Now that I’ve been hanging out with Ryder, however…Xander isn’t nearly as attractive as I thought he was.
I try to choke down the lukewarm pilsner in the hope it will give me a much-needed pair of beer goggles. If I go one more day without getting laid, I may have a legit nervous breakdown. A vibrator can only get you so far when you’ve been sharing romantic tractor rides and bonfires with handsome cowboys.
“Who are your friends again?” I ask.
Xander shrugs. “Wouldn’t call ’em friends. Just some guys I met on the circuit, really. I’d keep your distance if I were you. They don’t exactly keep their noses clean, if you know what I’m sayin’.” Xander runs his finger down the side of my neck.
I wait for the familiar shiver of anticipation to dart down my spine.
It doesn’t. Instead, it takes everything in me not to recoil.
Yup, my vibrator will have to do yet again tonight. I’m not staying here another minute. But I know Xander will do everything in his power to convince me to stay, so I think it’s best if I pull a Houdini and sneak out.
“Hey, Xander I…gotta. You know.” I tilt my head toward the stand of juniper trees to our left. “I’ll be right back?”
“You need some help takin’ off that skirt? Looks fuckin’ sexy on you, but I think you’d look even better without it.”
Great. Now I’m going to vomit in my mouth.
“Thanks, but I got it.”
Before Xander can reply, I turn on my heel and make a beeline for the trees, praying I don’t encounter any snakes or foxes.
Glancing at my phone, I see that it’s almost half past twelve. Not late by normal standards, but when you live on a ranch, that’s practically morning.
I didn’t think I’d need an escape plan tonight. But I also didn’t think I’d be turned off by a guy who, up until very recently, turned meonin a big way.
I race through my options. Anyone I call at this hour will be dead asleep. Mom offered to pick me up, but I don’t want her judgment when she sees me at this dumbass party with all these dumbass people. I need her to trust me to make good decisions, and she sure as hell isn’t going to trust her daughter who chased an idiot bull rider to a field in the middle of nowhere at midnight.
I could call one of my brothers. Tate is the night owl of the family, but even for him this is late. Beck, Nash, and Mack would come, but they’d be pissed about it. I’d also owe them big time.
Colt—
Well, he’s got a kid. He’d also put two and two together and somehow find out that Ryder was at the Rattler too, and that he was giving me looks to kill. The less Colt knows about what’s gone down between me and his best friend, the better.
I don’t want to bother any of the girls again. They’ve already done so much for me.
Guess I go for my least worst option.
Sighing, I start to type out a text to Tate when headlights slice through the trees.
My heart plunges at the throaty throb of a diesel engine.
Looking up, I see Ryder’s vintage Dodge Ram pickup stop just outside the circle of light put off by the bonfire.
I blink. Blink again, wondering if Xander laced this beer. Am I seeing things now?
But then Ryder’s getting out of the truck and slamming the door. I can tell it’s him by the backward baseball hat he’s wearing, the same one he had on at the Rattler. A couple people look up. Xander, I notice, immediately ducks his head and disappears into the shadows. He was good at ignoring Ryder at the Rattler, telling me to ignore him too. But now all of a sudden, Xander is running scared.
What a spineless douche.
Part of me thinks I should run too. Ryder and Duke would occasionally show up to field parties in their early twenties, but once they got serious about cowboying, they stopped coming. Now that they’re partners in the highly lucrative Lucky River Ranch, they wouldn’t be caught dead here. Their lives are much, much cooler than mine.
Makes me think Ryder came for one reason and one reason only.
Me.
He glances around, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
