Chapter 21
Sam was riding in the backseat of Quinn's Tahoe between Bryan and Jake. She was looking forward to the rodeo. Luckily, Adam was putting them all up in his house and promised Sam her own bedroom.
Now though she was getting sleepy as she usually did on long trips and kept falling against Jake or Bryan before jerking herself back upright.
"Go ahead and sleep," Jake told her.
"You can sleep on me, Sammy," Bryan said, pulling her gently until she was leaning against him. He grinned at Jake over Sam's head. Jake wasn't amused. Sam was oblivious since she shut her eyes almost immediately.
Jake heard the snorts from Nate and Quinn in the front seat. Gosh, he hated his brothers sometimes. He had hoped to show Sam this weekend that he cared about her and he had hoped she'd realize she felt similar, but he could tell he was going to have his work cut out for him.
There wasn't much he could do about his annoying brothers unless he was willing to kill them all and hide the body parts somewhere. He knew they were going to torment him on this trip.
Jake shrugged at Bryan, hoping to let him know his efforts weren't bothering him, but Bryan's grin told him he knew otherwise. Jake turned to look out the window instead.
"What time is Kit going to be in?" Nate asked. "Anyone know?"
"I believe Adam said we're meeting him at about 3:30," Bryan answered. "That gives us a couple of hours for all of us to have dinner before he has to report to the arena."
"Wouldn't it be cool if he won the event this weekend?" Quinn said from the driver's seat.
The other three nodded in agreement.
Jake glanced over at Sam sleeping so peacefully on Bryan's chest. His eyes rose to see Bryan's knowing grin and he quickly looked out the window again.
"You should have spoken up sooner," Bryan teased.
Jake ignored him and he heard Bryan's snort.
"Wanna drive for awhile, Bry?" Quinn looked at his brother in the rearview mirror. "You can drive and I'll hold Sammy."
"Nah," Bryan shook his head. "I'm fine where I am. Whatever shampoo she uses in her hair smells incredible."
Don't look, Jake told himself. He's just trying to get a rise out of you.
"Yeah?" Nate turned in his seat. He glanced at Jake before looking at Bryan. The two brothers exchanged a grin knowing Jake was upset. "Like what?"
"I'm not up on my flowers," Bryan picked up a lock of Sam's hair and sniffed it.
"Oh for…," Jake grouched, giving Bryan a dirty look.
"What do you think it is, Jakey?" Bryan asked innocently.
"How would I know," Jake grumbled.
"I don't think Jakey's been close enough to her to smell it," Quinn teased.
"She slept against him going to and coming from roundup," Nate pointed out.
"That's true," Quinn nodded. "So what is it, Jake?"
Jake turned to look out the window again. He knew what Sam smelled like and it was incredible, but he wasn't going to discuss it with the annoying brothers his parents had saddled him with. It was at times like this that Jake wished that he might have been an only child.