Page 56 of Knot Her Cowboys
How could I fix anything when she wouldn’t let me? The hot second Morgan was out of the house, I would’ve followed Riley to New York without any hesitation. I might have no desire to live in the city, but if it was with her, none of that would’ve mattered.
“Did you miss us at all?” The question closed up my throat the moment it left my mouth. What if she hadn’t? What if?—
Her expression broke, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. “Of course I did. I thought about you every day for years.”
“Sure didn’t feel like it.”
“Cooper, I tried. I?—”
“Riley!” The name rang through the air and a moment later Morgan burst into the kitchen, barreling straight for the love of my life. They crashed together in a hug.
“Oh my god. Morgan?”
“You’re home!”
My sister was on Riley like a barnacle, the two of them dissolving into happy tears. I wasn’t envious of Morgan that often, but this was the homecoming I had always wanted with Riley and she got it instead.
When they finally pulled back, Riley cupped Morgan’s cheeks with a brilliant smile. “My little string bean is all grown up. And I hear you have a pack too? How did that happen?”
Morgan’s cheeks flushed. “Divine intervention mostly. They’re all here if you want to meet them.”
“Hell yeah, I do.”
Morgan dragged her off and I stayed behind, hands braced on the counter.
Cash appeared barely a minute later, hands on his hips. His cheek had bloomed purple where my fist had met it hours earlier. “Why are you hiding in here?”
“Because I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to talk to her anymore.”
“Sure you do. You’re just being a weirdo about it. I talked to her the way I always used to. She’s been worried this whole time that you hate her and you’re not giving her a very good impression that you don’t.”
I huffed, shoving away from the counter. “I never needed an impression before. We always just clicked.”
“And you’ll click again,” Cash insisted. “We both know you love her.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Yes, it is. She walked out on us too, not just you. Morgan is jazzed as hell to see her, and I was too.”
“Morgan had time to get herself together before seeing her.”
“You would have, too, if you didn’t decide to come back early.” Cash flicked me in the forehead. “Younevercome home early on her birthday. We were going to call you and then you would’ve had two hours of your drive to prepare yourself. No one can account for anything if you’re gonna change plans without notice.”
“Since when do I need notice with you guys?”
Cash shrugged. “You have a ritual. We planned around that.”
“I’m sorry I hit you.”
His expression softened. “I know. Come here.”
I knew better than to refuse a hug. Cash would hold his arms in the air for as long as it took. I slipped into them, letting him squeeze out all the air in my lungs.
“Don’t fuck this up for yourself. I know it’s hard, but this is what you’ve been waiting for. She’s home. Don’t fester so much that you let her leave without resolving things.”
My heart sank. “She’s leaving?”
“I don’t fucking know. She could. I’m not gonna tie her to the fence like her mama used to do to make her stay.”
