I think back to my hot dog date with Callie, and how I saw she has someone else in the wings. “I think you can. I think I am right now. I’m pretty sure Callie has at least one other guy she’s talking to. We aren’t serious or exclusive. I want more, but she isn’t ready. So, I just continue to give her my all until she decides what she wants to do. She feels...worth it, I guess.”
He nods affirmatively like he gets it. “Yeah, okay. I guess. Okay.” The hurt in his face hurts me to see. The days and weeks after Indie left were the hardest time to be his best friend. And I saw him his whole childhood cover for his dad. Duke spent the better part of a month drunk. Sitting in the house or at the bar, drinking day and night. Sadie and I kept this place going while we waited. One day, he just showed up, sober, and decided it was time to get on with things. And at no point did he ever look as lost as he does right now.
“We’ll both get through it. Like we always have, together.” I reach my hand across the bar.
He takes it, clasping our hands. “Together.”
We share a few beers before I head home, deciding tomorrow is the day I get something from Callie. I thought Sunday, in her bed, was a turning point for us. The necklace, the worship. I pray it wasn’t just me.
Walking into Pete’s, I know there’s a chance I’ll find Callie. I grab a flat cart and head over to the horse pellets and load up. As I’m throwing my third bag of feed on, I hear a laugh. A laugh I recognize.
Callie.
Leaning out of the aisle trying to find her, I hear her laugh again and it’s the sweetest sound. My stomach drops at the thought of someone else bringing that laugh out of her and I decide to leave her alone, for now. Carrying on to the dog food, I add a bag to the cart before heading to the register.
“Cash?” Hearing her voice, I swivel my head, looking for the source and come face to face with the woman who visits my dreams every night. And she’s just as cute as I remember with her little apron on. Her khaki-colored slacks stretch across her round ass, and I remember how it felt to grab a handful. I shift a little.
“Hey, Callie. Fancy meeting you here,” I tell her with a smile and a wink.
She giggles and I feel like I’m floating.
That’s my girl. She comes closer and wraps her arms around my stomach, squeezing before laying her head on my chest. I pause for a second before wrapping her in my arms. I lean down a little to whisper. “Hey, Hurricane. How’s my girl?”
She pulls her head up, looks up at me, and smiles. It’s not quite the same smile I got before, but she looks like she’s trying. Just inside the collar of her black shirt, I see the glint of gold.
Sticking my finger into the opening, I pull the shirt away from her chest, just a little and look down, seeing my necklace nestled there. The thrill of it is enough for me to pull her close again and let her feel her effect on me.
She smacks my arm, laughing as she steps out of my hold. I reach down and adjust myself, taking the pressure off.
“Hurricane, I can’t even explain what seeing that does to me.”
“I can see what it does to you, Cowboy. So can everyone else,” she snarks, raising a sassy brow.
“You could actually see it, if you would answer my texts,” Iscold her playfully, wrapping an arm around her as I try and steer my cart one-handed. I’m not successful, but thankfully she grabs a handle to help me push. I want so much more from her than I think she is able or willing to give but it doesn’t mean I will stop fighting for it.
“Sorry, Cash. I was just working through some stuff, but I think I’m good now.”
“Good,” I whisper in her ear, breathing across it and making her shiver. “Because I really really want to slide inside you and feel you come around me,” I say it with barely any sound, and she turns red from the top of her head all the way down until all the exposed skin I can see is bright pink. My cock twitches in anticipation of literally anything. I’m so tired of my hand, and so ready for Callie.
“Cash,” she says my name as a breath, her breathing a little heavy.
“Yes, baby?” I ask her, trying to conceal a laugh.
“Go pay for your stuff. I get off at five, wanna stop by?”
“You get off at five? You’ll be off again by 5:45. Bye, Hurricane!” I wave as I walk away, leaving her in the aisle, her mouth hanging open.
Chapter 23
No One Needs to Know Right Now
Callie
Despite Cash’s jokes about when I get off work, we still haven’t crossed the line yet. But things are starting to feel more serious. His smile, his light, are a constant presence in my life, and in my head. We had dinner at my little table Thursday night, sitting together comfortably while we ate Chinese food—beef and broccoli for the cattle rancher and sticky ribs for me— before lounging on the couch. Lying wrapped in his arms in the little bubble of safety I’m creating, that he’s cultivating, things feel right.
But in the back of my mind, Duke’s face hovers like a specter, the destroyed look in his eyes when I confessed, the anger when I told my story. Things are broken between us. The fact that he and Cash are best friends gnaws at me. If I don’t fix things with Duke, his hurt may hurt Cash, or I may lose them both. I don’t know how to fix it though. He hasn’t texted, and I haven’t either. I want things to settle before I try and bridge the gap—for the feelings to be less raw and ragged.
Cash has invited me to the first event of the season nearby, a small classic in Lewistown, and I’m over the moon excited about the prospect of seeing him in action, live. Before the rodeo though, he wants me to come out to the ranch.
