Page 53 of Kaden & Keegan
Chapter Eight
When Keegan woke on Saturday morning, itwasn’t with a hangover, thank God. He hadn’t stayed out too late, hadn’t spent the entire night playing GTA or Forza, but he was still moving slowly. He figured he could attribute it to mood, and he was bound and determined to put his best foot forward.
The first thing he did when he woke up was call Curtis. His uncle had been surprised to hear from him, but not surprised by what he’d inquired about. Then, after a few minutes, they’d agreed that the three of them would stop in to see Jeremiah Tucker after church on Sunday. In the meantime, his uncle promised to call the man to let him know Keegan and Kaden were interested in buying his ranch.
No doubt about it, Keegan was excited about the prospect. It seemed he’d waited his entire life for this opportunity. He damn sure didn’t want it to pass him by.
As for why that didn’t brighten his day completely, he refused to think about.
Last night, Kaden had been the solemn one, suggesting they go home shortly after he realized Bristol had left. Keegan hadn’t noticed. Sort of. He’d tried not to, anyway. But he’d caught bits and pieces of the girl spat that had taken place at Bristol’s table. Evidently, her friends were giving her crap about something and Bristol had decided she’d had enough. Shortly thereafter she left.
When his brother suggested they go to her house, make sure she was all right, Keegan had politely declined. Bristol was a big girl; she could handle herself. If she needed help, she would know to ask someone. As far as Keegan was concerned, what they’d had or the potential for what they could’ve had was over. His fault, of course. But that didn’t change the outcome of where they stood.
It was for the best. Keegan could accept relationships weren’t his thing. He’d invested too much time in them only to end up being the odd man out. He wasn’t willing to risk it again. One-nighters were more his style. Nothing to get hung up on, no one to leave him wanting.
Last night at the bar, Keegan had considered asking Kaden to give the population of lovely ladies some attention, but he hadn’t been feeling it, either. So he’d taken his leave when Kaden did, come home, and hit the sack early. Because of that, he’d woken early, which left him plenty of time to psych himself up for…
Oh, right. Today was the auction.Thatwas certainly something that would brighten his mood.
They were going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. To some eager woman if they were lucky. He tried to think about which ladies he knew in the area who were single. There were quite a few, but when he tried to think of his options, there was only one he could come up with. Her name was evidently seared into his brain.
He considered finding paper and a pen, jotting down names of women who would be a viable option as far as distractions went, but decided that was a complete waste of his time. He had much better things to do like…
Fuck.
Midafternoon finally rolled around, giving Keegan an excuse to get out of the house. They decided to come to Walker Park—yes, it was officially named after the founding family—a little early, giving them time to chat with their random family members—aunts, uncles, cousins, even their sister was there—and check out the variety of fun and food being offered by the many people set up throughout, before the festivities got underway.
As soon as they got there, Kaden said something about checking in with someone. Keegan hadn’t been paying all that much attention, too taken by the sights and smells of the fall festival. Admittedly, he loved this event although he wasn’t sure why. Could’ve been the haunted house or the trick-or-treaters who were donning costumes and getting candy from the people selling their wares. Or maybe it was the aroma of apple pie and funnel cake that lured him.
The moment he saw Kate with her mom and one of her dads, Keegan’s smile returned in full force. He sauntered over, said hello to Kylie and Gage, then gave Kate a light punch on the arm.
When the girl smiled up at him, life was instantly better. He’d been waiting for this day, for Kate to return to a semblance of her normal, smiling self. She wasn’t quite there yet, but it was certainly progress.
“Hey,” he greeted Kylie and Gage. “Where’s Travis?”
He noticed how Gage instantly looked away.
“He had work to do,” she explained. “Said he might swing by later.”
From her tone, he could tell she didn’t believe there was work. Then again, Keegan knew Travis well. The man always put his family above everything else. Or rather, the man he’d known before Kate’s kidnapping had, anyway. No one could pretend there wasn’t something different about Travis these days.
“Y’all gonna watch the auction?” he asked.
“We most certainly are,” Kylie said. “Fully intend to inflate those prices if at all possible. It is for a good cause and all.”
“And if it backfires and you end up with a hunky date of your very own?”
Kylie glanced up at Gage. “I have all the hunky dates I need, but we could always use an extra babysitter.”
Keegan laughed.
“Well, I’ll get outta your hair,” he said as he twirled one of Kate’s pigtails. “Let you get back to it. Tell Travis I said hey.”
With that, Keegan headed off to find Kaden, figuring his brother was already mingling with those gathering for the auction. He immediately spotted him across the way, his brother’s gaze swinging his way. Forcing a lightness he didn’t quite feel, he headed in Kaden’s direction.
From the moment he made his first pass by the stage set up for the event and the surrounding area sectioned off for today’s auction, Keegan realized he had died and gone to heaven. Women every-fucking-where and most of them here with one goal in mind. Landing themselves a man for the evening, their eyes on the prize. And two of those prizes being him and Kaden.
He was actually surprised to see such a good turnout. He had no idea there were this many single women in Coyote Ridge. They ranged from probably mid-twenties to, by his guesstimate, mid-seventies, and a good portion in between.
