River's Return (River's End Series, #3) (4 page)

“I don’t have to experience it to understand the clear-cut wrongness of cheating.” He was fishing way too close to home for her, making her anxiety level rise, as well as her voice.

“Shh,” he snapped as he glanced around when she nearly shouted
cheating
. “Unless of course, you want to be the one to tell Jett. I guess that’s fine, but it might make future neighbor relations awkward.”

“That is so cold.”

He shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first husband to find out about me. But come on, teacher, the passion you feel about this? Clearly, you have a biased opinion.”

“Clearly. I could not possibly deem it wrong for the sake of morality, now could I?”

He eyed her with a soft smile. “I think there’s some history there.”

“Goodbye, Shane,” she answered in a toneless voice.

“Goodbye, teacher,” he mumbled, “It’s been surprisingly entertaining.”

He hopped over the small fence that encircled her yard and took his huge bike off its stand. Seconds later, it roared to life before he took off, sending dust and gravel spraying all around him. She watched his bike glint in the evening sunlight. Shaking her head in amazement at such gall, she shut the door on him.

She was still confused over her choice not to explain to Jett that his marriage was in shambles. Whether he deserved it or not, she had no idea, but she still didn’t believe it was the fairest way to treat the guy. She turned and picked up the half empty glass left by Shane and dumped out the contents. A small, lingering smile stayed on her lips at the man’s utter audacity. He had gall, she’d give him that.

****

Teacher was a little edgier than her appearance suggested. Going along with Celia’s crazy idea, without any warning or preparation, was pretty ballsy of her.
Shane slowed his bike as he hit River Road, the long dirt lane that led to his family’s farm. It followed the Rydell River for many miles, hence the name, River Road. The driveway was full of potholes so he had to guide his bike around the various obstacles. He found it kind of fun to swerve and sway to avoid everything.

Stopping the beast, he pushed it into his shop where he kept it out of the elements. It was a custom Harley with black paint and a killer skull-and-crossbones design in subtle little snippets that were repeated throughout the paint job.

The shop was dark until he flipped the light on. He coughed at all the dust. There sat an old Ford truck from the 1950s that he was getting restored for a man who found it buried in one of his old barns. It was caked in rat and mice feces. Birds had even nested in it, and ants infested it, making it a real shit storm to even clean up. But Shane was halfway through it now. He had it all cleaned up and primed for paint. The engine was a brand new and still to be mounted, and it would soon have custom exhaust and suspension.

He threw his helmet onto one of the workbenches and walked out of the shop and into the house. “Ben?”

There was shuffling and thumping before Ben came sauntering down the main staircase. “Hey, Shane.”

He had dropped the
Uncle
Shane last year. Ben was now eighteen years old and it still surprised Shane when Ben came into a room. He’d grown into a tall, strapping man, not the gangly boy he used to be barely two years ago. He had filled out in his shoulders and torso, and looked a lot like his dad. Freakily, he was a younger, fresher version of Jack Rydell.

“Where’s Charlie?” He left Ben strict instructions to watch over Charlie while he was visiting Celia this afternoon. One nice thing about Shane’s life was he had no one’s schedule to keep but his own. No boss nagged him to come to work, or to report to a stuffy building for X number of hours. He worked whenever the hell he wanted to, and for however the hell long he wanted.

“Out hanging with AJ while he’s working that new foal.”

“Oh. That’s right. Forgot about that.” He might have purposely forgotten; he wasn’t sure. He rarely even listened to the management of the horses or got involved in their breeding, training, and boarding. AJ and Jack were responsible for that. Ben was starting to take a heavy load off Jack. More power to him in Shane’s eyes. It still made him shudder whenever he thought of having to be the one to carry that load, and at only eighteen years old. Shane was just glad no one ever looked to him to be the one. Or hold any real responsibility, to be honest. This keeping an eye on the nephews thing for three weeks was probably the most he’d ever been
asked
to do that wasn’t something he
wanted
to do. Even today, when Celia called, he almost forgot that Charlie would soon be home and he had to make sure Charlie wasn’t alone. Jack’s rules, even if the kid was old enough in Shane’s eyes. It was a safety thing as far as Jack was concerned.

The house was so fuckin’ quiet nowadays. Shane sat down and stretched his long legs out before him as a deep sigh escaped his chest. It used to be guys everywhere. Now? Just the kids and him. It really felt quiet with Jack and Erin gone.

Shane knew that was being hypocritical. He left more often than anyone. He was gone for weeks, sometimes months at a time. And when he returned, and he always did, although he often wished he didn’t feel so obligated to, but when he returned, his family used to all be here.

Now? Only the skeleton crew of his family remained.

He should’ve heated something up. Ian and Jack were so much better about meals than he. Except Ian decided to start dating the damn housekeeper so there was no one to make anything for dinner now. Just him. Shane didn’t like having domestic responsibility foisted on him, but he more hated the house being so empty.

“I should make something, huh? Like hot food? Probably three nights of cold cereal is too many?” he asked Ben, his tone sounding dejected.

Ben laughed and sat down across from him. “Weird around here without Ian and Dad.”

“Feels like the fu—I mean the damn soul of the house drove away with both of them. I mean… I’m just not the backbone of this place. That’s Jack and Ian’s job. Me? I’m supposed to visit and stay, but when I drive off, no one feels empty.” He said the f-word too much around the boys, and Jack had been riding his ass for years.

“It does. I really never thought Ian would leave,” Ben said in a solemn tone. He was starting to display more and more of his dad’s serious demeanor and Ian’s reserve. He wasn’t the loud, happy kid of sixteen anymore. Shane was already missing it.

“Fuc—I mean,
damn
love. It messes up everything,” Shane muttered.

Ben smiled. “It brought me into the world and Charlie and Erin here. So it can’t be all bad.”

“It makes people falsely believe they can sustain an unrealistic state of being for the long term.
Monogamy.
” Shane shuddered. “Never for me. No way. No how.” He debated whether or not he should admit that to his teenage nephew and added, “Oh, hey, you shouldn’t feel that way though.”

’Cause Jack would kill him,
Shane thought with a cringe. Ben laughed.

“Can I ask you something, long as no one else is here?”

“No one’s ever here anymore,” Shane mumbled. “But sure, what’s up?”

“You won’t tell my dad?”

Shane’s back snapped straighter. Not tell Jack? That was one way to get his ass reamed out if his big bro ever found out. But Ben’s face was serious and solemn as he peered at him. Like whatever it was meant something really important to Ben. “Okay, long as you’re not in mortal danger, or committing a crime, I guess I can keep quiet.”

Ben scooted forward and leaned his elbows on the table. “I was wondering about… well, if you could tell me how I could hook a girl up with some birth control.”

Shane’s mouth dropped opened and stayed there. “Uh, why the shit would you think I’d know anything about that? And why would you need to? Just use a condom. Better to have your own guarantee than to trust the word of a girl who might not be as trustworthy as you hope she is.” Of course, the obvious question that perched on the tip of Shane’s tongue was:
when did Ben start having sex?

Ben leaned forward, staring at his fingertips, which were laced together on the table top. He glanced up at Shane and then looked back down. Shane could almost feel Ben’s blush, which was turning his neck and ears pink. “There’s someone. We’ve been together for a while now. We do use condoms, but we’d like to… not. We’re all clean and everything. Both virgins and all that when we got together. Birth control is the answer. But her parents, they won’t, you know, help her. I thought maybe you’d know since you sleep with so many women and all…” Ben’s voice trailed off. Shane wasn’t sure if he should feel offended or honored.

“Who is it? You never bring anyone here.”

Ben glanced up and tapped his foot under the table. “You won’t tell Dad?”

Shane shrugged. “Well, I don’t have to.  But why don’t
you
just tell him? You’re plenty old enough to have a girlfriend and be sleeping with her. Hell, I was…” He almost bit off his tongue. No need to advertise he was sixteen and sleeping around his small school with pretty impressive results. That was not what Jack wanted Ben to be.
A man-whore
. He’d been called that and worse. But Shane refused to apologize for it. Yeah, he liked sex. A lot. He never wanted to settle down; and never advertised his availability for commitment. As a conscientious and thorough partner, why shouldn’t he have sex? Lots and lots of mutual, noncommittal sex. There was nothing wrong with it, not like the word player or man-whore portrayed. He didn’t lie, cheat, or pretend. Or play games. So hell, yeah! He slept around. It was fun. But it didn’t hurt anyone. If it did, it was the girl’s fault for not believing him and trying to make fairy tales from the reality Shane clearly defined for every one of them.

“It’s Marcy. Marcy Fielding. Dad doesn’t like her too much.”

“Wasn’t that the girl you were using when your dad caught you?”

“Yes.” Ben’s smile showed his chagrin. “The following year, we sat next to each other in a class and it kind of started all over. She forgave me after I apologized for the way I treated her. And then we got together some more. And now? Now, we really love each other, Shane. Like the thing you said wasn’t possible. It is. I could be monogamous to her for the rest of my life. It wouldn’t be hard either. I love her.”

Shane’s eyebrows shot up. That was not what he expected coming from Ben. Ben’s eyes were bright and Shane didn’t doubt Ben believed deep in his heart exactly what he was saying. He was thoroughly convinced he was in love and expected it to last a lifetime. Shane had to restrain his urge to snort. He was just a kid. Maybe a tall kid, and still developing, but definitely a kid. No way could some end-of-high-school romance endure for the rest of his life.

“Neither of us want to go to college, and we don’t want to leave the valley. She’s working Kailynn’s old job at the café and I, obviously, work for Dad. We have plans, Shane. Lots and lots of plans. We agree on almost everything. We’re both saving up so maybe in a year, we can get a place together, and eventually settle down here. We want to live here and run the ranch someday.”

Ben’s face glowed as he raved about his future. His youth and blooming optimism made Shane feel old and decrepit in comparison. He thought he heard his bones creaking. He was sure he had never been so optimistic about anything. Even when he was Ben’s age; no, he never sounded like that. About anyone. Not ever. He wasn’t capable of it. A kind of amused weariness overcame him as he watched Ben. He didn’t want to crush his childish, romantic view of the world, but Ben needed to realize that real life wasn’t a pretty, little box all tied up with a fancy bow. The picture he painted would end in five years with Marcy and Ben feeling too overworked and tired, but afraid to admit they were far too young for the life they had chosen to share. They’d realize what a dead end they were in, going nowhere, and doing nothing. Then they would forget what first brought them together. They would be utterly bored from working crappy jobs, just so they could live in a small apartment together. No doubt, they’d be even more spent after they rushed into having kids early. Then their kids would finish them off before they’re even thirty and…

Shane shuddered; the entire picture was the closest to hell on earth he could imagine. He would never get caught in any of that. No monogamous relationship, no steady job, let alone, marriage. He winced at the thought of having his own baby.
Yuck. No. Never
. But he couldn’t deny how sweet and innocent Ben and Marcy’s shared optimism was.

“Again, just use condoms. No use letting Marcy have the chance to—”

“She would never trick me,” Ben snapped, cutting him off. “She would never do that to me. And besides, our plans don’t include kids yet.”

“Right,” he mumbled. Sure, that never happens. No woman or girl ever tricked a guy into getting pregnant. Must be fun to live in Ben’s rosy-tinged reality. “Hell, kid, I’m the last person you should ask. A girl could be on three different kinds of birth control and I’d still be bagging up. No one’s tricking me. Or catching me in her web like that. You’d be far better off asking Erin o—”

“Erin! She’s my stepmom.”

“Right. Okay, gross factor. My point is, ask anyone but me.”

Ben nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“But, remember my advice: you should keep control of that. No matter who you’re with.”