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“Good. We got new horses in,” he shared, and I smiled.
“That’s good, right?” Before he answered, the bell over the door chimed, and my eyes moved to the door. Ryder West, Clay’s brother, and Sheriff Clark walked in.
“Emi, nice seeing you.” Clay’s brother smiled with a twinkle in his blue eyes. I watched as they bounced between Clay and me before the sheriff elbowed him in the gut.
“Hey, boys.” I smiled at them, reaching under the counter and handing them menus. “Need a minute to look through it or?—"
“Our usual, beautiful,” Sherrif Clark said, and I didn’t miss the growl that came from Clay.
“Two waffle plates coming up.” I turned and got to work.
They ate and chatted. I topped off their coffees, and by the time the lunch crowd started to come in, they were leaving.
And I hated that a little piece of my heart left out the door with Clay.
Clay
Ryder and my best friend turned Sherrif were the biggest cockblockers on the face of the earth.
“So… you finally ask her out?” Ryder asked as I drove us back to the ranch, and I knew he was wagging his stupid brows without turning to look at him.
“You’re an idiot,” I muttered.
“She turned you down, huh?” he guessed. “It’s alright, man. Shit happens.” He patted my shoulder, and I couldn’t help the annoyance I felt. “Some other woman will come into?—"
“Do you ever just shut up?” I asked, turning to glance at him before my attention returned to the road. “She didn’t turn me down. She has to work.”
“Sure,” he muttered. “You tell yourself whatever you need to help you sleep at night.”
“Ryder,” I growled.
“I’m just sayin’, you know Luke and I won’t make a move on her because we actually like you.” My jaw clenched, and I tried not to roll my eyes. My brother and best friend were assholes. “But March is comin’ into town tomorrow. He already told you, you gotta make a move and shape up, or he will?—"
“I asked her to dinner,” I muttered under my breath. My whole damn family was a huge pain in my ass. From my brothers to my cousins.
“And she has to work,” he cut me off, needlessly reminding me. “I get that, but… come on, man. It’s time to make a move, a real one, don’t you think?” My brows pulled together as I drove with my hands clenching the steering wheel. “I don’t think March will actually make a move but?—”
“I get the point, Ryde.”
“You sure?” He kept poking because the guy never knew when to stop. He had been the same way when he was little. Never knew when to quit. It drove everyone crazy. But in turn, it was why my brothers and I had also been successful. His drive helped when we wanted to build our own ranch.
“I’m sure,” I muttered under my breath. “Now will you let this shit go?”
“Okay,” he sounded slowly just as I pulled up to the main entrance of West Ranch.
Just like every single time I drove in, it was a sight to behold. The huge house and barns. The green grass and what felt like countless trees and land that never seemed to end.Home.Or at least that’s what it had been when Mom brought us to the ranch after my dad passed away.
We might not have been born on the land where my cousins August, March, June, and May had grown up, but fuck me, I doubted anyone appreciated the land more than I did. It’d given me purpose. A place to call home. The spot where I wanted to bring my kids to one day and help them ride their first horse.
No. Not their first.
Not when Travis, Ryder, and I now had our own bit of land and one day soon, we’d have our own horses there, too. But before we did that, our houses had to be finished. Travis’ was already settled since he’d found my future sister-in-law, Melody.But not everyone was as lucky as that asshole, who literally had her fall on his lap.
Nope.
Some of us put out boots in our mouths and fuck up any possibility of something before we even laid eyes on her, I thought to myself and shook my head just as I parked in my usual spot. I leaned back and looked out at the main house in front of me.
“Aw, come on, don’t get all broody on me,” Ryder urged. I rolled my eyes.
