Cocky: A Cowboy Stepbrother Romance by Kaylee Kazarian

wanted.
     
    Jay beeped the UTV’s horn and I dropped the dish towel onto the counter. Let Caroline get mad about me not putting it back where it went. Right now, I had the wide-open world calling to me. I couldn’t be worried about dish towels.
     
    I couldn’t help it. I was beaming by the time I pushed the screen door open and barreled out into the morning sun. It was on track to be a beautiful day, though I could already tell it was going to be a hot one. There was a heaviness to the air that only humidity could bring, sticking to my skin and making me wish briefly for the cool breeze of air conditioning back inside.
     
    We would be sweating in no time. And honestly? I was looking forward to seeing Jay shiny with sweat, and the way his cutoff t-shirt would cling in all the right places.
     
    “Let’s go, woman, time’s a-wasting.” Jay laughed, patting the cracked leather passenger seat of the UTV. That laughter put me at ease. Maybe he didn’t have anything planned for me at all. Maybe Jay was just trying to mess with my head. He knew better than anyone else how easy it was to get me caught up in my own thoughts.
     
    I was my own worst enemy, a lot of the time. I just needed to stay in the moment and enjoy a beautiful day. Who knew the next time I would have this opportunity to be out here with Jay, just the two of us.
     
    Thankfully, the leather of the seat wasn’t too hot yet. It was pleasantly warm against the backs of my thighs where my shorts rode up, but not uncomfortable. I reached out, elbow bumping into Jay’s side as I grabbed the seat belt and locked it into place. You didn’t get into the UTV with putting on your seat belt.
     
    My dad had always been one of those guys who would leave the key dangling in the ignition expectantly until he heard the click of the seat belt. Jay, however, hadn’t even turned the thing off while he was waiting for me to sit down. He was taking off before my seat belt was locked in.
     
    The UTV moved forward with a lurch, the motor rumbling beneath my feet. Jay turned the wheel hard, aiming us towards the heavy cluster of trees that led out of the farmland and to the wilderness beyond. I could feel my shoulders relaxing, the knot in my stomach starting to loosen. There was nowhere else on Earth I would rather be than out here in the middle of nowhere with Jay.
     
    He slowed just enough to make it safely into the trees, leaning forward in his seat so that he could keep an eye out for any large rocks or thick logs that would hold us up. The UTV was a sturdy little vehicle, but it couldn’t climb mountains or trees. We had to be careful.
     
    Leaves whipped by the sides of the vehicle, occasionally catching me hard enough to sting. It was like being very, very lightly whipped. At least, it was if you kept yourself safe and far enough inside the UTV on your seat. I’d caught a branch or two when I was younger and dumber, leaning out of the side panel that acted as a door. It had left me with a couple of welts and a hell of a lesson learned.
     
    Sunlight dappled the ground beneath us and the pillars of trees around us. The world was alive, bursting with green in all directions. I could see ivy curling around the trunk of a tree, moss sitting softly at the base. The grass was almost waist high out here, starting to yellow at the tips from the unforgiving heat of the summer sun.
     
    The smell of growth and green filled my nose, and I had to take a moment to close my eyes and breathe it in, even as we jostled and tumbled over small hills. This was why I loved to come out and see my dad. This was why I braved Caroline’s ire. To be out here in the middle of all of this, to feel like a tiny little seed amid a growing forest.
     
    There was a touch, soft as a feather, against my leg. For a moment, I thought a bug had landed on me. But when I opened my eyes and looked down, it was Jay’s tanned hand, the one not on the wheel, and it was settled warmly over my