Page 81 of Roping My Rival

I stay locked on his handsome face until he turns and walks into the house.

I drive out of the yard with nowhere to go.

Sleep comes in five-minute pockets.

It’s the worst night of my life, and even my rabbits sense I’m off. Nibbles usually does her own thing after breakfast, but she keeps bouncing back to me, butting me with her head.

“Okay. I’ll snuggle more. You’re right. I need a hug.” My voice hitches as I pet the attention-seeking rabbit. While they’ve always comforted me, I need more than my bunnies right now.

I need my dads.

After splashing water on my face and hoping I don’t look like death warmed over, I finally make my way downstairs. The scent of coffee still hangs in the air, and I know Dad has been up for a few hours. I heard him moving around at chore time, and I usually help, but this morning I couldn’t pull myself out of bed for it. We have a morning farm hand who shows up to for chores, and Dad doesn’t even need to go, but it’s a habit he doesn’t want to kick.

Peeking out the picture window, my dads sit together snuggled up on the porch swing.

A blanket over their laps, Pops leans into Dad, and I close my eyes when Dad tips his chin to kiss him. It’s a private moment I don’t want to intrude on, and one that I’ve seen so many times while growing up here. It’s also what gives me the strength to interrupt.

Opening the patio door, I clear my throat as I step out. They both smile as Dad rocks the swing with his foot.

“Sorry to interrupt.”

“You’re not,” Dad says. His gaze meets mine, and I almost lose my nerve. “What do you need us for?” His voice is gentle. There’s no yelling or name-calling. It’s just my dad being there for me. Even if our time together didn’t start until I was fifteen, this is the man with whom I feel an impossibly close bond and trust implicitly. Pops too, but Dad is…we just get each other a little better than anyone else. Kind of like how Pops and Clarence are two of the same.

Huffing a breath, I lean against the railing across from them. The gentle squeak of the swing chain is oddly soothing. It reminds me of all the talks I had as a teenager out here with them. The back porch and the swing will forever be my safe zone.

“It’s Dane,” I begin and clear my throat again. “He’s in trouble.”

Dad’s foot stops rocking, and Pops sits up straight. “What kind of trouble?” Pops asks in his lawyer voice, and I’m insanely grateful to have both of them on my side right now.

I take several minutes to tell them everything about Dane and what he shared. I tell them what Jesse found out and what I’ve seen. They listen the entire time, and when I’m finally finished, I feel almost heavier than when I started.

Pops frowns and looks at Dad. Dad has his I’m gonna burn down the world to protect my family look, and I’m a little nervous about that. He said he likes Dane, but that might change.

“Warren, I’m going to ask this once. Do you think he’s using you and the school to get at our wealth? Be honest. Don’t think with your dick.”

My dad has always been blunt that way, and I’ve been thinking of that very thing for the past eight hours. Ever since I watched him drive away alone. Ever since I held him weeping against my shirt in my favourite pocket of solitude.

“He’s not. That’s an answer from my head and not my dick. I think he meant it when he didn’t see any other way out of it, and I think he honestly thinks he can’t go to the police.”

Dad and Pops share a long glance, an entire conversation without words, before Pops stands.

“I have people I can call. He won’t be charged if he has evidence against Henry. The poor kid needs a break. He’s lost everything, and after finally finding a place to land with us, he gets that taken away, too? No. Not on my watch.” Pops opens his arms, and I step into his hug. “If he needs help, we’ll get it for him. Leave it to me.”

Pops leaves me and Dad alone, and he pats the space on the swing next to him.

“You didn’t come out for chores this morning.”

“No. I wasn’t ready for…I had to get my thoughts straight before you started your inquisition.” He snorts, and his lips curve into a smile.

“I ask a lot of questions, but it’s only because I care. You’re my son. Doesn’t matter how you came to be my son, either. The day I signed those papers to officially be your dad is one I’ll never forget, Warren. Raising kids isn’t something I dreamed of until I met you.”

“What? Really? You’ve never said that before.”

“Yes, really.” Dad rocks the swing with his foot. “That night at 4-H, you were blazing mad, and I’d never heard such profanity.” We both chuckle. I was awfully upset that night. “But underneath all that, the lost little boy that reminded me of myself just popped out and reminded me how it felt to just need something to anchor to. In that single moment, I knew it had to be me, and I wanted you to become the fine young man you are now. It was always there.”

“Sometimes we’re so alike I think it’s why we fight so much.”

Dad chuckles and nudges me with his shoulder.