“I’ve got myself an unexpected roommate.”
Declan raises his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“Seems as if your wife also promised cabin eight to someone.”
Luke looks over at Declan. “Do you know what the hell he’s talking about?”
I see the moment that the realization crosses Declan’s face. “No fucking way.”
“Yep.” I tilt my head toward my truck. “I picked Ashley Hill up at the airport, and Mia’s text directions led us straight to cabin eight.”
“Fuck.” Declan runs a hand down his face. “I forgot Mia had promised Ashley a place here.”
Luke curses. “That’s a one-bedroom.”
I’m well aware of that fact. The other fact is that I can barely keep my hands off Ashley Hill on a normal day. Put us in forced proximity to one another, and I’m going to become a desperate man.
Ashley and I are just friends.
I’ve been repeating that mantra to myself going on three years now.
Each time I see her, my desire for her grows. I don’t know how I made it through our teenage years without making a move on her, but our friendship was too important for me to risk. As a kid, I was downright stupid. Reckless. And I would never have dragged her down with me.
But now that we’re adults? My craving for her feels like too much to ignore.
“I’m sorry,” Luke is saying, and I drag my thoughts out of the dirt and back to the present moment. “There’s literally nothing I can do for the next four weeks. We don’t have a single empty space on the ranch with all these damn bloggers. And our cousins are up from Texas, so they’re staying at the house—even the couch is filled. In a month, I can set Ashley up in a different cabin. But until then…”
I blow out a breath. “It’ll be okay.”
Luke narrows his eyes. “Are you sure?”
“Sure. It’s just a month, right?”
“You could get an apartment in town that takes pets,” Declan suggests with a raised eyebrow.
Yes. I could do that. But the truth is that I don’t want to. I love Wild Ranch. And the idea of exploring the ranch with Ashley is too enticing to pass up.
I shrug. “I’ll talk to Ashley about it.”
“Exactly what is your relationship with Ashley?” Luke asks.
Declan chuckles. “Don’t use the r-word around Jared. He’s allergic.”
I flip him off. “Hey. You’re no longer my teammate. You’re my boss. So you can’t give me shit anymore.”
Declan grins. “We’re not on the clock right now. So we’re not boss and player. We’re friends hanging out.”
Luke shakes his head. “Hockey players and cowboys aren’t as different as I would have thought. You two sound like me and my brothers.”
“Plus,” Declan says, “as a Wild Kings player, you work for me. And I want to make sure you’ll be well-rested for our opener this week. So if your living arrangement is an issue…”
“I’ll be fine.” I stand up. “I’ll go grab the cat, and then I’ve got to deliver the news to Ashley. She’s not going to be happy.”
“Good luck!” Declan calls out to me as I head inside the house with Luke. “And remember: Close proximity can be a good thing.”
Ha. I know what he’s doing. He wants to remind me how he and Mia ended up together. They had some sort of arranged marriage—although he never told me in so many words, and I never came out and asked. It was more of a hunch.
But obviously, all’s well that ends well as Declan and Mia are really and truly in love. And living together in a cabin on Wild Ranch apparently cemented their lifetime commitment to one another.
