Page 152 of Ride a Cowboy

In reality…

Jesus. She tried to summon her nerve when she considered what she planned to do. When that failed, she called the queen of impulsiveness, Sterling.

Sterling’s face appeared on her phone. It was only when she noticed Sterling was in her sleep shirt, sitting on her bed, that Sienna realized how late it was.

“What’s up, See?”

“Sorry. Did I wake you?”

Sterling shook her head. She still lived with Uncle Sam and Aunt Cindi in their little cottage through the woods. The path between Sienna and Sterling’s homes, as well as the one that led to Hope’s house, was well-worn. One of the nicest things about living at Compass Ranch was how close she was to her cousins. They were her best friends, and she couldn’t image how different her life would have been without them in it.

“I need help.”

Sterling sighed softly. “Are you still upset about Josh? Because if so, you should call Hope to talk about it. She’s more forgiving than me. Right now, I’d like to punch him in the face for being such a shithead.”

Sienna grinned. Sterling and Jade always had her back. It was a nice feeling. “I don’t want to talk about Josh. It’s Daniel.”

Sterling’s eyes widened, interest dawning. “What about him?”

“I’m planning to sleep with him, but I don’t know how to initiate it. I mean, short of walking to his RV and stripping off all my clothes.”

Sterling’s mouth fell open. Sienna wasn’t sure she’d ever seen anyone actually gape until that moment. Part of her was pleased she’d been able to shock her unshakable cousin.

Then Sterling went into motion. “Conference call.”

Sienna shook her head, but it was too late. She could see Sterling plugging in Jade and Hope’s phone numbers.

Dammit. She’d hoped she and Sterling could keep this conversation between them. Then she heard her mother’s voice in her mind. Jody often mourned for the good old days when phone calls were just between two people and you couldn’t see who you were talking to. Her mother was always one of the last holdouts whenever it came to technology.

In the meantime, Sienna and her cousins had begged their parents to buy them the latest and greatest each and every time a new phone came on the market. Usually Sienna loved the ability to talk to—and see—all of her cousins at once. This was especially true during the years Sienna was away at college. She’d missed her cousins so much those four years. Being able to see their faces and hear their voices over the video phone never failed to chase away her homesickness.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t one of those times. Hope’s face appeared first. Like Sterling, she was dressed for bed, sitting propped up against pillows. No doubt she’d been reading some juicy romance novel on her ereader. “Everything okay?”

Sterling nodded. “Yeah. We’re just waiting for Jade to pick?—”

Jade’s face appeared. The four of them each graced a corner of the flat phone screen. Unlike Sterling and Hope, Jade was clearly out and about rather than in bed.

“What’s wrong?” Jade asked. Sienna heard someone in the background ask for another beer. Jade turned away from the screen for a moment and told the guy he’d had enough and she was cutting him off for the night. Then she yelled over her shoulder, “Bruce. I’m taking a smoke break.”

Jade didn’t appear to wait for permission. Instead, the background changed as they watched her leave the crowded bar and head for the back door.

“You don’t smoke,” Hope pointed out.

“So what? It didn’t take me too long working here to figure out the waitresses and Bruce were getting more breaks than me just because they’re all chain smokers. Fuck that shit. Told Bruce it wasn’t fair and that I’d be taking smoke breaks too.”

Sienna laughed. “What did he say to that?”

“What could he say? I’m right and he knows it.”

And if Bruce didn’t realize it at first, Sienna had no doubt Jade drove the point home relentlessly until the man gave in simply to shut her up.

Jade had clearly made it to the parking lot as Sienna spotted several cars in the background. “Listen, as much as I’d love to have one of our virtual slumber parties, I’m going to have to go back in soon. So cut to the chase. What’s wrong?”

Growing up, Jade had felt like odd girl out because she didn’t live on the ranch. In order to keep her in the group, they’d started holding weekly virtual slumber parties—sometimes with their parents’ knowledge, sometimes without. They’d crawl into their own beds, then fire up the conference call, giggling and whispering until the wee hours.

“Sienna’s going to sleep with Daniel.”

Sienna winced at Sterling’s abrupt announcement. “Actually, I was only thinking about it. I’m not sure that I’m going?—”

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