Page 40 of Swift and Saddled

“This is badass, Ada,” Teddy said. She rubbed her hands together. “Let’s do it.”

“Can we do some for my house too?” Cam joked. When they all complimented my idea, I started to feel…shy, like I had done something wrong somehow or like I didn’t deserve their praise. “Should we tear a bunch of parchment paper first? For prep?”

“That is the most Cam thing I’ve ever heard,” Teddy said.

“I already tore it all. I didn’t know if we could do it with one or if we would need multiples,” I chimed in.

Teddy looked between Cam and me. “Oh my god, there’s another one,” she said.

“Some of us like to be prepared,” Cam responded with a laugh. “Not all of us can get away with flying by the seat of our pants.”

“What can I say, I’m gifted.” Teddy flipped her ponytail. “But since the parchment paper situation has been covered, I say we start with pizza and then get hammering.”

So that’s what we did.

I didn’t know if I’d ever been a part of any sort of girls’ night—maybe a sleepover or two in middle school or something—but it had always been more one of those things I saw in movies or on TV. This night made me miss something that I’d never experienced, and now I knew that I was right to miss it.

Emmy and Teddy were sitting on the floor, clutching each other’s faces and screaming to a Taylor Swift song about begging someone not to be in love with someone else; Cam was double-fisting slices of pizza; and I was soaking it all in. Cam set down one of her pizza slices and picked up her cup. Out of nowhere, she dropped her Solo cup full of rosé on the floor before she could take a drink. We all looked at her. She was staring out the front window and she looked like she’d seen a ghost.

“Cam, are you okay?” I asked.

She shook her head, but not like she was shaking it no—like she was trying to shake something out of it. “Yeah, sorry,”she said softly. “I just…I thought I saw someone.” She had barely finished speaking when there was a knock on the front door.

All of our heads turned toward the sound as a man wearing a black cowboy hat walked into the living room. He had wavy blond hair that fell to his chin. His hair reminded me of a beach in Southern California. His face was angular, and a silver ring pierced one of his nostrils. He was tall, tan, and tattooed. I could see anAtattooed in an Old English font at the base of his throat on the right side.

Teddy let out a squeal and was immediately off the floor and running toward him. He caught her with ease, and she laughed. “Dusty Tucker, what the hell are you doing here?” she cried. “Last time I heard, you were wrangling cattle in Australia.” Ah, so this was who Wes was telling me about.

Emmy had gotten off the floor too, and she went to give Dusty a hug. “Hey, Dusty,” she said. She shot a quick glance back at Cam. It was concerned, so I looked back at Cam, who looked even more uneasy than she had after she’d dropped her cup. She saw me looking and quickly shook it off. I saw Cam’s mask go up. I could tell when it happened because I did that too and knew exactly what it looked like.

“What are you doing here?” Emmy asked Dusty.

“Emmy, good to see you too,” he responded.

“It’s girls’ night, no boys allowed.”

“Not even me?”

“Not even you,” Teddy chimed in. “But it is good to see you. Welcome home.” Dusty’s eyes scanned the room, resting on me for a second before landing on Cam. I watched his eyes widen, then go back to normal. When his eyes landedon her, it was like someone sucked the oxygen out of the room.

“Ash,” he said, still looking at Cam.

“Dusty,” she responded. Did her voice…shake?

“So, Emmy,” he said, but he was still looking at Cam—I could’ve sworn he glanced at her left hand too. “I heard you and Brooks are a thing now.” There was a hint of something in his tone. Sarcasm, maybe? Surprise?

“What about it?” Emmy said, crossing her arms over her chest. When I looked at her, the first thing I thought wasDamn,that woman can shoot some dirty looks.I made a mental note never to say anything bad about Brooks in front of Emmy.

“I think it’s great,” Dusty said, finally looking away from Cam and holding his arms up in surrender. “I’m just shocked because I think the last time I saw the two of you together, you were ripping him a new one at a bonfire.”

“Things change,” Emmy responded.

Dusty looked at Cam again. “Yeah, they do.”

“I’m Ada,” I said, feeling I needed to protect Cam for some reason—like I needed to get his eyes off her. Dusty looked at me.

“Nice to meet you. I’ve heard great things.” He reached out, and I shook his hand.

“Seriously, though,” Emmy said, “it’s girls’ night, so you gotta get out.”

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