7. Leo

CHAPTER 7

leo

"Hey, Joaquin. How do you like your eggs?" I asked as I slapped some more bacon onto the griddle.

"Leo? What are you doing here?" Joaquin's brow was quizzical as he slunk into the kitchen, unscrewed his travel mug, and poured from the pot of freshly brewed coffee. "Other than cooking, that is. Are you and Love…?"

I wrinkled my nose. "I'm just here because y'all had a terrible plumbing situation. They're still plenty mad at me."

Joaquin pressed his lips together in a firm line. He was nodding, even though I saw little agreement in his eyes. "Don't give up hope. They just need some time."

I shook my head. "They were pretty clear that hope was the first thing I should give up."

He grabbed my shoulder and squeezed it. "Maybe it's the romantic in me, but if they're angry, they must harbor deep feelings for you."

I flushed, even as I knew how impossible it all was. "Thanks."

Colt—the softest bear cub ever—came up from behind and nuzzled his face into Joaquin's neck, wrapping his arms around Joaquin's waist. While I was happy that they were still going strong, Joaquin's soft smile felt like a dagger to the heart.

"Mmm. Someone said that breakfast was being served in bunkhouse three, and I had to take advantage," Colt murmured.

Back when I was here before, breakfast had been served in the main house, but last night Kris mentioned that once they started adding bunkhouses, it got to be too much, and now each bunkhouse handled their own breakfast.

Kris had also eyed me up and down like a piece of steak when we passed in the hallway this morning, his gaze landing on my crotch. I really wished I'd at least stopped for underwear on my way to the ranch yesterday. Not wanting to give everyone a show, I found the laundry room and changed into my T-shirt and swim trunks, which at least covered my business.

I didn't want to think about the fact that Love had gotten up at some point and put my clothes in the dryer.

Anyway, the guy who made breakfast tacos had gotten married and left last year, and the guys had apparently been limping along on cereal and frozen breakfast sandwiches ever since.

It seemed a no-brainer to make breakfast, since they'd put me up in a nice guest room with a soft bed, and I noticed a few other folks coming in who must've been from the other bunkhouses.

"Are those my boys?" Warwick asked, cocky as usual. He walked straight up to Joaquin and planted a—frankly pornographic—kiss on the man. "You were amazing last night, beloved. We haven't taken Colt like that in far too long."

Colt's fair complexion pinked up as Warwick stretched across Joaquin's shoulder to give his sweet bear cub a kiss as well.

"God, Colt. You were fantastic."

Colt hummed a pleased tune while Wick hitched his jeans. It was as though the memory of whatever the three of them had done last night was enough to rev him up all over again.

I snarled at the trio, thinking it was pretty goddamn unfair that they each got two people to love while I had no one. Worse, it was my fault, and… Fuck it. I turned my attention back to the eggs. "Scrambled coming up!" I shouted to the room, trying to sound cheerful. The vertical line that appeared between Warwick's eyebrows told me that I'd missed the mark.

"Leo? You're making breakfast for everyone?" Love shuffled into the kitchen. Their hair was an adorable rat's nest, and their pajamas were a sexy combination of crop top and baggy pants slung low on their trim hips. It was enough to give me heart palpitations.

I clenched my jaw and forced my eyes back to the pan in front of me. "Yep. Don't worry, I'll be out of your hair in a sec."

Joaquin's eyes danced between the two of us before the troublesome trio made their way outside.

I did what I could to ignore Love's presence in the kitchen and flipped the slices of bacon off to one side of the pan. I then cracked two eggs into the bacon grease and let the bottom crisp while I used the spatula to scoop some of the hot oil on top of the sunny-side up eggs, just the way Love liked them. Sucking my lower lip into my mouth, I grabbed a plate, tossed on the eggs and a few pieces of bacon along with a big scoop of grits, and set it on the counter, pushing it in Love's direction.

They took the plate and grabbed some utensils. "Thanks, Leo."

I didn't acknowledge Love, or their wobbly voice, and instead took another plate and filled it with scrambled eggs, which I topped with grits and a couple crumbled slices of bacon. I ate the mountain of carbs, fat, and protein at the counter, not wanting to face them. The other guys shuffled awkwardly around me, a few of them taking their breakfast into the living room.

By the time I scarfed everything down, Love and I were the only ones left in the house. Breakfast on a working ranch—even on a Sunday—could be measured in seconds, it seemed.

Love started their shower, and I padded through the living room and out the door, shutting it as quietly as possible behind me. Coming here had been a huge mistake, though maybe I'd needed to see exactly how over me Love was. I wouldn't be moving on with another human, but maybe now my heart would finally let them go.

Probably not, but a guy could hope.

I was pulling up my therapist's email as I made my way down the path to where the truck was parked, so I didn't see what was wrong until I was right up on it. Both tires on the driver's side and one on the passenger side had been flattened.

Just when I needed an extra kick in the nut sack.

Pulling up Major's number with a sigh, I put the call on speaker, wondering who'd done this. Love would never, but Junior… he might. Love had told me on more than one occasion how overprotective Junior could be.

"Hey, Leo, where are you?"

"I'm out at Rebel Sky with three flat tires."

Major cursed loudly.

"I'm sorry. I'll cover the expense."

"That's not the problem, Leo. What the hell happened out there?"

"Love wasn't exactly happy to see me, but their bunkhouse had a shit ton of plumbing issues, so I stayed to take care of things."

"And they still flattened your tires?"

"I don't think Love did it. But Junior's the foreman out here, so…"

Major sighed. "At least there's triple A. Before I call them, can you check the tires? What's the damage?"

Squatting down next to the front driver's side tire, I tilted my head to the side. "Huh. I can't seem to find a puncture, the sidewalls are fine, and the tread is fine." I checked the rest of the pancaked tires, and it was the same with all of them. "We might be in luck. Looks like the air was let out, as opposed to punctures."

As soon as I said that, I noticed the little valve cap sitting on the grass next to one of the tires. I shared that with Major, and he agreed that we probably didn't need replacements.

"Leo? What happened?" Love asked. Their damp hair was twisted back into a bun, and they were wearing a white Beatles T-shirt, broken-in 501s, and combat boots. They'd accessorized with a pearl necklace, matching pearl earrings, and something sparkly on their lips.

I had to close my eyes and do a breathing exercise to get my head on straight.

"Three of my tires were flattened," I said. "I'm guessing Junior wasn't super thrilled I stayed here last night."

"Junior wouldn't have done that."

"You sure?" Major asked. I'd forgotten he was on speaker.

"Major, is that you?" Love asked.

I held the phone up between us like a shield so they wouldn't come any closer.

"Yeah. And I'm not super thrilled that one of my work trucks has been vandalized."

"I'm really sorry. I promise you, Junior wouldn't do that. Especially since it's clearly marked as one of your trucks."

As they were talking, my eyes drifted over to the stallion barn. Colt and Warwick were peeking out the door, giggling as they watched us. Joaquin hovered quietly in the background.

I huffed out an annoyed breath. Fucking Warwick.

"Never mind, Love. I'm pretty sure Junior wasn't involved," I said, lifting my chin at the chuckleheads. "I'm guessing the lovestruck trio played a prank on me."

Love tracked my sight line, then buried their face in their hands. "I am so, so sorry. I'll have Junior rip them a new one."

Why were their eyes so pretty in the morning light?

"I don't suppose you have a compressor lying around?" Major asked, annoyed. "Or, I don't know, a bicycle pump?"

"I don't think they have an air compressor on the property." Love sent me an apologetic look. "But I bet there's a pump for the kids' bikes."

Major laughed, though I doubt he found any of this funny. "I was kidding about the bicycle pump. That wouldn't work very well on truck tires. But, if we're pretty sure the tires haven't been ruined, triple A can take care of them."

I groaned. "It'll be hours before they can get all the way out here."

"Sorry, buddy," Major said as Love's phone went off.

They looked down, frowning. "I just got a 9-1-1 message from Lynn. Sorry, I have to take this."

They walked off, and I refocused on Major. "I'm on the triple A account, right?"

"Sure. You can call it in if you want to. If you have any trouble, let me know."

"Thanks, Major. I'm so sorry about this."

"Nothing to be sorry about, Leo. Though I might kick Warwick's fine ass the next time I see him."

"Careful," I warned, trying to be funny. "He might like it."

Major laughed, then went quiet for a beat. "Are you okay, though?"

I watched as Love spoke to Lynn with increasingly animated gestures. "Nowhere in the vicinity of okay."

"I hear you, buddy. Why don't you come over and have dinner with me and Ren tonight?"

"Nah. I'd be shitty company."

"Leo," he said, sounding exasperated. "You don't have to be perfect company to spend time with us."

"Thanks, Major." I thought about his offer and how my therapist said that not accepting support from my friends was akin to rejecting their love. "Fine. I'll try to make it over tonight."

We hung up, and I dug around in the glove box to find the AAA card. I called the number, and, as I'd suspected, they wouldn't be out until midafternoon.

Fuck my life.

I confirmed the appointment time with them and ended the call. When I looked up, I was startled to see Love standing so close to me.

"Did you get it squared away?" they asked.

"Yeah." I sighed. "But triple A won't be here till two o'clock at the earliest."

"Oh." They checked their phone again. "Actually, Lynn just called because the Hansons found a calf that'd gone missing, and it's stuck in a fence. We could use an extra set of hands to get it untangled."

I shrugged, giving in to whatever the day had in store for me. "I've never wrangled a calf before, but I'm pretty strong."

"That's what I was thinking. Do you mind joining us?"

"Not at all." My pathetic heart pumped a little harder at the prospect of spending more time with Love.

I never learned.