Page 19 of My Return to the Walter Boys (My Life with the Walter Boys #2)

“You could always join the coaches, Jackie. I’m sure Cole could make some room for you on his lap,” Isaac said with an evil smirk. “Wouldn’t be the first time, would it?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a long sigh. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Lee snorted in laughter. “Oh, come on. You two were practically sharing breath a minute ago.”

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from snapping and turned to Nathan, hoping for some sort of support. He was staring straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the open field before us.

“Can you tell them they’re being assholes? They never listen to me.”

Nathan’s face pinched in what looked like irritation, and the expression he sent my way was unexpected. “Tell them yourself,” he snapped.

Nathan proceeded to turn away and pull out his phone.

From the hard look on his face, our conversation was over.

His attitude caught me off guard. Normally, Nathan was the best person to turn to for support, but over the course of the past week, he’d grown more and more tetchy.

Up until this point, his ill temper had never been aimed at me.

I wanted to help fix whatever was bothering him, but whenever I tried to speak to him about it, he shut me down or changed the subject.

With one Walter ignoring me and the others determined to tease me, I fixed my focus on the game.

The girls were lined up for the kickoff, each team spread across the side of the field they’d be defending.

Parker and Cole had told me all about rugby, and though some of it was comprehensible, the rules seemed incredibly confusing.

The game began when the whistle blew. Soon after, a ball was kicked toward Parker’s team, and the two sides were clashing together.

Every so often, my eyes would settle on Cole as he rushed up and down the sidelines, shouting commands at the players and cheering when they did well.

It didn’t help that he was glancing back at me just as much as I was watching him.

I wanted to smack the satisfied look he wore off his face every time he turned around and noticed me staring.

To my right, Lee and Isaac were making commentary on the game. Both of them together created a never-ending stream of noise I’d learned to block out, at least for the most part.

Isaac let out a low whistle, finally drawing my attention away from Cole. “Dude, did you see Parker take out number seven? I think I’m a little scared of her,” he admitted.

Lee agreed with his brother and mentioned something about a rule violation, but I was distracted once again by Cole.

He was yelling out a play, his hands waving up and down as he tried to get the girls’ attention.

On the opposite side of the field, the ball went out of bounds.

Cole turned around and caught my gaze yet again.

“Twenty bucks Cole gets himself kicked out for undressing Jackie with his eyes from across the field,” Isaac joked. “It’s a little inappropriate for a kids’ game, don’t you think?”

I ground my teeth together in frustration and shoved to my feet. Isaac and Lee cackled to each other as I stalked off in the other direction, more than willing to deal with the younger Walters if it meant I didn’t have to listen to their unrelenting teasing.

***

Sunday morning came with two chore options: help George muck out the horse stalls or clean up fallen fruit from the cluster of crab apple trees that lined the side yard.

Since moving to Colorado, I had learned that lots of hard work went in to running a ranch, which included tasks that were anything but pleasant.

The worst, in my opinion, was stall cleanup duty, so the choice was an easy one to make.

Between me, Alex, and Nathan, we had everything picked up within an hour. Katherine was in cleaning mode, so instead of heading inside and risking being given more work, the three of us decided to hang out in the shade beneath the tree house.

“I’ll be right back,” Alex said when Nathan flopped onto the grass and opened his sudoku app. He jogged off in the direction of the shed.

While he was gone, I ventured up the ladder in search of reading material—Alex left his books everywhere—and found a beat-up copy of The Count of Monte Cristo . By the time I climbed back down, Alex had returned with a plastic T-ball bat and was trying to convince Nathan to pitch for him.

“Come on, Nate. Don’t you want to spend some quality time with your favorite brother?”

Nathan snorted. “What makes you think you’re even in my top three?”

“How about this?” Alex replied, ignoring the insult. “Play with me for fifteen minutes, and in return, I’ll pick up my laundry and clear the dirty dishes off my desk?”

“Okay, fine,” Nathan agreed, “but if this turns into a mess like last time, then I’m out.”

I didn’t understand what he meant until Nathan selected the least rotten apple from the wheelbarrow and pitched it to Alex.

The bat connected, and I watched in amusement as the apple soared over the fence and into the field where it wouldn’t ruin the lawn mower.

The second hit, however, exploded on impact and showered the lawn in mushy chucks of fruit.

A screen door slammed. “What do you think you’re doing ?”

My heart stopped at the sound of Katherine’s enraged voice. For a split second, I thought she was yelling at us, but then I spotted Isaac storming down the porch steps, fists clenched and eyes blazing. An old Camaro was rumbling up the driveway with Jet behind the wheel.

“Getting the hell outta here and away from you,” Isaac shouted over his shoulder.

“Isaac, if you don’t come back here right this second—”

“Then what?” he roared, swinging back around to glare at his aunt. “What are you going to do, Katherine ?”

I’d never heard any of the Walter kids refer to Katherine by her first name, especially with such venom, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Genuine hurt flickered across her face before she managed to master her expression.

“Maybe I should call your father.”

A single, humorless bark of laughter escaped his throat. “Go ahead. It’s not like he can do anything all the way from Germany.”

Without waiting for a response, he yanked open the car door, flung himself into the passenger seat, and immediately cranked up the radio.

Heavy metal music blared out from the speakers, effectively cutting off the conversation.

Jet threw the Camaro in reverse, and the air freshener dangling from the rearview mirror swung wildly.

As they pulled out of the driveway, Isaac stuck his arm out the window and gave his aunt the finger.

Despite the huge sign of disrespect, she stayed rooted on the porch until they disappeared from view.

Once she returned to the house, Alex, Nathan, and I stared at one another in shock. None of us knew what to say.

“Maybe it’s just a phase?” Alex said, breaking the silence. We all laughed at the bad joke but quickly grew quiet again.

“Do either of you know what’s been up with him?” I finally asked.

Alex sighed, dropped the bat, and flopped down next to me. “I’m not positive, but I think it has something to do with his dad.”

“Uncle Pete came for a visit at the start of summer,” Nathan added as he took a seat on my other side. “Isaac has been like that ever since he left.”

I frowned. “Isaac wasn’t happy to see him?

” I didn’t know much about Isaac and Lee’s parents, only that their mother was out of the picture and Peter Walter, George’s younger brother, was a lieutenant colonel in the military who was stationed overseas.

They rarely got to see their father, so I’d have assumed him visiting would be the highlight of their summer.

“That’s the strange part,” Alex answered. “He’ll never admit it, but I know Isaac kept a calendar counting down the days until his dad’s leave. Something must have gone down, but I didn’t ask what. He and Lee get cagey about personal stuff.”

We chatted about Isaac for another minute or so, trying to solve the mystery, but quickly exhausted the subject. Alex started talking to Nathan about baseball stats, so I opened the book I’d grabbed and started reading. When I checked back a few minutes later, the conversation had shifted.

“…it’s a great song,” Alex was saying.

“Oh!” I tossed the paperback aside and focused on Nathan with eager eyes.

“Have you written something new? I’d love to hear it.

” If there was one thing I hated about Alex and Kim’s relationship, it was that Nathan felt the need to hide away in the loft.

He spent so much time out there that I never heard his music drifting through the house anymore.

Nathan picked at a loose thread on his shirt. “Sorry, no.”

“Oh.” I brushed my fingers against my throat and glanced at Alex, but he looked as nonplussed by his brother’s answer as I felt. “Um, is that a no , you haven’t written anything new, or a no , I can’t hear it?”

“I’m working on something, but it’s not ready yet,” Nathan said as his phone buzzed with an incoming text. He read the message, picked himself up, and brushed grass off his hands and knees. “I’ll see you guys later? I’ve got something I need to take care of.”

Alex frowned as he watched him go. “Is it just me, or was that weird?”

“Definitely weird,” I agreed. Concerning too. The missed morning runs, prickly attitude, and lack of new music all added up to something not being right.

“Any idea what’s going on there?”

I fixed Alex with a disbelieving look. “If anyone should know, it’s you. You’re the one who shares a room with him.” Maybe Lee was right about all those Kickstarts melting his brain.

“Right,” Alex said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I suppose I’ve been a little distracted by Kim.”

“A little?” I asked, then shook my head when he shot me a sheepish smile. If I needed further proof that Alex and I truly didn’t belong together, this was it—he’d never been so wrapped up in me that the world around him went unnoticed. “Does she make you happy?”

The answer was obvious, but I wanted to hear it from him.

“The happiest.”

“Good,” I said with a decisive nod. “I’m glad.”

“So…um…” Alex grimaced as if he didn’t like what he was about to say next. “How are things with Cole?”

Nope. I was so not going there. I’d rather throw myself down a never-ending staircase than talk to Alex about my relationship with his older brother. “Do you honestly want to hear about that?”

Alex blanched. “I’d rather eat rusty nails.”

Perfect. We were on similar pages, then. “That’s what I thought.”