up the stairs to her room and had my way with her.
Thankfully, footsteps on her deck shook some sense back into me, and I broke the kiss seconds before Colin’s fiancée Sara and a group of her friends all stopped by with a bottle of wine to welcome Alyson to the farm. I’d have been the talk of the town if we’d gotten caught, and I don’t want anyone, least of all my mother, getting the wrong idea. I might need to get laid, but I am not looking for any kind of relationship—especially with a city girl who isn’t cut out for this life.
So, get laid already.
I’ve had offers, but now, after kissing Alyson, she’s the one I think about at night when I wrap my hand around my cock. Fuck. Me.
“You okay, bro?”
“What?” I ask.
Beck pushes to his feet and stands almost as tall as me. His too-long hair, a lighter shade of brown than mine, hangs to his shoulders. “You kind of disappeared for a second.”
“Just thinking about things.” I shove my hands into my pockets. “Where the hell is Tyler?”
“Language, bro,” Tyler says as he comes strolling through the path separating my property from Alyson’s. “What’s going on?” he asks.
“What’s going on with you?” I ask.
“Just hanging out with Alyson. Did you know her friend Lucy might be coming to visit next week? I hope she’s hot, too.”
“Is that all you think about?”
He laughs. “Seventeen, dude, remember.”
“Yeah, I remember. Now get the tool belt on and help me with those two-by-fours over there. Beck, can you set up the saw? I want to get the north wall up before dark.”
“On it,” Beck says, and Tyler frowns at me.
“What?”
“Bryce is a fucking dick. Did you know that?”
“Yup, not a big fan myself.”
“He’s sketchy as shit.” He snorts. “No wonder Mr. Matthews didn’t want to sell him the farm. I think I need to teach Capone a new phrase and parade him around in front of Bryce the next time he comes by.”
My hand stills as I reach for my tool belt. “Bryce came by?”
“He cornered Alyson in the market today. He really pissed her off, too,” Ty says. “She’d just taken a pie from the oven, and I thought she was going to throw it at him. She should have.” He laughs. “That would have been fucking awesome.”
My stomach tightens. Bryce doesn’t have a whole lot of tact, but he wants the farm, and a fast offer will allow her to make a clean break from this place. “What did he do to piss her off?”
“He said he’d take the farm off her delicate hands and reminded her of the offer he made last week. He really lowballed her. I should have sicced Cluck on him.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, she doesn’t really know what she’s doing over there, Jay. But I wasn’t going to let her get screwed over. Told that fucking dick to shove his offer up his arse and not to come back until he has a better one.”
“You probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“I mean, we all know she’s not cut out for this, but she’s really trying.”
She really is trying. It’s evident and surprising. My stomach squeezes. Shit, maybe I should be more worried than I am about losing my bet with Charlie. It’s still early in the game, though. In a couple more weeks, she’ll fall apart. She has to.
“She should get fair market value when she sells,” I say.
“I don’t think it’s the first time he harassed her, either. She seemed to know exactly who he was when he walked into the barn like he owned it. He really upset her.”
The urge to run over there and protect her from that asshole takes hold. “Okay, I’ll talk to her, make sure she’s okay.” I glance at my watch. “Let’s get this done. I have to be at the community center by seven.”
“Heard Alyson was choreographing the dance,” Beck says after he gets the table saw set up.
“Can’t wait to see you make an ass of yourself,” Tyler adds, laughing as he grabs the lumber.
I ignore his jibe because he’s not wrong, and for the next couple hours, we work. By the time we get the wall up, the sun is low on the horizon. I wipe my brow with the back of my hand.
“Thanks, guys. Good job.”
“Now can I go get laid?” Tyler asks.
“Tyler—”
“Wouldn’t hurt you to get laid, too, big brother.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Tyler, you need to…” I stop talking.