“You gonna pull up a chair, B?” Keith asked before throwing his hand down. “Because I fuckin’ fold.”
Three sevens, the king of spades, and the five of hearts made a solid three of a kind.
Lennox clicked her tongue before reaching for her cards and turning them over. “Oh Keith… If you’d just stuck to your guns a little bit longer.”
Two aces, the queen of hearts, the three of diamonds, and the five of clubs.
Keith groaned and hung his head as one of the other hands clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad. You’re not the only one she’s pulled a fast one on tonight.”
My girl placed her hand over her chest. “Little ole me? I would never.”
“Yeah, right,” I snorted, leading Titan away from the crowd. “Y’all have fun.” Before I did anything else, I needed to take care of him, and he’d earned his fair share of extra treats tonight.
“You scared, Bish?” Lennox called out, halting me. “I get it. You’re afraid to lose?—”
“I have things to do. Animals to take care of.” I narrowed my eyes, which only seemed to excite her. Nothing scared the woman. I was sure the prospect of punishment overrode her hesitation to push my buttons.
If it was anyone else, I would’ve said no. If it was anyone else, I would’ve told them to fuck off. But it wasn’t anyone else. It was Lennox, and I seemed incapable of telling her no.
Keith grabbed Titan’s reins from my hands as if on cue and nodded to the bathroom behind me. “I’ll take care of him if you wanna clean up and grab a beer. You deserve it after the day you’ve had.”
“What I deserve is a hot meal and a shower,” I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose. “You just want me to stay and get my ass kicked.”
Keith shrugged. “Eh, it might make me feel better, but there’s only one way to find out.”
There was no way I was getting out of this shit now. All I had to do was ride it out. I dropped my head. Lennox was fucking in for it when we were finally alone.
“Deal me in,” I sighed, letting Keith take Titan. “But throw in some extra treats for him.”
lennox
. . .
Wasit a bit reckless to push Bishop and force him to socialize? Maybe. Was I going to pay for it later tonight? Without a doubt. Would I regret it?
Absolutely the fuck not.
If there was one thing I knew about the grumpy asshole walking my way, it was that he never backed down from a challenge. In fact, he was worse than I was. I was competitive, sure, but Bishophatedto lose. I didn’t know what drove him to try and top everyone around him, but I liked it.
For a half-cooked plan, everything was working out in my favor. When I ambled up to the barn this evening, I’d been a woman on a mission. My man had gone missing, and I was determined to find him. Bishop hadn’t texted me since this afternoon, and it was just a quick one-liner to let me know he was headed in. That’d been hours earlier.
I’d been around cowboys long enough to know that shit happened, and sometimes they got hung up. It was just a way of life. I didn’t know how often Dad was late for dinner because he’d gotten to the barn and saw something that needed fixing before he called it a day.
But as the sun began to dip and the air cooled, I started to get a little antsy. Not even Callie’s soft, sweet nudges could calm me down. I know she meant well, but all I could think of was the famous TV moment when Little Timmy fell into the well, and Lassie went to get help.
Just because someone was tough as nails didn’t mean they couldn’t get hurt on the job. I’d seen it plenty of times before. Most accidents could’ve been avoided by keeping a clear head, but some things were out of our control.
By the time I reached the barn, I’d come up with a million different horrible situations about what was keeping him out. They ranged from Bishop getting trampled by an angry stampede to him stumbling on an undiscovered, highly poisonous snake and being bitten. Each scenario grew wilder the longer he was gone.
It wasn’t until I’d found Keith at the barn that I calmed down. I tried to sound annoyed when I asked where the grumpy bastard was, but I thought Keith saw right through me. He just laughed and told me Bishop was stuck with a calving mother and new hire in the pasture, which was much better than the shit going on in my head.
I was on my way back to the big house when Keith asked me if I wanted to stay. Knowing it would get under Bishop’s skin, I said yes. He’d have to come here first anyway because of Titan, so I might as well have a little fun while I waited around for him.
Truth be told, I didn’t know shit about Texas Hold’em. Dad played from time to time, so I knew a royal flush beat everything else. Did I know what it was, though? Nope. Sure didn’t. The only thing I had working for me was the fact that most of the men on this ranch were too damn polite to call me on my bluff. I didn’t ask why, nor did I care.
If their southern charm was why it happened, who was I to tell them they’d been duped?
Callie stayed by my side, thoroughly enjoying herself. I swore she was in doggy heaven. All the guys doted on her. I didn’t even want to think about how many treats she conned them into. If Bishop wanted to point fingers at someone, he could point them at her.
