Herd That (The Valentine Boys 1)

“Aren’t these things for little kids?” she sniped.

I shrugged and Ace wrapped his arms around me.

“Smokes said all ages welcome,” Ace said, grinning and not realizing the tension that was rising between Jace’s wife and me. “And I’m more than willing to come here. I’m out of bacon anyway.”

Jace’s wife handed her son over to Jace and then turned her back on us.

“You’ll have to excuse Marie,” he said softly. “She’s annoyed that we couldn’t get her other son for today. Her ex-husband wouldn’t allow it.”

Jace’s wife, Marie, was another woman who’d graduated with us. Or would have had I graduated with my class.

“Hmm,” I said softly.

My eyes went to Jace’s child, and I squinted. “I thought you had a boy.”

“I did,” he said, turning the child in his arms so that I could see his face.

Not that it helped.

The kid was wearing what looked like a dress.

“He’s got long hair,” I said, trying to explain away my confusion.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Marie doesn’t want to cut it because she thinks if she cuts it, it’ll take away all his curls.”

I eyed said ‘curls’ and said nothing.

Jace snorted. “You never were able to keep the truth off your face, were you, Codie?”

Ace’s arm went around my waist and he pulled me into him, causing me to melt into his side.

I liked that Ace did that in front of Jace.

Now that I was looking around, I could see quite a few people that I knew, and all of their eyes were on me.

I guess I’d made an entrance.

That, or Marie, who looked like she was telling every one of her friends that had come with them, was spreading rumors.

My guess was both.

“Ace,” Jace held out his hand. “It’s good seeing you out and about instead of holed up at your ranch.”

Ace shook his hand, then dropped it quickly. “Codie makes me go out. She doesn’t want me to become a hermit.”

I looked up at Ace.

I’d done no such thing.

Jace’s eyes turned from me to Ace and then back to me. “Y’all are an item?”

Marie scoffed as soon as she reappeared at her husband’s side.

“Of course, they’re not…”

“Yes,” Ace answered before I could even open my mouth to deny it. “We’re new, though.”

I looked up at him, dumbfounded, and he chose that same moment to look down at me.

Our lips connected almost before I could draw in a breath, and all of a sudden, I was kissing Ace Valentine.

In the middle of Smokes.

Right smack dab in the middle of almost fifteen of my high school classmates that thought I was nothing more than trash.

I, Codie Spears, was kissing Ace Valentine and he was doing it voluntarily.

Everything exploded.

My body instantly started to tingle. My lips felt like they were on fire. My senses went into overdrive, and my God, did he smell good.

I wanted to crawl into his body and soak every single part of him up and roll around in his scent.

I wanted to take a picture. I wanted to remember this.

I wanted… everything.

Right then, I wanted it all.

With Ace.

Ace fucking Valentine.

The hot cowboy who everybody and their brother wanted.

He pulled away, and I grinned when I saw his cowboy hat askew.

I reached upward to straighten it, and he grinned down at me.

“I’m glad for y’all,” someone was saying.

Distantly I was aware that Jace might’ve been that someone, but I couldn’t turn away from Ace. There was something that kept me exactly where I was, staring up into his eyes.

I felt like a delicate flower next to his tall, strong frame.

And God, was he hot and hard all over.

“Thanks,” Ace said, breaking the eye contact.

I was panting as I finally looked in the same direction.

Jace was grinning like a loon. His wife, on the other hand, looked like she’d tasted something bitter.

“If everybody could take their seats, we’ll get started!” I heard yelled.

Ace looked over his shoulder the opposite way to see the owner of Smokes standing on top of the bar in the middle of the large open room. He was waving his arms as if that would help focus everyone’s attention on him.

“You can sit with us,” Jace offered.

I stiffened, and Ace felt it.

“Actually, we’re gonna sit over here by this fire. Codie’s cold,” Ace declined politely. “But thank you.”

Marie mumbled a growling ‘thank God’ under her breath, and all of us pretended like we didn’t hear it, even though we did.

When Jace whipped around and took Marie by the hand, practically yanking her behind him, I could tell that he wasn’t happy.

“I see you have friends,” Ace teased as he directed me toward the couches that were placed strategically around the large fireplace in the corner of the room.

I snorted. “The people in this room right now are the cream of the crop. The people that found inventive ways to make my life hell when I was a teen. Just sayin’, but if I get into a fight today, you may want to make sure you have bail money ready. Because there’s no way in hell I won’t go to jail. They’ll all gang up on me and say that I committed a felony when it was only a misdemeanor.”