Keenan stretched out his arms behind his head. “Aw yeah, never let ’em know your next move, am I right?” He winked at me, and I fought the urge to gag and roll my eyes.
“You only did that because we were giving you shit. Are you sure you don’t want to put in the chicken strips? I can flag Susannah over right now. I’m sure she’ll come back, and Shane won’t harass you too much about it.”
“I’mfine. I’m a big boy.”
Hayden and I exchanged an amused glance. He mouthed,Bet he won’t eat it, and I had to hold back a giggle.
“How’s the little filly?” Keenan didn’t seem to notice our exchange as he leaned back in his side of the booth, stretching his arms behind his head. “What’s her name again?”
“Peanut Butter,” Hayden and I both said in unison.
“She’s really good,” Hayden added. “She’s getting so big. Dad said it’ll only be another year or so before we start training her to have a rider. She won’t be in the arena for a while and still has a ways to go before then, but I have a good feeling about her. As much as I hate to say it, Bullseye is getting older. I’ll most likely be able to ride him throughout college, but he’ll be closer to retirement age once I finish school.”
Keenan hummed in acknowledgment. “Can you imagine the rodeo announcer calling out, ‘Hayden Watkins and Peanut Butter!’” Hegiggled. “Guess it’s a good thing you’re not a barrel racer, and they don’t call out horse names for team roping.”
“I like her name,” Hayden replied defensively. “It fits her, and it’s special.” His eyes flicked to mine at the last part.
Keenan snorted, shaking his head. “If you say so, dude.”
Susannah came back with Keenan’s drink, and our food came out shortly after, so we didn’t get too much conversation in between sipping on soda and munching on our burgers.
“Let’s go to the gas station after this,” Keenan mumbled, his words jumbled with the burger in his mouth.
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you over all the food in your mouth,” Hayden chided in a joking manner.
Keenan made a show of swallowing his bite and then overenunciated his speech. “Let’s. Go. To. The. Gas. Station. After. This.”
“What do you need at the gas station?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Dunno. Whatever I find.”
“Do you even eat the snacks you buy from the gas station, or do you just hoard them like a squirrel before hibernation?” I teased, making a face.
“I eat them,” he protested, but then he added, “just not always right away. I have to be in the mood.”
“If you have to be in the mood, then why don’t you just wait and buy the snacks you want later?”
He tapped his finger against his lips. “I like to stock up.”
“But then you get sick of them and have like thirty of the same snack that you’ll never eat,” Hayden pointed out.
Keenan threw his hands in the air. “Let me live, okay!”
We all burst into laughter, clutching our stomachs and leaning on each other for support.
“You kids finished here?” Susannah chuckled as she approached the table.
“Yes, ma’am. Thank you. Tell Shane we said hello,” Hayden said as we all threw bills on the table to pay for the meal.
“Will do. Come again soon.” She gathered all the money, and we reassured her that we’d be back as we made for the door.
“To the gas station!” Keenan stretched out his arm like he was a voyager.
As we walked down the streets, fooling around liketeenagers did, the familiar, rusted-out truck parked at the gas station caught my eye.
Shit, shit, shit.
If my dad saw me with Keenan and Hayden, there’d be hell to pay later.
