Page 19 of Holiday Friend Zones
Tequila & Cowboys
BY EMILY SILVER
A Pinecrest, Montana Romance
ChapterOne
RYLEE
“Are you guys sure you want to go to The Dusty Spur tonight?”I ask.
“Why wouldn’t we?”Joey asks.
“Well, you’re the one that just broke up with someone, so we could stay in tonight,” I point out.
“That’s exactly the reason I want to go out.I’m tired of dating all of these douchebags and want a night out with my friends.”
“Hopefully you’re raising Max to be better.”
She nods, pulling her dark brown hair into a high ponytail.“He will be.Even if I can’t find a good father figure for him.”
“At least you have your brother.”
“Chase is a pretty good uncle,” Joey agrees.
Her brother is a good guy, but I don’t tell her that.My best friend doesn’t need to know that I’ve secretly had a crush on her brother for years.Chase Andrews is the sexiest man I’ve laid eyes on.Ever since I came home from my first semester at college and saw the way he looked at me, I was hooked.But how do you tell your best friend that you have the hots for her brother?
It’s harder when all Joey does is bemoan the opposite sex and go on about how terrible they all are.Especially when we hang out at Chase’s bar all the time.I can’t escape him.
The entirety of Pinecrest could fit in one square block of Manhattan with about two thousand residents.I run into Chase more often than I should.
And every time I bump into him?
I fall that much harder for his charming smile.
“Are Presley and Georgia coming out tonight?”I ask, steering my thoughts away from the one man that consumes them.
“They are meeting us at the bar after Presley drops Poppy off at the babysitter’s.”
“Who’s watching Max?”
I swipe one last coat of lip gloss over my mouth before dropping it into my purse.
“My parents.Thank God for them or I don’t know what I would do.”
“Well, at least we have a chance to let loose tonight,” I say.
“You’re telling me.It’s been a long week at the ranch.”
“Is it getting any better?”
She shakes her head.“Verne keeps grumbling about having to do all these repairs but doesn’t want to.Says there’s no money, no guests, and no time.”
“That’s bleak.”I wince.
Joey nods her head in agreement.“Well, if he doesn’t get people in there, I’m not going to have a job anymore.”
“There’s always the Hash ’N Hop.”
