Page 34 of Tempting Promises
She smiles. “I will. I love you.”
“I love you more.”
Asher huffs. “Lord knows she’s the only girl who ever will.”
I stand so she won’t see my lips or understand this one. “At least I didn’t steal her babysitter.”
Asher’s face falls. “Asshole.”
God, he’s so easy to rile up.
I shrug, lifting my bag to my shoulder. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
Joey and Sawyer toss their shit into the back of the truck and then climb in.
“You ready for a fuckload of alcohol and hopefully getting laid?” Sawyer jokes as he buckles his seatbelt.
“Well, you will have both of those since one of the girls going is your girlfriend,” Joey says with a laugh from the backseat. “Rowan and I are on our own.”
I scoff. “Please, we know you and Faye will end up in bed together, just like every year.”
Joey and Faye have been on again off again for years. They do this dance, mostly because her parents think he has a dead-end job and their precious daughter should be elevated by marriage.
Joey is a deputy for the town sheriff’s department. He’s a good guy, but thinks he’s leagues beneath her. No matter what she’s said,he won’t get it through his head, and one day, she’s going to get tired of it and he’ll really lose her.
Until that day, I’ll keep being amused by how they pretend they’re not in love when they so are.
“Not this year,” Joey vows. “Plus, we all know Rowan always hooks up with the third girl she brings along.”
Sawyer nods with a grin. “For real, I don’t know what they see in you since you’re fucking grumpy each time we go.”
“I’m not grumpy, I just go up there for the hiking, not the girls.” I try to say it with a straight face, but the three of us burst out laughing. “All right, all right, I go for both.”
Joey leans between the two front seats. “I swear, Faye finds her hottest friend for these trips.”
“And it’s a tradition I appreciate.”
The rest of the ride up, the three of us catch up on life. Joey does his best to complain about his job without mentioning the fact that my brother is one of his bosses who drives him insane. Which, I could give a fuck less about it since I know Asher is a pain in the ass. Sawyer is a ranch hand a few towns over, and he shares his concerns they’re going under.
“I just see the signs. Things are breaking more often and not getting fixed. He’s patching other things up the way he never would’ve before. I just think it’s a matter of time.” Sawyer’s voice grows quieter at the end.
“I know you’ve been there a long fucking time, but if it happens, you know you have a place at Whitlock, right?” I extend the offer, meaning every word of it. Sawyer is a good worker and a friend. I would never let him go without.
He nods once. “I know. You’re a good man, no matter what they say about you.”
Joey laughs. “Poor Rowan, the town asshole, but still the girls flock to him.”
“Girls love a bad boy.”
“Not all girls,” Sawyer snorts. “There’s one who thinks he’s the shit on her boots.”
I huff. “Can we not talk about the She-witch?”
Joey starts to say something, but Sawyer lifts his hand. “The man doesn’t want to talk about her, Joe, let’s honor that.”
“Thank you,” I say, glad I have one friend who I don’t want to toss out on the side of the road.
We turn onto the windy road that leads to the resort where the cabin Faye’s family owns is located. After another twenty minutes and only one almost heart attack as we slide a little, we get there.
