Page 34 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

“Avery,” I hissed her name, but she just ignored me some more.

This shit is getting old fast.

“Hello? Standing right here, guys,” I said.

“Oh, you know what? Penny loves the movies! And there’s this woman, Jordan, who runs an old drive-in that plays classic movies on the weekends. She’s doing an Alfred Hitchcock double-feature this Saturday.”

“Is that right? What time does it start?” Max asked, and the fucker had his phone out. Like he was taking notes.

“Seven,” Avery informed him, rattling off the website.

“Excuse me? What is going on here? Don’t buy those tickets! I am not going with you—” I sputtered as I watched Max order the tickets online.

He flashed me the confirmation, his ever present grin turning a little smug.

“Done!”

“Great,” Avery said.

“No, not great,” I replied.

“Now, Max, you can’t be late or all the good spots in the back of the lot will be taken, and it’s harder to make out when you have a ton of people watching you,” my soon-to-be-ex-best friend said.

“I am not making out with him?—”

“What about snacks? What are Penelope’s favorites?”

Max directed his questions to Avery, which was actually kind of smart since I was two seconds from upending the cupcake boxes over both their heads.

“Oh, this is important, Penny likes salt on her popcorn with extra butter. You forget the salt and I can promise you she will not talk kindly about you afterwards,” Avery informed him.

“Get there early for a good spot. Put butterandsalt on her popcorn. I can do that,” Max replied, and nodded.

I closed my eyes, but that was no good. Max’s voice was deep and growly and even with my eyes closed it did funny things to my insides.

Was this guy even real? Maybe this was all one big hallucination brought on by my deprived libido and that horrible phone call with my ex.

“Ouch,” I muttered after pinching myself just to make sure I was awake.

“Are you okay?” Max asked, eyes narrowed in concern.

“She’s fine. Okay, so Saturday is a date. But did you get all that because this woman is my best friend and if you fuck this up, I promise you will not like what happens,” Avery threatened Max, and my heart swelled with emotion.

She was crazy, but Avery had been my best friend since we were kids. I knew this was all coming from a good place. I just didn’t think I was ready for it.Or him.

“I won’t fuck it up,” Max told her.

“I’ll be there to pick her up at 6:30,” he said to Avery, then turned to me. “Is that enough time to get there?”

“It is, but I am not going, and you don’t have my address?—”

“Her address is 1214B Willow Lane. It’s a two-family. I live in 1214A,” Avery told him.

That’s it. The woman must have lost her damned mind.

“Willow Lane? I believe that’s close to my place,” Max said thoughtfully.

“Hey, are you at the old Miller Ranch?” Avery asked.

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