I nodded and she went inside.
“How was work?” Nova asked.
“Not bad, we had a couple of medical emergencies, our last call being the worst. Lulu Robbins got thrown off her horse,” I said.
“Ouch,” Atlas flinched. “Hospital?”
“Weston and Bailey transported her. Possible concussion, broken wrist and ribs,” I said, grabbing the glass Iris handed to me.
“Poor girl,” Nova said.
“I thought we needed a snack to watch a snack,” Iris said, putting down a tray of chips and salsa.
“Ooh, good thinking,” Nova said, diving in.
“Where is Sol?” I asked.
“The guys took her riding,” Nova sighed. “She is stuck on the idea of being a barrel racer, so she’s riding every chance she gets.”
“Don’t sound so excited about it,” I said.
Nova shrugged. “I’m just a worried mama. Instead of Lulu being thrown off, it could be Sol.”
“Yeah, but we’ll get her a good coach, and they will go through all that training with her, especially when to anticipate and jump ship,” Iris said. “The guys will make sure she is as safe as possible. You know they wouldn’t let anything happen to her.”
“I know, but I’ll always worry about her.” Nova leaned back. “You become a mom and it's like, you always think of the worst possible things all the time.”
“That's gotta be awful,” I said, seeing my brother come back with Colt and little Sol in tow.
She was adorable with her little pony and the enormous smile she had. A little ache in my chest wished I had a family of my own. I always thought that by now I would have been married with kids, a house and a few dogs. Instead, I lived alone with a hairless cat named Barnaby. He was my baby and I loved him to death.
“Nova, really?” Colt rolled his eyes. “You too, Atlas?”
“I mean can you blame us?” Atlas pointed at Forest, who was leaning on his axe watching us. “Oh, son of a bitch.”
I laughed as Atlas’ face grew red.
“Hey, Honey!” Iris yelled. “Lookin’ good, sweetheart!”
“Thank ya, ma’am!” he yelled, as he tipped his hat. While he was looking at the group it felt like he was looking just at me.
Forest always felt like he was undressing me with his intense stare. The longer his gaze was on me, the more I felt he was slowly discarding each item of clothing I had on until it really felt like I was bare to him.
“Stop sexualizing my ranch hand and get yourselves another hobby,” Theo grumbled, coming over as Sol made her way over to Forest.
“Ooooh, daddy, take off your shirt and cut some wood for us,” Atlas whispered a little too loudly.
“Gross!” Iris shouted.
“I did not need to hear that.” I grimaced.
“Fine, daddy Colt, take Forest’s place and we can all stay here and watch the show.” Atlas waggled his eyebrows.
That wasn’t better by much, but I’d rather see Colt shirtless and cutting wood than my brother.
“I think it’s time we go inside,” Nova said. “I got enough food for everyone so get washed up and we can eat in about thirty minutes.”
She corralled Iris and Atlas inside. I followed until my feet decided to walk to a man I had no business walking to. Forestintimidated me, made me feel flustered and annoyed, but for some reason I loved being in his presence. When I was with him, all thoughts of my best friend and responsibility went out of the window.
