Keeping What's His: Tate (Porter Brothers Trilogy Book 1) by Jamie Begley Read Free Book Online Page B

knowing Cash would take care of it. The son of a bitch deserved to pay his tab.
    He strode to his truck and climbed inside to wait for Holly and Logan. He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel, wanting to vent the anger he couldn’t take out on Cash.
    He was angry at himself and Cash. He should have beaten the ever-loving shit out of Cash all those years ago.
    Tate ran his hand through his hair. He had never been with a girl as long as Sutton, certainly not one he hadn’t fucked on a regular basis and remained faithful. She had made plans for their future together, despite him constantly evading the issue. He had no intention of leaving Treepoint, and he had selfishy hoped deep down that she would change her mind about leaving. Moreover, she had stood beside him when his parents died, and Rachel had grown attached to her. She’d had dreams of being a lawyer, while his dreams had been simplier—a woman who would fuck his brains out and help him raise his brothers and sister. If she could do that, he would be content never to leave his mountain.
    In his mind, he had seen Sutton getting out of Cash’s truck, and his pride had been stung. Truthfully, it still was. Now he realized how selfish he was being; she had only been seventeen, and he had been her first boyfriend.
    Sutton had been the best part in the shit hole his life had become. She deserved to leave Treepoint and follow her dreams without him holding her back. She had probably figured that out for herself, which was why she had cheated on him with Cash.
    Seeing Holly crossing the street with Logan, he got out to hold the door open for her, watching with a smile as Logan climbed inside. He ruffled the boy’s red hair when he succeeded.
    “I did it all by myself,” Logan boasted.
    “Yes, you did.” Tate chuckled as Logan sat down in his carseat.
    “I’m getting too big for this. Can’t I just sit on the seat like you?” he complained, buckling himself in with nimble fingers.
    “You have to gain a few more pounds for that to happen.” Seeing the frown of discontent, Tate winked at Holly. “How about we go to the store and see if we can find the next size up? If Holly tells me you’ve been good at your grandmother’s, I might even buy you that new bike you’ve been wanting.”
    “I’ve been really good, haven’t I, Holly?” Logan looked anxiously at the woman sitting in the front seat.
    “Yes, you have,” she said, throwing Tate a furtive look.
    When he was back in the truck, Holly lowered her voice. “I thought we couldn’t afford it right now.”
    Tate shrugged. “Came into some extra money.”
    “I don’t know how I feel about you using your drug money to buy him a bike.”
    Tate’s mouth firmed. “It’s a good thing it’s not up to you then, is it?”
    Holly crossed her arms over her chest, turning to stare out the window.
    Tate drove them to the store, letting Logan pick out his bike after they found a booster seat for the truck. Tate ignored Holly’s disapproval.
    “Holly?” Logan’s face fell when she didn’t return his excitement.
    Her expression softened as it always did where Logan was concerned. “It’s a nice bike.”
    His excitement returned as they wheeled it toward the cash register. Tate ignored Holly’s holier-than-shit attitude as he paid for the purchases. He felt no guilt over how he and his brothers earned their money. If they didn’t purchase the weed from them, their customers would buy it off someone else. The money was better off in his wallet than the Hayes’s or the Coleman’s, and their clients damn sure were better off not smoking the weed they sold.
    As they were going out the door, Tate saw Lyle Turner, the town drunk, coming in and throwing him a glare, which Tate forced himself to brush off. The case had been thrown out of court. If Lyle wanted to start a fight, he could do it with the store cameras on him. Tate wasn’t about to spend a night away from home with the sense of danger he had