There was no reason Gabe could give him. No reason other than their dad had made the decision to work like a maniac, which meant they had to as well. “It sucks, but it’s life. Find something else to do tonight. Call someone. Text them, or organize a game online, or something.”
Rafe gave him another dirty look. “It’s New Year’s Eve. I had plans, remember? They’re all cancelled since I’m not allowed to grab a truck to get into town, and you’re being a shit and refusing to take me along with you.”
His kid brother might be feeling the weight of the world right now, but it wasn’t going to change Gabe’s mind. “Sorry, I highly doubt a seventeen-year-old would be welcome where I’m going. And besides, you’re operating machinery in the morning. I’m not keeping you up until all hours and then putting you behind the wheel.”
All the air went out of Raphael as he leaned unhappily against the door. “You sure you don’t want to stay home and play cards with me for a couple hours? It’s New Year’s Eve and I’m headed to bed like a baby. Having you stick around would make it a whole lot better.”
“I’ve got plans.”
Rafe wouldn’t look him in the eye, and Gabe felt like the shit his brother had called him. It had to be miserable, but the reality was their dad still had the right to call the shots in the kid’s life.
Heck, in his life too, at least as it related to the ranch.
He’d been researching the best he could during downtimes from working. There was much to learn, and Gabe wasn’t about to bring up the idea of changes until he could make the benefits clear to their father.
So for now, they ran things the old-fashioned way. Which meant their father Ben was in charge, with no discussion, no arguments. Gabe, and Rafe when he was out of school, were the obedient labour.
Gabe sighed. “It’s a hell of a thing, but at least you know dad will be slaving just as hard as us all week. He’s just got…unusual timing.”
Rafe groaned and slouched harder.
Inspiration struck. “Hey, you want to crash out here tonight?”
Rafe looked up from under his bangs. “In your apartment?”
“Sure. I’ll be home late, but you can use the bedroom, and I’ll hit the couch when I get in. I don’t mind.”
Maybe a little space to himself would make up for some of his brother’s disappointment.
“Well, it’s not the party, but since I didn’t actually have a date…” Rafe straightened, his normal enthusiasm returning in a rush. “Can I have a few beers?”
Gabe resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “One, since part of the reason for you to stay home is so you’re not hungover in the morning. Go—grab your stuff, and I’ll call Mom and let her know what’s happening. I’m sure she’ll be fine with it. She can smooth it over with Dad. Just, for God’s sake, set the damn alarm and don’t bloody well sleep in.”
Rafe raced out the door and across the distance to the main house, without pulling on his abandoned winter coat, and Gabe shook his head. Oh, to be young and full of energy, bouncing back that quickly from disappointment.
A couple hours later Gabe was wishing he’d stayed at home with Rafe.
He stepped over another couple on the floor groping each other madly and wondered where the hell all the bodies had come from. Debauchery was alive and well at the turn of the year.
“Happy Fuckin’ New Year.”
The call echoed back from a dozen throats too inebriated to enunciate properly. Gabe shook his head and wondered why he’d even bothered coming.
Because a twenty-nine-year-old sitting alone at home with his kid brother on New Year’s Eve is beyond pathetic?
There were small pockets of sanity scattered throughout the room. Even though they both had a woman on their laps, the Six Pack twins were sober enough to be holding a verbal contest with a few other guys, including two of the Moonshine Colemans. Hell, everywhere he looked there were Colemans sprinkled in amidst the rest of the partiers. The notable absences were the Whiskey Creek girls, Blake, Daniel, and his own brother, Rafe.
Gabe eyed the room, feeling far wearier than he should. Maybe he would head home early.
A hand slapped on his shoulder, and he twirled to face Matt. Great, just what he needed. Not.
“You’ve become a bit of recluse, cousin.” Matt gave him a tired smile before turning his gaze back into the room behind them.
Awkwardness had settled between him and Matt ever since he’d seen Helen in Red Deer and kept it to himself. Maybe he’d been wrong in his suspicions, but the whole thing never sat right after.
“I was thinking about packing it in. Not in a partying mood tonight since the chores are gonna be there in the morning no matter what time I hit the sack.”
Matt grimaced. “I hear you. I’m on first shift too, in spite of Blake being snuggled up early with Jaxi.”
“Yeah, well, you’re assuming they’re going to sleep, and that’s probably bullshit.”
His cousin nodded. “Hey, before you go, help me find Helen, will you? She’d been putting the drinks back pretty hard before we even came out, and now she’s gone missing. I haven’t seen her for nearly an hour.”
“She didn’t go outside, did she?”
“Nahhh, her coat and boots are still here, but I’ve looked around the house once already. I wonder if I’m walking in a circle and missing her.”
Gabe headed the direction Matt aimed him, unwilling to suggest that if Helen was shitfaced, her coat and boots being left behind were no indication of anything good. She’d be far more likely to go wandering outside without them while drunk.
Music shredded his eardrums. The driving pulse echoed off the walls and competed with raised voices. Lighting was low throughout the old house, the main residence for the oldest two cousins on the Moonshine side of the Coleman clan. They lived with a couple friends, and while he’d been offered a place with them, Gabe had easily turned down the invitation. His tiny apartment wasn’t fabulous, but it was better than living in this kind of raucous chaos on a regular basis.
He paused outside a closed bedroom door, suddenly awkward. The things he did for family…
Gabe knocked, got no answer, then pushed the door open to make sure Helen wasn’t passed out on the floor or something. The first room was empty, and he breathed a sigh of relief. All his Zen-like calm vanished a moment later when he swung open the master bedroom door and froze.
He’d found her.
There was a second music system playing in the room, the drums in the current song pulsing out a tempo echoed in the sexual display before him.
If it had been anyone other than Helen, he might have thought the scene was hot—maybe even stepped closer to get a better view. He had no issues with a woman taking control of her sexuality. No matter now dirty, rough or how many partners she wanted, it was her own damn business.
But this was Helen.
She stood on the far side of the room, hair hanging down. Her naked body undulated to the music as she displayed herself like some go-go dancer in a racy nightclub to the men seated in front of her. One of them pulled her forward, pushing her to her knees as he stood. Helen fumbled at his zipper, reaching in and exposing his cock. She pumped him hard a couple times before plunging her mouth over his dick and taking him deep.
Gabe had seen enough. His only remaining brain cells still working focused entirely on one thing.
Matt. What the hell was Matt going to do?
There was no question of hiding this—the concern was keeping murder from happening. Because Gabe felt ready to strangle someone, and she wasn’t even his woman.