Two Weeks Later
Peyton’s friends either disappeared on vacation or worked their way through the days of summer. Braden generously offered to send her to an athletic camp program but she declined the offer. She needed time to adjust to life without her mother. She also wanted to get settled at the Cartwell ranch before school started again.
Evan and Braden went out of their way to welcome her into their home. Kane acted like he didn’t want her there.
Kane Cartwell made her feel like an uninvited guest one minute and sex wrapped up in tight-fitting jeans the next. He didn’t say a whole lot, and when he acknowledged her, either a grunt or groan followed. On occasion, he’d swipe his lower lip and then make an ordeal out of wiping it clean with the pad of his thumb.
He watched her with those deep chocolate eyes, like he didn’t see her on the outside but couldn’t wait to feel her on the inside. The look he achieved? Dangerous and completely sexy.
Every morning she left the house before sunrise and most of the time, she missed any kind of conversation exchange. On occasion, she might glance up at the second story windows and watch as the curtains moved, shifting more than a morning breeze allowed. Sometimes she waved. Every now and again, she saw him stick his hand up and return the gesture.
Peyton had a lot of loose ends to tie, so with her friends busy for the summer, she handled most of them by herself. She started to ask Braden for help but Kane always lurked nearby so she decided to skip asking for favors.
Kane often served as a constant reminder, she already owed them. She moved into their lavishly appointed home and immediately found a lot of luxuries from a large flat screen television and state of the art computer system to the more extravagant amenities. They granted her full access to the stables and invited her to ride any of the horses the family owned, with the exception of Braden’s prized stallion. They welcomed her into their household and helped out on a large scale. She hated to ask for more.
Once the bank placed a for-sale sign in the front yard of the home she once shared with her mother, Peyton tried to get everything out as soon as possible. For the most part, she did it alone. It gave her time to deal with her mother’s death, in a round about way.
“Hey, Peyton! Anybody here?”
She heard a familiar voice as she tossed a few plastic bowls into a large box. “Yeah! I’m in the kitchen.”
“Hey, gorgeous. How’s my favorite upcoming senior?”
She turned around and found a very handsome Loy Martin. “Well, I’ll be damned. Look who came home after all.” She didn’t waste time running into Loy’s arms and she locked her legs around his waist almost immediately.
“Boy, howdy, now if this isn’t the homecoming I expected.” Loy lifted her body away from his but then took the time to let her crotch scrape over the ridge of his cock. With Loy, foreplay always started at once, regardless of where he found her.
They never shared anything more than a preamble to the dirty deed, but the chemistry between Loy and Peyton bordered on the absurd. Loy was too smart to get caught with his pants down. He feared they’d stay at his ankles and he’d eventually find himself married to a small-town girl. Sometimes, he ran from Peyton and she understood why.
Peyton giggled before she stared at his tented pants, biting her lip as she studied it intensely. She batted her eyelashes and acted like he brought her the perfect package. “What’s wrong, Loy, still don’t like a woman who teases you?”
“I like a teasing woman, baby, but I’ve been ordered by three very gruff, not to mention large, cowboys to stay the hell away from you until you get your feet on the ground again. Since we now have the issue of age between us, I’ll probably comply. They said if I lay one hand on you, they’ll make sure they glue it to the spot I touch. Then, they’ll haul my ass in front of a judge to prove malicious intent.”
“Lord a mercy, Loy. How long did it take for you to come up with such a tale?”
“It’s the truth, and I’m not the only one. Evan put the word out. Babe, I hate to tell you, but you’re in for a dull summer. Unless of course, you got some kind of thing for one of ‘em, and then I guess you’ll at least enjoy one or two hot June nights.”
Peyton narrowed her eyes. “Nay, I’ll find someone to entertain me but I doubt I’ll find it in a Cartwell. Besides, you’re looking for an excuse to avoid me. You can’t fool around now, since you’ve hooked up with one of those debutantes from South Carolina. News travels fast in these parts.” She turned her back to the boy she’d dated on and off for several years. She cleared a few countertops and continued working.
“Yeah, well, she’s not anyone I want to discuss with you. You understand. At least, I hope you do.”
“Sure I do. You always told me, there are girls you marry and girls you’d like to marry but unfortunately have to settle for a fuck from them instead. I understand, Loy. Really, I do.”
She also owed him big time for telling her such crap early on. He saved her from the embarrassment of fucking him. At one time, if he’d kept his mouth shut, Loy Martin would’ve been in Peyton’s pants. Thank goodness he had a big mouth to match what he kept in those snug khakis.
“Now, Peyton, don’t act all mad like you do. I always told ya the truth, but I gotta tell you, it’s all I can do to keep my hands off of you now.” He made a few steps toward her. His palms slowly caressed over the shape of her hips and then he froze right then and there when he heard a deep voice behind them.
“Damn, if you’re not good, Loy Martin,” Evan said. He slammed the door and walked into Peyton’s childhood home with his arms loaded down with boxes.
Since Peyton kept the screen open to catch a morning breeze, he undoubtedly heard enough of small talk. “Did you miss the memo I sent out to you specifically about ‘hands-off’? You’d better tell me something convincing because, right now, after hearing your line of bull-shit, I’d love to find a reason to smack some sense into you.”
Peyton rolled her eyes.
Kane slowly entered Peyton’s kitchen behind his brother. He stood off to the side with his arms folded over his chest.
“I’ve heard a lot of lines in my time but I gotta hand it to you. Martin, the one about fucking those gals you don’t marry just made me stiff thinking about it. Excuse me for saying so, Peyton.” Kane glared at Loy and then added, “Does that kind of cockamamie bullshit actually work for you?”
Loy laughed. “Real funny boy, aren’t you, Cartwell? You make excuses for saying a four-letter word in front of Peyton?” He touched her cheek and then picked up a few strands of her hair and let them fall softly against her shoulder. “You think Peyton’s never heard those words? Oh hello, boys, you’re in for a real treat once you get to know the Peyton everybody else knows.”
Peyton climbed back on the kitchen chair and rummaged through the cabinets. She wanted her back to them. The last thing she needed was her face turned toward theirs when Loy ran his mouth. Knowing Loy, he might.
The only man, or boy for that matter, who knew what it felt like to have a good romp with Peyton now stood inches from her guardians. He wanted to spill his knowledge all over the place.
Many boys tried to date Peyton. Many failed. Loy succeeded and what a fine choice she made there. Undoubtedly her brain malfunctioned whenever Loy Martin showed up and looking at him now standing next to Evan and Kane, she wondered why.
She turned back around and stared at the floor and barely glanced at Loy’s feet. Damn him. It proved the only solid reason she’d ever made out with him in the first place. Big feet, and those feet did not lie. Loy had a gigantic cock to match his ego.
“Loy…” She really didn’t want the Cartwells to hear about her more intimate moments with an old high school flame. He always made her feel like a tramp. He was the only man who almost claimed a homerun, as in personal base runs or hits, at her expense. He’d done her every which way but home and everyone once said he carried a grudge over it. He remained a little bitter according to some of his closest friends.
”Come on, Evan, tell the truth. You’re already tappin’ it or you wouldn’t care enough to put out the word. Admit it. Peyton is hands-off to the guys visiting from college because she’s keeping you and maybe even Kane here, busy.”
“All right, that’s it. You’re outta here.” Evan held open the backdoor and waited for Loy to leave.
“Guys, Loy and I go way back. I’d like to catch up with him. He’s gonna help me pack up the place.”
“The hell he is,” Kane snarled.
“Right,” Evan deadpanned. “Uh, we uh, planned on stayin’ and helping you out today. It’s the reason we’re here. Right, Kane?”
“Damn right. We don’t have anything else better to do. Lord knows the hay can bale itself, the cattle don’t need feed and the horses coming in later this afternoon are gonna know which stall belongs to them and just trot off the trailer and straight into the barn. No, we don’t have one damn thing to do today.” He scowled at his brother.
“Well, you sure don’t need to baby-sit me,” Peyton bit out.
“Yeah, well, Braden thinks we need to help ya and so we’re here to offer it.” Kane turned back to Loy, “You can stay and help out or leave, like Evan suggested.
“This is still my house,” she reminded him.
Kane walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. “Didn’t your momma keep a cold beer in the house?”
“If beer made its way in here, her momma didn’t buy it.” Loy’s voice and expression softened, “Peyton, I’m real sorry about your mom. I know you two lived separate lives but she sure loved ya. I know you’re gonna make her real proud.”
Taking off his hat, his hand trembled some before he nervously leaned over, kissed her cheek, nodded at the Cartwells and stepped outside. “I best get going, I guess.”
Evan deliberately gave the squeaky screen door a shove. The thin panel hit Loy on the ass. “Loy, you’ve paid your respects, and Peyton here appreciates it. Next time you see her, try to keep your hands off of her or else I’m gonna make sure to have some glue nearby to make good on a few promises. I don’t want you feelin’ her up or down. Got it?”
Loy tossed his hand up as he walked to his truck. He never glanced back again but by the time Evan and Kane did, she was ready for them.
“Hang on there a minute!” Kane shouted as he caught a plastic lid and Evan dodged a few cups.
“No!” She threw another one and then another. Lids, bowls, straws, everything she took out of the cabinet, she nailed them with it. “You don’t get to come in here and run off my friends.”
Evan moved around a flying wooden container and grabbed her wrists. “Stop this. Stop it now.” He started to shake her.
Kane liked the idea of maybe spanking some sense into her.
Tears drenched her cheeks in a cowboy country second. “Get out. This is my house, and you two can get the hell out. You can’t run my friends off just because you think I’m Cartwell property now.”
Evan took his hands off of her immediately. “We never once called you our property.”
Kane stooped over and started to pick up the items she slung his way with the strength of a mad wet hen. “Look, Peyton, with friends like him, you’ll end up barefoot and pregnant. Then you can kiss all those scholarships goodbye and trade in your college fund for diapers and bottles. Maybe you think it’s a good swap but from what I’ve seen, you’re not the stroller kind of woman.”
“She’s not a woman yet,” Evan reminded him.
“I’m more of a woman than either of you boys will ever be able to handle. Now leave!”
Kane walked out of the kitchen after her statement but he returned just as fast. Hell yeah, she sure looked and acted more like a woman than any he’d ever known. With natural boobs, fiery eyes, a sassy little mouth and a few other attributes, if he wasn’t one of her guardians, he’d count down the days to her eighteenth birthday. He’d also shoot a man for thinking the things he thought.
Kane spotted Peyton Storm long before his brother made the mistake of taking her on to raise. Now, Braden told them daily Peyton stayed off-limits. He’d like to have Braden committed for such a stunt. He had no idea what kind of trouble waited for them when he brought that girl into their home. No idea at all.
Peyton bent over and started to pick up a few items scattered across the floor. Her denim shorts showcased more than any woman wanted revealed, unless their intended goal was to tempt a man. Evan and Kane exchanged knowing glances.
Yeah, Braden deserved to hang for this caper.
Kane walked outside and stood on the front porch. He closed his eyes and listened. Evan was a senior in high school when Peyton had been a freshman and rumors ran rampant. She’d pursued Evan hard back in the day. Too bad for Evan, he wasted his high school years with Doris something another and missed his chance with Peyton Storm.
Dumb fuck.
Evan could’ve dated the cream of the crop. Instead he settled for the crop. The woman he chose later ended up with a pathetic reputation. She ran men through her bed like an auctioneer at a cattle sale.
“Get out, Evan.” Peyton made her demands loud enough for Kane to hear them too.
“Peyton, listen. Braden wants us to help you out. Get you packed up and moved in before school begins. I’d like to help. Kane’s ready to lend a hand too.”
Kane glared across her tiny porch and stared into the kitchen window. Her blond hair hung over her shoulders and the light breeze flowing through the windows allowed the scent of her shampoo to fill his nostrils. Damn if she didn’t smell sweet.
“This is my home! I can pack up everything in my own time and get out before the bank sells it.”
Evan cleared his throat. “I know, Peyton but you see, if you’re running in and out of here all the time, we can’t keep an eye on you and with boys like Loy Martin…”
“Boys like Loy Martin?” she cut him off. “Boys like Loy Martin who are only two years younger than you!”
“Right, well in any case…”
“Shut up, Evan, you’re dancing around the subject.” Kane said when he stepped back inside and turned on Peyton as quickly as she’d turned on them, “Here’s the thing. Until you’re eighteen, you won’t have the opportunity to get yourself knocked up. Until you graduate from high school, you’re going to follow Braden’s law.”
“Braden’s law?” She laughed. “Braden’s or Kane’s?”
Darn, he had a feeling she saw right through him. Right then and there, she even recognized his motives. For a second, he lost his train of thought. His eyes drifted over her body, and she rattled him long enough to let him know he lost his better judgment for a second longer than he needed to lose it.
Peyton stomped across the kitchen and stood in his face. With her index finger, she pointed at Evan and then back at Kane. “Admit it. The reason you two don’t want me fraternizing with the locals is because down deep, you’re both waiting for my eighteenth birthday like half the men in this county.”
“Peyton, that’s not true, doll.” Evan moved by her and grinned. “If you’ll remember, I turned down your sweet little tail a long time ago. I assure you, I can still walk away from it now.”
“Hush up, Evan,” Kane warned but it arrived a second too late.
The fit throwing and pan slinging started all over again.