ChapterTwo
Turnedout it was going to be a long night for me as well.
Will could be a major pain in the ass when he wanted to be. Must be he wanted to be frequently. Tonight he was in rare form. We’d no sooner watched the undergrads from UWW jounce and rumble their way back to the guest cabins by Smoke Lake when Will started his shit. He played things cool and collected while the college students were here. He was trying to impress Paula. Which kind of made me mad because we’d shared something at the Lone Vale cabin that should have been…
What, Perry? A hand job does not a committed partner make. Grow up.
Sighing, I had to agree with myself. One drunken night, a sloppy hand job, and now I thought I had some kind of claim on Will Abbott? I was a moron. We’d not even kissed that night. I’d offered, and he’d accepted. I’d gotten him off, and he’d passed out before his cum was even cooled in my hand. As we’d been doing that, someone had busted into the main house back at the ranch and stolen a valuable memento of Landon’s. And they were wearing one of Will’s hoodies. I’d vouched for Will and lied to cover up what had gone down at the remote cabin at the base of the Tetons. Will obviously did not want to be outed as anything other than straight. And maybe he wasn’t. Maybe we’d been soused, and he’d been curious. It happens or so I read online. We’d thrown punches over my confession about drinking. The guy had lost his shit when I’d mentioned we were even at the cabin. What I had gotten out of a sloppy stupid night had been a hangover, a fight, and considerable flak from my grandfather for drinking.
And now here we were, me with my phone open to a book, back propped against my four-wheeler, as Will complained. He cut one hell of a figure pacing back and forth in front of the Coleman lantern we were using. I liked the slim cut jeans that hugged his tight ass and thighs. If I closed my eyes, I could recall the way he had laid in my arms as he came, his eyes closed, his body convulsing, my name on his sweet lips. That night seemed like a lifetime ago, but it was really only a month or so. August was now fully upon us. The days were hot, but the nights could drop into the forties. Which was why I had pulled on a flannel shirt. Will, because he was Will, was in a tank top. It looked great and showed off his toned arms, but his shoulders were pink and peeling.
“You seem really jittery,” I commented.
“Yeah, I quit vaping. Shit got seriously expensive and left a rotten taste in my mouth.”
“Ah well, good on you quitting.”
“Thanks. Seems stupid to me to have two men out here,” he complained as I waved away a moth that the lamp had drawn in. “I could be swimming with Paula.” I stared at my phone harder. I’d now read the same paragraph ten times. “You could handle this by yourself, right?”
“Kyle said two men,” I replied with a sigh. He grumbled then made another loop around the lantern. Off in the distance, a wolf howled. “That’s why we have two men.” I motioned to the lonely howl bouncing over the grasslands.
“But you have a gun.”
“Yeah, I do, but what if I fall asleep and a mountain lion creeps up on me? Think I can free the rifle from its case with a cat chewing on my head?”
“Maybe you could read it a book and chill its ass down.”
“Maybe you could stop being such a fucking whiny brat and just do as you’re told for once!” I snapped back. He gave me a dark look. “I’d rather be in my bed too, but we were told to be here guarding the dig site. Those bones are valuable. A complete T-Rex sold for over thirty million dollars. If Professor Haney and the university can uncover a complete Triceratops skeleton, it will be worth a fortune.”
“Then they sell it?” I glared at him. “What!? I don’t spend my spare time with my nose in a book. I have better things to do.”
“Like chasing after a girl who thinks you’re a loser,” I muttered then frowned at the terrible taste of envy that had blossomed on my tongue. I did not care who Will Abbott chased after. Nope. Not in the least. One drunken JO session. That was it. I really needed to move past it. There would be other men who wanted to love me. Maybe they’d be willing to look past my stumbling awkward ways, my love of books, and my passion for horses. Maybe I wouldn’t die a virgin. That would be nice.
“Why do you read so much anyway?”
“Why don’t you read more?” I fired back, feeling really salty about his desire for Paula when I was sitting right here. Ugh. How could I want a man who acted like someone knowing we’d been alone together was a capital offense? “I read because I want to expand my mind. I want to go to college someday when I have enough saved.”
“Shit, you could get a free ride through college. You’re Indian, right?”
I whipped a scowl his way. “Yeah, I’m Native. You’ve met my grandfather.”
“Well, yeah, but he looks more…you know.” He dropped down beside me.
“Say it.” I could feel my hackles rising.
“Well, I mean he looks more Indian. Sorry, more Native. You look pissed. Did I insult you?”
He had but not intentionally. “Not on purpose. It’s just…” I blew out a breath then placed my phone beside me on the dirt. “The whole blood quantum thing can be incredibly complicated, but I’ll just say that the color of my eyes does not make me less Shoshoni.”
“I like your eyes.” My gaze flew from the lantern to Will. He looked as if he had swallowed a scorpion. A rush of warmth settled in my belly way down low. “I mean they’re nice. Green and brown is nice. They look fine on your face.”
“Okay.” I really didn’t know how to respond.
“Sounds like a sore subject. Your eyes.”
“Let’s just say the term cur is really familiar to me.”
“I don’t know what that means.”