Read Online Acting Happy (Texas Desires #2) by Rylie Roberts - Free Book Online

making her the center of attention?
    “We should go, Mom. They’re having dinner.”
    “Why don’t you guys stick around for dinner? We have more than enough,” Ty asked immediately. The way all the heads kept swiftly moving from one direction to the other made the air seem to move with them. By the looks of astonishment, none of the guys were prepared for Ty to offer that.
    “Oh, we can’t. It’s late for us, but, Kenzie, you should stay. You never get out.” Had her father really just offered her up like a lamb to slaughter?
    “Dad, I can’t stay,” she responded right away as she walked toward the truck.
    “No, stay. I can get you home,” Ty offered, and again all the heads turned his way.
    “What? No, I don’t wanna intrude. We’ve already been here too long,” she said, reaching for the truck door handle. If she got inside the cab, surely this line of thinking would have to come to an end.
    “You aren’t at all. I think you should stay,” Reed said from the porch, and all the heads except Emma's and Rocket Stanton’s shifted in his direction. They seemed just as determined to leave her there as she was to go home.
    “Stay, honey. If you can get her home, she could use a night out,” her dad added, taking the door handle from her and opening the door wide. “Come on, Mama. It’s getting late.”
    “I go to bed early. We get up early,” she said lamely, watching her mother climb into the truck before her father.
    “Have dinner then I’ll get you home and it’ll still be early,” Ty said from directly behind her. This time she was prepared, having kept track of his proximity because of the weird little butterflies he caused to stir inside her stomach. When her dad hoisted himself behind the wheel and slammed the door shut, she realized her lifelines were fading fast. She was out of options and her heart tripped at the real threat that they were leaving her there.

Chapter 4
     
    Ty didn’t miss the astonished then slightly angry look Kenzie gave her parents as they loaded inside the truck or the confusion his buddies were having over what the hell was actually happening in front of their eyes, but that didn’t alter the plan that seemed to be forming by the second. Nor did he take the minute to find out what was driving him to invite this woman into the first night of his vacation with his buddies, breaking well-established rules of no females allowed. Instead, he lifted a hand as her parents began to back out of the driveway and waited about a foot away from her until she turned back to the house, and that wasn’t until the headlights of her parents’ truck disappeared.
    “I’m gonna start the grill,” Connor called out. He was the only one who wasn’t still standing on the porch, watching this whole scene play out.
    “You know, this is how it starts,” Prescott called out. Ty let that comment go.
    She started moving toward the porch, not saying a word, but the worry in her eyes spoke volumes.
    “We don’t bite. I promise. Reed has a baby on the way. Connor’s career military. Bray, well…” Ty caught up and leaned in to say quietly, “He probably does bite, but he’s gay.”
    “You know I can hear you,” Braden said sarcastically, and that finally had her smiling, even if she still wouldn’t look in his direction.
    They took the porch steps up. Cole still wore that good-natured grin—torment clearly his objective—but he did keep his distance.
    There was a skirmish going on behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Reed standing next to Cole, his finger in his face. Cole didn’t seem to care. He just kept that really excited looked on his face. Cole’s over-the-top personality loved to find people’s weaknesses and then tease them mercilessly, but surely they weren’t still the maturity level of fourteen-year-olds. Besides, moments like these with women like Kenzie didn’t happen often. He could take whatever Cole dished out.
    “Kenzie. That’s an unusual