Winning the Cowboy (Circle B Ranch 6)

When she sits at the table next to mine, I glare at her. “I know what you did.”

She lifts her brows with an innocent look. “Don’t know what you’re talkin’ about.”

“Yeah right! You filled the back of my truck with shit while I was sleeping last night,” I snap. “And you knew I had branding today and wouldn’t be able to take care of it right away.”

Her expression doesn’t change. “How about you come with the receipts?” she challenges. “I’m waiting.”

“I don’t need proof to know it was you. I made you help me shovel shit. So this is the perfect revenge.”

I notice a flicker in her eyes. “Grow up, Grayson.”

“Just be aware, I’ll get you back. And it’s gonna be a thousand times worse than handcuffing you to me for a day,” I tell her as she sips her tea. “Or driving around cow shit.”

She slams the cup down. “Don’t threaten me.”

“Not a threat, sweetheart. A goddamn promise,” I say, then finish eating without speaking another word. However, it doesn’t stop her from stealing glances.

When I’m done, I go to the barn on the east side to drop off the manure. I pull up and see Kane’s on stable duty today.

It’s no surprise that the pile that was once there is gone.

Kane walks out with a shovel in his hand and laughs when he sees me. “Whose Cheerios did you piss in?”

I glare at him. “No one’s. This is Kenzie’s doin’ because she hates me so much. And fuck it reeks.”

Moving closer, he scrunches his nose. “You do too. What’ve you been doin’ today?”

“Riding, and now I have to deal with this, which infuriates the fuck outta me.”

He smirks as he hands me the shovel. “Have fun with that.”

“Not even gonna lend me a hand?” I take off my hat and smooth down my sweaty hair. Damn, I can’t wait to take a shower.

“Hell no. I didn’t piss Kenzie off. You did. Kinda clever, though.” He smirks.

Narrowing my eyes at him, I drop the tailgate down. The motion causes globes of crap to fall forward

“Clever?” I narrow my eyes as I study him. “You helped her do this, didn’t you?”

He shrugs. “I’ll do anything if the price is right.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me one bit?”

“You wanna get her back? Just let me know.” He does a little finger motion insinuating if I pay him, he’s on board.

“I’m not that desperate. But I’ll tell you this… When I get my revenge, she might need your help to clean it up.”

He chuckles. “Perfect. I like extra cash.”

I hop in the back and get started because the quicker I finish this, the faster I can go home. My body’s already hurting. Sweat starts dripping from my brows again, and I curse her name as I haul it out. If she weren’t so beautiful, and I wasn’t so fucking attracted to her, this rivalry we have would be a lot easier. But as I mentioned earlier, this is far from over.

When I’m done an hour later, I grab the hose and spray down my truck.

The first thing I do when I get home is take a nice, long hot shower. Tomorrow, we’ll be back at it early, and I’m ready to crash for the night.

As I pull a beer from the fridge, I get a call from my mom. At first, I contemplate sending it straight to voicemail, but then I answer just in case something’s wrong at home.

“Hey, son. I’m shocked you picked up.”

I feel bad because I don’t purposely ignore her, but between my working on the ranch and needing to sleep, we don’t get the chance to talk a lot. “Guess today’s your lucky day. Everything goin’ okay?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. Thanks for asking. Just wanted to see if you got the invite to the family reunion in October.”

I look at the pile of mail that’s sitting on the kitchen counter. It’s been there for about a week. “I’m sure I did, but I don’t plan on goin’, and I’m sure you can guess why.”

There’s a beat of awkward silence. “I know you don’t wanna be around Bella, but she won’t be there.”

“That’s a big reason, but not the only one.”

My brother who still acts innocent in all of this.

“I understand, but I miss you and wanna see you. And so does your gram. She’s not in the best health these days. Your aunts Debbie and Vicky are coming too, and they haven’t seen you in years. I don’t know what I gotta do to make you change your mind, but I hope you consider it…”

I contemplate it since Bella won’t be there. There are too many bad memories between us, and I’ve refused to go home for the holidays because of her. It’s why I usually spend it with the Bishops. The few times I’ve seen her after what happened, I feel a rush of anger mixed with bitterness and sadness, and I’d rather not be in that position. I want nothing to do with her, but considering she’s family, she’ll always be around. She made her choices, and I made mine to stay away as much as possible.