Lola Stark - Destry

I continued watching her moving around, flashing bits of skin here and there. Sending my little sister, Ellie-May, to run her into town might have been either the best or worst idea I’d ever had.

My head snapped down as a hand connected with the back of it.

“Oh, hell no. Where’s them manners of yours, boy?” Gran stood behind me, hands on her hips and looking mighty mad. “You know I taught y’all better than that. Give me some suga’, baby.” She pointed to her cheek.

“Sorry, ma’am.” I ducked my head and gave her what she was after.

I hadn’t even pulled my head back before I copped another whack to the back of my head. “What was that—”

She wiggled her finger in front of my face. “Now, you can apologize to poor Amelia over there for bein’ so rude before you go wash up. Supper’s just about ready.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I sighed as I made my way through the kitchen, tipping my head to Amelia and mumbling a half-assed apology as I went.

She simply nodded her head and looked away quickly as I passed.

X X X

To say dinner was the most awkward meal I’d had since my grandparents had sat me down for the sex talk when I was just a boy would be the understatement of the century. Amelia prancing around barefoot in her tiny denim skirt with sparkles on her ass—topped with my shirt—was killing me one blood starved brain cell at a time. Every time she moved around to fetch something, I could smell the sweet scent of vanilla. I could also see way too much skin, and the moment she laughed, my groin tightened to the point I couldn’t even shift in my seat for fear of grabbing her and dragging her off to show her what she was doing to me.

“What where you doin’ drivin’ so late in the night way out here?” Braxton asked her around a mouthful of chicken fried steak.

“Manners,” Gran reminded him while I smirked.

I quickly realized I had no clue who she was or where she came from, so I decided to sit and quietly listen. Not that I had any interest in getting to know her; she was just another city chick passing through town.

“Gotta say, darlin’, luck was firmly planted on our side findin’ such a pretty thing like you on the side of the road needin’ assistance.” I rolled my eyes at his blatant attempt to flirt with her. She was too stuck up to respond to him; she’d probably just look at the poor country boy with disgust.

“Well, aren’t you just a sweet talker.” My head snapped to Amelia when I heard the small laugh in her voice. What the hell? She was buying it? I flicked my eyes back down to my plate and shoveled more food in my mouth so I didn’t say something rude.

"Wish I'd found you out there and not Destry. I wouldn't have cussed you out for pushing the cows," Braxton mumbled under his breath.

"Nah, you'd just shove her outta the way so you could get to the cows, you inbred, redneck asshole." Austin laughed, catching a scowl for his loud joke.

I sat silently, pretending to show no interest in the conversation, but really I was taking it all in. Amelia would be staying for the two weeks it would take for her car to be repaired. She’d argued until she was almost blue in the face, but Gran put her foot down and insisted. This was fine by me. I’d hardly see her anyway. I had fences to fix and horses to train. I’d just busy myself while she was here. I’d still have to see her when I got in of an evening, but I could make myself scarce.

“You boys be sure to get those dishes done. We’re off to bed.” Gran stood and squeezed my shoulder before turning to our new houseguest. “Please excuse us, Amelia. If you need anything, you let the boys know; they’ll be happy to help you.”

“Got that right.” Austin smirked from where he was, and leaned back in his chair, arms behind his head. Gran ignored him and headed to her room at the far back of the house.

Pops lingered for a moment looking at each one of us with an amused expression on his face. “Don’t be letting these boys pull the wool over your eyes, pumpkin. They’re a handful, but they do have some manners in ‘em.” With that, he gave us a tip of his head and followed after Gran.

“Anything I can show you, Amelia?” Austin smiled at her and flexed his arms. He was such an idiot sometimes.

“I think I might take you up on that offer.” Her reply made me inhale sharply which started a coughing fit. They ignored me and kept it going. “You’ll show me round, won’t you, Austin?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a cheesy drawl. I kicked his foot under the table and moved to stand up.

“Jackass,” I murmured under my breath as I began collecting the dishes. My hand collided with Amelia’s as we both reached for the same dish in the middle of the table. She quickly pulled her hand back like I’d burned her. With a scoff, I snatched the dish up and took it all to the kitchen.

“I didn’t really get a chance to thank you properly for last night.” Amelia’s soft voice floated through the old rustic kitchen. She slid a few dishes onto the counter next to me and cleared her throat, taking me by surprise. “Thank you, for helping me. I mean, I know you don’t know me and you didn’t have to, so… just… thank you.” From the corner of my eye, I could see a light pink tinge to her cheeks; she was blushing. No doubt, she was embarrassed about last night.

I would have laughed over her embarrassment, but my dumbass brothers and their flirting had put me in a foul mood. This in turn had pissed me off even more, because there was nothing about them messing with this girl I needed to be pissed about. “Sure,” I grumbled and turned off the running water.

Her next comment took me by surprise. “You clearly have a problem with me. I don’t know what it is and I’m not really in the mood to find out. Forget I said anything,” she sassed. I spun around to tell her that just her being here was enough to annoy me, when she squeaked and landed in Austin’s arms, her hands flat against his chest and the rest of her body plastered to his. I ground my teeth and kept quiet when I realized he must have been standing behind her. When she turned to leave, she’d run smack bang into him.

“You fallin’ for me already, darlin’?” He smirked his trademark smile down at her stunned face.

A growl I couldn’t keep down rumbled up from my chest. Amelia giggled, the sound going straight to my crotch. I dropped the hand with the dishtowel in it, covering the bulge in my pants.

Austin flicked his eyes up to me, and with a bastard-like laugh, he righted Amelia and snaked his arm around her waist. He said, “Come on, sweet thing. I’ll show you round. We’ll start at the barn.”

“Like hell you will, asshole!” I ground out, glaring at the hand he had riding low on Amelia’s hip. Everyone who lived round these parts knew you didn’t take a girl to the barn unless you were putting the moves on her. Austin dropped his arm and Amelia stepped back out of the way with a look of shock on her face.

“What’re you gonna do about it, big brother?” Austin crossed his arms over his chest and widened his stance.

“Don’t push me, kid. I’ll knock the sense right back into you.” Perhaps calling him kid was a dumbass move seeing as he hated that nickname, but he was getting on my nerves.

We lunged at each other at about the same time and went tumbling to the ground in a ball of arms and legs. No matter how much he pissed me off, I’d never actually hurt him; he was my kid brother. I pushed up and grabbed him in a headlock only for him to twist out of it and gain the upper hand, breaking away and reversing our positions.

Laughter from the doorway had my head swinging around to find Ellie-May almost doubled over, holding her stomach and pointing at us. Amelia, however, was nowhere in sight. I rolled over and groaned.

“You two buffoons just handed her to Braxton on a silver platter while y’all rolled around and played who has the biggest penis.” She was laughing so hard by that point, she had tears streaming down her face.

“Don’t say penis,” Austin grouched at Ellie. She was the youngest of us all and we were not only fiercely protective of her, we also tended to forget she was almost twenty years old.

Braxton lead me outside onto the porch as the sun was setting. The sky to the west blazed with pink and orange clouds, bathing the acres of surrounding land in a gentle, golden light. I’d honestly never seen a sunset so pretty before in my life.

"Sorry, they get kinda intense whenever there's a female around who isn't related to us," Braxton said, leaning against the banister of the porch steps. I stood opposite and took him in.

His honey-wheat blond hair, spiked up in all directions, was clearly not purposely styled that way. It was the style of a busy cowboy who had ran his hands through his hair more than once. Probably in frustration at his brothers antics. A light stubble kissed his jawline, dusting his golden skin with the most delicious scruff. I wanted to touch it just to see if it was as soft as it looked. His eyes were what really grabbed my attention though; stormy blue with tiny flecks of mossy green that you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t looking hard enough, but it wasn’t just the color that pulled me in. There was a gentleness behind his gaze, one his brothers didn't have.

I didn’t know why, but I felt like I'd known Braxton all my life, when in reality, that couldn't be further from the truth. Maybe it was the fact I'd been here a total of one day, and already these strangers had shown me more kindness than every member of my family had my entire life, or maybe I’d just hit my head harder than I thought.