, and I was going to get to introduce you to their fair food. I wasn’t excited because I was getting to go.”

I deflated slightly, no longer near as worried.

“Then we’ll go in the morning?” I asked curiously.

He smiled. “Yes. If you’re up for it.”

I was already scooting backward out of the bed, staring at Banks as I found my way to my feet.

His eyes, however, weren’t on my face.

They were on my breasts as they swung freely behind the t-shirt that was definitely not mine.

“I wasn’t wearing this last night,” I found myself saying.

He grinned wickedly at me.

“You got some blood on your shirt,” he said. “And when I gave you some water earlier, you spilled half of it down your chest. And since I’m such a nice, caring man, I decided that I should help you out.”