Page 41 of Knot Her Cowboys
“He won’t hate you,” I insisted. “He’ll probably hate me, though. Anyway, we can call after you sleep. It’s about a two-hour drive from Morgan’s, so it’ll give us some time for you to emotionally prepare and for me to write out my last will and testament.”
Her nerves made me jittery, and I bent to kiss them away before her scent charred too much. Desire and relief lit up the bond.
“Come on, honey bun. Let’s get you to sleep. You had a long night and I want to snuggle up with you in an actual bed.”
She squeaked as I scooped her off her feet and she waved to Dakota and Levi overhead before I rounded the corner and traversed her up the stairs right into my room. I didn’t even have to suggest stripping down. She was already wriggling free of her clothes when I put her on her feet, and then she was climbing over my blankets to give me the most spectacular view of her ass.
Riley in my bed was something I had never dared let myself dream about becoming reality. But there she was. With a tentative smile she flipped my blankets back and patted the space next to her. I dove in, letting every inch of her gloriously naked body press against me, my purr instantly erupting.
She laughed, snuggling closer and tangling her legs with mine. “Happy to get your cuddles in?”
“Happy for every damn second I get with you in my arms.”
I’d been feeling twitchy all morning, too restless to stay in bed. Two more flower crowns had joined the first, though that one was wilted since I’d made it too early. Others from years past had been dried and hung up at home, a painful memory I relived each year before hiding it away.
Before everyone had woken, I’d borrowed Pumpkin, disappearing into the silence of the early dawn. Flowers greetedme along the hillsides, and I wove them together while I walked, Pumpkin staring up at me every so often like she was concerned about my mental well-being. Rightly so, if she was.
“Do you want a flower crown too?” I looped the current crowns over my arm and snatched up a fistful of grasses I could braid together into a dog-sized crown. She tried to bite it a few times before I planted it on top of her head. “There we go. Princess Pumpkin. At least someone is getting to wear these crowns.”
I hated this time of year. This day specifically, because no matter how much I tried to move on, Riley’s absence had my thoughts as morose as a Poe poem. Therapy had never helped. Staying busy hadn’t either. A piece of me was missing and I couldn’t do a damn thing to stop my body’s reaction to that. Riley was like a phantom limb, a pain that lingered despite the source being gone.
Pumpkin caught me up in my head, taking the opportunity to clean my whole face before I managed to get to my feet.
“That was grossandhelpful,” I said with a laugh, collecting her crown that had fallen into the dirt. “Thank you for your service. Should we get you back for your breakfast?”
Her tail wagged double time at the mention of food.
“All right, let’s go.”
We made our way back together, and I left the crowns stacked on top of one of the picnic tables before heading into the main lodge.
“There’s our puppynapper,” Morgan greeted me as Pumpkin tippy-tapped her way into the kitchen. “Hello, sweet girl. Did you have a good walk with Uncle Cooper at the ass crack of dawn?”
“We did,” I answered for her.
“Coffee is ready,” Ryder told me.
I poured myself a cup and sat at their table.
“I have to go get set up for the sunrise photos,” Morgan told me. “I’ll see you after that, and we can hang out.”
“I was thinking I might head home early.”
“Yeah?”
“We were booked solid this weekend. I feel bad disappearing to be sad.”
“But it’s not a surprise that you do that. They have a full staff, don’t they?”
“Yeah, but I feel guilty anyway.”
“Well, I won’t stop you if you want to go back, but we both know they can handle things.”
“I’ll get out of your hair.”
Morgan flicked me hard in the forehead. “Cooper, I swear to god. You arealwayswelcome. Don’t even try to pretend we don’t love having you here. If you’d rather go be sad at home, that’s fine, but I promise you are more than welcome to be a sad sack here.”
I abandoned my coffee, pulling her into a hug. “I know. You’re the best sister. Iamgoing to head out, though. Maybe I can smother my feelings with some hard labor.”
