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“Good idea,” Cade added, grinning as he glanced over at me. “Sounds like we might have another long day ahead of us.”
Yeah. It was absolutely going to be a long day. But I was still smiling. It was going to take a lot more than an awkward breakfast to change that.
* * *
Daisy Lynn, Becca, and I were standing on the front porch when the sheriff and his deputy pulled up. I was surprised that the girls hadn’t asked me about last night the moment we were out of earshot from my uncle, but I knew it was just a matter of time.
Maybe they hadn’t guessed exactly what I’d been up to… but no. The three of us knew each other too well. If they’d heard me leave my room in the middle of the night, it would have been easy enough for them to guess where I’d gone. For all I knew, they might have even seen me walk across the field to the bunkhouse.
“Janessa,” Daisy Lynn whispered, elbowing me as the men got out of their patrol car. “Why didn’t you tell us you had such hot lawmen out here?”
I laughed. “What? Really?”
I cocked my head to the side as I looked at Sheriff Prescott and Deputy Cole. Sure, they were attractive guys—no doubt about that. I just never would have guessed either of them to be Daisy Lynn’s type.
Then again, she’d never really been very open about her dating life while the three of us lived in the dorms. But the way she was eyeing those two men? Yeah, it was pretty clear that she was interested.
“They’re both gorgeous,” she said, nodding. “Seriously. Makes me want to run out and commit some crimes.”
I snorted. “I think there might be easier ways to get their attention, but don’t let me stop you.” I was still watching the guys, trying to see what Daisy Lynn might have seen. “I guess I’ve just never looked at them like that before.”
“No,” Becca said. “I guess you probably haven’t…”
“What does that mean?” I quirked an eyebrow. Out of the three of us, Becca had always been the quiet one. She didn’t talk much unless she really had something to say. And with that little comment?
She definitely had something to say.
Becca gave me a knowing smile. “Nothing, really… just… it’s pretty obvious you’ve had your eyes on a couple of other guys, that’s all.”
She wasn’t wrong, and I wasn’t going to lie or pretend.
“Is it really that obvious?” I asked.
They both laughed. “Come on, Janessa,” Daisy Lynn rolled her eyes in my direction. “They couldn’t even let you out of their sight long enough for you to come pick us up from the bus station. Pretty sure it’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the three of you have something going on.”
“Does your uncle know?” Becca asked.
I sighed. “Sort of. We’ve talked about it before, but I don’t think he’s really taking me seriously. I have a feeling he thinks it’s just a crush or something, but it’s more than that.”
I’d never been this open about my feelings for Cade and Boone before, but it felt good to finally admit out loud that I had real feelings for them—even though I still didn’t know what that might mean for the three of us, or if they would eventually feel the same way. Both guys had made it pretty clear last night that this was just a fling, but… a girl could still hope, right?
As if they’d been summoned by my thoughts, Cade and Boone came around the side of the house with my uncle to meet the sheriff and the deputy in the driveway. I couldn’t take my eyes off my two guys as they shook hands and clapped the sheriff on the back like they were old friends.
Cade and Boone were just so confident and strong, so sure of themselves but in completely different ways. Cade’s personality was a little cockier overall, while Boone was steady butdefinitelycocky in the bedroom. There was no doubt in my mind that they were both good men.
“You’re doing it again,” Becca snickered.
“What?” I asked, reluctantly looking away from my guys to meet her gaze. “I’m not doing anything.”
“You’re staring. Like… a lot.”
“I amnotstaring,” I lied, feeling my face flush.
“Girl,” Daisy Lynn joined in. “You’re staring like it’s the Fourth of July and you want a hot dog real bad.”
Becca burst out laughing and my mouth fell open as all five guys turned to look in our direction.
“Oh, geez,” I said, unable to hold back a laugh of my own. “I hate you both. Come on, now they’ve seen us and we have to go be serious for a while.”
