“I feel like she would have told me?—”
“Have you told her about us?” Sam cocked an eyebrow.
I stayed quiet because I hadn’t. “I haven’t told anyone because we haven’t talked about telling people.”
“Maybe they haven’t either,” Sam shrugged. “Don’t rush her to tell you something she isn’t ready to tell you.”
“I won’t,” I said, feeling sad she hadn’t told me anything, but then I hadn't told her anything either.
I looked over at Forest who was looking at the arena, like we weren’t even talking. A part of me wished he would say something like, let’s tell everyone, but I got the feeling that our situation wasn’t normal for him. He didn’t do relationships, and he had said so several times. We watched the rest of the bronco riders and then the barrel racers before heading back to Sterling Ridge. The entire drive back, I yearned for someone to say something, but I guess we weren’t going to talk about that.
By the time we made it back to Sterling Ridge, we were starving and wanted a beer, so naturally, we stopped at the Boozy Bandit. To my surprise, in honor of the rodeo being in town, they decided to bring in a mechanical bull. It took up a lot of space, but it was a hit.
We got free entertainment as we ate and drank. Seeing everyone go up all cocky was hilarious and I loved when the men got knocked down a notch or two. There was nothing like a woman showing them how it was done.
“Awww, I see you enjoying the entertainment,” Iris said, giving me a hug.
She had on her Boozy Bandit Shirt, all of her irritation from earlier was gone.
“Hey,” I said a little too enthusiastically. “Uh yeah, we love it, especially after coming from the rodeo.”
“Oh yeah? You went to the rodeo?” She looked worried.
“I had to drag these two,” Forest said, putting a hand on my thigh. “They had never been, and I used to work at the stockyards in Texas.”
Forest squeezed my thigh in warning, but I needed to know.
“Oh, that's awesome,” Iris said, looking away.
“Yeah, we loved it,” Sam said. “We got to mostly walk around and watch the barrel racers.”
“Yeah, and?—”
“We enjoyed the views, mostly,” Forest interrupted me.
“Those cowboys are delicious,” Sam said.
I glared at them.
“Oh, I know right. Those wranglers some of them wear should be illegal,” Iris said, looking a little less worried. “Well, let me know if you need anything!”
“That was rude,” I grumbled.
“Let her be,” Forest said. “She’ll tell you if and when she’s ready.”
I scowled, looking away. While I knew they were right, I was irritated by them. What were we? I didn’t know why it bothered me all of a sudden. Forest and Sam talked amongst themselves as I stewed on things I had no business stewing about. I watched my sister working, wondering if she was in the same situation I was in. Was it new? Did he want to keep it a secret? Was he keeping her a secret for a reason? Were Sam and Forest keeping me a secret?
“Princess.”
I startled when I felt Forest squeezing my leg.
“What?” I snapped.
“Are you ok?” Sam asked cautiously.
“I’m fine,” I said dismissively.
“You don’t sound ok,” Forest scowled. “What’s wrong? Are you really that upset about Iris?”
