Thankfully, Ivy knew exactly what she was doing. An hour and some change later, I looked…well, I looked fantastic.
She had French-braided the top section of my hair back out of my face, so it went from one side of my head around the other, where it was curled down with the rest of my long, dark brown hair. My makeup was a touch darker than I normally wore it, but it worked. The smoky eyeshadow she used made my blue eyes pop even more than normal, and the deep sangria red lipstick color she’d put on was smudge-proof. Apparently, that should be something I was concerned with this evening.
Clothes we tag-teamed. Going for black leggings, my chunky Doc Marten boots, and an off-the-shoulder deep red sweater that matched my lip color almost perfectly. A chunky gold chain choker and a few rings finished off the look. I slid on my boots and walked toward the couch so she could get the full effect.
She stared at me, a smile growing moment by moment across her face. “You look fucking stunning. He’s going to eat you alive, and I can’t wait to live vicariously through you with all the dirty details.”
I scrunched my nose up and chuckled. “You’re crazy.”
“Yup, but you wouldn’t have me any other way, so hush.” She plopped back down on the couch, munching on a chocolate croissant from Ember’s bakery.
A knock on the door brought a knowing smirk to Ivy’s face and a frown to mine. “He’s early.”
“I told him to be so you wouldn’t have time to get anxious and find a reason to back out. Now, go get the door, pookie! We can’t leave our lover boy waiting.”
It still caught me off guard sometimes how well my best friend knew me, because she was right. That was exactly what I’d do. I walked over and opened the door to reveal the man of the hour. Rowan was wearing his black cowboy boots, dark blue Wrangler jeans, and a black button-up that was rolled half up his forearms with the top two buttons undone, revealing a small glimpse of his chest tattoo. The tips of the raven's feathers peeking through had dirty thoughts sliding throughout my mind. His facial hair was a light stubble again tonight, like it had been the first time I’d met him.
However, the best part of his whole ensemble tonight? The wide-eyed look he was giving me as he looked me over head to toe, and the blush that lightly covered his cheeks when he noticed me noticing him notice me. He cleared his throat and quickly tried to cover it up with his cocky smile he only seemed to use when he was nervous or wanted to put on some sort of public persona.
“Nervous there, cowboy?” I asked, with an accidental smile plastered across my face.
“Nope, I’m totally fine. Excited even,” Rowan stuttered through quickly. He leaned past me, peeking his head around the door towards Ivy. “Thank you for helping me tonight. I’ll have her home by eleven.”
“Or you could just kidnap her and hold her hostage in your evil sex dungeon! It’s fine either way! Just shoot me a text so I don’t wait up,” Ivy yelled from the couch, a laugh slipping through that she was failing to contain behind her hand.
“My evil sex dungeon? What did you tell—” he started, his eyes wide, but I quickly started closing the apartment door before he could finish.
“Absolutely nothing, please feel free to ignore her.” I closed and locked the door behind me and started for the stairs, eager to change the subject. He already looked delicious enough to eat in those jeans, so the last thing I needed to think about was Rowan and a sex dungeon. “So, where to, cowboy? What’s the big plan for the evening?”
He just smiled and took my hand in his, guiding me outside to his truck. I’d noticed the more time I spent with Rowan, the more comfortable and at ease I felt. The only other person I’d felt like this with was Ivy, and the more time went on, the less anxious I was feeling about the thought.
Which, when I thought too hard about not feeling anxious, made me anxious again. I released a quick breath once we reached the truck and reminded myself of what Ivy said.
I deserved to be happy and feel loved—that wasn’t always a bad thing.
15
GLUE YOU BACK TOGETHER
Rowan
I was so nervous,I was sure I could pull over and puke on command. Which was insane. I’d never been nervous about shit before. Getting on the back of a two-thousand-pound bull? No issues. Riding that bull in front of a thousand people, trying to stay on? Again—no anxiety. Just excitement.
But trying to impress Aspen? Trying to show her I was serious about this relationship, and I wanted this with her by my side? It was taking everything in me to be chill and relaxed.
Our date was carefully planned out, and I had all the things in the back seat. I was just hoping she’d like it. I had no idea what her dating life had been like before me, aside from bits of her shitty ex, but it wasn’t anything fancy or over the top. It was a bit of each of us meshed into an evening, so it felt sentimental. My hope was that I could show her that we worked—wemeshed.
As I turned off the main road and up the small dirt trail, I felt her eyes land on me. “Where exactly are you taking me? Do I need to remind you that Ivy knows where I am?” she laughed,but it was tinged with a nervous energy. Part of me was pleased she was clearly as nervous as I was.
“Don’t panic, little angel. I didn’t bring you all the way here for anything nefarious. I mean—unless you want nefarious this evening, then just let me know.” I winked with a smile and slid my eyes back to the trail as I drove us up toward where my family’s barn sat. “We’re currently on my family’s ranch. I live on the opposite side. This side is what we use more for most of the animals. My brother, Oliver, lives not far from here.” I nodded toward the building coming up in front of us. “When my siblings and I got older, my mom decided to split up the land and give us each a couple of acres to live on. Since Oliver is the one who runs it full-time, he took the main house.”
I slid the truck into park and released a breath. I needed to just be honest, maybe she’d appreciate my honesty. Or she’d think I was pathetic and bail out on me, demanding I drive her back down the hill and into town.
“What’s on your mind, cowboy?” Aspen asked.
“I’m nervous as fuck…I’ve never done this before, which seems to be an upticking trend with you, I fear.”
“Wow. I’m getting all the firsts. You’ve never taken a girl to your family barn? Is this where you hide the bodies?” I looked over to find her smiling at me. She was making a joke, and I’d never been more thankful to see her smile.
