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Hayes Madigan wasn’t as tough as he’d seemed. Maybe I’d gotten under his skin as well.
5
HAYES
“Left, right, left, scoot,” my teenaged niece, Maya, ordered, showing my brothers, dad, and me the moves to the “Boot Scootin’ Boogie.” She had been learning it in dance class and insisted the whole family learn it, too, for the Cottonwood Falls Spring Festival. Her class would be performing and their families were encouraged to join in.
I swore this girl would run the world one day. Just under a month ago, she and my other niece Emily were giving a presentation on why I should finally settle down and pick a girl to marry. They had bullet points and everything. Never mind that the list included impractical options for a partner, like their teacher, my brother’s sixty-year-old nurse, and my sister-in-law’s best friend—Della Dwyer.
Immediately at the suggestion, Liv had said, “Absolutely not,” reaffirming my reasons to stay away from Della.
It should have been easy to steer clear, with billions of people on the planet. But something about her was magnetic. Or maybe I was just as stupid as a bug drawn to a light.
“Hayes!” Maya groused. “That’s not how you scoot!”
While my brothers snickered at me, I arched an eyebrow. “I can scoot on outta here.”
Maya was undeterred by my smart-assery. “Like this.” She squared up in front of me, lifting one knee so she did a half-skip to the side. “Now you try.”
I did it as she asked, exaggerating the movement.
Her little lips pursed. “Good. But without the attitude next time.”
That had everyone cracking up.
I gave my brothers a look and said under my breath, “Sorry, I do my best dancing with a partner.” Then I winked.
Knox shoved my shoulder. “Stupid.”
But Maya soldiered on. “From the top!”
She yelled out the moves, no doubt in a perfect imitation of her music teacher, and we all followed along. My brother Knox was a great dancer and probably knew the moves already. Our oldest brother, Fletcher, followed the steps like a robot. And Dad surprised me with how well he kept up. My other brothers, Ford and Bryce, couldn’t make it today since they lived out of town. Lucky bastards.
When we made it through the song a couple times with minimal errors, Maya squealed. “I have to show Livvy!” That’s what she called her stepmama. “Stay right there.”
The blood drained from my face—the last thing I needed was an audience. Especially knowing Della was among them. Oblivious to my panic, Knox elbowed Fletcher and said, “Maya could start a cult.”
Fletcher made prayer hands and closed his dark brown eyes. “Please, God, let her use her powers for something productive.”
I shook my head. “So far we have a PowerPoint on why I should get hitched and a choreographed dance. I’m not convinced.”
My dad and brothers cracked up at my joke. But then the door swung open, and we glanced over to see Liv coming outside with Maya... followed by all the other women.
I bit down on my lip ring to keep myself from saying something stupid. Especially since I’d soon be performing for them. Usually, I wasn’t shy. But something about Della’s eyes on me felt different.
I could feel her stare just like I could earlier.
And it bothered me that I even noticed.
Why the hell did I notice?
Women staring at me was part of my everyday life. When you lived in a small town and had as many tattoos as I did, had a reputation like I did, you drew attention.
But Della’s attention felt different.
Probably because she got under my skin—especially lately. Why was she so intent on making me like hot chocolate? I used to be fine with plain black coffee, but now that shit was like a drug. And unreasonably hard to find. I ordered over fifty bucks worth just to get free shipping.
But Maya’s performance went on, regardless of my spinning thoughts. The song started playing over speakers attached to the back of the house, and she shouted out the moves.