Page 25 of That Kiss

“Damn, what happened to you down in Texas?” Teller asks with a lifted brow. “You used to be fun.”

He’s not wrong. Ranger and I have always been the cut-ups—the ones ready to tease our friends or prank them. But lately, yeah, I feel my mood shifting and I know damn well why, but I don’t want to admit it to myself.

“Just getting older, man. Maybe my patience is thinner.”

“Nah,” he spits, wiping away a stray piece of tobacco from his lip, “it’s a woman, and we both know it.” He turns when Carl calls his name, then he jogs over to the barn.

“What the fuck?” I mutter. “Does everyone know my goddamn business in this town?”

For the rest of the day, I’m left with nothing but my horse Clementine, barbed wire, and my thoughts—a scenario I used to long for, but now it doesn’t matter what I’m doing since all my thoughts are on her.

I replay the way she looked back at me when I grabbed her ass. The look in her eyes begged me to keep going, or maybe they were daring me.

“Shit.”

Maybe I completely misread the signals that night. Perhaps she wanted me to push her, chase her. Clementine chuffs, stomping her hoof at the ground in frustration that we haven’t started moving.

“Easy, girl,” I pat her neck, “I know you’re antsy to get to work.” I refocus my attention back on the task at hand, trying my damndest to push any and all thoughts of Juney from my mind.

I stand up and stretch after being bent over on the ground for probably hours. When they say ranching is backbreaking work, they’re not kidding. I signal to Teller and Carl that I’m heading back down and they should finish up and follow. By the time I make it back to the barn and put Clementine away, the sun is setting and all I want is a hot shower and a cold beer.

“We getting drinks tonight, boys?” Trevor asks the cowboys as I’m walking by their house.

I’m about to tell them to take it easy tonight, because the next two days are going to be hell, when I hear one of the others say something that stops me. “You know I’ll be there if Juniper’s there.” My chest tightens.

“That’s the only reason to go to the bar and drink: to see her shake that juicy ass!” Trevor’s high-pitched laugh follows his comment, and I have to hold myself back from kicking through the back door and dragging him out by his throat.

“Keep walking,” I grit through my teeth as I walk to my truck and drive over to my house. During my shower—and the entire time I’m getting dressed and walking back out to my truck to go to the bar—I tell myself not to go, that this isn’t a fight I want to get involved in.

But 15 minutes later, I’m sitting outside the bar, my heart beating in my chest. When I swing the door open, I’m immediately met with the loud laughter of cowboys and locals, with some pop-country ballad blaring over the speakers. I keep my head down but watch for Juniper in my peripheral as I walk to the bar and take a seat.

“Evening, Decker. How ya doin’, sweetheart?” Bernice, one of the long-time bartenders, gives me a smile as she opens the same Slade IPA I always drink and slides it across the bar to me.

“Doing all right, Bernice. How you doing? I like that lipstick on you.” I wink at her, making her laugh, as she launches into her same old if I were twenty years younger speech. “I’m serious,” I tell her, “it looks good with your skin tone.”

“Well, aren’t you a sweet-talker, you and your twin? Always have been. If my third husband were still around, I’d be telling him to watch out for you.” She wipes the counter down and takes someone else’s order before walking back over to me. “Speaking of which, I heard you came back to town single. Tell me how that’s possible.”

I can’t do anything but laugh and shake my head at this point. It feels like everyone is going to have an opinion on my love life, no matter what I do or don’t do. Back when I had a different woman in my bed every night, everyone had something to say about it. Now that I’m single, they seem to think that’s a problem too. My thoughts are pierced by the sound of Juniper’s laughter, followed by Trevor’s. My eyes dart over to where it came from, and I see them laughing about something, but I turn my attention away just as quickly, back to the bar.

“So, Bernice, with summer winding down, are you getting ready to host the beer tent at the Fall Fest in a few months?”

“A few? It’s less than two months away, and no, I’m not ready. I could really use extra help with the tent this year. The last few years have taken a toll on me.”

“Why don’t I help you?” I offer. “I haven’t been assigned a task yet, as far as I know at least.”

“I would absolutely love it if you could.” Her face lights up. “Lord knows, we could use your arms to haul the kegs around, but you better check with your mom or sister and make sure they didn’t offer you to someone else first.” Her attention is pulled away by a few of the cowboys clamoring for shots.

“What brings you out on a school night?”

I can’t even hide the grin that takes over my face the second I hear her breathy voice. I slowly tip my bottle toward my lips, taking a long pull while I let my eyes take her in. She leans her elbows on the bar, her dark hair with purple streaks still in it cascading down her bare back.

Fuck.

She’s wearing a cute little top that leaves her entire back exposed and stops a few inches above her low-slung black denim shorts, which hug her hips.

“School night? You’re not that young,” I snark.

“But you’re that old, so what brings you out on a weeknight?”

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