"He's also doing his best to pull his head out of his ass," Jake told us. "But I didn't intend to ruin your date."
"Was a pretty good date," I reminded J.D.
"Night's not over," J.D. pointed out.
Which made Jake laugh. "Yeah. So I'll get out of here."
"Wait." J.D. said as Jake stood. "Tell me one thing?"
"Ok?"
"Why do you like her, Jake?"
He eased himself back down. "Because she's the toughest bull rider I've ever met, the softest woman I've spent time with in a very long time, and fucking hot."
"You good with him?" J.D. asked next, but this time he was looking at me.
"Does it matter?" I shot back.
"Yep," J.D. said. "Because if you don't like him, she won't. That's how she works, and she don't wanna mess us up."
"I may have said something earlier about thinking he was cute. I mean, before she distracted me - and you."
"He is cute," J.D. agreed.
Beside me, Jake used both hands to scrub at his face. "Cute?"
"Cute," I told him. "As in the sort of attractive that isn't dangerous. The type a woman can relax into. So yeah, cute."
"Ok, I can get behind your definition of cute," Jake told me. "Usually it means not ugly, but not hot. You know, the fallback plan."
"Cody don't need no fallback plan," J.D. countered. "She could have her pick of the PBR. She just ain't realized that yet."
Which made Jake groan. "Shit. She said something about it being the first time she tried."
"Tried what?" I asked.
Which made him push out a heavy breath. "Well, I'm starting to think she means to kiss someone first. To make a move, you know?"
"That's my rookie," J.D. muttered proudly.
But I was nodding at him. "Well, she might not try it again, so if you want to get that kiss she started, you'd best decide if you can handle all of this. I'm not going away, Jake. Neither is J.D, but he's right. We don't own her. We don'twantto own her, but we will throw down for her."
"So will I," he said as he stood again. "I'm also not going to be the reason you two don't have a good night." He stepped back. "She wouldn't forgive me for that. Night, boys. Try not to hurt your teeth when you bite the pillows, J.D."
"Not more than once," J.D. said with a very devious - and sexy - little smirk.
Chapter 51
I watched Jake leave,looking at him in a whole new way. Yeah, he wasn't bad-looking. A little tame for my taste, but I could see why Cody was into him. But Tanner? He'd said a little something in all of that. I waited until Jake closed the door behind him, then turned to look at my boyfriend.
"Jake?" I asked.
"I'm not shocked," Tanner said. "I mean, you're the one who said she should stretch her wings a bit. Clearly she's doing just that."
"Naw, I meant you," I said.
Immediately, he chuckled and glanced away. "That was a long time ago. He was a new rookie, and I just happened to catch him a few times."
