Page 34 of Claimed By the Cowboys

Fuck. I shuffle, hoping she won’t notice when I press my lips to her head.

“Parenting,” I say. It’s a truth. Not the one I was thinking of, but I’m surprised. It seems to come from a very, very deep place. And it’s still true.

“Because of your uncle?”

“Yeah.”

Piper sighs, her ass touching my cock in a way that feels like it’s going to get me all worked up again. “I know. I get scared, too. Since my parents died, and I only had my grandparents… I feel like I don’t have a very good script for it, you know?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. That’s a fucking understatement.

Piper makes a little hum. “But, you know, it’s also a chance to re-do it.”

“What?”

She turns until she’s looking right at me. “Well, since I don’t know what it should feel like to have parents, now I get to choose. I think that I get to be the parent I want to be, instead of the one that was programmed into me. And that’s kind of cool.”

My eyes search hers.

My uncle left me. All the time. He was totally uninterested in raising his nephew, and he made no fucking qualms about expressing it to me. But I would never do that to a kid.

The thought is… kind of freeing. I thought it would feel terrifying, to become a parent when I had the childhood I had.

Piper’s right, though. There’s a chance to do something different. Something more. To change the fate that I was given.

I prop my head up on my elbow, looking down at her. “I like that.”

Piper’s grin is infectious. “I do, too.”

“Come tomorrow.”

She tilts her head. “What?”

“To take pictures of the horses. You found Tate’s thing. His brand. And Brent’s. Come find out what my thing is. Tomorrow.”

Piper leans in, like she’s going to kiss me. I freeze.

She catches herself and leans back. “Tomorrow it is, then.”

My chest expands. I feel like I’m glowing.

This situation is fucked up. It’s confusing. But like Piper said, maybe it isn’t just fucked up. Maybe there’s an opportunity here. To choose. And even though it’s not how I pictured it, I’m glad that Piper and I are here. I’m glad that she’s giving me this chance. I refuse to fuck it up.

Because if Piper’s in the mood to choose things, I’m going to be one of the reasons that she chooses us.

CHAPTER 9

Piper

The next day is Tate’s day.

In retrospect, this whole plan was a terrible idea.

After I finally convinced Dalton to leave yesterday, I took a minute to gather myself. I’d just had not one, but two mind-shattering orgasms. Two more than I’ve ever had with any other man, mind you.

I wanted to re-evaluate the rules, because the whole no-kissing thing is kind of dumb when you think about the fact that someone is literally inside of you. But I also stopped myself.

It would be unfair if I kissed Tate and Brent and not Dalton. I need to make sure that I’m being fair. To all of them.

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