Page 10 of Brothers Best Friend Cowboy

Butterflies dance in my chest and my breath catches as I watch him leave. I want him to stay. I want his warmth next to me. I want to memorize the way he smells, the way he touches me, the way he sounds when he wants more but can’t have it. I don’t want to forget a single thing.

“So that’s weird.” Ash leans against the boulder and throws me a Cheshire grin. She seems to be in better spirits. I wonder what that means she and Dodge were doing.

I narrow my brows. “What’s weird?”

“You and Emery. I could see it. I knew you had a thing for him.”

“What? No. It was a game. We said that.”

“Stop fucking with me.” She grins. “I know a real ass kiss when I see one. What are you going to tell Dodge?”

I swallow hard and wonder how much I can trust her with, but after her tears upstairs, maybe we’ve become fast friends. That, and if I don’t tell someone what I’m feeling soon, I’m going to burst in two.

“It’s complicated,” I sigh. “Besides, Dodge thinks he’s my father or something. Which… he was for the better part of my life, so I’ve always listened to his advice. Dating a guy his age is going to be weird. It’s already hard enough to stay in touch with him now that he’s in California. I don’t know what this news would do to him.”

“So what… you and Emery plan to sneak around and do things on the down low until he finds out? I mean, you can’t possibly go back to your normal life now that you know he’s in town permanently. I saw that kiss, remember?”

I swallow hard and wrap Emery’s oversized flannel around me tighter. “Who knows? I’m guessing we’ll take things one day at a time. Besides, there’s like zero chance this would work out, anyway. I’m sure we’re just running off old hormones. You know… when people like each other for a long time and then they fall in love with the idea of the person rather than the reality. That’s probably what this is.”

I’m trying to convince Ashley, but am I also convincing myself that this is the truth?It is the truth,right?Emery hasn’t seen me in years. He has no idea how miserable I am after a double shift at the diner or how neurotic I get before my period. Right now, I’m an idealized angel from his past. “It’s a fantasy,” I finally mutter, saying it out loud for my benefit as much as hers. “We’re just figuring that out. No need to involve Dodge in that.”

Considering all of that came out of my mouth, I guess there’s some truth in it. Sure, we felt things here in the early stages, but that’s when there’s no stress and life is easy. We don’t know if we have what it takes to make things work in the real world. Emery could be a lunatic when he’s frustrated. A monster who collects the bones of chickens and builds dioramas with them.

I doubt he is, but he could be.

Ash nods and smiles, before wrapping her hand in mine. “Life is hard, isn’t it? We think we know what we want, then we’re wrapped up in a guy, hoping he’s the answer to everything.”

“Are we talking about you or me?” I lean my head on her shoulder as we walk.

“Both of us, I think.”

Turns out that Ash, isn’t so bad after all. At the very least, I’ll get a new friend out of this weekend. There’s something to be said about that.

Chapter Six

Emery

The day is lost with Dodge in some drunken rant about contracting laws in California and how unfair they are. I tune in and out because my mind is on Maggie. We haven’t run into each other since this afternoon, and I’m starting to wonder if she’s avoiding me.

I can’t see why. We both wanted the kiss, and she was soaking wet with me touching her. Since then, she’s only talked to Ash. Maybe that’s the problem. She got some shit advice from Ashely. That or they can’t stand to be around Dodge when he’s sobering up. At this point, it’s anyone’s guess.

Dinner is on the table, when Dodge calls out for the girls, but they’re nowhere to be seen.

“I’ll check upstairs,” I say, anxious to find Maggie alone. We could use a private conversation and I could use another kiss.

Upstairs, her door is nearly closed. She’s facing the wall, her round ass toward me as the flannel I’d given her drops to the floor, exposing the tiny bathing suit she’d put on this afternoon. She unties the sides, and the fabric falls to the floor, leaving behind my rock-hard cock, and her creamy pale skin.

“I know you’re there.” She smiles and turns toward me. “Come in.”

“Sorry, I was just coming up to make sure you’re okay and the doo—”

“It’s my fault. I should’ve closed the door.”

My cock thumps again as I step toward her still naked body.

Fuck. She’s gorgeous. Smooth skin, heavy breasts, hard nipples, curved hips, thick thighs, and a sweet little slit that I’m desperate to taste. “I shouldn’t see you like this.”

“Probably not,” she says, her voice low. “No one ever has.”

---