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Daniel reached out. Sienna’s brow crinkled, but she took his proffered hand. He grasped her cool fingers and gave them a reassuring squeeze. She was visibly nervous. “Things are never as bad as you fear.”

She didn’t try to release his hand. “Were you afraid when you got on that last bull?”

He nodded. “I was afraid every time.”

“Then why do it?”

He winked at her. “Why not?”

She laughed lightly. “God, there is something seriously twisted inside you.”

“Turns you on, doesn’t it?” He pulled her closer, leaning down until his face was level with hers. He couldn’t resist teasing her, trying to replace some of the anxiety he saw in her eyes with humor. “I told you, See, if you want me to kiss you again, all you have to do is ask.”

She dropped his hand and shoved him away, laughing. “You’re ridiculous. And conceited. And insane. I’m going to go talk to my boyfriend.”

“Go get ’em, tiger.”

She paused at the door, but didn’t turn around before continuing out. It didn’t matter. He heard her chuckling in the hallway.

“Where’s Sienna going?” Doug asked.

“She and Josh are headed to the stables to see the new horses your dad’s bought.”

Doug tilted his head. “Josh hates horses. Is that code for having sex?”

“No, it’s not code. Besides, what do you know about sex?”

“I’m eleven years old, Daniel. I’m not a kid.”

Daniel nodded in acknowledgement. Doug was constantly fighting to prove he was a man. “There’s nothing wrong with being a kid, Doug. Life’s a hell of a lot easier when you are.”

Doug wasn’t buying it. He shrugged, his face becoming far too serious for someone so young. “Maybe. Do you wanna have sex with Sienna?”

Daniel choked. “What? Why would you ask me something like that?”

“You two look at each other all the time.”

Jesus, all this time, Daniel had been worried about letting Seth see too much. Turns out he should have been shielding his interest in Sienna from her baby brother. Then, something Doug said clicked. “She’s looking at me?”

Doug rolled his eyes, taking on the long-suffering tone of someone trying to explain something that’s obvious to an idiot. “Only all the time. When she sets the table for supper, she puts your place next to hers, instead of mine, like I tell her to. And she comes to the stable to talk to you after work. She never did that before. James said it’s ’cause she’s got the hots for you. I’m not stupid. Hots means she wants to have sex with you, which is pretty gross, by the way.”

“Thanks for the definition.” If Daniel wasn’t so floored by Doug’s revelations, he’d fist-bump with the kid. Then he realized Doug didn’t look very thrilled by the prospect. “Would it bother you if I was interested in Sienna?”

Doug didn’t answer immediately. Instead he tilted his head, lifted one shoulder. “I dunno.”

Doug, for all his rough and tumble ways, was very protective of his older sister. Suddenly the boy’s disdain for Josh made sense. Doug didn’t like the idea of his sister with any man.

Before Daniel could figure out how to set Doug’s mind at ease, they were interrupted.

“Hey, Doug,” Austin, one of Doug’s cousins, yelled from the hallway. “We’re going outside to shoot targets with my new BB gun. You comin’?”

Doug’s eyes brightened, and it was clear the sex talk was over. “See you later, Daniel.”

The young boy sprinted toward his cousins without a backward glance, leaving Daniel alone again. He drifted toward the front window and glanced at the stable. For weeks, he’d gone against character and left Sienna alone to sort out her life instead of pursuing what they both obviously desired. Hell, he hadn’t even given the upper hand to her. He’d given it to Josh, the tool.

Time was up on this bullshit. Daniel was about to toss his own hat into the ring.

Sienna walked out to the stable, searching for Josh. He’d been quiet most of the day. While it was hard to get a word in edgewise whenever all the Comptons got together, Josh usually made at least a bit of an effort.