Chapter 4

four

. . .

Walker

Thirteen years earlier

S he's so fucking pretty.

I couldn't contain the thought as I watched my best friend. River was a blur as she raced across the pasture, hair flying behind her, laugh taunting me from where I sat atop Blue.

"Catch me if you can!" she called before leaning forward and pushing Kismet harder. The horse sped up, and that was all the encouragement I needed.

I dug my heels into Blue's side and clicked my tongue. My pretty mare might have seemed soft and gentle, but she was damn fast. It wasn't long before we were right on their heels, Blue's strides eating up the ground between us until we were neck and neck.

"To the tree?" I asked, breathless from the rush.

River's eyes sparkled as she nodded, then gave Kismet another nudge.

The two of us ended up reaching our tree at the same time, but I let her think she won. It was worth it to see the smile light up her face as she dismounted and tied Kismet to the hitching post nearby.

"That was a close one."

I'd always been competitive—some might even call me a poor sport—but with River looking the way she did, things had changed. Now I didn't care one bit about losing or my pride. Something had shifted between us, and I had a pretty good idea of what it was. The difference between fifteen and sixteen was a big one for me. Especially where River was concerned.

It's like I woke up one morning and the girl who'd been my best friend for the last ten years was a stranger. Suddenly I was noticing things like the way her eyes crinkled when she smiled, the number of freckles she had across the bridge of her nose, how good she smelled, or more recently, the way her denim was just a bit tighter in the hips and it made my mouth go dry.

So . . . not best friend thoughts.

The problem was, River definitely wasn't on the same page. She looked at me and still saw her buddy Walker. I didn't know how to change that without ruining what we had. What if I made a move and she rejected me? Could I recover from that? Could our friendship survive?

A big part of me held on to the conversation I'd had with Cross not long ago. He was so much older, with a lot more experience with girls. He knew about this stuff.

"You have to take your shot, or you'll waste your chance. Don't sit there with your thumb up your ass. Ladies like confidence. Take what you want. Don't make her guess, because nine times outta ten, she's going to assume you're not interested and set her sights on someone else."

River and I sat under the shade of the big old oak, the silence between us as comfortable as it always was. She leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed, and it was all I could do not to inhale the scent of her hair.

If I just dipped my chin down, my lips would brush her forehead. Or, even better, I could tip her chin up, and then I could just kiss her.

My heart raced, and my palms grew sweaty at the thought.

I couldn't think of anything else. I wanted to know if she'd taste like that pineapple chapstick she always wore.

"River," I murmured, desperate to catch her attention so I could do what Cross had said and take what I wanted. Make my move.

"Yeah?" Here it was, the chance I needed. She shifted and began turning her head toward mine but stopped, her focus snapping to the rider galloping across the pasture in the distance.

My brother.

The look on her face said it all. Especially when he stopped and lifted his shirt to wipe the sweat from his brow. She wanted him.

Not me.

Never me.

I would always be runner-up. The spare, never the heir. Just like everyone loved to remind me.

I was honestly surprised I even had a name. Dad should have just called me Two. That would have been clearer.

"Walker, are you even listening to me?"

Present day

"Walker, are you even listening to me?"

My brother's words echoed the same ones River had used so long ago, snapping me out of the memory.

I scowled down at the woman in question as I watched her from the window, phone in her hand, her lips curled up in that same doting expression she used to reserve for Cross.

Must be talking to the boyfriend.

"Walker! Get your head out of your ass."

"What?" I snapped.

"You might not be worried about her coming in and taking over, but I sure as fuck am. I don't know what Dad thought he was doing."

"I dunno, seems like classic Senior to me."

"This isn't a game. She can't run this ranch, not to mention everything else we have going on. She shouldn't be here."

Maybe not, but it wasn't like she was going anywhere anytime soon. Not unless we wanted to lose everything we'd spent our lives building.

"Well, news flash, brother. She's here. There ain't nothing we can do about it."

Cross dragged a hand through his hair and growled. "That old asshole. Dictating our lives even after he died."

"Like I said, classic Senior. Are you really surprised? The man lived to boss us and everyone else around. Pretty sure he thought he was some kind of king."

"More like kingpin," Cross muttered.

That was true enough, given that the bulk of his empire was of the illegal variety.

"I'll keep her distracted from the less-than-savory stuff. You keep everything else going, all right? You've made it clear you don't want her here, so there's no use in trying to put the two of you together."

Cross nodded curtly, his gaze refusing to go to the window. "Keep her out of my way. She might own the legit businesses, but I run this ship. I'll just have to do it under the radar." He checked his phone as he spoke, brows pulling down and a scowl making him look meaner than a hornet. "Speaking of. I need to go."

"What's up?"

"Nothing you need to worry about. Watch her. Don't let her get too curious."

I raised a brow. "We talking about the same girl? You do remember River, right? Surest way to pique her interest is to try and distract her." The girl had been a regular Nancy Drew when we were kids. Always snooping around, trying to suss out everyone's secrets. Not that she called it that. She referred to it as investigating. But it was the same thing.

"Well, figure it out, because unless you want to explain just what it is we're shipping in our trucks, that's precisely what you need to do."

My gut churned. The last thing she needed to know was the finer details of Cross Transport and Freight's cargo. Beef and cattle weren't the only things we shipped across the country. Something told me she wasn't the drug-running type. Or weapons, for that matter.

Not that the drugs were the fun kind. We were talking pharmaceuticals, but I didn't think she'd appreciate the distinction with our clients being who they were. Neither would the DEA. Unfortunately, this wasn't a life you could just leave .

Blood in, blood out. Wasn't that the saying? And fuck if it wasn't true. This was the only life we'd ever known, and even if our dad was a dick, he protected what was his. Cross and I would do the same. This ranch and the people loyal to us mattered.

So I'd do what I did best. I'd distract the fuck out of River Adams.

My eyes wandered back out the window to the woman outside. She was even more beautiful than she'd been the last time I saw her. I'd distract her, all right.

And maybe this time, I'd get to keep the girl.

After all, River isn't the only one all grown up.