Page 27 of Cowboy Triplets Next Door

I watched her eyes move to Owen and her cheeks flush before she looked at the counter and waved a fork at Charlie. “More pie, please.”

Charlie sauntered over and tapped his knuckles on our table. “You okay, Billie? Need anything besides pie?”

I felt an uncharacteristic bolt of jealousy choke out any good sense I had and barely snapped my mouth shut before I verbally assaulted Charlie for being nice to a friend. I sat back in the booth, still petting Turtle, and did my best to not make a fool of myself. Especially when Gray seemed so eager to be the fool.

He turned a cold stare on Charlie. “She’s fine. Just more pie, kid.”

Billie gasped and slapped her hand over Gray’s mouth. He looked about as surprised as she did by her own action. Then, with a sweet smile on her face we’d never been on the receiving end of, she winked at Charlie. “He’s pissy because of the rash creeping up his downstairs right now. The bumps are really itchy, I guess. Don’t take it personally, Charlie.”

I let out a bark of laughter and Turtle replied with a bark of his own. Owen tried to hide the fact he was laughing, but it was useless. Charlie especially seemed to enjoy her comment.

Gray gripped Billie’s wrist and gently removed it from his mouth before tugging it under the table. The angle and the blush on her face made me question just where he’d put her hand. “Sorry. I am in a bad mood. Not because of a rash. Unless you consider the woman next to me a rash. Can you bring us all a slice of pie? I’ll tip extra to make up for my shitty attitude.”

Billie couldn’t help herself when it came to chocolate. “I want chocolate ice cream with mine, Charlie. And a muffin.”

He rolled his eyes. “She’s not a rash but she can be kind of bothersome like one. I’ll give you that.”

As soon as he was gone, Billie pulled her hand away from Gray and huffed at him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”

“That was an accident.” Gray cleared his throat and wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Anyway. Are you staying or do I need to find a new ranch hand to take care of all your pets?”

Billie picked at a piece of crust before slipping her hand under the table to feed Turtle. “I’m staying. For now.”

“Good.” Owen sent a meaningful look her way. “We should talk.”

Billie’s eyes lit up as her lips stretched into a smirk. “Just because I’m staying doesn’t mean I want anything to do with any of you. As far as I’m concerned, you three were a steppingstone for me. Now I can get on with my life.”

CHAPTER 23

Billie

Two days later, I was back in the diner for my work meeting with my oh, so lovely, bosses. Chase and Joanie had just left our table after telling the men around me all about the battle of the sexes. For some reason, I hadn’t imagined my two worlds ever combining, so knowing that my bosses were suddenly interested in the battle made me uncomfortable. I was silently eating a muffin and thinking of ways to make sure they didn’t come near the battle when Owen’s large hand landed on my inner thigh under the table.

I hated him for how much his touch made me lose interest in my muffin. It wasn’t fair. Forcing myself to glare at him, I frowned. “What?”

He smiled. “Maybe a battle will be good for us. You seem to need to get some aggression out.”

I tilted my head and tried to look as innocent as possible. “I found a way I like getting my aggression out but you three seem to be against it.”

His fingers tightened on my thigh before he let go. “Are you ever going to play nice?”

I opened my mouth to make another joke but Keaton cleared his throat and pointed a finger at me. “Alright with the jokes, Bumble B.”

One of the soldiers training at the facility in town walked by our table and winked at me. I blushed and smiled, ducking my head so I didn’t have to decide what to do with my face next.

Owen stretched his arm out behind me and grunted. “What was that about?”

“Since I’m no longer burdened by that pesky v-card, I can explore now. He’s not one of the soldiers I met last night, but he probably heard about all the fun we had.”

In reality, I’d gone to Eve’s house to pamper myself while we both mourned our love lives. We’d laughed at each other until we each cried a little and then I’d snuck home after passing out at her house for a while. The guys didn’t need to know that, though.

Owen’s hand landed on the back of my neck and I felt a wave of heat scorch through my body as he leaned in and growled under his breath. “That’s not funny.”

I shrugged, trying to pretend like I wasn’t on fire from his nearness. “I’m not joking.”

Gray dropped his fist down on the table hard enough to rattle the silverware and draw attention our way. I watched him try to straighten out his face so he looked less murderous, but it was useless. The three of them were big men who looked intimidating no matter what, so when they were angry, they put the fear of God into people. Not me, though.

I smiled politely and popped the last of my muffin into my mouth. It didn’t matter that my body reacted to them like it did. They were jerks who’d rejected me enough for a lifetime. If teasing them brought me joy and evened the playing field, I was going to do it.

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