“Not happening,” I mutter before anyone else can reply.
Ash balks at me. “What? Are you too good for us now?”
“Maybe a girls’ night is just what we need,” Tilly says, her voice just a tad too high to be innocent.
Shade drops an arm over Millie’s shoulders. “I’m siding with Rowe here. Fat chance I’m giving up a night with my girl.”
“Don’t be selfish, Shade,” Lacey says.
“What? You don’t want a night to snuggle with Ash? Is it because he sweats in his sleep? I imagine that makes for a pretty wet night.”
Tilly chokes on a laugh and dips her hand into my back pocket, settling between me and her brother. “Low blow, Shade.”
Lacey avoids looking in Ash’s direction. He stares a bit too hard at her, nearly giving himself away for the millionth time. Fuck, I almost smack him on the back of the head to make him ease up a bit. He’s going to scare her away at this point. It’s a miracle she hasn’t put a restraining order on him already with all his . . .yearning.
“I’m unfortunately gonna have to side with the guys here,” Tilly says, offering Lacey a slightly apologetic smile.
“Ugh. Of course you are. You’ve got dick brain.”
There’s a collective pause between the group of us.
Five heads snap in Lacey’s direction. Shade coughs into his fist, like whatever he’s wanting to say is caught in his throat while Ash fidgets awkwardly with the brim of his hat.
Tilly recovers first. She pulls her hand from my pocket and takes Lacey beneath her arm instead. The hug she gives her is awkward, but it seems to do the trick in relaxing the gentlest member of the group.
“That’s the coolest thing you’ve ever said, Lacey.”
Lacey flushes. “It’s true, isn’t it? We’re all thinking it.”
Shade laughs, and I kick the side of Ash’s sneaker to grab his attention before our friend has the chance to make this awkward. Tilly’s twin glances at me, dipping out of the conversation that’s about to spiral around us. Watching me jab my thumb toward the trees behind us, he realizes what I’m trying to say, and we extract ourselves from the group.
Tilly’s watching us go, and I ignore the stubborn, nagging feeling that tells me to include her in this conversation. She’ll insist she comes too, and that’s the last fucking thing I need while trying to tell her brother that I’m pretty damn sure we’re in a relationship.
We keep walking until I can’t hear what they’re saying behind us. Ash is keeping a bit of space between us like he can tell I’ve grown tense in the few seconds we’ve been alone. Discomfort scratches at my chest, leaving tiny, stinging ruts in the flesh.
“If you’re going to ask for my blessing or whatever, you don’t have to bother.”
I pause between two thick evergreens, my boots cutting into the loose soil. “What?”
“Honestly, you’re a bit late, anyway. I called it from the night I tried to visit Tilly at the ranch and she said she was with you. Then there was the rodeo, which, do I even need to give a reasoning for?”
“Smartass.”
He flips his hat forward and leans against a tree. “I’m serious. I’ve always had a feeling that she was interested in you. But Iwasn’t sure whether you reciprocated completely. Is this old or new?”
“Both. Old enough that I should’ve realized sooner.”
“That makes no sense,” he says, his gaze tightening.
“She’s always just been there. Mostly as your sister, then my friend. We sent letters to each other while I was locked up.”
“I think we all knew that.”
My brows cut together. “Tilly thinks you don’t.”
“I didn’t exactly make a spectacle out of it. But the letters came to the house. Everyone saw them, we just didn’t say anything about them to her.”
“Do you know why we stopped?”
