Page 30 of Hard To Fall
“Well,” she says calmly, “that explains the tension.”
I close my eyes.
Dad comes around the side of the house, wiping his hands on a rag.
“What explains the tension?” he asks.
Levi points at me. “Colt and Lily.”
Dad blinks. “What about them?”
Levi grins wider. “They did it.”
Mom lets out an exaggerated gasp. “Already?”
“Maria,” Dad mutters.
“What?” she says, laughing. “I told you she’d be good for more than the rodeo.”
I open my eyes. “Can everyone stop talking about my sex life like it’s community property?”
Levi laughs. “This is absolutely community property.”
I stalk toward the barn, and they follow me, Levi never shutting his mouth once. “She works for us, ya know? We probably should all be brought up to speed on this budding relationship.”
“Shut the fuck up, brother.”
“You gonna deny it?” Levi asks.
“Yes.”
“Too late,” Mom says. “You’re blushing.”
“I am not.”
“You absolutely are,” she counters.
Dad just watches me quietly, which is worse. We’ve never been discreet about these types of conversations. Sex was freely talked about, and Mom just rolls with the punches. She raised two cowboys for god’s sake; she knew she had to be open with us or risk trouble by us hiding it.
“You haven’t slept with anyone in years. You must be serious about her.” Levi says, suddenly less joking.
I pull up short, not at him outing my dry spell, but because he hit the nail on the head. I wouldn't have done it, had I not felt something more than lust.
“Mind your business,” I say.
He nods. “That’s a yes.”
“It’s not anything,” I snap. “It was?—”
“What?” Mom presses. “A mistake?”
I don’t answer, the silence stretches, and the teasing stops.
“You don’t look like a man who regrets it,” my dad says as he walks closer. I stare at the dirt. Don’t they know this is hard enough without them interrogating me?
Mom steps up beside Dad and lays her hand on my arm, all joking aside now.
“Colt,” she says gently, “you’ve been carrying everything alone for too long.”
