I don’t want to parent a rowdy teenager. “I could handle him. I managed to get you and Hayes and Johnny into adulthood.”
“Fuck you, brother. I was the easy one. And I’m barely six years younger than you.” Harrison leans forward, bracing one of his booted feet on the bottom rung of the fence. “Let me ask you this. Do you like Amber? Are you attracted to her?”
“Yes. She’s all I can think of.”
“What do you think when you look at her?”
“Mine. She’s fucking mine.” I take off my hat and wipe my brow. “But none of that matters. Because she doesn’t belong to me. She deserves better. Someone close to her age.” Someone who doesn’t want to dirty her up and do filthy things to her. She’s an angel and I’m a devil for the filth I want to do to her sweet curves.
I don’t say any of this out loud, obviously, but this conversation is done. “Let it go. We’ve got too much work to do before you leave to stand around gossiping like a bunch of old ladies at church.”
Harrison must see the resolve in my gaze, but he just shakes his head. “Jesus,” he mutters, bending down to pick up the pliers. “And I always thought Hayes was the dumb one in the family.”