Page 14 of Balancing Act

“You’re agreeing to keep your mind open to the possibilities, and be honest about what you want.”

I nodded. “Yes. Yes, I absolutely agree to that. It sounds damn good.”

Skylar slapped her knee. “Yeehaw, bitches!”

I laughed and sealed our pact with a spontaneous group hug, laughing even harder when Enzo nearly toppled us all over.

“Let’s set up the fire pit and have some rosé,” Zaya said, breaking free of Sky’s death-grip.

“Ooh, excellent idea. I am expert fire starter,” Enzo said, following her to the double glass doors that led out to the deck and paved patio below.

“Perhaps, but I was the youngest recipient of the Girl Scouts campfire badge in all of San Bernardino county.”

“I do not know what any of that means.”

“I’ll get the wine!” I interrupted, walking to the kitchen where we’d already unpacked the boxes of food and drink we’d brought. I chose a cheap screw-top bottle out of the fridge. If it was good enough for Taylor Swift, it was good enough for all of us.

Heading outside, the bottle in one hand and four precariously stacked stemless wine glasses in the other, I watched as Zaya and Enzo argued over the firewood.

“You have to put the wood in a teepee shape. It allows proper air circulation.”

“No, no. I been making fires in Tuscany since I was il bambino. You stack, see? Big, little, then littlest,” Enzo said, demonstrating by undoing Zaya’s teepee, eliciting a screech from her. The two continued to argue, kicking each other’s wood piles and swatting at each other’s backs.

The bottle of wine disappeared from my grasp as Sky pushed past. “Whoa there, we got a show.” She took the top glass from my stack and kissed my cheek, spinning around to take a seat by the firepit and pour herself some wine, without a care in the world.

I shook my head and laughed. “It’s like herding cats.”

* * *

An hour later, we sat in the yard, sipping from our second bottle of wine. The patio lights cast an amber glow around us and the moon was full enough to add its own gleam across the grass beyond our Adirondack chairs.

The fire turned out to be more of a pile of wood on top of a couple smoky embers. After Zaya and Enzo gave up on their self-professed skills, we collectively ignored the failure. The air was cool and crisp, but our conversation and the buzz of the rosé left me feeling warm all over.

“So, horseback riding tomorrow . . .” Zaya said.

Skylar grinned. “Not just horseback riding. Trail riding on the mountain. With a grumpy-ass cowboy, no less.” She waggled her eyebrows suggestively. “He's quite the specimen, don't you think? All rugged and brooding.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn't deny the flutter of excitement in my stomach at the thought of seeing Gray Anderson again. “He's definitely . . . interesting.”

After that little fake dust-up in the diner, I could tell he hadn’t wanted to agree to Marge’s request, but he did anyway. Marge explained that she’d known the Anderson boys since they were in diapers, a fact that had Gray rolling his eyes. He didn’t say a single word to us. Marge handled everything. And when she introduced us all, he just nodded with a grunt that was sexier than it had any right to be.

“He was definitely checking you out, Eryn.”

As much as I wanted to deny it, her words had a ring of truth that echoed in my mind. Gray’s piercing blue eyes had lingered on me longer than I was comfortable with. Not because he made me uncomfortable, but because he had me wanting things I hadn’t wanted in a long time. As his eyes swooped over my body, the tension between us was palpable, but I couldn’t shake off the memory of his dismissive attitude.

I decided to play it off as not a big deal.

“Hardly,” I said, my voice unnaturally high. I cleared my throat. “I think he was just annoyed at our presence.”

“Oh for sure he was. But there was no doubt he also looked like he wanted to eat you up.”

“He probably checks out every woman who crosses his path,” I retorted, trying to convince myself more than anyone else.

Zaya raised an eyebrow, a knowing smirk playing on her lips. “I don’t think so, Eryn. He didn’t give me or Sky a single glance.”

Shaking my head, I avoided delving into the whirlpool of thoughts that threatened to drown me. “It doesn’t matter. We’re here to enjoy ourselves in nature, not commune with cowboys.”

“Speak for yourself, bella,” Enzo said, nudging a giggling Skylar with his shoulder.

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