Page 35 of Road to a Cowboy

“Okay,” she said with a very sarcastic laugh. “Maybe they didn’t but they sure do now.”

“So... this is a lunch date as in lunch with friends? Or a date date?”

Clearly intrigued by the answer, Las’s head swung from Cal to his sister.

But she didn’t answer. Just gave them a sly little smile—which was an answer in itself—and waved over her shoulder as she headed for her car. “See you guys later.”

Cal scowled after her. He’d known the Windsor-March siblings almost since they were toddlers, had always considered them the little brother and sister he’d never had, and he wasn’t sure he liked the idea of Alice dating Ewan and Orson. They were... a little rough around the edges. And Alice was decidedly not.

“Do I need to have a conversation with Ewan and Orson?”

Las waved a hand, unconcerned. “Alice grew up around cowboys. She can handle herself.” He too hopped off the railing, but on the other side of the corral. He turned to face Cal and leaned his forearms next to Cal’s. “Speaking of dating... Marco told me you went out with Austin yesterday, so clearly you do want to date, just... maybe only one specific person?”

Cal fought not to squirm under Las’s gaze. “Austin tell him?”

“Mm-hmm.” Las’s eyes gleamed and his smile went as sly as his sister’s. “I told you friends make the best lovers, didn’t I? So? Tell me. How’d it go?”

Cal opened his mouth to respond, but suddenly found himself too embarrassed to tell this man—who was not only ten years his junior but also in a committed relationship—that he’d fucked up the one thing he’d wanted forever.

Las got the picture anyway. He winced when the silence between them stretched into almost a full minute. “Ouch. That good, huh?”

“It certainly didn’t go as expected.”

“Damn. I’m really sorry, Cal. I thought for sure you two were end game.”

End game? Him and Austin? Cal’s belly flopped like a fish out of water at the thought.

“Is there a chance for a first date, take two?”

Cal let out a sound that could’ve been a laugh. “Maybe. I’m just not sure I want a repeat of last night.”

“I’m sure it would be better the second time.”

“Or it could be worse.”

“Or it could be better.”

“Since when are you a glass-half-full kind of guy?”

Las chuckled. Starshine’s ears flickered at the sound, and she trotted over to stick her muzzle in Las’s face. “Hey, girl.” He rubbed her forehead.

Cal considered not asking, then bit the bullet, because why the fuck not? “You and Marco were friends before you got together, weren’t you?”

“Yeah. Well, sort of,” Las amended with a half shrug. “We were more casual acquaintances than true friends. We didn’t really become friends until he started working here last summer.”

“Why’d you invite a casual acquaintance to work here?”

Las shrugged again. “He asked me out.” At Cal’s raised eyebrows, Las chuckled ruefully. “I said no. College graduation was looming, and we’d be going in separate directions. It didn’t make sense to start something that had an end date. Except, it turned out he didn’t have anything lined up for the summer, so I invited him to work here. We became friends and that somehow turned into love.”

“How did you navigate going from friends to something more?”

“I... don’t know?” Starshine nudged Las’s shoulder, and he resumed his petting. “We just did. It wasn’t like you and Austin, though. We hadn’t been friends forever. Have you talked to Austin since?”

Cal shook his head.

“That’s your first step then. It’s not like you can avoid him forever. Not in this town. Especially not living across the street from each other.”

He had a point. Plus, the longer he and Austin dragged this out, the weirder it would be between them.

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