Page 53 of Wildest Dreams

“Fine,” he huffs, and I chuckle softly as I take a sip of my drink.

“Just let us know when, we will be there,” I give her a curt tip of my hat and Riggs leans over, knocking it off the top of my head so it lands on the dusty floor of The Boot.

“Take your damn hat off; manners,” he tuts, and I ignore the rage that simmers within.

“Where is Dixie?” Aspen asks, looking over my shoulder and I shake my head.

“Not coming; sort of glad really,” I half admit. It's not a lie, she's pulling me in again and I don't need my heart broken again.

“Yeah?” Aspen pokes and Riggs grumbles beside her. God, I love her but she is nosey.

“Yeah, it's bad enough she is living under the same roof as me, I dunno... just a little too close?” I look up at Aspen and I can see she gets it, almost like she hears what I’m not saying.

“Do we know why she is back yet?” Harlow asks and this is my chance to scope and see if Aspen knows.

“Nah, just personal issues,” I breathe out, fingers picking the damp beer bottle sticker.

“You know,” Pacey pipes up and I know what is about to come from his mouth before he even says it. “They say that's a sign of being sexually frustrated,” his hand is curled around his bottle as he points to where I am picking.

“Yeah?” I smirk, tilting my head back and looking behind Harlow towards my kid brother and Pacey chuckles to himself, letting his head drop. “Look, I don't have time for any of that. What with everything that happened, losing my job... that is the last thing on my mind.”

“Yeah, it's been a bit of a ride hasn't it,” Conrad pipes up from beside Aspen and we all nod.

Silence swarms our table for a moment before I hear the sharp intake of Riggs breathing in.

“Need you boys up early in the morning, we need to get the herd across the creek and into the top field, we've got cowboys moving up there tonight to settle for a couple of weeks whilst the cows birth the calves. Then once they're strong enough, we will bring them back down to the ranch.”

I nod.

“It's quiet up in the top pasture, the cowboys will be there if any trouble comes their way and they're out the way of coyotes.”

“Just let me know when you need me,” Harlow says and her eyes linger on Riggs just a little longer than they should have. We know Harlow loves Austin, but we also know she holds a soft flickering candle for Riggs. First love and all that bullshit.

“Will do,” Riggs doesn't even meet her gaze, he is too focused on Aspen.

“How is the writing going?” I ask Aspen, softly rolling the base of my empty beer bottle on the table.

“Ugh,” she huffs, chest rising and falling, “hit a bit of a block. Not sure where I want the story to go,” she admits, nodding to herself. “I need to get a move on though as my tour is coming up and people are wanting the second instalment...”

“You can't force a turd,” Pacey shrugs up.

“Pretty sure the saying is, you can't force a fart...” Aspen nibbles on her bottom lip, “but thanks for the advice.” Soft laughter rolls across the table when I notice Riggs looking behind me.

“Oh my,” Aspen whispers. Whoever it is, is gaining the attention of the table. Twisting and looking over my shoulder, I see her.

Pretty white dress, her new cowboy boots and her long brown hair sitting in waves down her back. Wide blue eyes seek me out and she holds her hand up awkwardly. She looks so damn pretty.

“Fuck,” I hear Conrad mutter under his breath, and I snap my head around to look at him, eyes narrowing. “What?” he smirks, and I shake my head.

Riggs stands up, walking over to the table behind us and grabbing a spare chair, carrying it across the floor before placing it at the top of the table. I know he doesn't particularly like Dixie, but he isn't an asshole.

Well… mostly.

She walks over cautiously, her eyes bouncing around the table before they settle on mine, and I see the twitch of her lips.

Pretty as sin.

Inhaling sharply, I go to stand and she looks up at me.

---