Ava wags her eyebrows. “I know I keep making riding puns when we’re together?—”
“You do,” I say with a grin.
“C’mon, Billie. It’s right there. Ryder, ride her…”
Mollie laughs. “So let’s get you a pair of boots for that ride, okay? Maybe they’ll be the only thing you’re wearing when it happens.”
I chuckle in an effort to distract everyone from the furious rush of heat working its way up my chest and into my neck and face. “Y’all are jumping many,manysteps ahead.”
Wheeler nods. “It’s called manifesting.”
“I’m just going to come right out and ask.” Mollie’s eyes glimmer. “Do you like Ryder that way? Like, do you actuallywantto ride him? I think I know the answer, but…”
My face is on fire now, but I’m still able to laugh. I don’t know this woman well, but I do know she’s got a thing or two to teach me about that manifesting stuff.
So I just come right out with the truth. “Yes, Mollie, I really do like Ryder like that. I have for about as long as I can remember.”
Ava’s hand lands on her thigh. “I knew it!”
“So tell me, Billie—what’s your favorite color?” Wheeler asks.
Twenty minutes later, I’m wearing a pair of midcalf metallic blue cowboy boots embroidered with hearts and horseshoes.
“Y’all should be so proud.” I’m actually getting a little choked up as I look at my reflection in the mirror. The boots match my sling, which makes me smile. “These boots, the studio—it’s all so, so beautiful. And I imagine it took a lot of elbow grease to make it happen.”
Wheeler loops her arm through mine. “Like I said, it took us years to get here, honey.”
“Years, lots of crying,” Mollie says, “and a nearly constant negative balance in our bank accounts. But we stuck with it.”
“How’d you know it was the right call? In terms of, you know, making a career out of it?”
“Great question. I think about that all the time. Like, were we brave to stick to our guns? Or were we stupid to try to keep a business alive that had been on life support for so long?” Mollie turns her head to look out the window and sighs. “I don’t know what the right answer is. What I do know is that I’m really fucking happy in my life right now, and I don’t think that would be the case if I had abandoned Bellamy Brooks. The struggle made the success that much sweeter, you know?”
I swallow hard. “Sounds like you always knew what you wanted to do, though.”
“Yes and no.” She tilts her head back and forth. “I was always a creative person, but I only got into fashion when I was in high school. Do you know what you want to do?”
I pick up my champagne flute. “I have no clue what I want to do with my life, other than not be an accountant on my family’s ranch.”
“Good thing there’s plenty of other things to do on a ranch.”
“Like what?”
Wheeler runs a hand over the swell of her belly and grins. “Hookup with hot cowboys, for starters.”
“Really, y’all, my brother would kill me and Ryder if that happened.”
“You really think Colt would get bent out of shape like that over two of his favorite people having some fun together?” Ava sips thoughtfully on a glass of champagne. “Your brother seems more civilized than that.”
“Colt’s got enough on his plate. I don’t want to add to the pile, you know? And my brothers…they like to think of themselves as my protectors even though I can protect myself just fine, thank you very much.”
“Tell Colt that, then,” Mollie says, “and then go have your fun. Lord knows Ryder could use some of that.”
I tug my bottom lip through my teeth. I like talking to these women. They seem to have good heads on their shoulders. They’re also happy in their careers and relationships. Why not pick their brains a little? Maybe they’ll have some good advice for me, because I feel like I’m spinning my wheels here.
“I’m not sure I even have a shot with Ryder.” I keep my voice low as if the cowboy in question—or one of our brothers—is hiding behind a door. “He’s a love ’em and leave ’em type, I know that much. I don’t think he’s interested in dating anyone.”
“He might date you.” Mollie takes a thoughtful sip of champagne. “You’ll never know until you try.”
