He sighed and kissed her on top of the head before they headed off in different directions. “Ella Jane, I couldn’t forget about you if I tried.”
A few hours and a few more stolen kisses later, Hayden’s granddad pulled up to pick him up from work. Hand in hand, Ella Jane walked with him to the truck.
“Hi, Pops,” she called through the open window. “Mama made sweet potato casserole for you and Gran if you want to come in and get some. Or I can run in and get it.”
“Hey, pretty girl,” Edwin Prescott called back with a wink. “Save me some. I’ve gotta get to the tractor supply store before they close.”
“Yes, sir.”
Gravel and dust flew around them as Coop and Kyle pulled up in the driveway behind Hayden’s grandpa. Ella Jane’s shoulders stiffened. Well…it was now or never. She stepped in between where Hayden stood and where Coop’s truck was parked.
Testosterone surged among the three of them as the two boys got out of the truck. Kyle nodded and stepped around to speak with Mr. Prescott. EJ half-listened as they chatted about football. Cooper glared at Hayden and Hayden glared right back.
Well this was awkward.
“Come on, boy. Let’s go. I gotta get movin’,” Hayden’s grandpa called out, his tone completely different than the one he’d used when speaking to EJ.
“I’ll call you later,” Hayden said quietly. “If you want me to.”
Ella Jane turned her back on Cooper and Kyle and frowned up at him. “Of course I want you to.”
“Okay. See ya.” He started to get into the truck but she wasn’t having it. He’d asked what she would’ve done in front of Kyle and Coop. He was nervous that she’d trade him in for Coop or something. And much to her own surprise, she realized that she wouldn’t.
So she pulled at Hayden’s arm and kissed him square on the mouth in front of God and everybody.
26
Kyle
“I bet Mom would be thrilled to know you’re sucking face with the new lawn boy every chance you get. Pretty sure she’s not paying him to stick his tongue down your throat.” Kyle Mason crossed his arms and glared at both his sister and the memory of what he’d just seen.
“You shut your mouth, Kyle Mason. You don’t go rattin’ me out for kissin’ when you know good and well I could hear you and Mindy Christensen in your bedroom all those times. That headboard was slammin’ like a screen door in a thunderstorm. Neighbors probably heard it.”
“Jesus. Fine. My lips are sealed. But from now on, you keep yours sealed too. And don’t ever bring that up again.” He turned and started to walk toward the barn. Coop had already bolted out there the second he saw EJ’s lips land on Hayden Prescott’s. “Hey, EJ?” He stopped and turned back to his sister. “Promise me you’ll use your head. Some guys—”
“I’ve already had the birth control talk with Mama. I don’t need a refresher course from you.”
“Omigod. No.” He shook his head in disgust. “We are not talking about that. And for the record, you are way too young to even be thinking about that.”
“Says the guy who lost it to a senior girl his freshman year,” she replied.
“What? How do you…Who told you?” He stumbled through a slew of barely coherent words.
“Small town, remember?” She crossed her arms over her chest and waited for her brother to collect himself.
“Anyway,” he continued on an exasperated sigh. “What I was going to say is be careful. Don’t go falling in love with the first guy that shows you a little bit of attention. There’s plenty of fish in the sea.” He looked at the barn and saw Coop leaning up against the door waiting for him.
“I’m a big girl, Kyle,” she began, glaring at him with everything she was worth. “I can handle it. For your information, I’m basically running this business. Dad’s gone and you’re never here and Mama is more depressed than she lets on. I make sure the work orders get put in and finished. I’m the one here handling inventory and payroll and—”
“Okay, I get it. You can handle it. I know you can,” he said, raising his arms in surrender before wrapping them around her. “I just worry about you ending up with some asshole. Some guys only want one thing, and I don’t want you to get taken advantage of. Because spending my life in jail for murder would suck.”
His little sister rolled her eyes up at him. “I know that. I’m not stupid. I would never just give it up to some asshole.” She pulled back to look at her brother. “And for the record, Hayden is not an asshole.”
“I’m not saying he is.” He sighed deeply. “I just want you to really think before you jump into something serious.”
“I will,” she slapped him lightly on the chest as they broke their hug. “It’s not like it matters anyways.” She paused to smile up at him. “In your eyes, no guy is ever going to be good enough.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that.” He snickered as he walked away. “There might be one or two out there that I wouldn’t punch in the face for looking at you.” He gave her a wink and headed off.
“Thanks, big brother,” she called out. Shaking his head, he smiled to himself. His little sister was growing up. Soon she wouldn’t need her big brother around. But he would still be there. No matter what, he’d promised himself he would always be there for EJ. Always.
“You know he’s just using her, right? Passing the time until he goes back to Bitch Boy Land,” Coop threw at him as soon as he entered the barn.
Kyle took a deep breath as he sat down on a stack of fertilizer bags still bound by shrink wrap. “I just had a talk with her. I mean, I told her to be careful, you know? Not a whole lot else I can do about it.”
Coop frowned at him. “Uh, yeah, the hell there is a lot else you can do about it. You’re her big brother. Scare the shit out of him. Tell her to stay away from him.”
He shook his head. “Come on, man. We were both sixteen not that long ago. You know good and damn well what happens when someone tells a sixteen-year-old not to do something. The minute I pull something like that, she’ll be sneaking off with him every chance she gets.” He smirked at his friend, whose jealousy was showing plain as day. “He might not be so bad. He’s a hard enough worker. Other than that, what do we know about this guy?”
Coop huffed out a breath. “Exactly. That’s exactly the point. We don’t know shit about him. But I don’t like him. And I sure as hell don’t trust him.”
“Yeah, I’m picking up what you’re putting down. I am. But you’re not the one dating him, right?”
Coop’s face was a deep shade of crimson by the time he responded. “What the hell, man? You freak out about any guy so much as glancing in her direction. But this guy, this shady dick from the Bluffs, sticks his freaking tongue down her throat and you’re just cool with it?” Something crossed his face that looked an awful lot like hurt—or maybe betrayal.
“I wouldn’t say I’m cool with it. More like I’ve just realized that sometimes there’s more to it than what’s on the surface.”
Kyle couldn’t help but think of Cami. If he and Cami could have something real, despite being from two different worlds, maybe Ella Jane and her Bluffs boy could, too. Didn’t seem so unreasonable. At least the guy had the guts to be upfront about his feelings. Kyle had given him a few intimidating stares, just to see if he backed down. He hadn’t. Obviously, whatever he had going with EJ was the real deal if he could stand his ground with her big brother. It was more than he could say for Coop.
“You got something you want to tell me, man?”
“I don’t know, Mase. Maybe. You tell me about your mystery girl and maybe I’ll tell you why I hate Bitch Boy so much. What do you say?”