Page 29 of Knot Her Cowboys
“And I’m just teasing you.” I patted the space next to me and Cash came to sit.
“So on a scale from ‘hermit in a pile of blankets’ to ‘letting me buy you some shots and take you dancing,’ where are you landing on tonight?”
What had I ever done to deserve a friend like Cash?
“I don’t want to wallow. I was looking forward to tonight and I’m not going to let them ruin it.”
He ran his fingers over my damp hair, lightly scratching my scalp until my eyes drifted shut and my purr rumbled. “Do you think you’ll stay for a while? We can get the whole gang back together.”
“I was going to go see Morgan tomorrow anyway. I might be awkward as all get out around Cooper, but it would be really nice to see him again. Assuming he doesn’t hate me. He probably does, rightly so.”
Cash let out a laugh. “Hedefinitelydoesn’t hate you. Why awkward, though?”
I groaned. “Because I suck. Cooper deserves so much better than what I did. All of you deserved better.”
“Can’t make amends if you don’t talk to him.”
“I know. I’m just gonna need you to be a buffer.”
“Whatever you need, honey bun.”
I burst out laughing. “Honey bun?”
“You don’t like it? I can give you a different nickname. Gumdrop? Sugar cookie? Grape soda girly?”
“You’re ridiculous,” I said through my giggles. “You can call me honey bun if you want to. Not sure why you would. I haven’t been all that sweet.”
“You’ve got shit going on, but I know you’ve got a sugar center. Just gotta warm you up so it gets all melty like the old days.”
“How are you just as great as I remember?”
“Did you think I was going to become terrible in your years away?”
“No. I don’t know what I expected.” I curled onto my side, resting my head on his thigh, his hand settling on the curve of my waist. “Didn’t think I could like you more than I did when we were kids.”
“Oh? Am I climbing up the rungs of the friendship ladder?”
“I mean, you were already at the top, so maybe climbing a whole new ladder.”
He smelled way too good, and now that I was calming down, my body buzzed over his proximity. I tried not to think about Bruce’s comment about seeing how Cash and the others had been looking at me. If it had been any particular way, I’d unfortunately missed it. I could—at least on some level—understand that my former alphas might experience a little boost in insecurity if they caught the scent of my reactions to the others if they were also giving me eyes. Not that they were. With a sigh, I tucked it away, refusing to examine the idea any further.
I yawned and curled tighter into a ball.
“You should rest. Getting yanked out of a river is hard work.”
I stretched out, wriggling around so the blanket was still on top of me but there was room on the bed for Cash. “Would you stay for a bit?”
He lay down next to me, tucking my burrito’d body against him, my head beneath his chin and his arm around my back. “Yeah. I’ll stay.”
Iwoke from the best sleep. Cash’s scent was thick in my nose, my body was relaxed and pliable, and my purr was a steady buzz in my chest. I rooted closer, pressing my face to him and curling my fingers against his shirt.
What the hell was the universe thinking, giving Cash this scent? I wanted to rub myself all over him. Maybe under himtoo. I snuggled closer, wriggling until I was wedged between the bed and his body.
“Feeling better, little wiggle worm?” Cash laughed, gently petting my hair.
I spared a second to nod before continuing my mission. My instinctsreallywanted me to be squished, and having his arm around me wasn’t cutting it. I tugged impatiently on his shirt.
“Riley,whatis happening right now?”
