“Sadie here is our mostspecialguest,” Emmett says, grinning as he slings an arm around her shoulders. “A real VIP.”
Lydia glances at his arm, then back at Sadie. Her smile sharpens. “Aww. Are you allergic to the wordgirlfriend, Emmy?”
Emmett chokes on his water, spraying the bar top. We all groan in unison.
“Jesus,relax. You guys are worse than my brother,” Lydia mutters, dragging a towel from her back pocket to wipe the counter. “No labels for youcommitment-phobes.”
Emmett rolls his eyes.
“No.No. I’m not with them—I mean, him,” Sadie blurts, color flooding her cheeks. “I’m notwithanyone.”
Heat crawls up my chest when I see the flush lingering on Sadie’s skin.
She saidthembefore she corrected herself. Whether she meant to or not, her mind went to both of us.
To me.
“Uh-huh, gotcha,” Lydia says, easily, her smile warm. “Either way, it’s nice to meet you, Sadie.”
I keep my eyes on my glass, watching the ice slowly melt.
Lyd’s not completely wrong about the label. We’ve dated and had a few girlfriends in high school, but a small town means small dating pool—we were bound to overlap at some point. Especially after Dad implemented the rule.
Emmett dated girls I’d hooked up with and vice versa. When it became some kind of twisted game for the girls—who could date both Morrow brothers and compare—I pulled back, and Emmett started chasing after tourists.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my brother, but there’s not a single part of me that desires to share a girl with him.
The second he finishes eating, Emmett stalks out of the dining lodge, muttering something about astupid fucking donkeyunder his breath.
Sadie sets her napkin over her half-eaten sandwich and nudges the plate aside. My brow furrows, but I don’t say anything.
Staff meals are comped, but I still toss a twenty down on the counter for Lydia. She grins, slipping it into the pocket of her apron.
“Aww, are you getting soft on me, Wes? I always knew there was a teddy bear hiding in there.” She winks, scooping up our plates. “You riding this weekend?”
“Yeah. Me and Emmett are for sure. Landon in?”
“Please. No one can keep that idiot away from a bucking bull.”
I stand, pushing my hat back to rake a hand through my hair, then drop it on backward again.
We might work cattle and ride bulls, but cowboy hats have always felt performative to me. This isn’t an act. I’m not pretending to be anything I’m not.
Sadie looks up and I tilt my head toward the door. She slips off her stool, waving goodbye to Lyd.
“I better see you there too,not-Emmett’s-girlfriend!”Lydia giggles before disappearing behind the swinging door.
I chuckle, shaking my head as I follow Sadie out, holding the door for her.
She spins to face me the moment we are outside.
“That’s not going to be a thing, right?” Her voice is low. “I don’t want people getting the wrong idea or anything.”
“Don’t worry about it. Lydia gives everyone a hard time. Means she likes you.”
“Like when a boy’s mean to you in third grade and everyoneswearsit means he likes you?” she scoffs.
“Yeah, something like that.”
