Reece (Stud Ranch)

And hadn’t I done the same thing here? Wanting Reece and then grasping for him, not caring about the consequences for anyone involved?

“Can I keep a couple of the jeans and shirts you’ve lent me?” I asked Ruth, both of us still facing each other in a stand-off in the hallway outside my room.

“Jesus, Charlie, the clothes are yours, but you can’t leave!”

“I can and I will,” I said. Better now before things got any worse.

Ruth crossed her arms over her chest. “What happened? Did one of those assholes do something to you? Tell me right now. I’ll rip their balls off.”

“What?” I was appalled. “Of course not!” I finally turned and headed for my room. I was officially over this conversation. I just needed to pack my things and get on the road. “It’s just me. I screw shit up. It’s time to go. I gotta get outta here.”

I pushed into my bedroom but Ruth just followed right behind me.

“Is that what happened wherever you were last? Things got a little complicated and you just took off?”

My mouth dropped open as I spun back to her. “You have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

She threw her hands out. “That’s because you don’t talk to anyone! You haven’t let any of us in. So maybe you did last night. Did you sleep with one of the guys? With Reece? Or… Buck?”

And in that moment, I realized the name she had conspicuously not mentioned. “Oh my God, you like Jeremiah, don’t you?”

“What?” she laughed, but it was fake. “Don’t be ridiculous.” But then her facial features transformed from indifference to suddenly looking freaked out. “Why? Did you sleep with Jeremiah?”

Then, as if hearing herself, she shrugged. “Not like it would make any difference to me if you did. I’m just curious. And so I can figure out which asshole I need to go straighten out so we can get you to stay.”

But I was shaking my head. “Yeah right, I see right through you. You like Jeremiah. As in, like him.” Even as I said it, I felt a little junior high-ish. But at the same time, I knew I was right.

Ruth’s mouth dropped open and her eyes widened. She looked at the door to my bedroom. And then she hurriedly shut it. Then she went and sat down on my bed, looking a little freaked out.

“I mean,” she blinked. “Maybe I… do? A little? He’s a stubborn ass, but he is really cute, and he’s a good guy, and sometimes I do want to rip all of his clothes off when we’re arguing.”

Then she shook her head. “But I’m just sex-starved and we’d be a disaster in real life. It’s ridiculous. And I can’t believe you even distracted me like that, witch. We’re talking about you.”

Well, she’d knocked the wind out of my sails with her honesty so I sat down on the bed beside her.

“I slept with Reece,” I admitted quietly.

“I knew it!” she said, all but jumping up and down on the bed beside me. “Was last night the first time?”

I felt the blush rise on my cheeks before dropping my head and shaking my head no. “It’s just casual sex,” I continued hurriedly. “No strings or anything, we both agreed. But then last night we just sort of… fell asleep together and he held me all night.”

Her hand went to her chest. “Oh my God, that’s so sweet, shut up! Except don’t. Tell me everything.”

So I told her a little more, skipping over the most intimate details about our play but getting to the part where Jeremiah found us this morning. And the less than generous conclusions he’d come to, along with the things he’d said.

“I’m gonna stab his eyeballs out.” Ruth jumped to her feet. “How dare he go in guns blazing, judging you or his brother like that?”

I reached out a hand and grabbed her arm before she could go storming out of the room. “He was just surprised. And I hate that I put either of them in that position. They usually get along so well. It’s better if I just remove myself from the equation and let everything go back to the way it was.”

“That’s bullshit,” Ruth exclaimed emphatically. “They’re brothers. I’m sure they fight all the time.”

“I’ve never seen them fight.”

She rolled her eyes. “We’ve known them for what? All of three weeks? And from what you described, whatever boiled over this morning has been something contentious between them that’s probably been under the surface for a while. And I’m sure it’s not the first time it’s bubbled over. You just had a front seat for it this time, and that was shitty of Jeremiah. But from what I’ve seen, I suspect that’s who these guys are. They don’t mask what they’re thinking or feeling. It’s just all right there, hanging out for better or worse.”