After half an hour or so of zero conversation, Kyler sighed.
“Bored already?”
“Nope. But don’t you listen to music while you’re workin’?”
“Sometimes. Why?”
“It’s kinda quiet in here. Music makes the time go faster.” He shot Dalton a grin. “Might make us work faster.”
Dalton pointed to the living room. “Sound system has an iPod dock. Or if you flip on the TV there are satellite music channels in the seven hundreds.”
“I’ve got my iPod.” He pushed to his feet. “But I don’t wanna screw something up so maybe you’d better show me how to run the system.”
Dalton needed to replace his blade anyway. He gave Kyler a basic rundown of the system, suspecting he was way more tech savvy than him. He watched Kyler dinking with buttons on the remote. Damn kid looked so much like Cord it was spooky. Even his mannerisms were the same.
No one had ever said that about you and Casper.
“Done. Now we can crank some tunes.”
“I ask that you don’t play any of that—”
“Rap?” Kyler supplied.
Dalton shook his head. “I don’t mind rap. I’m not crazy about that hipster, emo, boy-band crap.”
“Me neither.”
Kyler left the tunes at a reasonable decibel. The music made him work faster and apparently loosened his vocal cords because he started asking questions. Lots of questions.
Thing was, Dalton had spent so much time by himself in the last few years, he welcomed interest in where he’d been and what he’d done. Even his brothers hadn’t taken much interest.
He hadn’t seen Brandt or Tell since he’d stopped going to visit Casper every day, but he did talk to them. Dalton explained his absence from the daily hospital duty as he’d run into serious snags with the house remodel—not a total lie. But it was obvious they considered it bullshit. Neither of them had bothered to show up and offer a hand to fix those snags.
Might’ve been nice to have the company and the help, but Dalton reminded himself he didn’t need it.
“Got big plans for the weekend?” Dalton asked.
“Football game Friday night. We’re playing Gillette. They’ve got a bunch of big guys so I’m pretty sure I’ll end up on my ass a lot.”
“What position do you play?”
“Quarterback.”
“Hello?” echoed from the front entry.
Rory.
Dalton stood and hoped it didn’t look like he’d leapt to his feet. “In here.”
“I heard music. Thought maybe you were having a party.”
“Yep. With strippers and everything. Except we’re the strippers.” He kissed her. “Linoleum strippers.”
Kyler snorted.
Rory smiled at him, then at Kyler. “Hey, Kyler. How’d you get roped into helping with this?”
Kyler gave Dalton an odd look.
“Let’s just call it McKay community service,” Dalton said with a straight face.
The kid snorted again.
Dalton reached out to run his hand down Rory’s hair, but he caught a glimpse of his dirty fingers and dropped his hand by his side. “Kyler was telling me he’s got a football game this weekend.”
“I heard the people in the office talking about it,” Rory said. “It’s the big district playoff game. You ready to take the team to victory, superstar quarterback?”
Kyler blushed. “If we win, it’ll be a team effort.”
“He’s so modest.” Rory draped her arm over Dalton’s neck. “What Kyler hasn’t mentioned? He’s been the starting quarterback since his freshman year and he’s taken the Sundance football team to the state finals the last two years.”
“We’ve made it to the finals but we haven’t won,” Kyler pointed out.
“He’s also been named to the all-state team. The western U.S. all-conference team and he’s in the top one hundred on the national who’s who list of high school athletes. College scouts are sniffing around too.”
Kyler blushed even harder and stood. “Where’d you hear all that?”
“Sierra. I talked to her last night. I’m pretty sure she was doing herkeys while she was bragging on your athletic prowess.”
“Sierra exaggerates. Anyway, it’s just high school football. Not like I’m a professional athlete like Chase. Or a professional poker player like Dalton, which is way cooler and takes a whole lotta skill and strategy.”
Dalton tugged on Rory’s hair. “See? Kyler knows Texas Hold’em requires skill more than luck.”
Rory rolled her eyes.
Kyler looked appalled. “Dude. Seriously? She thinks it’s a game of…luck?” He said luck as if it were a dirty word.
Dalton shrugged. “I’ve tried to explain it but she won’t change her mind. Anyway, good luck with your football game this weekend.”
“Thanks.” He skirted the breakfast bar and snagged his iPod. “I’d probably better get walkin’.”
“You don’t want a ride?”
“Nah.” Kyler slipped on his coat. “Since we didn’t have football practice today I need some cardio. I’ll get plenty of lifting exercise when I start chores.”
Dalton moved in front of Kyler as he shouldered his backpack. He dug thirty bucks from his front pocket and held it out. “I appreciate your help today, Kyler.”
“But…I didn’t expect this.”
“And I don’t expect free labor. Now you’ve got a little extra to take your girl out and show her off.” He grinned. “Or to put in a new battery in that truck of yours so you don’t get busted again.”
“Thanks, Dalton.” He folded the bills and tucked them in his pocket. “You want me here next Wednesday?”
“If it doesn’t interfere with football practice.”
“It won’t.” He leaned in and said, “Maybe you oughta follow your own advice. Take Rory out and show her off, ’cause man, she is totally hot. You are so lucky to get with her.” Kyler stepped aside, gifting Rory with a smile to rival the devil’s. “See ya, Rory.” He slipped out the door.
Rory sighed. “There’s the first in another generation of devastatingly handsome and charming McKay males.”
“He’s a good kid. Sounds like Cord’s got a tight leash on him. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when Kyler breaks that leash, ’cause we all do at some point.” Dalton turned around and Rory was right there. “Hey.”