Page 127 of Ride a Cowboy

“So it’s salt, shot and orange,” Jade instructed, though none of them needed the tutorial. The Mothers had been following this same birthday tradition for as long as the girls had been alive.

“Aren’t we supposed to propose a toast?” Hope asked as they lifted their glasses.

“I have one,” Jade said. “Here’s to all the boys whose hearts we’re going to break this year. Poor suckers.”

They drank the shots, each of them wincing as they sucked on the sweet oranges they hoped would kill the taste.

“That’s awful,” Hope declared, wrinkling her nose and covering her mouth. “Totally gross. Why would anyone drink that?”

Sterling didn’t bother to respond. Instead, she studied Jade’s face. “Whose heart are you planning to break? I thought you had the hots for Evan. And I get the feeling he likes you too. You already sick of him?”

Jade shook her head. “I wasn’t thinking of anyone in particular. We’re all going to be sixteen soon. Hope and Sienna are already there, and you and I are celebrating our birthdays in January. Let’s face it. None of us is going to meet the one for a damn long time—if ever. In the meantime, I plan to be the dumper, not the dumpee. There’s no way you’ll catch me crying for weeks over a boy like Jenna Garber did when Russ Philpott broke up with her.”

“Jenna was ridiculous,” Sterling agreed.

Hope, ever the compassionate one, chimed in. “Russ was her first love. And he immediately started going out with her best friend. That’s pretty harsh.”

“This,” Jade explained, “is why I’m always going to make sure I throw the first punch. No boy is ever going to get close enough to break my heart.”

Sienna shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a very smart way to live your life. And you’re wrong about us being too young to realize if someone’s the one. Look at me and Josh. We’ve been together for nearly four months, and he’s totally awesome. There’s no way I’m leaving him. We’re going to go to the same college, then come back here to live in Compton Pass. We want the same things. That’s why we’re so perfect together. I don’t plan on breaking his heart and he won’t break mine.”

“How can you plan forever with a guy you’ve never gone past second base with?” Jade asked. “Uncle Seth’s never even let you go on a car date alone with Josh.”

“That’s because I was only fifteen. Now that I’m sixteen and I can get my driver’s license, Dad said I can go out with him. And even if we haven’t gone on a real date, that doesn’t mean we haven’t kissed. A lot.”

Jade rolled her eyes. “Kissing. Big deal.”

“Josh respects me. He said we could wait until I’m ready. Besides, unless I missed the memo, you haven’t even walked up to the plate with Evan. You’re both still in that middle school, arm-punching phase.”

Jade narrowed her eyes. “Ha ha. I told you. I’m not settling for the first guy to glance my way. Or even the second or third or?—”

“We get the picture.” Hope, ever the peacemaker, picked up another orange slice and tried to steer the conversation to safer waters. “You and Josh are great together, Sienna. I wish I could meet a guy—or two—like him.”

Sienna grinned. Rather than two parents, Hope had three. Uncle Silas and Uncle Colby were both married to Hope’s mother, Lucy. While Sienna realized there were folks around town who thought the union was weird and looked down on it, Sienna thought it was beautiful. She knew Hope couldn’t see it as anything but natural and would be open to the same type of relationship.

Sterling’s view of relationships was harder to put a finger on. Sterling wasn’t quite the romantic Sienna and Hope were, nor was her view of relationships quite as jaded as…well, Jade’s. In most things, Sterling marched to the beat of her own drummer, which made her nearly impossible for Sienna to read.

“I think we’re too young to worry about any of this.” Sterling poured another round. “This stuff isn’t so bad. I’m feeling sort of warm and fuzzy inside. Should we try another one?”

Sienna was surprised when Jade and Hope both agreed. Never one to be left out, she accepted the salt and the glass again.

Once again, Jade proposed the toast. “Here’s to the Compass Girls, the craziest cousins west of the Mississippi.”

They laughed as they drank, and this time, no one disagreed.

Chapter 1

Six years later…

Sienna stepped out onto the front porch of her family’s house and pulled her jacket more tightly against her. It was damn chilly for mid-October. If the cool autumn was an indicator, she’d guess they were in for a long, frosty winter. Typically she enjoyed the return of cold air, hot chocolate, skiing and snowy mornings, but this year, she wasn’t looking forward to any of it.

Her distaste for the season probably had to do with the fact she’d be spending most of the winter without Josh. The idea of enduring the icy months without him was depressing. For years, it had been their favorite season as they celebrated the holidays together with their families, took weekend ski trips to Snowy Range or just cuddled in front of the fireplace at the ranch.

Unfortunately, she was home alone while Josh was still away at college. To add insult to injury, he’d begun dropping hints in his past few emails that he’d been invited to spend Christmas with his college roommates in Florida. He hadn’t come out and said he was accepting, but she definitely got the sense he was feeling her out and trying to get her consent.

The idea of spending the holidays without Josh wasn’t sitting well with her. As a result, she’d been walking around the past few weeks like a bear with a thorn in her paw, snapping and attacking her family with very little provocation. She was turning into a bitch and hating herself for it.

“What on Earth are you doing standing out here? It’s cold as a tomb today.”

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