Page 76 of His Wilde Little
We’d booked out an AirBNB house for the livestock show, it had a great oven, high speed internet, and it was a ten-minute drive away from the event in Houston, so we lucked out big time.
In the kitchen, we were having a bit of a team meeting. Olivia leading the charge.
“We are here to make some connections,” she began. “The riding school opens this summer, fingers crossed, and we need to get word out about it. So, you can do your baking, but I want you all to be giving out these business cards.” She opened a small folder on the counter and hundreds of business cards spilled out. “I’ve been working hard on the website, so you can directthem there if you need to, but give these out. In fact, leave them around as well. We got a good deal on the cards.”
“I’ll stay close to the horses, and maybe a little venture to see some of the guys get on those bulls. You know I always said—” he began, about to go on about how if his back was good, he’d have been out there winning medals on the back of those bulls.
Olivia finished the thought for him. “You’d be out there, getting gold.”
“Maybe I should. Might be like a chiropractor just blow my back out a bit,” he said as I let out a cackle of laugher. I never thought I’d ever hear my dad talk about having his back blown out. He probably had no idea what he’d just said. “What?”
“Dad, just don’t tell anyone else about having your back blown out,” Olivia said with a stern face.
I was nearly on the floor laughing, holding myself up by Lorenzo who was struggling to keep it together as well. It might’ve been all that time in the air or someone had given me laughing gas, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“Come on,” Lorenzo said, pulling me away. “We need to go buy your ingredients, and see my friend.”
I’d forgotten that we were doing that, suddenly very serious again. Meeting one of his friends. I wondered if he’d drop anything about Lorenzo I didn’t know. I was a little bit scared of the idea, but I knew it was going to be ok. I’d also worried they were exes. I hadn’t asked, and he hadn’t said anything outright, but he was the first and only friend I’d heard about.
In the rental car, Lorenzo drove us all the way out to a superstore. I had a list of things I needed for the two desserts I was going to make and then decide on the day which to submit. In the superstore, I saw another guy, he was carried a stuffed teddy with him. He was also accompanied by a certified cowboy—at least with the hat, boots, and that freshly off a horse walk. I wondered if that was him.
It wasn’t. I was nervous. Too nervous.
Lorenzo took my hand. “Come on,” he said.
“Aren’t you—scared people will see?”
“Listen, baby, people can look, people can stare and say mean things, but they’re just people,” he said. “They can’t touch our love.”
Just the touch of his hand was enough to reassure me. I needed my stuffed teddy though, and seeing the other guy with his gave me the confidence I needed to bring mine in future.
“Your list,” he said, tugging on my arm as we headed down a random aisle. “What did you need? We’ve got about an hour until we’re set to meet my friend. So, we should probably get through this all first.”
I pulled out a scrap of paper I’d written all the things I needed, including some metal pie trays. “Is your friend going to be coming to the livestock show?” I asked.
Lorenzo took one look at the list and sucked on his teeth. “Guess we should get a basket,” he said. “And I doubt Thomas will come to it; he’s probably not enjoying the sight of people doing what he wanted to do.”
“Thomas,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s his name.”
“You’ve never mentioned him by name,” I said.
He laughed. “That’s because I try not to talk about him. I—” He pressed his lips together in a thin smile and nodded. “I still feel a lot of guilt, even when he told me it was fine, I’m responsible for what happened to him. If the world knew, I doubt your dad would be out there touting about my skills with the horses.”
I took his hand again and caressed the back of it with my thumb. “And then they’d meet you, and they’d see how special you are,” I said. “But if they start flirting.”
“Relax, these guys, if they’re gay, are so deep in the closet that they only come out when they’re alone in the middle of nowhere,” he said.
“Is that a place in Texas, because I noticed a lot of funny named towns and stuff around,” I said. “I saw one place called Comfort, Texas, apparently there’s a B&B opening up there by some cowboys.” I wiggled my brows at him. “I read about it on one of the forums for the event. Apparently, it’s called The Lavender Porch, which if you ask me, sounds kinda fruity.”
“Maybe we’ll check them out next year,” he said. “But right now, we need to get your stuff so we can go see Thomas and—and get that over with.” He gave my hand a squeeze, tugging me in the direction down the aisle. “First, a basket.”
We filled two baskets and realized we should’ve opted for a cart instead, but it was too late, we’d committed. I made sure to buy enough for several attempts and also a couple of grocery bits for the house, but my sister and father could fend for themselves when it came to food. Unless they were happy to chow down on dessert as some unofficial tasters and judges.
At a nearby coffee shop, we waited for his friend to arrive. I ordered a hot chocolate with all the works; whipped cream, sprinkles, cocoa dust, and even a crumbly stick thing of chocolate that sat on the bed of cream. I got so many pictures of it and made sure to send it to my mom and the group chat. I knew they’d all be jealous.
His friend arrived with a slight limp, accompanied by a short woman dressed in double denim with her black hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She had a huge smile that almost seemed infectious.
