Page 59 of Blue Jean Summer

The bartender swung by with three more shots. I took one and knocked it back. “You do know that Mason has eyes for you, right?” I wheezed.

Savannah cackled. “Damn. That ring gave you a set of brass ovaries.”

“What do you mean?”

“We never mention the fact that Mason is sweet on Hallie,” Savannah said. “Even though the whole town knows.”

Hallie’s cheeks turned tomato red as plates of greasy burgers and mountains of fries were dropped off in front of us. All talk of wedding plans and suitors disappeared. An afternoon of trying on dresses had me starving.

Dinner turned into more drinks, and more drinks turned into dancing.

While Hallie and I took turns leading on the dusty wood dance floor, Levi stole Savannah and let her drag him around as they two-stepped next to us.

“Looks like you’re not the only one with a cowboy who’s sweet on you,” I joked to Hallie as we spun each other in tipsy circles to the tune of old country songs that warbled out of the vintage jukebox.

Savannah looked like she would eat Levi alive if given the chance, and Levi looked like he would enjoy every minute of it.

“You have one too,” Hallie slurred as we wobbled around to face the door.

I tossed my head back and let out a raucous giggle. “I don’t have a cowboy. I have a Hayes. And my Hayes is one shot of Fireball away from getting lucky if he wants to.”

“You need to have a water,” a deep voice said as the scuff and thud of cowboy boots on dusty hardwood drew closer and closer.

“Lucky you,” Hallie slurred as she stumbled back, leaving space between me and my Hayes. “You conjured a cowboy!”

Hayes, clad in a button-up, jeans, and boots, cleared his throat. “What are you doing, trouble?”

Hallie all but shoved me into Hayes’s arms and skipped off to pester Levi and Savannah.

I was too excited to contain myself. I reached up, sandwiched his cheeks between my hands, and jumped up and down. “It’s my bachelorette party!”

His smile was subtle, yet amused. I felt it in the way his cheeks moved against my hands, and his hands slid onto my hips. “I know. You told me.”

“We’re getting married!” I said in the least discreet whisper known to man.

He chuckled. “I know that too.”

I snaked my arms around his neck and began to sway, forcing him to slow dance with me. His wide hands spanned my hips, keeping me upright as he reluctantly followed the cadence of the country crooner on the jukebox.

Those big hands…

His big—

“Get your mind out of the gutter, sweetheart.” Hayes’s gentle whisper was dangerously seductive.

My eyes shot up to his. “How’d you know what I was thinking about—”

“Because you’re not as sober as you think you are.” His mouth grazed the shell of my ear. “And you were staring at my belt like you were about to undress me right here.”

I traced the large gold buckle and the rose pattern that matched the estate gates with the tip of my finger. “I was just thinking that you have good taste in accessories.”

“You know what I was thinking?”

I shook my head.

Hayes tipped my chin up, his lips just a breath away from mine. “That you’re a shitty liar, Catie.”

My jaw dropped, just about landing on top of the new boots he had gotten from Ranch Dressing, but Hayes just kept dancing.