BOONE AIN'T NEVER WARNED YOU ABOUT THE HAT RULE?

THE bar let Baby in because she was above eighteen, but she had a big X drawn on her hand. Not that she wanted to drink anyhow with how long her headache lasted after the last time.

Rather than call it a night after chasing a big tornado in Kansas, the Wranglers all wandered into the bar that was across the street from the motel. Baby had never been in a bar, but it looked like any standard southern one in any movie she'd ever seen.

There was even line dancing on the other side of the building, much to her amusement.

Baby settled into a booth on the very end, Boone next to her and Tyler right across from her as they got their drinks — Baby had a Coke, and to make her not feel as bad about not being able to drink, so did Boone.

It was fun at first — Baby was sure she'd smiled more that night than she had in days, which her brother took note of happily. Slowly, Dexter, Dani, and Lily were learning what made her smile and giggle as they got to know her better and vice versa.

And Tyler never seemed to struggle to draw a pretty smile from her.

But then the night was ruined by a fan coming up to them, and he wasn't near as nice as the fifteen year olds from the diner that one day.

"Y'all are them Tornado dudes, right?" he had asked. Baby studied the guy who must've only been a few years older than her with a stained t-shirt on and with a brown cowboy hat on his head.

"That's us," Tyler said with a smirk, nodding to him. "What's your name, son?"

"Marcus," he said before skimming the table. "I like y'all's show."

"Well, thank you," Dexter said, nodding to him. "We try."

"Definitely like the addition of this one here," Marcus said, nodding to Baby as he made eye contact. Now that he had her full attention, he smirked down at her. "Though you don't really know how to handle your storms."

"Well, I'm getting better with each ride," she said, smiling up at him sheepishly, making Tyler snicker. She kicked him under the table. "I think, at least."

Then Marcus leaned a hand on the table, bending down to get closer to her face. "Well, Baby, I bet I got a different kinda ride you could handle."

"Hey!" Boone snapped instantly. "Watch your mouth!"

"Get lost, man," Tyler scoffed, now glaring at the boy. "She ain't interested."

Marcus stared down at him with a cocky expression. "I think she can talk for herself."

"Well, she says 'no'," Baby told him firmly with a forced and polite smile.

"Your loss," he said, rolling his eyes as he walked off, the heels of his boots hitting the floor loudly.

"Dick," Boone muttered while putting an arm around Baby.

"Most men are," Dani said, snickering at the looks Tyler, Boone, and Dexter sent her. "But can't blame him with how pretty Baby looks tonight."

"I look how I always look," Baby said with a laugh, not seeing the look in Tyler's eyes, who clearly agreed with Dani.

Baby had her hair in two long braids and was wearing that revealing white bandana as a top again with a little denim skirt. Tyler had been trying not to focus on her attire all damn day, but it was so very hard now that he was directly across the table from her. And every now and then, the toe of her cowboy boot would brush his leg since she had her legs crossed under the table, distracting him even more.

As the night went on, the group dispersed a bit. Dexter called it in early and Dani was on the phone with her girlfriend while Lily was chatting some guy up at the bar. Since Baby wasn't the type to let loose in a bar, she stayed seated as Boone went to the bathroom and Tyler went to get another beer for himself, having to wait in a bit of a line.

But even while waiting, Tyler kept his eyes on Baby. He couldn't help but watch her all the time now. And as he watched her, he watched that Marcus waltz right back up to her now that she was alone, his dumb cowboy hat in hand this time, showing off a tacky mullet.

"Hi again, Baby," he said, leaning his hip against the table as he looked down at her.

Baby forced another smile and nodded. "Hi."

"So, how's about a dance now that your body guards aren't around?" he asked her.

"I'm not really one for dancing, and I'm waiting with my friends," she told him, not knowing what else to say to him to get the message across that she wasn't interested.

"Come on, now. You don't want to hang out with your brother of all people," he said. "Let me show you a good time while you're in town."

"Well, I'm having a good enough time already," she said, biting the inside of her cheek.

"But I can show you a better time," he promised. "Trust me."

Then, with an almost malicious smirk, he started lowering his hat down onto her head. Baby leaned back with a frown, not understanding what he was doing. It just barely brushed the top of her head before they were interrupted.

"Hey!" Tyler snapped gruffly, having stormed over as soon as he saw Marcus' fowl actions. He grabbed the younger boy by the back of his shirt and yanked him back. "Get that nasty shit away from her."

"Dude, calm down," Marcus huffed, tearing himself free.

"The girl's not interested!" Tyler said, getting in his face. "And you're lucky I don't hit you for trying that with your hat. Now, get the hell out of this bar."

Marcus glared at Tyler, who was easily half a foot taller, clearly sizing him up. Eventually, he gave in and stormed out of the bar, leaving a furious Tyler and a confused Baby behind.

"Thank you, Ty," she said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it appreciatively. "Kinda wish he'd of got the message when it was just me telling him."

Tyler huffed and slid into the booth right next to her, his eyes on the door in case Marcus came back in. "No good man tries to put his hat on a girl that clearly don't want it."

Again, Baby's face scrunched up in confusion. "Why was he doing that? Trying to put his hat on me?" she asked curiously.

Tyler quickly looked at her with surprised eyes. "Baby, you're from Arkansas."

"So are you," she pointed out, not seeing the point.

"Boone ain't never warned you about the hat rule?" he asked with a scoff.

Then again, Boone had moved out when she was just fifteen, so he hadn't had any serious boy talks with Baby. And her mother certainly didn't bother to bring up something like that.

"Hat rule?" she asked, tilting her head. Then she eyed the white cowboy hat on Tyler's head that he wore nearly every day. "What's the hat rule?"

For just a moment, she could've sworn that Tyler blushed, but she blamed it on the neon lighting around them.

"Baby, it's - shit, uh," he fumbled for his words, not believing he was going to tell her. If Boone knew, he'd kill him dead. Finally, Tyler sighed while meeting her curious gaze. "Baby, if you wear the cowboy's hat, you gotta ride the cowboy."

A quiet, "Oh!" escaped her parted lips, her cheeks going red instantly.

"Well," she mumbled, looking into his blue eyes, feeling very flustered all of the sudden. "Thank you a second time, then. I may be a rule follower, but I'm not a fan of that one."

She couldn't help how she glanced up at Tyler's hat, wondering if he'd ever tried what Marcus just tried with her on some lucky girl in a bar. Her stomach turned at the thought of it, so she pushed it to the back of her mind.

Then, for half a second before she vanished the thought, she wondered about wearing it herself.

"Of course, Baby," Tyler told her while putting his arm around her protectively. "And if anyone ever bothers you like that again, you come to me. No body can treat you like that while I'm around."

Baby just nodded silently, leaning into his side, enjoying how warm and comforting he felt. But a moment later, she spotted her brother making his way toward them from the bathroom, and she retreated from Tyler's chest, who frowned down at the table from the lack of contact.

"Alright, Baby," Boone said, clueless to the moment with Marcus and Tyler. "We're getting you up and having some fun. Let's play some pool."

"I ain't good at pool," she reminded him, which made him chuckle.

"I know," he beamed. "It'll make me feel good about myself when I beat you."

Baby rolled her eyes and looked up at a smirking Tyler, who just shook his head. "Don't look at me for defense. I wanna watch Boone kick your ass and then do it myself,"

With a fake annoyed huff, Baby got up and let the two men lead her to the pool table in the dimly lit corner. She frowned as Boone handed her a pool cue, watching as he rubbed the blue chalk on it for her — like the chalk was gonna make a difference with how much she sucked.

Five minutes in, and Boone was on the brink of his first victory of the night. But the pout on Baby's face always made him weak.

"Ugh," he groaned, throwing his head back. "I can't watch her go down like this. Ty, show her how to line up a shot."

"I can do fine on my own," Baby managed to mumble halfheartedly as Tyler came around to her side of the table. Because even she knew this was a bad idea — Boone was just completely oblivious to the fact that she had a major crush on his best friend.

Little did the siblings know that Tyler had a crush on her too. And Tyler swallowed thickly, wondering if Boone knew that he was asking him to torture himself.

"You don't have a firm enough grip on the cue," Tyler said, standing in front of Baby. He took her smaller hands in his and wrapped them around the wooden stick before continuing. "And you always look away from the ball before you hit it. Not to mention you ain't putting enough weight forward. You lean back like you're scared the ball's gone attack you or something."

And of course, Tyler only knew all this about her stance because he'd been watching her so intently.

"What the fuck is going on over there?" Dani asked from the bar as she walked up to Lily.

She nodded to the pool table, both girls marveling at the sight. Lily tilted her head at nearly a right angle to get a better look as Tyler slowly bent Baby over the pool table, one hand covering hers on the cue while the other was placed on her waist, him leaning down to murmured instructions in her ear.

And Boone was just as happy as could be, thinking his best friend was innocently giving his sister tips on billiards.

Which wasn't the case as Baby struggled to breathe, feeling his strong chest against her back, his fingers holding her waist tight enough to make her thoughts fuzzy. And he was hardly focused on the little white ball he was meant to be helping her hit, to bothered with how her ass felt up against his—

Lily snapped her head to Dani, who had taken a picture of them suddenly. "The hell are you doing?"

Dani looked at the picture and snickered. "Contemplating leaking this to the fans and letting them go crazy. It'll garner more views."

"You're so messy," Lily said, rolling her eyes before looking back. Evidently, Baby had made a perfect shot and had turned around in Tyler's arms, hugging him for his help. And he just had a dopey smile on his face as he hugged her back, all while Boone was clapping for Baby's job well done. "But so are they."

"Anything for better views, Lils."