Page 78 of Lost and Lassoed

“Me too,” she sighed. “I’m just bummed at how it went down.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “You guys will be okay, though.” I had no doubt in my mind about that. Emmy and Teddy were inevitable. But of course I was worried about my sister, too—about how she felt about all of this and how she felt about me right now. I felt responsible for Emmy. No matter what, I’d always been protective of her, but after our mom died, the three of us—my dad, Wes, and me—tried to fill the hole that she left as best we could. We were all devoted to the youngest Ryder. So it wasn’t exactly easy that not only was the woman I could see as my future hurting, but so was my little sister—even if it wasn’t permanent.

“I know. I just wish we didn’t have to be not okay first.”

The way Teddy’s voice sounded made me swallow hard. I wished she was here with me. I wanted to comfort her and keep her close, especially because I was part of the reason she was feeling this way, and I hated that.

“What can I do, Teddy baby?” I’d do anything.

“Nothing. Telling you helped. Thanks for listening.”

“Anytime,” I said. I wanted to listen to Teddy talk forever.

—

It took about fifteen minutes to get to the Devil’s Boot, and when I pulled in to the dirt parking lot, it was already almost full. I didn’t see Teddy’s red Ford Ranger, but I saw Wes’s truck and Dusty’s Bronco.

I hadn’t seen the inside of the bar since everything had been moved around, so when I walked in, it took a second to orient myself. The bar and the stage were still in the same spot, obviously, but most of the seating had been moved to make way for the bull—which Brooks had named Sue—“a bull named Sue, get it?” he’d said, referring to the Johnny Cash classic—in the center of the room.

I also clocked a new neon sign that saidYou Can Go Upstairs Now. Emmy’s idea, probably. She was good at stuff like that—little touches that Brooks wouldn’t think of. I spotted Wes and Ada at the bar and made my way over to them.

Seated nearby were Brooks’s crew of regulars, which he called his horsemen. They came to the Devil’s Boot nearly every day, sat at the bar, and gave him shit.

When the four men saw me, they raised their glasses and let out a cheer. “Look who decided to grace us with his awful presence!” one of them said.

“Brooks, get this guy a beer!” another one said. Brooks looked up from where he was pouring Fireball into shot glasses. He gave me a nod.

“Hey, man,” Wes said with a slap to my back. “Nice shirt.”

Why did Wes have to be so observant and care so much about me that he knew when I was wearing something new or out of the ordinary?

Fucking irritating, honestly.

“Hey, Gus!” Ada smiled at me and waved. “You going to ride that thing tonight?” She gestured toward the bull.

“Maybe if we get enough drinks in him.” Her voice blared behind me, and I turned to see Teddy Andersen in the flesh.

And she looked beautiful.

She was wearing some tightass jeans, and her silver cowboy boots were poking out of the bottom of them. I dragged my gaze down her body. Was she wearing…chaps?

She was, but they were a shiny silver leather, like the kind rodeo queens wore—fashion chaps, I guess. She also had on a tight silver halter top and had lined her blue eyes with silver liner.

Her hair was up in her signature ponytail, which looked like it was dusted with silver glitter.

Fuck.Fuck.

Teddy Andersen was a knockout.

She basked under my perusal, and when our eyes met, she winked at me. And that wink went straight to my dick.

“You look…” I said. I didn’t even know how to put into words how she looked.

“I know,” she said with a feline smile. I didn’t even care that Wes and Ada and everyone else were watching this all godown. Teddy had already told Emmy, and that meant that this was real to her, too.

“World’s hottest disco ball,” I said with a small smile.

Teddy rolled her eyes, but it was half-assed.

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