Page 83 of The Triple Threat

“I did not… they were not.”

“Oh, hush yourself.” Auntie J slapped my hand. “Just make sure you tell her how you feel before it’s too late. Your pop will tell you that life is too short and too darned hard to waste time procrastinating.”

I took a huge breath as the truth of her words hit me straight in the gut.

“And what if she doesn’t want what I want?” I asked, realizing how ridiculous it was taking romance advice from two sixty-four-year-old women who’d never been married—never had a man as far as I knew.

“Ah phooey,” Auntie L said, her eyes still on the TV. “Of course, she does. You just need to learn how to tell her properly, instead of all that He-Man attitude that you boys today think you need.”

“She’s right,” Auntie J added. “Tell her how she makes you feel, sweetheart. The rest will be easy.”

“You’re wrong, I promise you. She’d probably kick me in the balls.” I winced, imagining it.

“She might,” Auntie J said, giving me a soft smile. “But then again, she might not.”

Shit, I knew they were right. I just had to tell Ellie that I liked her, more than a friend, but tell her without ogling her tits or commenting on what she sounded like when she orgasmed.

“You want coffee?” I asked, deciding that I’d think better after caffeine.

“Don’t change the subject sweetheart,” Auntie L replied. “Because you know, you shouldn’t take too long deciding what to do about Ellie. I hear Delphine’s sister’s boy is coming back to town next week.

Fucking Thor, he was a damn pain in my backside. There was no way he was getting his hands on Ellie.

It was decided – I needed to sort my love life but definitely coffee first.

About to turn for the kitchen the door opened, and Pop walked in, shrugged off his jacked and hung it on the hook by the door, next to mine.

“I think that cow will calf in the next couple of days,” he said as he stooped down to kiss the tops of my aunt’s heads. “It’s not her first rodeo though, so don’t think there’ll be a problem.”

“That’s good.” I scratched at the stubble on my cheek and nodded my head toward the kitchen. “You got a minute, Pop?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He followed me and went straight to the basin and ran the hot water and began washing up.

“What’s on your mind.”

“I need to ask you something?” I winced not sure what his reaction would be.

“Okay.” He frowned and pulled the towel from the side and set about drying his hands.

I cleared my throat. “Do you have a thing, or would you ever have a thing for Bronte?”

His mouth dropped along with the towel. “Bronte as little Bronte Jackson? Jim and Darcy’s Bronte?”

I hung my hands off the back of my neck and frowned. I could tell by Pop’s face Ellie had got things so wrong.

“Bronte who used to have braces on her teeth and wore pink ribbons in her hair? That Bronte?”

“Yes, sir.”

Pop hesitated for a moment and then dropped his head back and gave the loudest belly laugh I’d heard from him in a long time.

“I take it that’s a no then,” I muttered.

When he finally stopped, Pop shook his head. “Where the hell you get that idea from.”

I drew in a breath and then exhaled it real slow. “Bronte’s got a thing for you. A crush.”