Free Jesse by C H Admirand

my feet at night and don’t remember until I’m getting dressed in the morning.”
    â€œAnd have to dig through the dirty pile to find something to wear?”
    â€œHow did you know?”
    She started to laugh. He really hated being laughed at and wanted to be mad at her, but just couldn’t—the sound of her laughter in their kitchen reminded him of their mother.
    â€œA blind woman might not notice that smear of God knows what across the front of your shirt,” she said. “I’m not blind.”
    They were still laughing when Tyler and Dylan walked into the kitchen. Tyler frowned at him and grumbled, “Get your own woman, Jesse.”
    Feeling good, he replied, “Why? Emily and Ronnie are perfectly happy to feed me and wash my clothes.”
    Tyler’s hand shot out, but Jesse had enough caffeine in his system to dodge the blow. “Hey, you should be in a good mood.”
    â€œOh yeah,” his brother said, “and why’s that?”
    â€œHell,” Jesse said with a glance in Emily’s direction, “I’m not deaf you know.”
    The sound of her sharply indrawn breath had him dancing backward in case his brother decided to throw another punch. “One of these days, Jess,” Tyler warned.
    Feeling pretty good that he’d dodged what would have been a wicked jab to his shoulder, he asked, “Why not today?”
    â€œTyler,” Emily warned, stepping in between the brothers. “Breakfast is ready.” She stood on her toes to press her lips to Tyler’s cheek.
    â€œWe’ve got more work than we can handle today,” Tyler ground out. “I’ll have to wait till later to beat the crap out of you.”
    If looks could kill, Jesse would have been six feet under. Knowing when to play with fire and when he was about to get burned, he got a plate, walked over to the counter, and started to fill it. “Thanks for cooking, Emily. This looks great.”
    But she was preoccupied wrapping herself around his brother. Since Tyler and Emily weren’t paying any attention to him, he shrugged and sat down to dig into his meal. By the time he was on seconds, Dylan and Ronnie walked into the kitchen looking loose and limber.
    â€œHell. I’m going out to the barn.” Grabbing his Stetson off the peg by the back door, he slapped it against his thigh, pushed the back door open wide, and let it slam behind him.
    By the time he reached the barn, he realized that he was acting like a jerk. No use riling the horses just because he had trouble sleeping—and the need to sink into the warm and welcoming depths of a willing woman.
    â€œFuck me.”
    The heart of the matter was a whole lot more basic than love. “A man has needs,” he muttered to himself as he grabbed the bridle and reins from the hook on the wall and his saddle from the tack room. “Won’t matter unless I can find a woman interested in being a really close friend with benefits.”
    He gently offered the bit to Dodge and praised him when he took it between his teeth. “I know you’d rather forego the hardware, but it comes in handy out there on the range.”
    Smoothing the blanket across his horse’s back, he made certain there were no wrinkles before he laid the saddle on top of it. With a friendly pat to Dodge’s belly, the horse let go of the breath he held and Jesse was able to tighten the cinch.
    He’d learned the hard way that horses had a sense of humor when they didn’t particularly want to be saddled. Vaulting into the saddle and having it shift off to the side when the horse let out its breath had been a source of entertainment for his brothers, but his ten-year-old pride had taken a direct hit. Worse than his injured pride was the fact that his grandfather had not been amused and rode Jesse’s case for the next few weeks, until he had proven that he wouldn’t make beginner mistakes